Darcy quickly turned and all but threw herself into the revolving door to escape the situation. She unleashed an internal scream to stop herself from thinking too much about what just happened and how stupid she probably looked.
Her hurried steps started to slow. She paused and turned around. Helen and Celia were still talking outside.
Going back out there wasn’t at all appealing, but she had to say her piece, just in case it made a difference. She took a deep breath and walked back outside again.
“Helen? I’m sorry for interrupting,” she said.
Helen looked at her quizzically.
Darcy focused her attention on Helen. If she looked at Celia now she would melt into the pavement.
“I… I think this can be fixed,” Darcy said.
Helen grinned. “I’m open to any suggestions.”
“The LBT community, our main core of readers, are very supportive. We’re used to fighting for what we believe in. We’re great at organising and rallying to a cause. I think we need to tell the community the truth.”
Helen opened her mouth, probably to disagree.
“Hear me out,” Darcy requested. “We tell people that we’re not in trouble but that things aren’t great. We play on Honey’s history, and its unique position in our culture. We say that Honey is here today, but it might not be here tomorrow. Or, rather Honey is here now, but it might not be in five years. We remind people how they felt when they first realised they weren’t alone, how they felt a part of something when they picked up a copy of Honey and recognised themselves in its pages.”
Helen and Celia shared a look. They didn’t seem horrified by the idea.
Darcy took a deep breath and continued. “It’s like with social media; technology turns businesses into brands. People are more likely to connect with a brand, or an ideal, than they are a business. We need to push that brand, remind people of Honey. The podcast could be the start of a new campaign, remembering Honey from when you were young. Start a conversation about the future, and how Honey might not be there for LBTs in the future.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Celia nod her head. She was clearly interested in the idea. Darcy’s heart soared. There had been a very real chance that they would think she was being foolish or idealistic. And that would have been the end of any chance of impressing Celia in the future. She’d forever be the stupid girl with the naïve plan. But she seemed to be convincing them.
“We could tell the advertisers that it is part of a campaign. Hell, we could make it part of a campaign,” Darcy said, now that she’d gained momentum. “We’re not really in trouble, we know that our community fights for what it believes in, we’re using that knowledge to stoke a fire.”
Helen held up her hand to calm Darcy down. “I get what you’re saying. I’ll need to think about it in a little more detail, but I like what I’m hearing. I think you may be onto something.”
Darcy smiled widely. She took her focus from Helen for a moment and looked at Celia. Celia was grinning at her. She looked impressed.
Darcy’s breath caught. She tried to suck up the feeling of being the centre of Celia’s attention. She wanted to remember forever the day that Celia looked at her and saw her for more than just a girl in the office. The day Celia realised that she had a voice, she had ideas.
“What do you think?” Helen asked Celia.
“I like it,” Celia said. “As you say, we need to consider it from all angles. But I think it’s worth exploring. Thank you… Darcy, was it?”
Darcy felt like she could die happy. Celia Fox knew her name. And had heard her say something reasonably intelligent.
Darcy nodded.
“Darcy Quinn works with Fiona,” Helen explained. “She’s a very astute marketer, an essential part of the team. Oh, and she makes granola bars that are to die for.”
Darcy was relieved for her already red cheeks from the rush back to the office. Surely that meant she couldn’t blush anymore now?
Celia raised an eyebrow. “Sounds divine, save one for me next time.”
“Thank you, Darcy,” Helen said. “Don’t let us keep you from your lunch.”
Both women looked at the soggy, cling-film-wrapped mess that Darcy had gripped in her hand.
“Oh, this is for Rose,” she lied. “I’ve had my salmon and brown rice salad ages ago. But I better get this to her before she keels over.”
She turned around and walked through the revolving doors with as much sway in her hips as she could manage.
Nailed it.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chloe was anxiously looking forward to the day being over. She’d already decided that she was going to blow her weekly food budget on a greasy pizza, eat it all, and then go to bed. The sooner the day was done, the better.
