Read Online The Dating Detox by Gemma Burgess - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Gemma Burgess
Tags: Fiction
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can’t do it. I really can’t.
I look at the clock. It’s still early. I’ll just wait till everyonehas their breakfast and coffee. Then they’ll be in a better mood. I email Amanda The Office Manager about the brainstorm and Google Blumenstrauße. Lala. Procrastination. Panic-led procrastination. I feel a bit ill. Maybe I am coming down with something.
At 11 am I can’t put it off anymore. Cooper could be back any second. With a nauseous feeling in the pit of my stomach, I send an email to all staff to meet in the creative room immediately.
As the accounts people wander in, looking around for Cooper, I clear my throat and walk over to the centre of the room.
‘Cooper isn’t here, but he asked me to…’ I start. No one is listening. In fact, the account managers are chatting away about Charlotte’s new manicure. Andy is on his mobile. His underlings are looking at something on YouTube and snickering. Amanda The Office Manager is picking her breakfast out of her teeth whilst Laura is twisting her hair and snipping off split ends. She’ll end up with hair like a haystack, but now isn’t the time to tell her that.
‘Everyone!’ I say louder. Laura glances up and quickly drops her hair and the scissors. Everyone else continues as they were.
I pick up a spoon and empty glass left over from breakfast on Laura’s desk, and clink them together. The first few clinks don’t quite connect, but the last three are quite loud. Everyone stops what they’re doing immediately and looks at me. I feel the blood rush to my face. Just get on with it. I lean against Laura’s desk, faking a nonchalance I certainly don’t feel. Posture is confidence, silence is poise.
‘Hi, everyone…Uh, as you know, Coop’s been away for the past week in Germany…and the good news is, we are pitching for a huge German toiletries company that’s about to launch in the UK.’ The words all tumble out of my mouth in a rush, and I pause to clear my throat and calm down. Everyone is lookingat me and—surprisingly—actually listening. ‘We want to handle it all for them: from strategy for the launch to packaging to branding and online and offline campaigns and well, everything. If we win, it’ll immediately double and eventually triple the size of the agency, so it’s a pretty big deal.’
Everyone snaps to attention. For the next five minutes I answer questions about the German company. It takes Laura to get to the point. She’s probably the smartest person in the room.
‘When is the pitch? And what do we have to do?’
‘The work starts today,’ I say, and I can hear a few people groan under their breath. Oh fuck. I really, really do hate telling people things they don’t want to hear. ‘Brainstorm at 3 pm. All staff are invited, compulsory for creatives. Now, um…there’ll be weekly meetings with them rather than just the one big pitch. Coop knows the, uh, head guy, and he’s, um pitching us as the kind of agency that works as a partner, not a supplier…’ I look around. Everyone’s still paying me total attention. Gosh.
I clear my throat. ‘The good news is that there’s no one else competing with us for the job—yet. The bad news is that if they’re not happy, we will lose them straightaway. Which means the pressure is going to be pretty consistent over the next few months. Coop wants everyone to help. So there’ll be a lot of late nights and possibly weekend work…’
I hear even louder groaning. Oh shit. Mutiny.
Andy speaks up. Oh double shit. ‘We can’t do that on top of everything else. It’s not possible.’
‘Well, it has to be,’ I say to the wall, as I don’t dare to meet his eyes.
‘I’m already here till eight every night,’ he says. ‘My team and I work harder than anyone else. We need extra support. I know a couple of freelancers. I’ll call them.’
‘No,’ I say, looking at his chin. ‘Everyone in this agency workshard, Andy. If you and your team didn’t spend half the day
I look at the clock. It’s still early. I’ll just wait till everyonehas their breakfast and coffee. Then they’ll be in a better mood. I email Amanda The Office Manager about the brainstorm and Google Blumenstrauße. Lala. Procrastination. Panic-led procrastination. I feel a bit ill. Maybe I am coming down with something.
At 11 am I can’t put it off anymore. Cooper could be back any second. With a nauseous feeling in the pit of my stomach, I send an email to all staff to meet in the creative room immediately.
As the accounts people wander in, looking around for Cooper, I clear my throat and walk over to the centre of the room.
‘Cooper isn’t here, but he asked me to…’ I start. No one is listening. In fact, the account managers are chatting away about Charlotte’s new manicure. Andy is on his mobile. His underlings are looking at something on YouTube and snickering. Amanda The Office Manager is picking her breakfast out of her teeth whilst Laura is twisting her hair and snipping off split ends. She’ll end up with hair like a haystack, but now isn’t the time to tell her that.
‘Everyone!’ I say louder. Laura glances up and quickly drops her hair and the scissors. Everyone else continues as they were.
I pick up a spoon and empty glass left over from breakfast on Laura’s desk, and clink them together. The first few clinks don’t quite connect, but the last three are quite loud. Everyone stops what they’re doing immediately and looks at me. I feel the blood rush to my face. Just get on with it. I lean against Laura’s desk, faking a nonchalance I certainly don’t feel. Posture is confidence, silence is poise.
‘Hi, everyone…Uh, as you know, Coop’s been away for the past week in Germany…and the good news is, we are pitching for a huge German toiletries company that’s about to launch in the UK.’ The words all tumble out of my mouth in a rush, and I pause to clear my throat and calm down. Everyone is lookingat me and—surprisingly—actually listening. ‘We want to handle it all for them: from strategy for the launch to packaging to branding and online and offline campaigns and well, everything. If we win, it’ll immediately double and eventually triple the size of the agency, so it’s a pretty big deal.’
Everyone snaps to attention. For the next five minutes I answer questions about the German company. It takes Laura to get to the point. She’s probably the smartest person in the room.
‘When is the pitch? And what do we have to do?’
‘The work starts today,’ I say, and I can hear a few people groan under their breath. Oh fuck. I really, really do hate telling people things they don’t want to hear. ‘Brainstorm at 3 pm. All staff are invited, compulsory for creatives. Now, um…there’ll be weekly meetings with them rather than just the one big pitch. Coop knows the, uh, head guy, and he’s, um pitching us as the kind of agency that works as a partner, not a supplier…’ I look around. Everyone’s still paying me total attention. Gosh.
I clear my throat. ‘The good news is that there’s no one else competing with us for the job—yet. The bad news is that if they’re not happy, we will lose them straightaway. Which means the pressure is going to be pretty consistent over the next few months. Coop wants everyone to help. So there’ll be a lot of late nights and possibly weekend work…’
I hear even louder groaning. Oh shit. Mutiny.
Andy speaks up. Oh double shit. ‘We can’t do that on top of everything else. It’s not possible.’
‘Well, it has to be,’ I say to the wall, as I don’t dare to meet his eyes.
‘I’m already here till eight every night,’ he says. ‘My team and I work harder than anyone else. We need extra support. I know a couple of freelancers. I’ll call them.’
‘No,’ I say, looking at his chin. ‘Everyone in this agency workshard, Andy. If you and your team didn’t spend half the day
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