Page 58 of Happily Never After
‘Yes, the great Florianus,’ Lynette says, flashing a grin. ‘You were lucky to land a deal with them, weren’t you?’
‘I was, but there’s never any harm in aiming higher,’ Gina says, evidently trying to deflect Lynette. ‘Florianus are lovely, but quite small in the grand scheme of things. And, with Tess’s edits and your, umm, morefloridscenes, it might be worth me scoping out some bigger players for a wider audience.’
Lynette obviously feels she’s pushed her sister as far as she dares without hostilities breaking out once again, as she focuses back on her breakfast.
‘Actually, I do have some news on that front,’ Tess says to Gina. ‘I know you’ve found the edits hard, but I was having a chat with a friend of mine last night, and I happened to mention your book. She’s an agent and she’s offered to have a look at the first three chapters with a view to submission if you’re interested. She has a number of authors contracted to the big five, so it might prove fruitful.’
Gina looks like all her Christmases have come at once. ‘Really?’
‘Yes. Don’t look so surprised. It’s a good book. It just needed slimming down a little. Nobody’s making any promises here, but it’s got to be worth a try, unless you’re completely tied into this Florianus crowd.’
‘No, not tied at all,’ Gina tells her, beaming. ‘I have complete freedom.’
‘Then that’s something to consider. Now, how is everyone else getting on? Suzie, Grace, anything to show me?’
‘No,’ they chorus.
‘And Laura has her own editor, so it looks like another quiet morning in the garden for me. If any of you need me, you know where I am.’ She pushes back her chair and heads in the direction of the bedrooms.
‘That’s amazing news,’ Grace says sycophantically to Gina as soon as Tess has left the room. ‘I’m so pleased for you. Maybe, if they’re not going to be publishing you, Florianus might be looking for another author. You don’t happen to have the details of their submissions department, do you, Gina?’
Gina looks uncomfortable, clearly trying to find a way out of this hole without revealing Florianus’s secret, to Lynette’s evident delight.
‘They’re, umm, rather specialised in what they publish,’ Gina says after a brief pause. ‘I’m not sure you’d be a good fit.’
‘I’m happy to take my chances,’ Grace persists.
‘That’s as may be,’ Gina replies, her tone now frosty. She’s obviously keen to shut this down as quickly as possible. ‘But I think they’re currently closed to submissions. They literally only opened for a few days and, by all accounts, they were swamped. I guess I was just lucky.’
‘That you were,’ Lynette observes drily, earning herself a sharp look from her sister. Maybe the hatchet isn’t totally buried after all, and this is just a temporary ceasefire.
‘All I’m saying is maybe you could put in a word,’ Grace says, clearly unwilling to let it go.
‘I’m really not sure that would do any good,’ Gina replies curtly, pushing back her chair and standing up. ‘You need to findyour own feet in this world, Grace, not rely on others to pull you up. Lynette, shall we?’
As the two sisters leave the dining room together, Grace leans across the table to Suzie and me.
‘I know we’ve been friends for ages,’ she murmurs crossly, ‘but she’s been completely up herself since she got this deal. I don’t mind saying that I’m really starting to hate her. “You need to find your own feet, Grace.”’ She parrots Gina’s voice. ‘Well, fuck off, Gina.’
I’m unable to keep my eyebrows from shooting up. Until now, I’d thought Suzie and Grace’s loyalty to Gina was unwavering.
‘Don’t look like that, Laura,’ Grace continues. ‘You can’t possibly like her either. She’s basically dismissed your writing as doggerel from the moment you arrived.’
‘I don’t really have any opinions either way,’ I lie, causing Suzie to snort with laughter.
‘Good try,’ she says. ‘But I can smell the bullshit. I’m still not completely sure what it is about you that winds her up so much. I mean, you’ve done nothing to antagonise her beyond being successful, but she can’t seem to forgive you for that. I’m with Grace. I think Gina might need to find herself some new friends unless she gets over herself. This whole Florianus thing has gone straight to her head.’
DI Harrison felt…
What? What did DI Harrison feel? Come on, Laura. The body of the man she murdered and, with the help of her now deceased father, bricked up in an alcove twenty years ago has just beendiscovered. She’s going to be all over the place, worrying about whether there’s any evidence she might have overlooked that could tie her back to Darren, and reliving his past abuse. So what did shefeel?
With a sigh, I delete the words. It’s no good. I can’t concentrate today. It’s nothing to do with the shift in power dynamics among the Double-Doubles, although it was nice to have a semi-civilised conversation with Suzie and Grace for a change. I can’t get Finn out of my head. I never asked him what time his pitch was, but all I can think about is him getting ready for it. He’ll be going over his presentation, running his hand distractedly through his hair in the way he does when he’s absorbed in something. His eyes will be alight with enthusiasm and it wouldn’t surprise me if his mouth is twitching, half forming the words as he reads through the text of his submission. I really hope he lands it. Picking up my phone, I open WhatsApp and send a short message.
Thinking of you today. Good luck. xx
I watch the screen for a while but, although I can see it’s been delivered, the ticks don’t turn blue. He’s probably in the zone, or maybe he’s already in there. I try to picture the scene. A large room full of corporate types in grey suits, with Finn in the middle, pitching for all he’s worth.
‘Just keep the speed down,’ I murmur, as if he could actually hear me. ‘They won’t follow you if you get carried away and talk too fast.’