She’d managed to avoid talking to anyone but Natasha for most of the afternoon. Pippa had gone out again, for which everyone was grateful. Helen had her office door closed, which seemed to be unusual, and everyone else was busily, quietly getting on with work.
It was a weird environment, one that Chloe wasn’t used to. She’d often worked in large, open-plan offices with a staff in excess of a hundred people. There was never a suffocating air in those offices. There was always someone laughing, or a team having a discussion about the previous evening’s television offerings.
But Honey was a small office, and when something big was going on, it affected everyone. It was impossible to avoid.
“Chloe?”
She jumped. Helen was suddenly beside her and sitting down on the corner of her desk. All Chloe could see was a thigh as Helen’s skirt slit parted. She knew she shouldn’t be looking, but she couldn’t help it.
A hundred thoughts clattered through her brain. How had Helen crept up on her? Was she about to be fired? Why couldn’t she tear her eyes away from that toned thigh? Why was she describing the thigh as toned? And why was she still looking at it?
She dragged her eyes up to Helen’s face. Luckily, Helen was looking at her mobile phone screen.
“Yes?”
“This podcast, it’s run by a friend of yours, right?” Helen looked away from the phone and down at Chloe.
Chloe swallowed. “Friendish. We, we went to university together. I don’t really know her. I—”
“Do you think you can speak to her and get me on the podcast?” Helen interrupted.
“You? Um. S-sure, I can ask. I, you mean, you want to be interviewed?” She could smell Helen’s perfume. It felt like the sweet smell was turning her brain upside down.
“That’s right. As soon as possible.”
Those glasses make her look so hot, Chloe’s brain supplied. She coughed and tore her eyes away from Helen.
“I can text her?” she suggested. It came out almost as a squeak.
“You do that. I’ll wait to see what she says.”
Chloe picked up her phone in a shaky hand. Thankfully, Helen went back to looking at her own phone. She started to draft a quick message to Donna. Her mind kept wandering to Helen’s petite frame as it sat on the edge of her desk.
Plenty of people perched on the edge of desks. Kim did it a lot. Chloe herself did it. It shouldn’t have been a big deal, but Chloe couldn’t stop thinking about it. Her breath was catching in her throat at the very idea of having Helen so close to her. She swore she could feel the heat radiating from Helen’s body.
Thankfully, Donna replied quickly, probably salivating at the prospect of getting the editor of Honey on her show.
“She, um, wants to know when you’re free?” Chloe asked.
“As soon as possible,” Helen repeated without looking up from her phone.
Chloe relayed the message and waited. Three dots appeared immediately as Donna formulated a reply.
Helen crossed her legs. Chloe bit her lip. Why did these things happen to her? Why did she get these ridiculous crushes that rendered her useless? This was supposed to be a fun crush, one where she could appreciate Helen from a
far and not become so enamoured that she couldn’t even speak. But she’d somehow skidded right past an appropriate crush and into a melted puddle of uselessness.
Donna’s reply came back fast.
“Tonight?” Chloe asked.
“That’s perfect. Can you set it up?” Helen asked, not looking up.
“Sure,” Chloe agreed.
“And you’ll be coming with me.” Helen stood.
“M-me?”
“Yes, you. She’s your contact. And I don’t know where her office… house… whatever is.” With that, Helen walked away.
Chloe watched her leave. So much for a quiet evening of gorging on pizza followed by an early night. Now, she’d have to take Helen to see Donna and try not to let her out-of-control crush be too visible. How she was going to do that, she had no idea.
“I hope Helen gets some talking points from Fiona for this,” Natasha mumbled, clearly having overheard everything.
Chloe shrugged. She didn’t know what Helen planned, and she had no intention of getting involved.
Chapter Thirty-Four
An internal call lit up Kim’s phone. It was Wendy.
“Hey,” Kim answered.
“Hi, could you do me a favour?” Wendy asked.
“Sure, what’s up?”
