I don’t know why I’m so much more positive this morning, I guess it’s because after the recent events I realise that none of it really matters, not in the same way as being in hospital or really ill. I mean, it’s just a job. Suddenly I feel sorry for the rest of the team, constantly striving for supposed physical and fashionable perfection. For some reason today, it seems petty and somehow irrelevant.
Mid morning, I wander off to grab my coffee, carefully managing to avoid the rest of the team who are bound to be having a bitch somewhere, holding a post-mortem on why Heidi left and whether she was told to go. Mark is out on a course so I’m missing our usual gossip. If he weren’t at Modiste, I don’t think I’d have made it this long.
I’m idly sitting flicking through my e-mails on my iPhone when a message pops up from Darcy Drummond. It’s entitled Just wanted to say… How bizarre, I didn’t even know he has my e-mail address.
For no apparent reason, I surreptitiously check no-one is watching as I quickly click on the message. Oh my gosh, it’s really long. For a moment I panic, thinking he’s asking me to leave the agency, so hurriedly scan the screen.
Dear Sophie,
Please don’t think I’m stalking you or asking you to go out with me again, or anything like that. It’s just that when we spoke the other day, I didn’t get a chance to explain some of the things you’re so angry about.
Firstly with regard to your sister, Chloe, I could tell right from the start Nick really liked her. While I could see that she obviously enjoyed being with him, I assumed she wasn’t really interested as she’s married. In fact, it is against regulations for anyone to attend agency events if they are married, or in a long-term relationship, for obvious reasons. I notice she hasn’t been at any others since the ball, so will let this pass without repercussion, but you can understand that for a professional agency such as ours, we can’t be mixed up in divorce cases and being sued for being an accessory to the fact.
(Oh, typical pompous Darcy. Who the hell does he think he is, a divorce lawyer?)
Nick on the other hand, I could tell was pretty smitten and therefore thought it best to remove him from the situation. I haven’t got any other apology to make about this – it was the right thing to do, that’s all there is to it.
(I scowl at the screen, this guy is so full of himself it’s not true.)
As for Daniel, I’ve known him since I was a kid, we used to hang out together as teenagers but knowing him as well as I do, I can honestly tell you he’s a born liar. I don’t know what crap fabricated story he has given you, but I suspect he’s been making me out to be the bad guy.
When my father was alive, he was very fond of Daniel and took pleasure in overseeing his upbringing as he came from a very deprived home. As part of the charitable causes supported by Drummond Associates, my father arranged for Daniel to be included in the apprenticeship scheme. I know his background was maybe against him, but he had every opportunity to improve his chances in life. It soon became apparent to me, however, that he was prone to late-night drinking binges, getting himself involved in fights and general bad behaviour. This side of his life he managed to keep away from my father and I felt it was not my place to disillusion him. In any case, it would have just looked like jealousy.
Dad was impressed with Daniel’s “transformation” and pleased with his metamorphosis into polite society. He maintained this belief right to the end of his life, therefore leaving in his will instruction for Daniel to join our business at management level. I had my doubts about this as Daniel’s background was so different, his mentality so unsuited to corporate city life, but I honoured my father’s wishes and tried to welcome him to the company. At first, Daniel appeared to attempt to fit in, attending meetings and turning up punctually, but as time went on, huge cracks began to show. Daniel took issues into his own hands, he got on the wrong side of the board members who have been here for years and know the system inside and out.
I won’t go into details but worse still, Daniel acted in a completely unethical way on a large deal with Branscombe Holdings, going behind the board’s back and causing us not only to lose face publicly, but the eventual loss of the deal. It was the cause of a major PR disaster and required a lot of covering up. This of course had no other possible conclusion other than his appearance before a tribunal and his immediate dismissal. I admit in this maybe I could have tried to intervene, perhaps even plead his case and inexperience, but I could not bring myself to do so. I must admit this gives me an occasional twinge of conscience, but it is too late to do anything about it so I have no more to say on the matter.
I believe Daniel went off to work for various shoddy companies of a dubious nature, at the same time as getting himself a really bad reputation with women, drink and drugs. He also racked up numerous gambling debts in his spare time. He has stayed out of my way until now. When I discovered he had joined the dating agency, it was a horrible shock. He can only be attempting some kind of revenge against me. I have consulted with Jessica Palmer-Wright on the matter, but unfortunately he was allowed to join by Emma Woodtree who obviously was not aware of his history. As you know, Daniel can be very charming and persuasive when he wishes.
I realise this e-mail is more like one of your novels (Don’t I know it, I think), but I wanted you to understand where I am coming from and to realise that just as Daniel is not totally blameless, neither am I as black and heartless as you seem to think.
As far as our relationship goes, we’re polar opposites and you can’t expect me to have chosen to be with someone who is so naively prejudiced against the world of business. Your background is very different from mine so it’s not something you can understand. If it weren’t for companies like ours, the city would not exist. Business, not love, really does make the world go round.
I hope your friends have recovered and everything is going well for you. And just for the record, your mum and Mel are right; I believe you can do so much better for yourself than Modiste.
With very best wishes,
Darcy Drummond
I sit and stare blankly at my phone; my head is whirling. Darcy really is a totally arrogant piece of work. How dare he decide whether Chloe should be in the agency or not? Though to be fair, the sensible part of me does see some kind of sense in this. I really hate being able to see other people’s point of view, it makes life so complicated.
As for Daniel, hmmm, seems like he is George Wickham to the very core. Why on earth couldn’t I have seen through his lies earlier? I’m no smarter than Lydia Bennet. I know I thought it would be better than nothing to go out with a Wickham, but quite honestly, he is no different from the other sad losers in my dating history.
I guess it was kind of Darcy to try to explain about Daniel, but his arrogance shines through every word. To be fair he has a privileged background and no idea what it would be like if his and Daniel’s situations were reversed, perhaps he too would be out drinking and gambling. I try to imagine Darcy in low-cost housing and fail.
What does he mean by saying I can do better for myself than Modiste? I guess that is a compliment of sorts, but the patronising way he says I don’t understand business. Hah, he’s right, I don’t understand it and I don’t bloody want to either.