Free The Out of Office Girl by Nicola Doherty Page A

back a card. Great. Now it’s official: he’s paid, and he’s in charge of this trip.
    ‘Hey, it’s a pity you can’t make it tonight, Alice,’ says Luther jovially, punching me gently onthe arm. I’m so relieved that he doesn’t seem to be cross with me any more.
    ‘But we’ll go again,’ he adds.
    Smiling at him tentatively, I think: that’s what I’m afraid of.

SEVEN
    As we drive back that evening, my heart is in my boots. It’s all the fault of my stupid luggage. If only I hadn’t checked it in: why didn’t I just carry it on? But even if I did have my clothes, what good would it do me? I’d still be following Luther around, asking him if he could spare a second for the book, which he clearly has no intention of doing. I’ve been here a whole day, and we’reno closer to working on it than we were before I came. I might as well still be in London.
    When we get back, everyone goes off on separate errands. Federico has gone home to meet his wife – I knew she existed but he didn’t mention her during his monologue to me earlier. Luther has disappeared: from the sounds I can hear from behind his door, I think he’s playing a video game. Sam is making moreof his endless hiring-and-firing phone calls. Annabel has gone to pamper herself and choose from her million outfits for her night out: soon the sound of Madonna is pounding from behind her door. I love Madonna and irrationally, I’m annoyed that Annabel likes her too. Brian comes out to meet me from the reception room, his glasses shining in the dusk.
    ‘Any progress?’ he asks hopefully, in a lowvoice.
    ‘Not just yet,’ I say shortly, going past him. After all mytalk of how I’m going to bond with Luther! He must think I’m a total idiot.
    I’m going to have to ring Olivia. I’ll come clean, explain the situation and ask her what to do. I get to my room, compose myself and dig out my phone from my bag.
    It’s dead. And where is my charger? Why, it’s in my luggage, of course. I sit down onthe bed for a minute and look at myself in the mirror, as anxious and pink-cheeked as ever. What would Olivia do? Well, whenever there’s a problem, you talk to the agent. I’m going to tackle Sam. We might disagree about the content of the book, but he has to accept his responsibility to make Luther deliver a proper manuscript.
    On my way out, I notice that Brian is sitting in the corner of thereception room. He’s talking very quietly on his mobile, and saying, ‘We can only hope for the best. I know, I know. Let’s just take it one day at a time.’ Who on earth is he talking to? Olivia? Are they talking about me and how badly I’m doing? I hurry out before I can hear any more.
    Sam is standing on the terrace, talking on his BlackBerry as ever, making a big noise about the size of someone’strailer. Honestly, who cares how big a trailer is? Across the bay, a spectacular sunset is glowing orange and gold over the water. Behind us, Maria Santa is setting the table and lighting candles for dinner. As I walk over to him, I think how idyllic this place could be, in another context, with a completely different set of people who didn’t hate me and whom I didn’t hate. Sam hangs up, putshis phone into his pocket, and sees me standing there.
    ‘Sam, I need to talk to you.’
    He turns back and leans against the balustrade, looking at me. I wish he wasn’t so tall.
    ‘Shoot.’
    I take a deep breath. ‘Look. I know I’ve only been herea day, but it’s pretty clear to me that Luther is not prepared to focus on this book.’
    ‘So?’
    ‘So I’d expect that as his agent, you would use your influenceto make him fulfil his obligation to us.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘Why?’ I’m stunned. ‘Because he signed a contract! Because he’s already accepted an advance, and he’s meant to have delivered a publishable book about six weeks ago.’ I try to keep my voice down, in case Luther is anywhere near us.
    Sam shrugs. ‘We can return the