“I need to leave early, one of the kids is unwell. Could you woman reception for me?”
Kim smirked at Wendy’s tendency to gender-bend masculine terms. “Woman the desk?”
“Yes, look after it, love it. Don’t leave it on the bus or give it ice cream before bed,” Wendy joked.
“Sure, I can do all that. Hope the sprog is okay.”
“Thanks, love. I’m dashing out now, see you tomorrow.”
Kim put the phone down and gathered her things together. She stood up and knocked on Helen’s door.
“I’m going to sit in reception, Wendy’s had to head out.”
Helen nodded. She ran a casual ship. No one had to sign in or out, no one was closely monitored. Helen gave people space and respect and expected them to get on with their jobs without being micromanaged.
It was one of the things that had drawn Kim to Honey and had kept her there. Of course, she liked her job and loved working for Helen. But it was the trust that had been absent in other workplaces that she really enjoyed. No one looked at their watch and raised a sarcastic eyebrow if she was two minutes late to work.
Well, Pippa tried. But everyone ignored her.
If Kim did leave Honey, she wondered if she’d be able to find another workplace that was so laid-back. Not that she wanted to leave, but the prospect of being at Honey without Lucy was hard to consider. And the idea that Helen would find out and their working relationship would become strained was a heavy weight on Kim’s shoulders.
She settled down at Wendy’s desk, moving the crocheted Wonder Woman doll to one side. Wendy’s area was more domain than desk. Underneath were shoes, boots, three umbrellas, and several stacks of paperwork. To the side was a large paper bag with knitting needles and wool sticking out of the top.
If Honey did close, they’d need to hire a man and a van to get Wendy’s belongings to her house.
“Wendy, you’ve changed,” Lucy joked as she stepped back into the office.
“Yeah, thought I’d try life as a black woman in her twenties. You like?” Kim gestured to her face.
“I like a lot.” Lucy grinned.
Kim bit her lip and looked into the main office to check they were alone. She waved her hand to get Lucy to come closer. They’d hardly had any time to talk lately, and she needed to let her know about the Pippa incident.
“What’s up?” Lucy walked around the desk and perched on top of a low filing cabinet, out of sight of the rest of the office.
“Pippa.”
Lucy rolled her eyes. “Isn’t she always? What has she said now?”
“She has a friend, if you can believe that, at one of the companies you applied to work for. They told her that you told them that you thought you might be made redundant. Pippa accused me of sharing confidential information.”
Lucy’s hand shot to her mouth. “Shit,” she mumbled.
Kim waved her concerns away. “Tess took the fall for me. She said that she’d overheard something, and she told you. Of course, Pippa doesn’t want to get Tess in trouble. No one else will work with her. So, she agreed to keep quiet. But I wanted you to know, just in case.”
“I’m so sorry.” Lucy lowered her hand to her lap. “I… I didn’t think it would get out. I wanted to be honest when people asked why I was leaving. People always assume the worst, so I thought saying I’d heard a rumour about downsizing was the best thing to do. In hindsight, maybe it wasn’t.”
“It’s okay, I just wanted you to know what had been said.” Kim leaned in her chair to check they were still alone. “We need to stick to the same story, you know?”
“Bloody Pippa.” Lucy’s hands clenched in her lap. “I can’t believe she accused you of that.”
“Well, she wasn’t wrong,” Kim reminded her. “We can’t be angry that someone worked out the truth.”
Lucy blew out a sigh. “I hate lying.”
“Me too,” Kim agreed. “And I hate the idea of being here without you.”
Lucy reached out her hand. Kim took it in hers and squeezed it.
“I’ll miss you, too. It will be so weird not working together every day,” Lucy said.
Kim retracted her hand. “I’m thinking of leaving, too.”
Lucy’s eyes widened. “What? You love it here!”
“It will be different without you. And I can hardly look Helen in the eye.” She put her elbow on the armrest and tilted her head into her hand. “And I don’t know if you noticed, but Honey’s kinda sucky at the moment.”
