by Penny Avis
Meredith wondered whether Alfred would still feel the same if he knew about her relationship with Ryan. A relationship that’s now over, she reminded herself.
‘I think you should play ball with this Audrey woman,’ said Alfred finally.
‘I can’t do that. The information she wants is confidential.’
‘Then don’t tell her anything confidential.’
‘Well, what would I tell her then? I don’t understand.’
‘Feed her false information. Tell her things that don’t matter. Buy yourself some time until the deal is done.’
‘Alfred! That’s outrageous.’
Meredith’s mind began to whirr. Could she get away with that? Maybe, with some careful thought. And then another thought struck her. What Audrey really wanted was to keep her job. So maybe she could line Audrey up to be Ryan’s new nurse? He was moving to London, and now that Lloyd had left, Audrey needed a new doctor to work for. The two of them fully deserved each other. If she told Audrey that was the plan she was working on then perhaps, just perhaps, she could buy herself some time.
She looked up at Alfred and smiled. ‘That might just be stroke of total genius.’
Alfred smiled shyly at her. ‘Thanks.’
She remembered her text message from Audrey Fox and showed it to Alfred. ‘I’d better reply.’
‘Why don’t you offer to meet her? We’re over there today anyway. Probably best that you don’t write anything important down,’ said Alfred.
Meredith nodded in agreement and typed a brief response.
Am in again today. Shall we meet at lunchtime?
‘What shall I tell her, do you think?’ Meredith asked.
‘You can tell her that the negotiations are ongoing and that both sides are keen to do a deal. That much everybody knows. You can also say that the valuation of the business is being carefully looked at in the light of Lloyd Cassidy’s suspension, which again is a statement of the obvious.’
‘I can also say that both management teams are thinking about the extra resources that would be required to bring the businesses together and that it’s likely to mean some new doctors.’
‘Is that true?’ Alfred asked.
‘Yes. I found out yesterday that Ryan Miller is likely to move over to run the place if the deal goes through. I can’t tell Audrey that it’s Ryan, but I can say that we’re suggesting she becomes the assistant to whoever takes the job.’
‘No one would listen to us.’
‘We both know that, but she won’t,’ said Meredith. ‘She seems to think we’re running the whole thing. I guess if you don’t know the details then that’s probably what it looks like.’
‘Okay, that sounds like it should work,’ said Alfred.
‘Thank you for not saying anything when you saw the Beau Street bill. Did you see what I’d had done?’
Alfred shook his head vigorously and looked at the floor.
‘I had my nose made smaller and my breasts made bigger,’ said Meredith. There, she’d said it.
Alfred nodded in acknowledgement without looking up, his face flushed red with embarrassment.
‘It’s okay, you can look up,’ said Meredith. This was much harder for him than for her. She decided to change the subject.
‘Did you get anywhere with IT support?’ she asked.
‘I hope so. They were pretty confident that they’d be able to trace when and how our file was deleted. They should come back to me within twenty-four hours. What will you do if they can show it was Lars?’
Meredith thought for a moment. She had no desire to get into a major turf war with him. ‘Just use it to keep him off our backs. We could report him, but where would that get us? I just want to get on with my job and for him to get on with his.’
Alfred nodded in agreement.
‘Oh yes, one other thing. Do you have any idea who would be responsible for buying all the art for the new training centre? They must be getting some. Every other building seems to be covered with it,’ said Meredith.
‘I’m not sure. The brand team maybe? I’m sure it’s all meant to be in keeping with our corporate image. Why?’
‘I have a good friend who’s an artist. She runs a small gallery and it could be a great opportunity for her.’
‘Well, someone’s got to do it, so why not someone you know? You’ll have to teach her our brand rules, though. You know what the brand police are like. She’ll never get a look-in otherwise.’
After cancelling her appointment with Nick, Meredith tracked down the right person to talk to about Daisy. Vivien Sherwood, Clinton Wahlberg’s ‘brand enrichment manager – facilities’, had agreed to meet Meredith at the training centre the next day. The bank’s propensity for giving people such ridiculous titles was an endless source of amusement.
