Read Online Summer With My Sister by Lucy Diamond - Free Book Online Page B

outdone, Johnny soon weighed in with the awe-inspiring deal-making he’d worked his magic on that day, and the nicer Sophie told everyone some gossip she’d heard about Santander. Yack, yack, yack. Lucky for Polly that they all loved the sound of their own voices. Lucky for Polly that they were arrogant enough not to think of asking her anything in return.
    It was all going okay, she thought, draining the last of her champagne. (Christ, had she finished that bottle already? She felt as if she’d barely started.) Perhaps now would be a good time to wander across and mingle with the big fromages . There was nothing to lose, and her friends would be well impressed if she just moseyed on over to them and started chatting. She could already imagine their raised eyebrows, their astonishment. Is that really Elliot McCarthy Polly’s talking to? I didn’t know she knew him.
    She stood up suddenly, but her movement was clumsy and she managed to knock over her empty glass. ‘Oops,’ she giggled, picking it up again. Her hand felt as if it was made entirely of thumbs. Shit, everything was swaying. She clutched the table for support, trying to right herself.
    ‘Everything all right, Polly?’ asked Nice Sophie, tilting her head on one side. (What was Nice Sophie doing in the business world? Polly had wondered before. She was far too . . . well, nice , frankly.)
    Polly was about to reply, yes, of course, never better, when her eyes locked with those of Marcus Handbury who’d just walked into the room, and she froze. She didn’t seem able to drag her gaze away for a horribly long few seconds. Her insides turned cold and the bar seemed to list sideways as if she was on board a ship. Marcus-effing-Handbury. The last person in the world that she wanted to see.
    He was coming over. Shit, he was actually coming over, his gaze still firmly on hers. She felt trapped amidst the others, the table blocking her from running away. Aargh. What should she say? How should she act? Panic bubbled up inside her and her knees felt uncharacteristically weak.
    ‘Polly, hi.’ He’d reached the table now, and the conversation halted abruptly. Everyone swung round to gawp at him.
    A scarlet stain of embarrassment crept up Polly’s throat and into her face. ‘Hi,’ she said coldly.
    ‘I just wanted to say, I’m sorry about how things have panned out,’ he said. He was one of those tall, solid rugby types, Marcus. The sort of person you could cannon into and they’d barely twitch. He had a plain, fleshy face and sandy hair, slightly thinning, she noted spitefully. ‘Really gutted for you, but no hard feelings, yeah?’
    No hard feelings. He’d just shafted her for her job and he had the nerve to say ‘No hard feelings’? What did he think she was, some kind of cyborg?
    She swallowed the lump of anger that had risen in her throat. Don’t lose your cool . ‘Whatever,’ she said, affecting a disdainful shrug and staring past him.
    The others were looking from Marcus to Polly in confusion, not following. ‘What’s this all about?’ Richenda asked. ‘What’s happened?’
    Blonde Sophie leaned in closer, sensing blood was about to be shed. ‘Yeah, what’s happened?’ she asked in faux concern, as sincere as a politician.
    Marcus looked taken-aback. ‘Oh,’ he said. ‘Well, Polly’s redundancy. I’ve been moved up as a result, so, you know, kind of awkward, really . . .’
    To be fair, he did look genuinely pained at the situation. Not half as pained as Polly felt, though. She was trembling with the sheer awfulness of it all. ‘Kind of awkward’ was the understatement of the flaming year.
    ‘Shit, you’ve been made redundant ?’ Richenda asked in horror. Her voice seemed to echo around the room – redundant-redundant-redundant – and Polly cringed. ‘When did this happen?’
    ‘Why didn’t you say ?’ Nice Sophie asked, her blue eyes boggling. ‘Bloody hell, Polly. What a nightmare!’
    ‘It’s not a big deal,’ Polly