‘Mm, so I hear,’ he said, perching back on his desk. ‘Did you meet the new guy?’
Jo had a sensation like blood rushing to her face. But that was impossible. She didn’t blush. Ever. Blushing was not in her repertoire. She cleared her throat. ‘Briefly. At the meeting on Friday.’
‘Yeah, no offence, hun, but I think your flight path would be well under his radar,’ said Lachlan. ‘I don’t know what Leo was thinking. Like we need someone with his ego around here.’
That Alanis Morissette song popped into her head again. That was it! The most ironic thing about the song ‘Ironic’ was that it wasn’t ironic at all. Unlike Lachlan bitching about the size of someone else’s ego.
‘What are you smiling about?’ asked Lachlan.
Jo blinked. ‘Nothing.’
He paused for a moment, frowning curiously at her. ‘You’d tell me if you were seeing someone, wouldn’t you, Jo?’
‘Where did that come from?’ she asked. ‘What, because Leo made that crack about me having a big night? He was just baiting me.’
‘I know that,’ he said, drawing her towards him and clasping her backside with both hands as he pulled her hard in against him. ‘You would tell me, though, wouldn’t you, Jo-bloh?’ he murmured, nuzzling into her neck. Damn, he knew just the spot.
‘Maybe . . .’ She caught her breath as his tongue curled around her earlobe.
‘You know, we haven’t had sex in over a week,’ he breathed into her ear.
‘Uhuh.’ Just over a week . . . weak in the knees . . . weakening . . .
‘We could do it on the desk right now.’
Jo steeled herself. ‘No we couldn’t, Lach.’
‘Wouldn’t be the first time.’
‘Would be the first time in daylight hours with the office full of people,’ she said, easing back from him.
He groaned. ‘You sure I can’t come over tonight?’
Jo reached behind and removed his hands from her backside, holding them out from her as she took a step away. ‘Maybe tomorrow . . . or the next night. I’ll call you.’ She leaned forward to give him the faintest peck on the lips before releasing his hands and backing to the door.
Lachlan folded his arms, watching her glumly as she straightened her jacket and smoothed her hair. She blew a kiss at him but he remained sulking as she slipped back out into the main office.
9:30 pm
Joe had his key this time, but by the sounds of things, he wouldn’t need it. As he climbed the stairs to his flat he could hear music and voices and laughter, and his heart sank. Will was obviously entertaining. Joe didn’t need this tonight, he didn’t want it tonight. He was going to have to have a talk with his brother and establish some ground rules, and parties on a Tuesday night would not make the cut.
Acceptable music volume would be on the agenda as well. Joe unlocked the door and stepped inside. There were probably twenty people strewn about, in various stages of inebriation. The air was thick with cigarette smoke laced with pot, which really pissed him off. Couldn’t they do it outside? The place would stink tomorrow. No one had even noticed him, let alone acknowledged him. Joe walked over to the stereo and turned it down, not quite to angry old fart level, but getting there. That raised a few eyebrows, just as Will came out of his bedroom.
‘Hey, Jo-seph,’ he riffed. ‘Everyone, this is my big brother, Joe, whose hospitality we are now partaking of . . . in . . . This is his place.’
There was a chorus of ‘Hey Joe’ and the haphazard raising of glasses and beer bottles.
‘What are you drinking, Joe?’
He regarded his brother’s red eyes and wondered if there was any point saying anything at all tonight. ‘Nothing right now, thanks, Will. I just want to dump my stuff, clean up.’
‘Sure, sure, go ahead,’ he said expansively, throwing his arm towards Joe’s room. ‘Right that way, brother o’ mine.’
Joe escaped to his room and closed the door, only to find the bed completely dishevelled. Someone had been sleeping in here, and whatever else he didn’t want to know, and now he was going to have to change the sheets.
Fuck.
He tossed his bag on the floor just as Will burst through the door behind him. ‘Oh, I just remembered, wanted to tell you, that was me,’ he said, pointing at the bed. ‘Me and Em slept in your bed last couple of nights.’
