Carmen shook out her shoulders. “God, I don’t even know why I still represent her. Maybe I can pass her off at her next contract renewal.”
Monica nodded a couple of times. “Maybe you should. I mean, come on; she’s not exactly in the same league as most of your other clients.”
“True. I suppose I felt a kind of obligation—she was one of my first when I branched out, and she stuck with me when people didn’t really know who I was.”
“I know. But that’s also true for Tamsyn Harris, and she and Annabella are definitely not in the same league.” Monica hesitated, then leaned forward. “Look, I know I’ve only been here a year, so if this is out of line, tell me.”
Carmen said nothing, wondering where this was going.
“Well, it just seems to me that you might not realise what your own reputation is now. I mean, when I tell people in our world I work for you, they’re impressed. Like, seriously impressed. I’m just wondering if you need to focus on the more elite clients and move the company in that direction.” Monica blushed but sat up straighter in her chair. “It’s…it’s just that if you only had people like Tamsyn on the books, you could be just as successful but maybe not have to work so hard, and your image would be better as a result. Quality not quantity, you know?”
“I can’t just drop the clients I don’t like.” Carmen scowled. “What kind of message would that send to anyone who wants to work with me?”
Monica squared her shoulders. “I don’t mean that.” She stood and walked over to Carmen’s desk. “Keeping people like Annabella might be doing you more damage than good. And it’s not about liking her. It’s about her talent and her potential. She has very little of the former and therefore next to nothing of the latter.” She folded her arms across her chest. “Compare her to Daisy Menon. She’s a bitch; neither of us like her, but she’s a brilliant actress and is going to be winning awards soon. She’s worth keeping, not the likes of Annabella. I’m sorry if I’m out of line, but I think you need to look at this. If for no other reason than you’re working yourself into the ground.”
Carmen stared at her. Since when did Monica get to tell her how to run her own business? The business she knew better than the back of her hand?
“I’ll take a coffee if you’re making one,” she said, forcing her tone to be polite.
Monica’s mouth pressed into a tight line. Then she spun on her heel and marched out of the office.
Carmen watched her go, her anger simmering. It wasn’t Monica’s job to tell her what to do. She was merely here to assist. To take the pressure off Carmen’s workload and—
She slumped back in her chair. Yes, that was exactly what Monica was here for, to take the pressure off. And she’s just suggested a way that could happen, and I treated her like dirt .
Carmen dropped her head into her hands and groaned softly. How to be a class A bitch in one easy lesson. Nice going, Carmen .
Monica was right. Carmen did have an awful lot of what she called small potato clients. The ones she’d held on to because of loyalty, even though they had considerably less talent than her top clients. How far did loyalty go? And how come she hadn’t seen this? Carmen answered herself in the next moment: because she had been far too immersed in the business of building the company up to take the time to step outside and see where it was going.
Monica walked back into the room, two steaming mugs in her hands. Wordlessly, she placed Carmen’s on her desk and turned away.
“Monica,” Carmen said quietly.
After a moment’s hesitation, Monica turned back. Her face was set in a hard mask. “Yes?”
“I’m sorry. That was out of line.”
Monica’s entire posture relaxed. “I’m sorry if I—”
Carmen held up a hand. “No. You, my young Jedi, are brilliant.”
“I-I am?” Monica’s coffee wobbled in her hand.
“You are. Everything you said was exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you.”
Monica beamed at Carmen. “You’re welcome.” She cleared her throat. “We’ve…we’ve been so worried.”
“We?”
“Beverley and me. We love working here, but we hate seeing you so run-down and stressed.”
“Well.” Carmen reached for her coffee. “Let’s see if we can do something about that, yes?”
Monica nodded and turned back to her own desk. A moment later the sound of her tapping vigorously against her keyboard filled the office.
The message from Ash pinged on Carmen’s phone a couple of hours later, and her heart missed a beat when she saw it.
Hey, how are you? I go away at the end of the week and wondered if you’d like to meet before I go? I’m free each morning until 11:30, but only have tomorrow evening free after eight. Every other night I’m working till ten! Let me know if anything works for you
Thankful she was currently alone in the office, she allowed herself a small smile. It was great to hear from Ash, even though Carmen had almost convinced herself over the weekend that stepping back was the right idea. Except that, every night, when she’d finally turned her phone off and settled in to try to sleep, her mind had inevitably turned to Ash. Thoughts of what might be, if she only had the courage to ask for it, taunted her.
Ash by her side, making her laugh, grounding her.
Ash holding her, kissing her, and touch—
She sat bolt upright. Nope, not going there. Not in the office.
It shocked her, how far her fantasies were taking her. Sure, she’d fantasised about her boyfriends in the past, but doing so about a woman was a whole new ball game. Her face heated as she recalled locating that copy of Maggie’s book on her Kindle and flicking
