Skinny Dipping (22 page)

She looked up at the pretty figure seated in front of her. Sophie watched as the girl was filled with dread, awkwardly twisting her hands.

She scanned the girl, petite, pretty, should she even let the girl audition? Everyone knew casting was all about having the right look. Her mind was already made up. It would be a waste of time, and where was Desmond the lazy sod? He probably knew she’d do all the donkey work and then let him have the final say. As the Art Director, it was his responsibility to choose the right person, but Sophie would have to sell the face with Matthew Silver, and that was precisely why she’d even turned up to the casting.

She made a note next to the girl’s name. “Not confident enough to be the face of anything. Why did the agent send her?”

Sophie looked at the girl, bewildered at why an actress was so nervous, and began to form her words, a ‘thank you for coming, but no thank you.’ And Sophie would then explain to the agent that the girl didn’t have the ‘right look.’ That’s what the industry always said, getting a part was all about having the right look.

Then the girl smiled. A radiant beam lit her face, transforming her with a girl next-door type of look, friendly and cheeky all the same. Sophie felt a spark of encouragement, there it was that little sparkle, the extra something Sophie was looking for. Could this girl actually have that something?

“Don’t be nervous,” Sophie said, softly, flicking the papers in front of her and looking at the girl’s resume. She was green. Fresh. Barely a splash of experience. What if the girl panicked at the time of shooting?

“You can begin if you like?”

“I dare you to love your body.” The girl was thin.
Tick.
Her face was dewy, fresh.
Tick.
Her voice was rich.
Tick.
Her smile would probably melt hearts. Sophie gazed at the girl, she needed a second opinion, from Desmond. Bloody Art Director, the one with the experience here, where was he?

“The answer is easy: get skinny by dipping.” The girl curved her lips up into a lovely smile. But did she have the wow factor to sell a zillion pool memberships across the nation? The experience to pull it off?

“I dare you to feel confident in your skin.” The girl’s voice was husky, breathy almost.

“We double dare you to love your body with or without clothes on. Easy,” the girl shrugged naturally, like she really believed the script. “Get skinny by dipping at Sliver Swimming Pools. The dare is on you.”

The longer Sophie watched the girl, the more fantastic she seemed. She needed a second opinion. She needed Desmond – or she just might hire her on the spot, and be done with the audition process. She was getting hounded from Bradley that she wasn’t being efficient enough, working hard enough. This girl seemed fine.

A niggling feeling in the pit of her stomach stopped her. The girl was green. Something in her gut told her that maybe for a national commercial they needed someone with experience.

“Thanks,” Sophie mumbled, giving nothing away, her face blank. “What’s your name again?”

“Samantha.”

“Well done, Samantha, you’ll be hearing from your agent, you’re free to go.” Sophie forced herself not to look up from her piece of paper, feeling disturbed. Her father was in the same predicament, redundant and was now trying to get a job, anywhere. People needed to start somewhere didn’t they? Especially in a recession. But in a recession, there were more candidates than jobs, so she could afford to wait for the right mix, the right face, the right experience.

Was there another star waiting outside? She didn’t have the time to audition everyone. Since Desmond wasn’t around, she’d have to have a call back regardless. She asterisked the girl’s name. She would call her back. Maybe she’d get it. Maybe outside there would be someone else? Someone a little more experienced?

The world was supposedly full of out of work actresses, but where were they? Probably sleeping-in like Carol…Carol. It was a pity Carol just got her dancing job.

Sophie leaned back in her chair, hearing the click of the door closing. Carol would be perfect. She definitely held people’s attention, from the moment people laid eyes on her. She was captivating, she had sex appeal – Josh almost fell all over himself trying to talk to her last night in the bar. Carol could at least audition, if she wanted to, that wouldn’t hurt would it? It would be an excellent opportunity, the face of a national commercial. But should she mix friendship with business? What if it didn’t work out? Would Carol be angry at her? Would she kick her out? Sophie pushed the thought aside.

Picking up her smart phone, Sophie dialled. “How’s the rehearsal going?”

