Page 52 of Exchange of Heart

He waved his hands dismissively. ‘You redeemed yourself by saving the company a lot of money with your suggestion.’

Dah, I thought. How could the director of a company be ready to fall into my father’s trap without a second thought? I’d known interns with better judgement.

‘It just made sense.’

‘The fine print.’ He nodded. ‘I used to read everything, but now, I have people to do that for me. The thing is, they didn’t do such a good job this time.’

‘Mistakes happen.’ I smiled through my urge to yell at their incompetence.

‘Not like this. This could have seen us lose half the company. Jobs gone. Budgets cut. Clients lost.’

Whoever didn’t do their homework should probably start looking for a new job. Rumour has it, the barista in our lobby heard my father yelling from the top floor last year. Not convinced Mark had it in him to throttle his vocal cords like that, I imagined he’d convey his disappointment through facial expressions and a puffed chest.

‘I’ve got my eye on you from this moment. You probably could have done well if you’d taken Terry’s place.’

Instead, you promoted Fuckface Freddie.

‘Would have. Not could have,’ I corrected him.

‘Well, we’ll see how the rest of the year plays out.’ He stood.

‘Actually.’ An idea formed in my head. ‘I think I’ve more than proved my capability and how much of an asset I am to this company. I’d really like the opportunity to discuss my salary.’

His nostrils flared, but I held my stance. Nora’s pitiful salary should have been reviewed long ago.

‘This isn’t the time for this discussion, unfortunately.’ He tried for a cheerful tone.

‘When would be?’

Unable to resist the urge to one up him, I prepared to go the full hog. I wasn’t used to answering to other people, and I needed this. Nora needed this. Something to remember me by once we were switched back to our own bodies. Something to prove I wasn’t as terrible as she thought.

‘Well, we’d have to bring HR in,’ he said.

‘I could set that up, if you’d like.’

Recruiting Maisy would be a piece of cake. She’d be delighted to help bump Nora’s lifestyle up a notch.

‘And I’d need to go over our finances,’ he continued.

I knew everything he needed to do, but I waited through each excuse as he tried to drag everything out into the large problem it wasn’t. A flicker of shame raced through my body as I realised how much control management had. Guilt gnawed at the way I’d manipulated careers to suit the company rather than the person. Just as Mark was doing right now. Did I really want management skills comparable to this asshole?

I smiled. At least my knowledge of these skills could make things happen right now if I played my cards correctly. I knew I could. I’d been playing this game my entire life, and it was time to shuffle the deck. ‘I’m entirely flexible, please let me know when it suits.’

Mark stared at my unwavering gaze and sighed. ‘Take a seat.’

I’d never followed a command faster, and perched on the chair ready to negotiate a better life for Nora.

‘Damn it, Nora.’ Freddie scrunched his face.

I’d left Mark’s office only to land in his.

‘You didn’t read through everything before the meeting because you didn’t have time. Don’t blame me for that. You wanted this job, but you can’t hack it,’ I said.

I took in the deep bags under his eyes and his ruffled hair. His loosened tie hung like a noose around his neck. Once I’d committed every little detail to do with his flustered appearance to memory, I moved on to his office. Nora would love the play-by-play I planned to deliver this evening. Paper littered his desk. Reports, folders, scrunched drafts, to-do lists. For every one item he got through, it seemed three more were brought in.

‘Do you have any idea how many things I’ve had to finalise since Terry left?’ His eyes were pistols.

‘That’s what senior positions do, Freddie. They balance and prioritise. Admit you shouldn’t have accepted this position and be done with it.’