Alfred and Meredith left the office and arrived at Beau Street to join the next round of negotiation meetings shortly after ten a.m. The Equinox team had already arrived from their hotel and were gathered in the meeting room. Ryan was standing by the window chatting with Brenda Martinez, both of them holding cups of coffee. Meredith had heard nothing from him since she’d left his hotel room last night, which in many ways was a relief. As she entered the room Ryan gave her a puzzled look. Meredith deliberately looked away and went to make herself a drink, reminding herself of Daisy’s words, ‘Hold that anger. That’s what will carry you through.’ It wasn’t going to be easy.
After about ten minutes, Meredith gave up trying to avoid eye contact with Ryan. It simply wasn’t practical; they had too much to discuss. To her annoyance, he showed no sign of finding her presence equally awkward. In fact, he seemed even more relaxed than usual. Meredith tried to comfort herself with the thought that this was probably just a defence mechanism, and ignored the little voice in her head telling her that it was actually because he didn’t give a damn about her. But later on, when she saw him perched, laughing and joking, on the side of Stella Webb’s desk, the doctor who was helping pull together Beau Street’s business plan, she decided that the little voice was right.
Meredith found holding her composure and tone with Ryan through their meetings exhausting, and by lunchtime she was starving hungry and emotionally drained. She wolfed down a sandwich and then prepared herself to meet Audrey Fox. She needed to get this right.
They had agreed to meet in the staff canteen. At first Meredith had thought being in such a public place was a bad idea, but as she’d discussed it with Alfred, she’d changed her mind. At least this way it would mean that both of them would have to keep their composure.
Audrey was already sitting down with a drink when Meredith arrived. She was leaning casually back in her chair, with her long legs stretched out to one side of the table. Meredith grabbed herself a bottle of water and then sat down to join her, carefully stepping over Audrey’s designer gold sandals.
Audrey smiled at her sweetly. ‘How are you?’
‘Fine, thank you,’ said Meredith.
‘So, what can you tell me?’
Meredith trotted out the story she’d agreed with Alfred.
‘So, in due course we’ll be recommending that you’re assigned to the most senior doctor, whoever that may be,’ said Meredith.
‘That’s the job I’m most suited to,’ said Audrey, nodding in agreement. ‘So who’s it likely to be? I need to start making an impression as soon as possible.’
‘I’m sorry, we don’t know yet,’ said Meredith. ‘It’s just something that’s been discussed in principle, which is quite normal in these situations.’
‘You must have an idea,’ said Audrey.
‘The discussions with Beau Street haven’t reached that stage yet,’ said Meredith, choosing her words carefully. That much was true. Lawson and Ryan may have agreed it, but they hadn’t yet told Beau Street. Not in the meetings she’d been in, anyway.
Audrey eyed her suspiciously but then seemed to accept her explanation. ‘Have you heard any more about the investigation into Lloyd’s cl
ients? I had those accountants back again yesterday asking more damn fool questions. They seemed obsessed with the perforations at the top of our invoices. Honestly you’d think they’d have better things to do.’
Meredith had no idea what Audrey was talking about, but decided it was highly likely that the accountants suspected Audrey was involved if they were going into that much detail.
‘Equinox were clearly very unhappy to hear about the issue, naturally.’
‘Naturally,’ repeated Audrey.
‘However, I believe they’re happy that they can ring-fence the problem.’
Audrey looked at her sharply. ‘What does that mean?’
‘It’s a legal term. It means that they can protect themselves from it. But the legal discussions will take some days and I’m not in those meetings. I won’t be able to tell you exactly what they plan to do until those discussions have finished,’ said Meredith, buying herself some time.
‘I’d better not lose my job!’
‘As I said before, if you’ve done nothing wrong, you’ve nothing to worry about. Equinox aren’t in the habit of making scapegoats of people. Quite the opposite: they’re very keen to keep all the excellent staff here,’ said Meredith, doubting that description really applied to Audrey.