“Just watching the lead have some sort of tantrum, I can’t speak right now. The tension’s so thick, there’s not much time for us to get the production in order. What’s up? I don’t have long before the director has us back on stage.” Her voice was a whisper.

“I was just seeing how much time you have, can you pop out for lunch or anything? Thirty minutes?” Sophie tried to feel Carol out, to see whether there was any possibility of her coming in to audition.

“Soph, I’d love to, but I’ve just started at this dance company. I’ve got so much catch up to do as the only reason they hired me was because another girl had to leave, last minute. It’s really hard to get work. The company also do loads of training. I’ve got this ballet training schedule. It’s like Big Brother. They know where I am at every moment of every day. I can’t just pop out. It’s too early in the piece. I’m so sorry, I can’t leave,” Carol exclaimed.

“Sure, sure, no problem.” It was probably better to not mention it to her. There was no guarantee that Carol would get the job either, she’d still have to be approved by Desmond. Sophie pushed the thought aside. “Not to worry, I’ll see you later.”

Sophie focused back on the list, it was better to use professional actresses, rather than a dancer, wasn’t it? She pushed the image of Carol from her mind.

She walked to the doorway, poking her head out of the audition room, her eyes glued to her notebook.

“Felicity Snow,” she called, loudly. “Felicity?” Sophie raised her voice, looking up from her list. The waiting room was full of models, gaunt hopefuls wanting to be right for the commercial. “Felicity?” Sophie paced the corridor looking into each girl’s face.

Sophie stopped, halting in front of Desmond. So he’d finally decided to turn up, but of course he was simply chatting to the ladies. What was wrong with this picture? “Are you Felicity Snow?” Sophie demanded, tapping her foot as she stood in front of him.

He was leaning over a scrawny red head, and Desmond didn’t bother to glance at Sophie as he pressed a business card into her palm.

“Karen, isn’t it?” he asked. The model nodded enthusiastically, she was about twenty years old with short hair cut in a fashionable style. “I’m an Art Director at
Clarks
. Just call my office to set something up as I have something I think just might be perfect for you.” The model beamed at him. God Desmond was intolerable.

Next to Desmond, sitting at the end of the row of was Bradley, impeccably dressed in a pressed white shirt and slicked black hair. He stared up at Sophie, a mock grin on his face. The corners of Sophie’s mouth twitched, she struggled to keep her expression flat, serious, she raised a questioning eyebrow. He surely wasn’t becoming like Desmond, was he? Bradley was too much of a professional, wasn’t he? Although, Sophie had heard rumours about him sleeping with some of the temp staff. And he’d definitely looked down her top on occasions, she was sure of it.

“You’re clearly not Felicity Snow either.” Sophie shook her head and folded her arms. “What are you doing here? You know I can’t afford your time charged to my client code so you better not be billing?”

“I need to speak to you for a moment. Can you leave Desmond in charge for a bit?”

She shot Desmond an irate glare. “Of course I can leave him in charge, since he should have been here for the last hour.” She thrust the list of names into Desmond’s hand. “We’re up to Felicity Snow and there are a few candidates we might want to call back. I’ve marked with asterisks.”

Desmond was talking to his next victim; he certainly wasn’t worried. “Yeah, okay Soph, whatever you want.” He didn’t even bother to meet her eye. Lazy. If he weren’t so talented, Sophie would never use him as part of her team. But when crunch time came, he seemed to come out with the goods, pull everyone and everything together.

Chapter 17

Bradley motioned for Sophie to enter his office. As the door shut behind her, leaving them alone, a nightmarish realisation swept over her. Something was wrong, very wrong.

His tall figure prowled, circling round like she’d walked into a lion’s den, his gaze flicked up and down until he stopped still. He stood close, too close. She felt goose bumps rushing up her arms as his minty breath touched her cheek; she could only hear his breathing. This was one of his intimidation techniques. She’d learned it herself in a sales course, he’d sent her on.

“You’re not on your game.” He rubbed the bottom of his chiselled chin, a lazy grin appearing on his face.