Lucy smiled sadly. “Yeah, it is. But don’t give up a safe, well-paying job without giving it a lot of thought. The market is pretty quiet at the moment. In fact, I’m freaking out about it.”
Kim wheeled her chair closer and put her hand on Lucy’s leg. “It will be okay, something will turn up.”
“Oh, there are some jobs. They just come with a much lower salary than what I’m earning here. And I don’t know how much time I have. If I have to take the first job I’m offered, it’s probably going to be a big salary cut. If I had more time to shop around and pick the right job, it would be a different story. But I don’t. Or, at least, I don’t think I do.”
Kim knew that Lucy was worried about money. Living in London was expensive. And Lucy didn’t have a safety net. No savings, no family.
“Move in with me,” Kim suggested.
Lucy’s mouth fell open in shock. It had only been three months of dating, after all.
“We’re at each other’s places all the time anyway,” Kim pressed on. “I know it’s really early—I’m not saying we get married or anything. Just… live together. Or, I’ll move in with you. But your place is tiny. Anyway, that would help with your salary problems. You can even put some money aside for your savings account, which you have been talking about for ages.”
“Kim,” Lucy said.
“And I’ll cook,” she continued so that Lucy couldn’t say no. “As long as you clean. Because I don’t dust, I hoover dust up and you don’t like that. So, you can dust.”
“Kim,” Lucy repeated.
“It’s too soon, I know.”
Lucy put her hand over Kim’s mouth. “Kim. I’m trying to say yes. I’d love to move in together.”
Kim jumped to her feet and pulled Lucy into a hug.
Lucy wrapped her arms around her and held her tight. “You’re such a goof,” she mumbled in her ear.
“Hey, I was trying to justify what looks like a really knee-jerk reaction,” Kim said.
“My goof,” Lucy said.
“Fine, I’m a goof, as long as I’m a goof who is living with her girlfriend.”
“Is everything okay?”
They both pulled apart at the sound of Fiona
’s voice. She looked at them curiously, the reception door closing behind her. Kim considered that maybe she’d picked the wrong location to have the conversation.
“Everything’s great.” Lucy wiped a tear from her cheek and smiled. “We’re moving in together.”
Fiona smiled, looking genuinely happy for them. “That’s wonderful news! Congratulations. We need some good news today.”
“How did things go with Nicola?” Kim asked. “Wendy said you’d spoken to her?”
A hint of a blush crept onto Fiona’s cheeks, probably still embarrassed about her outburst that had caused Nicola to quit.
“Quite well, I think she’s coming back.”
And Kim had thought she couldn’t be shocked anymore. “That’s great news! Helen will be pleased; do you want to tell her or should I?”
“I’ll drop her an email,” Fiona said. “Speaking of which, I better get back to it. Congratulations again.”
“Thanks,” Lucy said.
Fiona walked into the office, and Kim let out a sigh of relief.
“I hope she’s managed to convince Nicola to come back, that would really help,” she said. “Did you know how expensive photographers and stock photography is? I didn’t. Helen’s had me looking into it.”
“Hey, no talking about work already.” Lucy nudged her playfully. “Let’s enjoy the fact that we’re moving in together first.”
Kim’s cheeks ached from the smile she couldn’t get under control.
Darcy walked into reception. “Lucy, there’s a call for you, they said it was important and they’d hold.” She looked between the two of them. “What’s going on? Why are you smiling?”
Lucy kissed Kim’s cheek. “You tell her, I’ll grab this call.” She hurried away into the office.
“We’re moving in together,” Kim told Darcy.
Darcy clapped her hands together quickly. “Yay, that’s great news!”
“It’s not too soon, is it?”
Darcy shrugged. “I don’t know, only you two can answer that. But I think it’s great news.”
Kim nodded quickly. “It is pretty great, isn’t it? I was sure she’d say no.”
Climbing the Ladder Page 14
