Read Online False Advertising by Dianne Blacklock - Free Book Online

have been just after you left,’ said Lauren. ‘He totally stuffed up this major account, didn’t meet the deadline, the budget blew out. The clients went ballistic and wanted his head, so the board presented it to them on a platter.’
    â€˜They made Jonesy the scapegoat?’
    â€˜Nuh,’ Lauren shook her head, ‘he deserved it. Turns out he’d been working over budget for ages. The business was in a mess and they were talking about cutting staff, even consolidating into one headquarters in Melbourne, which meant heaps of people would have lost their jobs. In the end they brought in this management whiz from the Melbourne office to clean up the mess. Now the reins have never been tighter, believe you me.’
    Gemma was still taking it all in. ‘What happened to Liz?’
    â€˜She didn’t want to work for the new guy, so she left. Then heinterviewed about seven hundred girls to find a replacement, finally hired one, and a month later she tells him she’s pregnant. She reckons she didn’t know when she went for the job. Anyway, he was going to sack her on the spot, but she pleaded with him that she needed the money, so he gave her a stay of execution. That was a few months ago. Kelly was only telling me the other day he had asked HR to start advertising again.’ Lauren paused, thinking. ‘You were friendly with Kel; why don’t you give her a call? I reckon if she put in a good word for you, the MD would probably be glad not to have to go through all that rigmarole all over again.’
    â€˜I don’t know . . .’ Gemma’s head was spinning. Opportunity was right in front of her, there for the taking, she could almost touch it, but she would never get away with it. Would she? What was going to happen in a few months’ time when she turned around and had to tell whatshisname she was also having a baby? What was this guy’s name anyway?
    â€˜Why do you keep calling him the MD?’ Gemma asked. ‘Are things that formal now?’
    â€˜Not really,’ Lauren said. ‘His initials are MD as well, so that’s what everyone started calling him, and it stuck.’
    â€˜What does the MD stand for?’
    â€˜ Something Davenport,’ Lauren was thinking. ‘Malcolm or Myles or Marcus, something poncy . . . sounds like the captain of the rowing team at a private school.’
    Gemma’s heart was sinking so low she suspected her toes would register a pulse. ‘So I take it he’s not winning any popularity contests?’
    Lauren shrugged. ‘There’s not really anything wrong with him, I guess, but he’s no Jonesy. The whole mood of the place has changed. Like I said, he runs a tight ship now, he keeps an eye on pretty much everything. But otherwise, socially and that, he seems to keep to himself. I suppose it can’t be easy for him.’ She considered Gemma’s strained expression. ‘Seriously, give Kelly a call. Things are so tight, there’ll be no new positions coming up for ages. You might as well go for this one. What have you got to lose?’
    *

Balmain
    â€˜How are you going to afford to pay for the nursing home?’ were almost Tony’s first words on the phone from London. He’d swiftly dispensed with the ‘how are you’ plus a mumbled apology about not being able to get back for the funeral, before cutting right to the chase.
    â€˜Sorry to put it so bluntly,’ he went on, ‘but you have lost a wage.’
    Was it possible for him to be more insensitive?
    â€˜Tony,’ Helen replied levelly, ‘I’ve lost a husband.’
    â€˜I know that, Hel, I’m just looking at the big picture, because I doubt that you are. I’m worried about you.’
    No, he wasn’t. Once upon a time maybe. But Helen didn’t know what his agenda was any more.
    â€˜How will you cope?’ he went on. ‘Those fees aren’t