BooksBarbecue
Back Careering Save as PDF
Chapters (64)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Author
  3. Dedication
  4. Chapter One
  5. Chapter Two
  6. Chapter Three
  7. Chapter Four
  8. Chapter Five
  9. Chapter Six
  10. Chapter Seven
  11. Chapter Eight
  12. Chapter Nine
  13. Chapter Ten
  14. Chapter Eleven
  15. Chapter Twelve
  16. Chapter Thirteen
  17. Chapter Fourteen
  18. Chapter Fifteen
  19. Chapter Sixteen
  20. Chapter Seventeen
  21. Chapter Eighteen
  22. Chapter Nineteen
  23. Chapter Twenty
  24. Chapter Twenty-One
  25. Chapter Twenty-Two
  26. Chapter Twenty-Three
  27. Chapter Twenty-Four
  28. Chapter Twenty-Five
  29. Chapter Twenty-Six
  30. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  31. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  32. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  33. Chapter Thirty
  34. Chapter Thirty-One
  35. Chapter Thirty-Two
  36. Chapter Thirty-Three
  37. Chapter Thirty-Four
  38. Chapter Thirty-Five
  39. Chapter Thirty-Six
  40. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  41. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  42. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  43. Chapter Forty
  44. Chapter Forty-One
  45. Chapter Forty-Two
  46. Chapter Forty-Three
  47. Chapter Forty-Four
  48. Chapter Forty-Five
  49. Chapter Forty-Six
  50. Chapter Forty-Seven
  51. Chapter Forty-Eight
  52. Chapter Forty-Nine
  53. Chapter Fifty
  54. Chapter Fifty-One
  55. Chapter Fifty-Two
  56. Chapter Fifty-Three
  57. Chapter Fifty-Four
  58. Chapter Fifty-Five
  59. Chapter Fifty-Six
  60. Chapter Fifty-Seven
  61. Chapter Fifty-Eight
  62. Chapter Fifty-Nine
  63. Epilogue
  64. Acknowledgements

Perhaps motivated by guilt, Jen combed Gumtree for days, and eventually found me a room of my own in a flat with two other girls, and I was so grateful and relieved that I didn’t mind that the girls were awful, that the room had no windows, that it was a forty minute walk from the tube, and technically not even in London at all.

I don’t want to look at my phone any more. I place it face down on the desk, and return to my Word doc.

Features ideas:

Can your best friend break your heart?

Chapter Ten

Battle lines are drawn

Harri

Harri truly hates this boardroom. Harri blames this boardroom for everything that has gone wrong for her over the last few weeks. Here, the fault lines lie. This is where all she’d ever worked for, all she’d ever hoped for, careered away from her, out of her grasp. This is where she learned that control is an illusion, that loyalty is for losers and that her whole world could be destroyed by a man who buys multipack shirts with the ties attached.

‘Today is a special day, and I’m so glad we’re all here together,’ she lies. ‘I’ve got some notes on the campaign, we’re waiting for final sign off from the platform, but the money is excellent, and the profile of the product is a great fit. Now, you’ve all read the Brand Bible, and we’ve identified our key reader…yes?’

Lily is frowning at her with undisguised irritation, keen to cut in. ‘We need Mackenzie’s sign off, and she’s not going to agree to this. Firstly, we haven’t approved the Brand Bible demographics yet. The reader’s projected annual earnings are far too low. We’re not going to get any advertisers unless we can prove that our reader earns at least 80–100k.’

Akila starts to speak. ‘But that’s a crazy figure! Even if we were targeting an older audience, that number is twice as high as I’d expect it to be. And Harri has interested advertisers based on these very— ’

Lily interrupts her. ‘And we’ve got major concerns about the sexual health and wellness section. It says here that our key reader is “more likely than previous generations to identify as LGBTQI+ and keen to invest her disposable income in sexual pleasure”. I mean, Harri, really? Just where do you think you’re going to find these girls?’ She bleats a half laugh.

Katie nods. ‘Mackenzie is extremely conservative, she will have serious concerns about alienating our potential American audience with these content proposals.’