Joe was beginning to have difficulty containing his anger. ‘Why, Will?’ he asked, his tone brittle. ‘Why’d you have to sleep in my bed, and if you did, why didn’t you change the sheets at least?’
‘I didn’t know you were coming back tonight.’
‘But why did you have to sleep in my fucking bed at all, Will?’
‘Well, I thought you’d prefer us to Rancid. I made him sleep in my room. I was thinking of you, bro.’
‘No, you weren’t fucking thinking of me at all, Will.’
‘What’s up with you?’ he frowned. ‘Why are you being so aggro?’
‘Because I’ve only had one night in my own place since I came back and I wanted to have a quiet one tonight.’
Will went to say something, but hiccupped instead, which made him chuckle. ‘That’s not going to happen,’ he slurred.
Joe sighed. He’d had enough. ‘You know what, yes it is.’
‘What?’
‘Go ask your friends to leave, Will. I’m tired and I want to go to bed.’
‘No one’s stopping you.’
‘Will, I want them out.’
‘Jesus, Joe, why are you being such an arsehole? You know what your problem is? You’ve spent too much time in the Middle East. You do realise that in Australia it’s legal to drink and be with women and have a good time?’
Joe took a deep breath. He was not going to get sidetracked arguing with someone who was out of it. ‘Go ask your friends to leave,’ he stated calmly, but in a tone that made it clear not to mess with him. ‘Or I will.’
‘Fuckin . . .’
Joe didn’t hear the rest as Will sauntered unsteadily out of the room. He looked back at the bed. The music abruptly stopped.
‘Everyone, you have to go,’ he heard Will announce. ‘My brother’s turned into a complete arsehole and he says he doesn’t want you in his place.’
Joe reached down and grabbed the bedding, reefing it off and tossing it across the room.
Wednesday
‘How’s the old man holding up?’ Leo asked Joe after he’d taken a seat in his office.
Joe hesitated, he hadn’t thought about how he was going to deal with that question yet. He didn’t think he could face going over and over the details, describing his father’s incapacity, his rapidly advancing decline; he hadn’t come to terms with it himself. Besides, most people didn’t want to know, they were just being polite. Leo had some history with his father, but he wasn’t one for shared intimacies. Joe could keep it vague.
‘He’s doing all right. Says hello, by the way.’
Leo nodded with a faint smile. ‘And what about you?’
‘What about me?’
‘Are you settling back in okay?’
‘Sure,’ Joe brushed it off.
‘I remember what it was like when I came back from Cambodia, I was a bit of a head case for a while, and I was only there a few months.’
‘I’ve been doing this for a long time, Leo,’ Joe dismissed.
Leo paused, considering him for a beat longer. Then he sat forward. ‘Fine, are you ready for some work?’
‘What did you have in mind?’
‘Have you heard about ASoCC, the big Australasian summit on climate change?’
He nodded. Joe had finally had the chance to look at a few newspapers over the weekend, take in the state of play. It never ceased to amaze him how much things changed, and how much they stayed the same.
‘So you know it’s bipartisan, federal and state, public and private sectors; just about every man and his dog with some barrow to push is going to be there.’
Joe nodded again.
Leo looked at him across his glasses. ‘You seem less than enthralled?’
He shrugged. ‘You know what they say, if I had a dollar for every summit . . .’
‘Ours is not to reason why, Joe, we just have to report on it. You’re aware it’s being held on your home turf?’
‘Now that you mention it.’
‘So you could base yourself up there for the duration, spend time with your dad, file a few stories.’
Joe nodded. ‘Sure.’
Leo sat back in his chair. ‘I was thinking of sending another journo as well, to fill in the gaps.’
‘You don’t need to do that, Leo, I can handle it.’
‘I know that, but the thing is, there’s two birds I’d like to stone,’ said Leo. ‘Your mate from the elevator, she’s not a bad little journo, hounds me all the time about being taken seriously. But her column works, it’s a very popular feature, gets a lot of mail.’
‘So you’ve been stymieing her?’
