Changing Places by Colette Caddle Read Free Book Online

went back to the doorway of her office. ‘Karen, could you call the team working on the Cauldwell’s Lingerie account and ask them to meet
me in the boardroom in fifteen minutes?’
    ‘Yes, Boss.’ Karen continued to rummage in her bag.
    ‘As soon as you can.’ Jill bristled. It was probably a mistake being too friendly with Karen. She was inclined to take advantage.
    ‘Yeah, yeah, just let me find a tissue, would you? Damned hay fever.’
    Jill belatedly noted the girl’s red nose and her watery eyes. ‘Sorry,’ she muttered and went back into her office. She knew she’d spend the rest of the day paying for
this. How come she could be tough with them all, apart from Karen?
    ‘Everyone can make it except Vinny,’ Karen told her a few minutes later. ‘He did stop by earlier to talk to you about it but you weren’t in. He left you a
note.’
    ‘Ta.’ As Karen left, Jill spotted the tiny yellow Post-it stuck to the edge of her diary.
Sorry I missed you. At meetings all day. Back at 5.30
. The note was marked
9.45
.
    ‘Bastard,’ Jill muttered. Vinny must have been thrilled that she was late. And now he was making sure she stayed late, too – not that she’d any intention of leaving
before six. No one could accuse her of not putting in the hours; this morning was a once-off. Most days she made a point of being in before her team and staying after they’d left. Bloody
typical that the little toad Vinny Gray should come looking for her, today of all days. And she would bet a fiver that he’d mentioned it to her boss, Sue Boyle, before he’d left.
    Not that Sue would take any notice of him, of course. She could spot a crawler like Vinny at fifty paces. Pity he was so good at his job, Jill thought with a sigh. It would be such a pleasure to
get rid of him. But apart from rubbing her up the wrong way, Vinny hadn’t put a foot wrong. He was definitely after her job. ‘Not a chance, mate,’ she said out loud as she thought
of her brilliant idea for the Cauldwell’s Lingerie sponsorship. She couldn’t wait to tell the team and put a presentation together for Sue. This would definitely be a feather in her
cap.
    ‘So I think this is the perfect sponsorship for Cauldwell’s Lingerie,’ Jill said in closing. ‘The Miss Ireland competition has everything
Cauldwell’s are looking for in a campaign.’ She ticked the points off on her fingers. ‘Very high profile, long duration and it exactly targets the lingerie market. What do you
think?’ She looked around at their faces.
    ‘It’s good,’ Michelle said cautiously, not quite meeting Jill’s eye.
    Jill blinked. ‘Good?’
    ‘Yeah,’ Gerry agreed, ‘but I think Vinny’s idea is better.’
    Jill swallowed hard. ‘Vinny’s come up with an idea? He never mentioned it to me.’
    ‘He did try,’ Rebecca rushed to his defence, ‘but you weren’t in.’
    Ollie nodded in agreement. ‘So he gathered us together because he knew he’d be out for the rest of the day and he wanted to see what we thought.’
    Jill forced a smile that was more like a grimace. ‘Well, is someone going to tell me about this wonderful idea?’
    Gerry coughed nervously before starting to explain. His nervousness disappeared almost instantly as he got carried away by his own enthusiasm, and as he talked Jill could understand why.
‘So, to summarise: by sponsoring a breast cancer charity, Cauldwell’s will get a very high profile, target women specifically, and I think the worthiness of the sponsorship speaks for
itself.’
    With a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, Jill realized that Vinny’s idea left hers for dead. ‘Well,’ she said when Gerry had finished, ‘that sounds like a winner to
me.’
    A wave of relief went around the table. ‘You like it?’ Michelle asked.
    ‘It’s brilliant,’ Jill announced. ‘I think we should put a presentation together for Sue right away.’
    Ollie frowned. ‘Shouldn’t we wait until Vinny gets back?’
    Jill