Can you keep a secret_ - Sophie Kinsella [37]
'What?' I stare at him in consternation.
'Jack Harper's coming along,' repeats Paul impatiently. 'So hurry up.'
'Do I have to go?' I say before I can stop myself.
'What?' Paul stares at me with a blank frown.
'I was just wondering if I … have to go, or whether …' I tail off feebly.
'Emma, if you can serve tea and coffee by telepathy,' says Paul sarcastically, 'then you're more than welcome to stay at your desk. If not, would you most kindly get your arse in gear and up to the conference room. You know, for someone who wants to advance their career … 'He shakes his head and stalks off.
How can this day have gone so wrong already and I haven't even sat down yet?
I dump my bag and jacket at my desk, hurry back down the corridors to the lifts, and press the Up button. A moment later, one pings in front of me, and the doors open.
No. No.
This is a bad dream.
Jack Harper is standing alone in the lift, in old jeans and a brown cashmere sweater.
Before I can stop myself I take a startled step backwards. Jack Harper puts his mobile phone away, tilts his head to one side and gives me a quizzical look.
'Are you getting into the elevator?' he says mildly.
I'm stuffed. What can I say? I can't say 'No, I just pressed the button for fun, haha!'
'Yes,' I say at last and walk into the lift with stiff legs. 'Yes I am.'
The doors close, and we begin to travel upwards in silence. I've got a knot of tension in my stomach.
'Erm, Mr Harper,' I say awkwardly, and he looks up. 'I just wanted to apologize for my … for the, um, shirking episode the other day. It won't happen again.'
'You have drinkable coffee now,' says Jack Harper, raising his eyebrows. 'So you shouldn't need to go to Starbucks, at any rate.'
'I know. I'm really sorry,' I say, my face hot. 'And may I assure you, that was the very last time I will ever do such a thing.' I clear my throat. 'I am fully committed to the Panther Corporation, and I look forward to serving this company as best as I can, giving one hundred per cent, every day, now and in the future.'
I almost want to add 'Amen'.
'Really.' Jack looks at me, his mouth twitching. 'That's … great.' He thinks for a moment. 'Emma, can you keep a secret?'
'Yes,' I say apprehensively. 'What is it?'
Jack leans close and whispers, 'I used to play hookey too.'
'What?' I stare at him.
'In my first job,' he continues in his normal voice. 'I had a friend I used to hang out with. We had a code, too.' His eyes twinkle. 'One of us would ask the other to bring him the Leopold file.'
'What was the Leopold file?'
'It didn't exist.' He grins. 'It was just an excuse to get away from our desks.'
'Oh. Oh right!'
Suddenly I feel a bit better.
Jack Harper used to skive? I would have thought he was too busy being a brilliant creative dynamic genius, or whatever he is.
The lift stops at floor 3 and the doors open, but no-one gets in.
'So, your colleagues seemed a very pleasant lot,' says Jack as we start travelling up again. 'A very friendly, industrious team. Are they like that all the time?'
'Absolutely!' I say at once. 'We enjoy cooperating with one another, in an integrated, team-based … um … operational …' I'm trying to think of another long word when I make the mistake of catching his eye.
He knows this is bullshit, doesn't he?
Oh God. What is the point?
'OK.' I lean against the lift wall. 'In real life, we don't behave anything like that. Paul usually shouts at me six times a day, and Nick and Artemis hate each other, and we don't usually sit around discussing literature. We were all faking it.'
'You amaze me.' His mouth twitches. 'The atmosphere in the admin department also seemed very false. My suspicions were aroused when two employees spontaneously started singing the Panther Corporation song. I didn't even know there was a Panther Corporation song.'
'Neither did I,' I say in surprise. 'Is it any good?'
'What do you think?' He raises his eyebrows comically and I give a little giggle.
It's bizarre, but the atmosphere between us