‘Hmm, I guess so,’ said Audrey, fiddling with her stack of gold and silver bracelets.
‘Why don’t we meet again in a few days?’ suggested Meredith. By then, with a bit of luck, the deal would be done and she’d be off the project.
Audrey rubbed her top lip with her finger as she thought about Meredith’s suggestion. Meredith could see that she wasn’t completely sure about the information she’d been given, but she didn’t seem to be able to think of a reason to challenge it.
‘Alright,’ said Audrey at last. ‘But if anything happens in the meantime, I want to be the first to know. I can’t stand operating in this vacuum.’
‘It must be difficult not having Lloyd around,’ said Meredith, trying to sound sympathetic.
Audrey initially responded with a resigned nod but then thought better of it. She sat forward. ‘What are you implying?’
‘Nothing,’ said Meredith, thinking immediately that Audrey’s defensiveness gave her away. She looked at her watch. ‘Look, I’ve got to go. My next meeting starts in fifteen minutes.’
‘Have fun,’ said Audrey, switching her demeanour back to pleasant at the flick of a switch.
‘I’ll be in touch soon,’ said Meredith, getting up.
‘How did you get on?’ asked Alfred when Meredith got back to the tiny, airless meeting room that they were using as their temporary base for the day.
‘Wow, she’s a piece of work. Nice as pie one minute and horribly aggressive the next. I reckon she’s guilty as sin.’
‘Did she believe your story?’
‘Just about, I think. But it was pretty hard to tell. She was definitely suspicious, but hopefully she’ll keep quiet for the moment.’
Meredith paced around the room nervously. ‘God, I hate this. I wish I’d never started this damn project. Talk about stressful.’
‘Well, let’s focus on getting the deal done, shall we? You might as well at least get the credit for it. These two businesses fit really well. You did a good thing bringing them together.’
Alfred was right; she had lost sight of the point of her job. This was one bit of corporate matchmaking that looked like it was going to work out. Shame that the same couldn’t be said for her.
‘Shall we recap on where we’re up to? What’s left to be agreed?’
Alfred took out his notebook and the two of them sat down to agree a list. ‘I think the main points for Lawson and Ryan to agree revolve around how the business is going to be run, the management structure, that sort of thing.’
‘Okay, let’s go and get this thing nailed,’ said Meredith. She wanted the deal to end, and soon.
They trooped up to the now all-too-familiar meeting rooms where the Equinox team were already waiting and resumed their negotiations with Charles Sutton and Tom Duffy from Beau Street. As each point was discussed, Meredith argued, debated, disagreed and conceded with such energy that even the other side was impressed.
‘I can see that you’ve a real passion to see us working together,’ Charles Sutton commented after she spent twenty minutes getting them to agree a particularly contentious point.
Ryan looked at her gratefully, misunderstanding her desire to see the points agreed. He thought she was doing her best to help their position, when in reality she wanted him out of her life.
As she sat watching Ryan explaining his plans for running the business, Meredith reflected on how quickly her feelings for him had changed. Yes, he was still incredibly good looking, but somehow the arrogant and obsessive personality that was driving his need to have so many women on the go at once now shone through in a way that she’d not been able to see before. How much had her feelings for him been driven by the fact that she felt so comfortable talking about her surgery with him? After all, that was where it had all started. After an hour and a half they had reached agreement on most of the major points and decided to finish for the day. As the meeting broke up and the others left the room, Ryan hovered behind.
‘Can I have a word?’ he said quietly.
‘I’d need to go,’ said Meredith, turning for the door.
‘Wait, please,’ said Ryan, putting his hand on her arm. ‘Look, let’s give things another try, shall we? Maybe I was, you know, rushing things a bit.’
Meredith looked at his face. There was no hint of irony in it. God, he was a good actor. Or perhaps he’d just started to believe his own rhetoric. And even if his feelings weren’t genuine, she was enjoying seeing him on the back foot.