She looked up from underneath her lashes, his gaze danced at her as if he was looking for a partner. She would dance, but she would have to will herself to focus, concentrate on the right steps. Or she’d be caught unstuck, tripping over her tongue like the rest of the girls in the office, dragged into some type of woozy daze simply from looking at him. Today, she needed to concentrate more than ever.

“You’re supposed to practically be in bed with your clients. Know everything.”

“Bradley, what’s this about?”

“I might have been wrong about you.”

Sophie shifted uncomfortably on her feet, folding her arms in front of her. “I don’t think that’s the case and I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Bradley’s comment kept revolving through her mind like she was stuck on a carrousel.
He might have been wrong about her.
Might have been wrong? What did that mean? One thing was for sure, she needed to fight back, because something was going on with Bradley which she didn’t like.

“The hotel chain. The Silver Account. We’re not going to get it.”

“Oh,” she said, a pang in her guts, understanding the information. “But I’ve increased billing on that client about fifty percent.”

He scowled. “You should have known that we wouldn’t get the hotel chain business. You’ve wasted your time, with all those stupid swimming lessons you’re doing. You’ve become inefficient and lost perspective with what’s important. More revenue and working efficiently. I just don’t understand. How could you not know that the work was going to another firm? How?”

There was a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Bradley needed someone to blame. He needed a scapegoat.

“How?” she said in exasperation. “Matthew Silver wants us to continue on with the Skinny Dipping campaign, and said he’d think about the hotels. It makes sense considering he already has an advisor for the hotel chain. So it’s not like he’s reappointing a new advisor. I have had a discussion about how we can help but he wants to see how we deliver first on the Skinny Dipping campaign.”

“I’ve got a feeling you’re emotionally invested in this one; you can’t see the forest for the trees. And what was with you this morning at the management meeting? You get one email from Matthew Silver and you go all dreamy.”

Sophie was shocked. “That’s not true.” Her head had been full of Derek. Not Matthew at all.

“Besides, my sources say he’s speaking to another agency. You should have known you had no chance.” He ran a hand through his hair. “The thing is, Soph, you couldn’t even get Matthew Silver to a gala. I mean a
gala
Sophie, with free booze. If you can’t get a client to go to a party, then how are you going to win new work? We’re under immense pressure now. I just agreed that Kelly…”

“Kelly?” Sophie shut her eyes, willing the words not to be true.

“Yes, Kelly, she’s got the killer instinct. She will do the pitch to Barney’s.”

“What?” She flicked her eyes open. “You’re ripping me out at this stage? That’s insane. You know I spoke to Tom Johnson, we get along like a house on fire.” Sophie stepped back, her thoughts wildly alert and focused.

“The Silver Account is not a good track record. I’m sending an email out to the Barney’s team, letting them know Kelly’s going to lead the account because you’re too busy.”

Sophie stared at him, speechless. He knew she’d put the hours in just for the chance of pitching to Barney’s. Now that she’d been given the go-ahead, he was taking it away from her.

“Please reconsider.” She pinched herself, feeling her nails dig deep into her thumbs. She needed to pull herself together, form an argument, and stop this from happening.

“It’s done.”

“I don’t believe this.” She shut her eyes, her mind working in overdrive.

“I have to make the right business decisions, especially in a recession. I can’t afford you to stuff up our opportunity with Barney’s. Our firm needs this…are you okay?”

“Am I okay?” she scathed, unable to mask the fury. “Of course I’m
okay
.” She glared at him. She turned away. His good looks should have been a sign, an omen from above, he was far too good looking to be human, to have human feelings and human emotions. Bradley, the super stud in the physical form was nothing but pure business.

“I’m on your side.”

“Funny way of showing it.”

“You sound like you might need a moment, maybe some personal time to calm down.”

“I’m fine.”

He eyed her carefully. “We’re happy to have you, Soph,” Bradley said. “Keep holding it together, okay.”

Keep holding it together, what the hell did he mean by that?
Her mobile phone vibrated into life and she grabbed it, focusing on the call, it was her father. “I’ve got to take this, it’s a client,” she lied. But what would Bradley know anyway?

She ran toward the door. “Oh and Bradley. I’m happy to be here, I love this job. So hopefully I’m not quite on the firing line yet,” she said through clenched teeth.