Page 29 of Strictly Business
I shake my head.
“No. Nothing like that. You know, I’m sure you’ve got enough to do without organizing this as well,” I say. “Would you like me to do it?”
“No of course not,” Ruth says. “You can’t organize your own celebration – that’s just too tragic for words. And it’s not like it’s a huge amount of work. I know Wyatt gets a bit carried away about these things, but it’s mostly a couple of glasses of wine and a few canapes in the conference room after work on Friday. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice little ritual, but it doesn’t take all that much organizing.”
“Ok, no problem, I just thought I would offer,” I say.
“Thank you,” Ruth says. “It was very kind of you.”
She wanders away and I shake my head. That whole conversation had been extremely hard work. I think I prefer it when Ruth is a bitch to me. At least I know where I stand with bitchy Ruth. When she’s nice, unless Wyatt is present and it’s for his benefit, I always feel like she’s planning something or she knows something I don’t and it leaves me nervous, which I’m sure she would love.
I am quite surprised that a few of the partners and higher ups in the company come to my office and congratulate me on my first client over the next few hours. I really didn’t think it would be seen as that big of a deal. I thought it would be more of a case of if an associate didn’t get a client within the first few weeks, they would be history, but it seems that generally speaking, associates just shadow their mentors and do grunt work, at least for the first year or two of their careers. I’m glad I have broken that mold. I had more than enough of doing grunt work when I did my internship.
Another tap on the door gets my attention and I smile as a tall, glamourous looking woman comes in.
“Hi. I’m Beverly, I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m the CFO,” she says.
“Oh, hi,” I say. “How lovely to meet you. I’m …”
“Serena, our associate extraordinaire,” she finishes for me with a wide smile.
I blush slightly and laugh.
“I don’t know about that,” I say.
“Well, I do,” Beverly says. “And what I say goes.”
We both laugh and she sits down on the chair opposite mine. We chat for a while and I really like Beverly, she seems down to earth despite her high ranking within the company and if she wasn’t my boss, I could definitely see us being friends. After about ten minutes, Beverly congratulates me again and then she leaves, and I check my email. The signed Hislop contract is in my inbox. I print it out, smiling to myself because now it really is official. I take it and put it in the file with their campaign information. I decide that now I have the contract I can spare five minutes to grab myself a coffee and I head for the break room.
Samantha, another associate, is in there. She turns her head as I enter and smiles at me, and I return her smile.
“Hi,” I say. “How’s things?”
“Good,” she says. “I hear congratulations are in order. Well done, Serena. Seriously. I know how hard landing your first client is.”
Samantha is almost two years ahead of me in the associate pathway and she only landed her first client two or three months ago. I don’t know what to say. If I agree that it is hard, then it looks like I’m blowing my own trumpet. If I downplay it, it looks like I’m saying Samantha is bad at her job. In the end, I go for the safe answer.
“Thank you,” I say, nothing more and nothing less.
It seems to work because Samantha is still smiling.
“Oh, you’ll be having your party on Friday, right?” she says, and I nod. “Have you decided what you are wearing yet?”
“I haven’t really thought about it,” I reply honestly. “Maybe my navy shift dress.”
“Navy shift dress? Are you mad?” Samantha says, looking at me in horror as though I am indeed mad and might choose to attack her at any second.
“I … No,” I say.
What’s wrong with my navy shift dress? It’s business enough for the day’s work but it’s not like it’s horrible or anything. It hits me then what is happening. Ruth is happening again isn’t she. She was the one who told me it isn’t a proper party. She wanted me to turn up in my work clothes and look stupid. I decide not to tell Samantha that part and just make it look like my own mistake. I don’t know if Samantha and Ruth even know each other, let along get on, but I’m not giving Ruth any chance to hear back that she got me and have a good laugh at my expense.
“I’m starting to think I have the wrong idea about this party,” I say. “I was under the impression it would be a glass or two of fizz and a sausage roll in the break room after work on Friday.”
“Oh God no,” Samantha says. “Wyatt will have his assistant book a nice venue and everyone dresses to impress, and we make a full night of it.”
“I am so relieved we had this conversation,” I say. “God, what would I have looked like being in my work clothes.”
“Ah don’t worry, disaster averted,” Samantha laughs. She gathers her things together and goes and puts her trash in the trash can. “Well, I’d best get back to it. Oh, and for what it’s worth, I think your navy dress would have been perfect for the sort of party you were expecting.”