‘Sorry, Ryan, there’s no chance of that. I know what I want and this isn’t it.’
‘But it’s all happened so quickly. I don’t understand. Only two days ago you were desperate to see me.’
Meredith winced at his use of the word ‘desperate’. Is that how she’d really come across? Even if she hadn’t found out about his harem of other women, that was reason enough all on its own to stop seeing him. She couldn’t bear the idea that he thought she was desperate. She forced herself to laugh.
‘Desperate? I think that’s your ego talking,’ she said.
‘I was really looking forward to spending more time with you. I’m not sure I want to move now.’ He looked at her sulkily.
‘But you’ve already said yes.’
‘Yeah, when I had more than just the day job to look forward to,’ said Ryan.
‘Well, it seems like your decision to move to was a little bit hasty then,’ said Meredith.
Chapter 23
Meredith walked slowly back to their project room and was just packing up her things to head home for a hot bath and an early night when Daisy rang.
‘Hi, babes. Look, I know you’re up to your neck in it but my landlord’s just rung. He’s popping in this evening, as he needs to let me know about some work that’s being done to the roof of the building, and I thought I might take the chance to try to renegotiate the rent. But I’ve no idea where to start. There’s no chance you could swing by and help me, is there?’
Meredith sighed wearily to herself. She’d been looking forward to a quiet evening in.
‘Sure. How long till he gets there?’
‘He’ll be here in about an hour.’
‘Okay, I’ll come now,’ said Meredith.
Daisy gave her a massive hug as she arrived at the gallery. ‘How are you?’ she asked.
‘Surviving.’
‘Have you seen him today?’
‘I’ve been with him all bloody day. It’s nearly killed me, but we’re getting there. The deal should be done soon, and then I can just try to forget about him,’ said Meredith.
‘Quite right. And you’re an absolute star to help me with this. I’m so sorry to dump this on you, but he rang completely out of the blue and he’s not the e
asiest person to track down, so I thought I should try to grab him while I had the chance.’
‘That’s okay; funnily enough, I wasn’t doing anything.’ Meredith smiled ruefully, took her jacket off, rolled up her shirt sleeves and took a pen and notepad out of her briefcase. ‘Right, let’s start with the basics. Why would your landlord agree to extend your discount period? What’s in it for him?’
Daisy looked at her blankly.
‘Well, it’s better than you going bust and paying him nothing, for a start,’ said Meredith.
‘True,’ agreed Daisy.
‘The other thing he probably wants is for you to be a good tenant and not give him any hassle. Have you had any problems so far?’
Daisy shook her head. ‘I’ve hardly spoken to him since I signed the lease. And I’ve painted the place.’
‘We must mention that,’ said Meredith. ‘Do you have enough cash to pay a few months’ rent in advance?’
‘Probably,’ said Daisy, looking doubtful.
‘Well, we can trade that too. Everyone prefers cash today. What’s he like, this bloke?’
‘His name’s Derek Stanley. Early forties, bit rough, impatient, born-and-bred Londoner as far as I can tell, but he’s been pretty fair to deal with so far.’
‘You need to do most of the talking,’ said Meredith. ‘It’s you he knows and he’ll probably just be suspicious of me. He’ll probably think I’m just here to cause trouble.’
And Meredith was right.
‘Who’s she?’ said Derek as soon as they sat down. He was a stocky man, with short, thinning hair, bright blue eyes and several days of very non-designer stubble.
‘Derek, this is Meredith. She’s my adviser,’ said Daisy.
‘Hello,’ said Meredith politely.
‘Really? Well, this is my adviser and this is my other adviser,’ he said, holding up each of his fists in turn and laughing gruffly.
Daisy smiled nervously.
‘Right, what’d’ya wanna talk about?’ he asked.
‘Well, the thing is, Derek, I’m not making quite as much money as I’d hoped, and as you know, my discounted rent period comes to an end soon. So I was hoping that we could discuss an extension,’ said Daisy.