‘Nah, just not actively encouraging her. Thing is, women get all antsy if you want them to report on women’s issues, but who else is going to do it? Blokes haven’t got a clue.’
Joe shook his head faintly. Leo really was a fossil in a lot of ways.
‘So how do you feel about taking her under your wing?’
‘Sorry?’
‘I was thinking Jo could stay on site with the press, and you could stay with your dad and come and go as you please, check on her stories, write your own op-eds. Whatever you think. We’ll do pretty extensive coverage of it, so it’d be good to have a couple of different angles. I’m sure Jo’ll appreciate the opportunity to work with you.’
‘I don’t know, Leo,’ Joe hesitated. ‘I don’t think I’m exactly her favourite person in the world.’
Leo shook his head. ‘What happened in that elevator?’
‘Nothing. I think she’s just embarrassed about passing out.’
‘Maybe this’ll get her over it.’
Joe didn’t know what to say. If he refused outright, it would seem odd, and it would be. He didn’t have any reason to refuse. He didn’t have a problem with her, he was still open to a relationship . . . as in a working relationship. He was quite happy to work with her, was all he meant.
‘It’s okay with me,’ he said. ‘I suppose you have to run it by her.’
Leo pressed the intercom on his phone. ‘Tell Jo Liddell I want to see her, please, Judith.’
‘Right now?’
‘If not sooner.’
Jo picked up her phone on the second ring. ‘Jo Liddell.’
‘Judith here, Jo. He wants to see you.’
‘Oh?’
‘Right away.’
‘Okay.’ Jo put down the phone and walked briskly through the maze of desks and out to the elevator bay, pressing the button to go up. She couldn’t shake a feeling of guilt. This was like being summoned to the principal’s office.
She took the lift to the floor above and walked around to Leo’s office. Judith looked up as she approached. ‘You can go right in, Jo. They’re waiting.’
They?
Jo went to the door and opened it gingerly.
‘Come on in, Jo,’ Leo muttered, frowning at his computer screen.
As she stepped inside, Bannister turned around in his seat on the other side of Leo’s desk, giving her an awkward smile. What was he doing here? What was this all about? Jo took halting steps further into the room. Leo had still not looked up from the screen, but she could feel Bannister’s eyes on her. She was beginning to feel a little claustrophobic. She wondered if that was destined to be her reaction around him from now on.
‘How’s it going?’ Joe asked.
She glanced at him. ‘Fine. Okay.’ Should she say something else? Some nicety, to be polite? He was only just back from overseas, should she ask how he was settling in? Or about his sick father? But she didn’t particularly want to know, so why did she have to ask?
‘Okay, Jo,’ said Leo finally, turning his attention to her. ‘The Australasian Summit on Climate Change, ASoCC, is being held up in the Blue Mountains at the end of the month.’
‘Yes, I’m aware.’
‘Do you want to cover it?’
‘Sorry?’
‘Do you want to cover it?’ he repeated. ‘You’ll have to stay up there for a few nights. Interested?’
Jo blinked. ‘So you don’t just mean a column?’
‘No, I don’t just mean a column,’ Leo said in a monotone. ‘Don’t you know what it means to cover an event, Jo?’
‘Yes, definitely. Of course. I would love to.’ But what did Joe Bannister have to do with it?
‘Okay. Joe here is going up as well, but he has some family responsibilities to attend to so you’ll be the constant. We’ll be sending a photographer of course, and you’ll both stay with the press contingent, accommodation’s on site. Judith will look after your registrations. Any questions?’
Yes, whose idea was this? But she couldn’t be quite that blunt. It might look a bit obvious.
‘I don’t understand why we both need to go,’ she tried instead.
A look passed between Bannister and Leo. It was definitely a look.
‘Jo,’ Leo began, ‘I wouldn’t send you up there alone, it’s too big for one journalist. Like I said, Joe has family commitments that take him up that way. Besides, you could benefit from someone of his experience.’
