Ella wrote something down. ‘Amazing. I think GetThere are also interested in working with them, so it’ll be great to see all three of us collaborating.’
‘And reassuring to anyone who saw the Twitter drama that Level is committed to putting the safety of its users at the heart of its strategy. Which is exactly what we should be aiming for with this kind of thing.’ Harriet looked happy, which was a good sign.
‘Okay, so that’s partnerships. But as we all know, our outgoings are a little bit higher than our takings at the moment.’ Ella looked to Andrew, who nodded and started putting it plainly and simply.
We needed to accept an investor. It was a non-negotiable at this point. We hadn’t taken a penny from anyone since we’d been crowdfunded, and I knew Rory was incredibly hesitant to offer up any slice of our company. I reached my hand under the table to steady his knee, which was jiggling obsessively.
‘Unfortunately, the lifestyle brand that hinted at a bit of interest last week has pulled out because of the Twitter scenario.’ Ella wasn’t looking either of us in the eye. ‘So we need to get creative.’
I took the news within my stride. I was not surprised. About that, or about what came next.
‘But Link is still persistent. We’ve had several emails from them over the last two weeks, asking to meet. I think we should.’
I didn’t have to look at Rory to know what he was thinking.
‘What is it that they want to offer?’
He shot me a wounded look that I’d even tolerated the topic enough to ask.
‘Enough to get us out of the shit, and then some.’ Harriet piped up.
‘Would you be willing to meet with them?’ Ella gave me her best doe-eyed glance. She’d definitely been manifesting about this conversation. There was probably rose quartz lined up on her desk.
Rory said ‘no’ at the same time as I said ‘yes’.
‘What?’ He whipped his head around to stare at me like I’d sprouted antennae. ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’
I took a deep breath before ploughing on with what I had to say. ‘I think we should hear them out, Ror. Even just to say no, once and for all.’
Ella’s expression was cautiously optimistic, but everyone else at the table was silent. Apart from Rory.
‘Penny, this is an outrageously bad idea. And you don’t often come up with bad ones. Are you feeling okay?’
This was it. This was my chance to admit that my faith in our project was faltering. To get out what I’d been trying to tell him for days. Link had been exploiting people’s vulnerability and need for human connection for years, and they’d been doing it well. If I still believed we were doing something radically different, I’d be on the same side of the fence as my best friend. But I didn’t believe that any more. And we were struggling financially. There was something we could learn from these people, even if we were never going to go out for dinner or clink glasses with them.
‘Please. I want to hear them out.’
Rory threw up his hands. ‘Well, given that you’re the CEO, I think we have to, don’t we? I cannot believe this.’ He muttered the last part under his breath.
‘You’re just as much the CEO as me, don’t be stupid.’
He shot me a withering look. ‘Let’s not talk about who is being stupid, shall we?’
Ella, Andrew, and Harriet looked like they wanted to crawl under the table and take cover.
I made an executive decision. ‘We’ll hear them out. When do they want to meet?’
An awkward pause before Ella started twiddling her side pony frantically. ‘Well, you see, that’s the thing. They were keen to do it as soon as possible. And I thought on the off-chance you’d agree to it, we needed to strike whilst the iron was hot. And if you didn’t agree to it, we could tell them where to stick it.’
‘Shit.’ Rory got there first. ‘They’re here, aren’t they?’
I glanced behind me, like our sworn enemies might already be watching.
‘They’re in the lobby.’ Ella bit her lip. ‘I’m sorry, I just really think this is a good idea, and I knew that if I managed to get you to agree to it, you might un-agree to it as soon as you left the room.’
Rory’s eyes were narrowed, but I was kind of impressed. ‘That was a good tactic, I have to admit.’
She flushed, taking one look at Rory before quickly looking away. ‘Okay, I’ll buzz them up. You only have to hear them out for ten minutes, tops.’
Ella and Harriet left the room, presumably to go and get our guests. It took precisely two seconds after the glass door had swung shut for Rory to turn to me and let loose.
‘What on earth?’ His eyes were wild. ‘Is this company not everything we were trying to counteract when we started working together?’
I nodded, trying and failing to reach for his hand, which he snatched away. ‘Yes, I know. But if we don’t get this out of the way, it’ll keep coming up. You know it will. We don’t want to look scared of them.’
‘We aren’t scared of them. We just hate everything they stand for.’
Andrew was twiddling his thumbs, pretending to be engrossed in two pigeons outside on the roof. ‘Please pretend I’m not here.’
The pigeons started getting down to business. Andrew averted his gaze from them too. I felt a bit sorry for him.
‘We do still hate everything they stand for, don’t we?’ Rory wasn’t done.
‘Yes, of course.’ I tucked my hair behind my ear and smoothed down my dress, trying to regain some composure. What I didn’t say was that I wasn’t convinced I didn’t hate what our own app stood for too.
We heard the glass door open again, Harriet coming in and sitting down. She looked stressed.
‘Penny, I had no idea, I swear. I’m really sorry.’
