‘Old friend and good friend,’ came a voice above Charlene’s head. It was Travis, who’d been shamelessly eavesdropping. ‘It made my day when you turned up here, Charlene. Now, make it even better and have lunch with me.’
His hand on her arm brooked no resistance. Not that she wanted to resist. She was too grateful to him. Lee gave her a meaningless smile and vanished out of the door with Penny.
There was no doubt that Travis had saved her dignity. All eyes were on them as he escorted her out of the studio, into the corridor, into the elevator, finally the canteen. Heads turned, people stared at him in the company of a girl nobody had seen before.
Charlene struggled to collect her thoughts. Lee’s blank manner had told her everything she needed to know. But would that change when he heard her news? She had a terrible fear that it wouldn’t.
‘Thank you,’ she said when they were sitting at the table. ‘You saved me from looking a complete fool.’
‘Don’t call yourself a fool. That’s just playing his game. Presentation is all important.’
‘It’ll take more than presentation to stop me looking pathetic,’ she said in a tone of self-contempt. ‘I came all this way for a man who isn’t interested.’
‘But nobody has to know. Smile at me. Let them see us enjoying each other’s company. Go on, smile. More. That’s better.’
She was aware of the crowded canteen, and even more aware of Lee and Penny sitting together.
Good, she thought defiantly. Now he knew she wasn’t desperate for him.
‘So you’re a financial genius,’ he said.
She made a face. ‘That’s what I used to think, but it seems not.’
‘Hey, if you’re good with figures then I’m impressed. I’m rubbish at them.’
‘But it’s possible to be good with figures and rubbish at everything else,’ she said quietly. ‘It doesn’t make you good with people. I thought being good at the job was all I needed to get promoted, but the promotion went to some little doll-face who’d learned the job from me in the first place. When I protested I was told that they relied on me to keep an eye on her.’