Page 78 of The Dead Ex

Mind you, I have an intuitive feeling that Perdita, David’s glossy-lipped assistant, might be after her position. She flushes every timesomeone mentions his name. Like now.

‘You mustn’t, under any circumstances, bother Mr Goudman. Your job is to follow me around and take photographs – providing the subject matter is not confidential. Is that quite clear, Helen?’

She emphasizes my name as though I’m not paying attention. But I am. Very much. It has taken me a long time to get in here, and I intend to get as much as possible outof it. Including the boss himself. Posh Perdita might not know it, but she has a rival.

We are walking down a wide corridor with bare walls on either side. No chance of that in my Deptford council block. Any space – no matter how small – is immediately taken up with brightly coloured graffiti.

‘Frankly,’ murmurs Perdita, tossing her flame-red hair,‘I don’t know why you’re here at all. Still,David does pride himself on his community work.’

The last sentence carries an ironic tone. Clearly my new boss hasn’t told her about being ‘shamed’ into giving me a break thanks to the journalist.

‘When am I having my meeting with Mr Goudman?’ I ask as we turn another corner.

I receive a cool look. ‘Ah, that. I’m afraid he won’t be able to see you personally after all. He’s busy all week.’

‘But he promised to give me some one-to-one time for career advice! And besides, theStandardis doing a piece on us.’

She consults her iPad. ‘The journalist is coming in on Friday to interview you. Mr Goudman will email him a quote.’ She opens a door. ‘This is the design department. You can take some pictures here, if you like.’

I am still reeling from this bad news. Somehow I have to engineera face-to-face with the man I’ve been pursuing for so long. He’s got to appear sometime. But meanwhile, I must pretend I’m only here for the job.

A woman is sketching on the desk. It looks like the design for a house.

‘This is Helen,’ says Perdita with another hair toss. ‘She’s a work-experience photographic student.’

She speaks in a heavily sarcastic tone, as though I have made it up.

‘Mindif I photograph you?’ I ask nervously.

‘Sure. Go ahead.’

I concentrate on her right hand and the way it cradles the pencil. ‘You have an eye.’ That’s what my tutor told me.

‘What will you do with your pictures?’ asks the woman.

‘They’re going in my portfolio. But they could hang on the walls in the corridors here.’

There’s an ‘in your dreams’ sound from the PA. ‘That’s news to me.’

It willbe news for David too. I was going to suggest it to him, hoping it will show initiative. But if he’s too busy to see me, how is that going to happen?

By my third day, I’m getting panicky. There’s still no sign of David. I don’t even know where his office is. I am running out of time. And to make it worse, Perdita is watching me like a hawk. Either she doesn’t trust me or she has something tohide. I’ve expressed an interest in photographing the company’s ‘healthy snack bar’ that David has recently installed, and we are on our way there when Perdita’s phone sings out. She speaks sharply into it and then rings off, clearly annoyed. ‘I’ve got to sort something out. Wait a sec, can you?’

She indicates a room at the side. It’s very white with more bare walls. Minimalist. Water coolerin the corner. I sit for a while and examine the shots I’ve taken, deleting the ones that don’t work and editing the ones that do. Then I get itchy feet. I stand up. Walk around. Look out of the window. Take some pictures of the street outside and a couple walking arm in arm. Wander down the corridor.

I can always pretend I was looking for the Ladies.

That’s when I see it. A door. WithDAVID GOUDMANwritten on it. My skin breaks out into excited goosebumps.

There are voices inside.

‘You’re wrong. I’ve told you.’

It’s that same deep voice I’d heard at the launch.

‘Don’t play games with me, David. You promised we’d have tonight together.’ That was definitely Perdita!

There’s a sigh. ‘I was looking forward to it too. But Tanya wants us to go out to dinner with some of her friendsnow.’