‘Go on,’ he said.
She put a copy of the magazine in front of him, the page of the story folded back.
‘Fucking hell,’ he said softly after he’d read it. ‘It doesn’t take a genius to work out what’s happened, does it?’ He looked up and gave Erin a cold stare. ‘What did you tell him?’
Any trace of a smile had gone from his face and the tone of his voice made Erin shiver. It would have been safer to have kept quiet.
‘Honestly Adam, absolutely nothing,’ she said, ‘I promise. I swear on my life, I haven’t told him anything about any of the projects the company is involved in.’
‘Well, he’s fucking found out something, hasn’t he?’ said Adam, getting up from behind his desk and walking to the window, rolling the magazine up in his hands.
‘I told him nothing,’ begged Erin. ‘He’s never been in the office unattended. All I can think is that …’ she paused, feeling her cheeks flush. ‘He’s stayed at my flat a few times. Maybe he’s accessed my Blackberry or my laptop.’
Adam turned and threw the magazine across the room, its pages fluttering. ‘Do you have any idea how valuable this contract was to the company?’ he yelled.
Erin nodded, unable to stop a tear sliding down her face.
‘I should fucking fire you.’
That was it. All it took to make Erin crumble. She bent forward, sobs jerking from her mouth like machine-gun fire. She was going to lose everything. Julian, her job, Adam. Even Belvedere Road. Everything.
‘Alright, alright, just stop it okay?’ said Adam, his voice calmer. ‘You, my dear, have been well and truly played.’
‘He’s a bloody shit,’ said Erin, wiping her eyes with the corner of her sleeve.
‘I won’t argue with you there. That “bloody shit” has cost me a fortune in architect fees alone.’
‘That’s only the half of it.’
‘If it’s a broken heart, sugar, you’ll get over it,’ replied Adam curtly.
She took a deep breath and began to tell him about Belvedere Road and her dream of turning it into flats. How Julian had offered to do the drawings and put in the paperwork to secure planning permission. How he was now refusing to contact her and the clock was ticking for her to begin the conversion of the building while every month she was paying mortgage repayments through the nose.
‘You’re developing eight apartments?’ said Adam, beginning to show the hint of a smile.
‘With every penny I own,’ she whispered.
‘Initiative. I like that,’ he mused, the smile growing on his face. ‘That’s the reason why I hired you.’
Erin wondered momentarily if Adam would be so encouraging if he knew she had exploited her position at Midas to buy Belvedere Road and tried to shake away the thought immediately. She was in enough trouble as it was.
‘Will you at least give me a reference?’ she said, biting her lip, trying to salvage something from the rubble. ‘I’ll find it hard to get another job otherwise and I have mortgage payments of over two thousand pounds a month. If I don’t pay I’ll lose the building. Lose my deposit. It was an inheritance from my dad.’ At the thought of her family, Erin felt a little flutter of pride and resilience. She wouldn’t let that bastard Julian Sewell ruin everything.
Adam was rubbing his mouth with his hand. Finally he puffed his cheeks and sighed. ‘I’m not going to give you a reference,’ he said slowly as Erin’s heart plummeted. ‘Because I want you to stay working for me.’
She stared at him, genuinely stunned. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered.
‘Come on,’ he said, taking her arm. ‘Let’s go talk to a few people in the residential department and see if we can find you an architect who can whip you up some drawings. I’m sure we must know somebody in the planning department too who can give us some advice. Where did you say it was?’
Suddenly, the departure of Julian Sewell from her life didn’t seem quite so terrible. She looked at Adam Gold and laughed at his sudden enthusiasm for her project.
‘Thanks Adam,’ she sniffed.
‘Okay. Enough of the pity already. Now, have you thought about how you’re going to market the property …?’
Erin was carried along by Adam’s energy as he swept her out of the office, a wide grin on her face. Sh
e felt grateful, flabbergasted and more happy than she could have hoped only minutes ago. Turning to take a quick peep at Adam, she felt a warm, fuzzy feeling rear up in her tummy that she didn’t want to go away.