Page 14

Chapter Fourteen

T he views across Birmingham from twenty-three floors above were impressive. The sun was beginning to set on the vast city, and from the restaurant the pink sky lent a beauty to the higgledy piggledy tower blocks and brutalist buildings that wasn’t often associated with the city.

“I’ve always loved this city,” said Philippa as they were seated. “But from up here it looks especially fabulous.”

“It really does,” agreed Alison, Gerry’s wife. She was wearing a casual evening gown in dark green, accessorised with expensive-looking jewellery. “I love coming here and watching the sun go down over Birmingham.”

“And that is why we’re here, ladies,” said Gerry, looking very smart in a Savile Row suit. “Alex, it’s so lovely to meet you again. I can see by the colour in Philippa’s cheeks that you’re a good influence on her.”

Philippa’s eyebrows shot up. Alex smiled and placed a light hand on Philippa’s knee. Philippa’s stomach flipped.

“I think she’s a good influence on me, actually,” said Alex, with a gentle smile on her face.

Philippa had no idea how to follow that, but fortunately Gerry filled the silence.

“Then it sounds like you’ve both fallen on your feet. Very happy to hear it. You look great together.” He raised a full wine glass, and the others followed suit. “To love.”

“To love,” they echoed, all except Philippa, who’d frozen. Realising everyone was looking at her, she abruptly raised her glass, too.

“To love,” whispered Philippa, feeling Alex’s hand squeeze her knee slightly.

She took a large gulp of her wine, which resulted in a coughing fit.

On balance, she thought, that was probably better than falling off her chair because everyone was talking about love, and a hot woman had squeezed her knee.

Alex’s hand moved up to rest on Philippa’s back. “You ok, babe?”

“Yes, sorry, it went down the wrong way,” said Philippa, relieved that Gerry and Alison had met her before and knew she wasn’t normally this inept.

Conversation flowed more smoothly after that, with Alison asking Alex about her job and Gerry talking about the changes being made by the government that would impact on his firm.

The starters were tiny and perfectly formed. Various foams and petals arranged beautifully on plates.

“Well,” said Gerry, “I’m just relieved they serve food on plates here. I had sausage and mash in a pub a few weeks back, and it was served in a pint glass.” He rolled his eyes.

“That’s plainly ridiculous,” said Philippa with a smile. “Food needs to be easily accessed. That’s what plates are for.”

“I once had scampi and fish served on a flip flop,” said Alex.

Alison looked incredulous. “You’re making it up,” she said.

“Nope. No word of a lie. Two of the chips had been squashed by the toe post,” continued the graphic designer. “If it hadn’t been so funny I’d have sent it back.”

They all laughed and continued to exchange stories.

Philippa couldn’t help but admire Alex’s ability to easily blend into conversation and make people laugh.

It wasn’t something she’d ever been adept at.

She watched as Alex related an anecdote about a snail dish she’d eaten in France, and she appreciated the way her eyes glittered in the candlelight.

Taking a deep breath, she placed her own hand on Alex’s knee.

Alex didn’t move a muscle, just carried on talking.

“I must say,” said Alison, “I can see why the two of you work so well together. You have excellent chemistry. I feel as though you’ve been together a while, but I know this is quite new for you both, right?

” A waiter came to take away the plates, clearing the space for the main courses. She continued. “How did you meet?”

“At one of the many networking events I end up frequenting,” said Philippa, pleased she and Alex had agreed a plan for this story. “Didn’t we?” she said.

Alex drained her glass before speaking. “I will always count my lucky stars we met that day.” Gerry refilled her glass.

“I was having a terrible day, all sorts of stuff going on. I wasn’t even going to go to the event.

But I knew I needed to get out of my funk.

” She nodded her thanks to Gerry. “And I’m so glad I did.

I walked in and noticed Philippa straight away.

I mean, who wouldn’t? She’s so elegant and distinctive. ”

Philippa blushed, unable to look at Alex while she spoke.

“She’s always so shy about this story, aren’t you?

” said Alex, turning her head to look at Philippa, who felt as if she might vaporise on the spot.

She kept having to remind herself that this wasn’t real.

“I was talking to this bloke about what I do and if I’m honest, he was starting to behave a bit leery towards me. ”

“Ugh,” said Alison. “I’d hoped those days were over, but clearly not. Poor you.”

“I was trying to work out how to extricate myself,” said Alex, “when suddenly an arm appeared around my shoulder from Philippa, who told everyone she was my girlfriend. That got rid of him pretty sharpish.” Philippa had recovered herself and was looking at Alex. “And now look at us.”

Alex turned to face Philippa, reached out her hand and stroked Philippa’s cheek. Philippa froze. She looked into Alex’s eyes, and the panic building inside her began to ease.

Philippa raised her own hand to rest on Alex’s for a moment before they resumed their positions.

Alison looked thrilled by their demonstration of affection, while Gerry was paying more attention to the arrival of the main courses.

Philippa had chosen a delicately presented beef wellington, perfectly laid out on a bed of greens surrounded by a red wine jus. She opted to admire her food rather than look at anyone else at that moment.

“Now then,” said Gerry. “We ought to get down to business, I suppose.”

“Yes,” said Philippa. “You said you had a proposal for me. I’m interested to hear more about it.”

“Well,” said Gerry. “As you know, the big finance firms tend to have staff support arrangements as part of their benefits packages. So we contract with a counselling provider, life insurance companies, and health insurance, too.”

Philippa nodded. He continued. “As part of those arrangements, we have legal support for those who need it, too. Now historically we’ve used big national firms for that, but I feel like we have a responsibility to do business with our neighbours wherever possible – you know, supporting the Brum economy. ”

“That makes sense,” said Philippa.

“The contract with the firm that provides our family law services is ending soon, and I wondered whether Samfire and Partners would be interested in bidding to replace them. We’ve had an influx of younger staff, and I think we need a new approach to this sort of thing.

I obviously couldn’t guarantee you’d be successful, but before I go any further, I wanted to see if you’d be interested. ”

Gerry picked up his knife and fork and began to dissect his seabass fillet.

Philippa took a deep breath, knowing that this could be a significant opportunity, especially given how many people worked for Gerry’s company.

“Of course I’d be interested. I’d have to talk to the other partners, of course, but I can tell you now that I know this is a great opportunity to form a strategic partnership that could be beneficial to both us and you.

” She fixed Gerry with a confident look, aware that this was what she was good at.

She could feel Alex looking at her, but she knew she shouldn’t look back and break the spell.

“Good,” said Gerry. “I’m pleased to hear that.

You’ve always struck me as very capable and strategic.

I admire people with vision, and I can see that in you.

It’s important to me that we support our staff, and while I know we’d need to work through the details, bringing in Samfire and Partners would give our teams the reassurance that we care about them.

When our people went through difficult times, we’d know they’d be able to get a certain level of support through you that we’d paid for, and they might go on to have a longer relationship with your firm in the future. ”

“Exactly,” said Philippa.

“We’d have to work out the financial details, of course.”

“Naturally,” said Philippa. “But count us in.”

“Excellent,” said Gerry, summoning the waiter to order another bottle of wine. “In that case, we have something to celebrate.”