Who's Afraid of Mr Wolfe?

Who's Afraid of Mr Wolfe? by Hazel Osmond Read Free Book Online

Book: Who's Afraid of Mr Wolfe? by Hazel Osmond Read Free Book Online
Authors: Hazel Osmond
Tags: Literary, Romance, Literature & Fiction, Contemporary, Contemporary Fiction
Rachel’s, as though having any kind of sexual congress with a creative was akin to going to bed with a warthog.
    Rachel stalked away to join a group of account executives and the rest of them made fun of Mike until they sensed he’d had enough and bought him a compensatorydrink. Ellie put her arm round him and told him not to take Rachel’s rejection personally; she had her eye on bigger game.
    After that they had another round of drinks, gossiped some more, groaned at how much more arrogant Gavin would be when he came back, and then decided to call it a night. They all had a big day tomorrow.
    Outside, London was cold and glittering and noisy, the traffic still grinding its tortuous way home. Ellie sniffed the air and felt the restless excitement in it. She never got tired of coming out into the lights and thinking that anything, anything would be possible. It was what had drawn her to London and what, despite all the other irritations of living there, made her miss it whenever she was away.
    They said their goodbyes, and when Ellie gave Lesley a big hug, Mike said in a rush, ‘You two, you don’t ever … do you?’
    ‘No,’ they said in unison, and smacked him round the head.
    By 11 a.m. the next day Jack was slowly simmering. Was this the best this bloody agency could do? They were halfway through the first pitch and he felt as if he’d seen it a hundred times before. Smiling women discussing how their lives had been transformed by their panty liners. Then, surprise, surprise, one of the women caught the eyeof a passing bloke and ended up trotting off down the street with him, her white-trouser-clad backside swaying appealingly, no doubt. It was bland; it was unimaginative; it was indistinguishable from anything else that was out there. In short, what the client probably wanted, but not what they needed.
    Jack made a point of looking at his watch and then stared hard at the guy dressed in the red T-shirt who was still talking. What was his name? Jon? Jon without a frigging ‘h’?
    Well, Jon was about to discover that missing consonants out of your name didn’t make you a good creative. Jack tuned in to a few more seconds of the tripe about the happy women and swivelled slightly in his chair to look at Jon’s partner. Ah, the famous Zak. Earning twice as much as the others and producing half the stuff. Living off past glories. Cocky-looking too. Just sitting back and letting his partner do all the hard work.
    Jack caught Zak’s eye. Well, that had solved that – the guy didn’t look so cocksure now.
    Jon blathered on for a bit longer and then there was silence in the room. Jack let it stretch out for a while as he searched for something to say that would sum up what he thought of Jon and Zak’s creative treatment.
    Yeah, he had it: ‘Give me bloody strength.’ He watched them crumple in their seats. Now they didn’t look so super-cool; more like schoolboys waiting to be caned.
    A sweating Hugo lumbered to his feet to introduce Juliette and Mike. Jack put his elbows on the desk and rested his chin in his hands. They made an interesting combination, these next two, but was it a combination that worked? Jack had sensed a bit of tension between them already. Perhaps Mike, fresh out of college, was a bit too impetuous for his partner. Good designer, though, and she was a good enough writer.
    Mike stood up and launched straight into the pitch. He was rattling along so quickly that Jack had to concentrate hard to make out what he was saying, and his arms were all over the place. Jack saw Juliette reach out and tug at the back of Mike’s jeans. When he turned round, she gave him a searing look. ‘Slow down,’ she mouthed. Yeah, that was it – he was too bouncy, like a big Labrador, and she hadn’t got him trained yet. Still, with a little time they might come good.
    Jack focused on what Mike was saying and then caught sight of the first storyboard that he was holding. Utterly unbelievable. They were about

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