Jo pressed her lips together to stop herself from groaning. This was excruciating. After everything, now she had to treat him like some kind of a mentor? Bannister must be loving this. She glanced sideways at him, he had half his face covered with his hand, kind of peering out, like he was embarrassed. What the hell did he have to be embarrassed about?
‘I’m sure Mr Bannister has enough on his plate without having to worry about me,’ Jo said tightly.
‘I really wish you’d call me Joe,’ he muttered with a sigh.
‘What are you saying, Jo?’ asked Leo, frowning. It was not a curious frown; on the frown scale it was heading more towards annoyed. He was getting frustrated with her. So what was she saying?
‘It’s just, I’m not quite sure how you expect this to work. Maybe you should send someone else you think could handle it and they won’t have to bother Mr Ban – Joe. Um, it seems to me that if he’s got family stuff going on he doesn’t need the responsibility of mentoring me, or maybe I could go with someone else and we could work it out tog–’
‘Christ, Jo,’ Leo cut her off. ‘You’re always harping about not getting something to sink your teeth into, and I give you this opportunity and you baulk at it. If you don’t want it, fine, I’ll give it to someone else. I’m sure Kylie Chen would jump at the chance.’
‘I’m sorry, Leo, of course I want it. And I’ll take it.’ What was the matter with her? This was a major event that would be given wide coverage and she would get a by-line. She was allowing personal feelings to get in the way of her work. Not that she had any personal feelings, as such.
‘I’m glad that’s settled,’ said Leo, returning his attention to the computer screen. ‘Judith has the press packs.’
Jo just stood there. Was she supposed to say something to Bannister? Thank him? Kiss his feet?
Leo glanced up at her. ‘You can get one on your way out.’
‘Oh, right.’ She cleared her throat. ‘Thanks, Leo.’ She nodded at Bannister – that was all he was getting – and quickly left the room.
When the door closed behind her, Leo looked over at Joe. ‘What the hell happened in that elevator?’
Jo was sitting back at her desk, scrolling through her emails but not taking in anything. She felt agitated. It was a good word, agitated. Almost onomatopoeic. Agitated, twitchy and tense, that’s what she was feeling. God, the kowtowing women had to do in this industry made her want to spit. But it wasn’t acceptable for a woman to spit. Men get to spit, sleep around, drink like fish and be arrogant arseholes, and what do they get? Their own off
ices. Women get mentors.
‘Jo?’
She literally jumped in her chair. She looked up to see Bannister gawking at her from his lofty height. Where did he get off, being so tall?
‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,’ he said.
Jo’s heart was still racing. ‘Did you want something?’
‘Uh, yeah,’ he said, glancing around. He seemed vaguely uncomfortable. Finally he crouched on his haunches, which brought him to her eye level. She felt like a child.
‘I just wanted you to know that the mentor thing was not my idea,’ he said.
She should hope not. How arrogant would he have to be to suggest being her mentor? But she was relieved to hear him say it.
‘Look, I don’t really care,’ she said airily. ‘You can call yourself whatever you like, but I think you’ll find that I know what I’m doing.’
‘Of course you do.’
She frowned. What was he up to?
‘Your column’s very sharp, very well written.’
Part of her was flattered, but most of her was pissed off. She didn’t need his validation.
‘So you read Sunday’s?’ she said in a tone that suggested she couldn’t care less.
‘I’ve probably read a month of Sundays’,’ said Joe. ‘And other stuff besides. I like the way you write, the way you think.’ He paused. ‘Maybe not all the cutting stuff about blokes,’ he added with a faint smile. ‘There was one piece, a while back, on that politician and his wife, it seemed a little vicious, not like your other stuff, didn’t have the finesse . . .’
Jo was about to blurt out that it was Leo who’d butchered it, but then she bit her tongue. She didn’t owe Bannister any explanations, and what’s more, she wasn’t going to give him any.
‘Where did you come across all this?’ she asked instead.
‘I Googled you.’
He Googled her? This was definitely tilting the balance of power in her direction. ‘You’re kidding me?’ she scoffed.
‘Oh, like you haven’t Googled me?’ said Joe.
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