In the lift, Annabelle caught up with Rose. ‘Rose!’
‘Hey,’ she said, holding the lift door.
‘Sorry to bug you. I just wanted to ask you something quickly.’
‘Sure.’
‘I know you brought Milo to the party last time. I was wondering if I could do something to help get him here this time to perform. I know Minnie and Oliver have been trying but I’m not sure anything’s been confirmed yet. I wanted to see if you had any tips?’
Rose felt her stomach lurch.
‘I’m not sure I do,’ she replied sternly. ‘He’s on tour at the moment.’
‘Yes, I know, but there’s a gap in his schedule – we could fly him from Berlin to London and back to Amsterdam the next day and it would be fine.’
‘I don’t think it’s a good idea, Annabelle.’
‘Why not?’
Rose paused to consider the prospect for the first time. If Milo did come to the StandFirst launch, she could confront him. Or, at least, talk to him and try to piece together the compilation of sounds, images and feelings that had been hopelessly roaming around her head since that night, looking for something solid to cling to.
‘You can try emailing Joss directly,’ said Rose, firmly. ‘Tell her about the reach of StandFirst among younger people. Correlate that with his fanbase. Send her all the positive coverage from when Milo attended the awards. Tell her about all the other talent we have lined up so far. And work out the highest possible fee you can with Liz. He won’t do it again for free.’
‘Thank you so much, Rose,’ she replied, delighted. ‘I still can’t believe you met him. I’m such a Jaxer!’
Rose pressed the button to close the lift.
‘Was he, like, flirty with you when you saw him?’ Annabelle asked, her hand now in between the lift doors.
‘No.’
‘Does he have a girlfriend?’
‘I don’t know, Annabelle. Google it.’
‘But did it seem like he had a girlfriend when he spoke to you?’
Before Rose could stop herself she was shouting: ‘For fuck’s sake, Annabelle! What the fuck are you getting so obsessive about?’
Annabelle took a step back, her expression a mix of terror and intrigue.
‘Sorry, Annabelle. I’m sorry,’ said Rose, her cheeks piping hot.
‘No worries,’ she replied quietly.
‘I have to go.’
The lift doors closed before Annabelle could intercept again.
There was a bench bathing in the morning sun just across from the office; Rose sat there and took a deep breath. She would have to apologise to Annabelle properly tomorrow. The last thing she needed was reports to Jasper that ‘Roisin’ in PR had screamed in her face.
Clara hadn’t posted anything on Instagram that day – and there was nothing on her Stories. Her most recent grid post was from three days ago and was a reel of selfies taken in what appeared to be the bathroom of a lavish hotel suite. She was holding up different lip glosses in each of the photos, her lips pouted and glistening like they’d just been dipped in lacquer. Loving my new @LivLipKits, she captioned the post. Perfect for a date night ;) #ad #spon.
Hey Clara, Rose began in the DM. Just heard the news from Minnie. I know this might sound odd but I just wanted to check in. I’d love to chat to know if you’re okay?
She tapped ‘Send’. The word ‘Seen’ instantly appeared underneath.
Clara started typing. Then she stopped. She started again. Rose’s eyes were fixed on her screen. This routine continued for three minutes. Finally, a small block of text appeared.
Hey Rose. I really appreciate you getting in touch. Kind of you. I’m okay, thank you. I’m so, so sorry about the event. Really wishing you well. Maybe next time. MM x.
Rose sighed and started typing back. That’s okay. I wanted to talk to you, actually. Nothing to do with the event. Are you free for breakfast? I have Minnie’s company card. We could go anywhere you like?
Typing. Not typing. Typing again. Not typing.
I love the avocado toast at Cecconi’s. I saw you posted a pic of it the other day, Rose wrote.
I can be there in 35 minutes. Ordering an Uber.
Great! See you soon x.
X
Rose texted Minnie: Meeting Clara now at Cecconi’s. Will sort. She wanted to prove to Minnie that she could do this. That she wasn’t ‘the girl who got Milo Jax’. She wanted her name to be as disconnected from his as much as possible. She’d be ‘the girl that got one of the biggest social media influencers in the UK to walk in the fashion show for the StandFirst launch party’. She would be ‘the person who saved the fucking day’.
Fantastic, darling! Keep me posted.
Will do x.
