The Hating Game (4 page)

Nate took a deep breath and
entered Silver’s lair.

Silver stood at her floor to ceiling windows, gazing out on London.

‘
Nate. Sit down
.’ She spun around and waved him towards a chair, her pale blue eyes locked on his brown ones.

‘
Any news on
Second Chance for Romance
?’ The words slipped out of his mouth before he could stop them.
Ease up, man. Careful.

Silver
slipped into her chair, inserted a cocktail sausage in her mouth and chewed. ‘Actually, yes. There is some news.’

Nate waited for her to continue speaking but she just kept chewing.

‘
What?’ he asked when he couldn’t stand it any longer.

Silver swallowed
. ‘X-ACT is interested.’

‘
X-ACT?’ Nate squeaked. He coughed to cover his excitement. They were one of the biggest TV networks in the UK!

‘
That’s great!’ H
e tried to sound nonchalant. ‘So when do we shoot the pilot?’

Silver shook her head, tapping expertly finished fingernails on the gleaming desk. ‘No pilot, Nate. Actually, they’ve bought the show. We start production next week.’

Nate’s mouth dropped open. No pilot! Filming next week! This was even better than he’d hoped. His life
was
going to change. No more ferret pee, no more slime. He was finally going to be executive producer, quite possibly on a top-rating show.

‘
Just
one thing, Nate. One thing you need to do before I can promote you.’

‘
What?’ Nate asked eagerly. He’d do anything.

Silver threw a stapled sheaf of papers at him. ‘Take the contract. Get the woman signed up – fast. Then come see me and we’ll discuss.’

Nate swallowed. What did she mean,
we’ll discuss
? They’d already agreed he’d be executive producer, hadn’t they? But Silver was standing up and shrugging on her coat.

‘
I’ll see you later this afternoon. With the signed contract.’ She stalked out.

‘
Of course,’ Nate said to the cocktail sausage stash on her desk. ‘No problem.’

A few hours later,
Nate was circling round and round the piazza at Covent Garden, lips moving as he rehearsed his pitch to get Mattie on board. Only thirty minutes, then he’d know if he’d bagged the promotion or not. Thank God Mattie agreed to meet this afternoon.

His stomach rumbled as he passed Mick the Slick and his Dog Stand.
He’d skipped lunch and right now he could think of nothing better than a hotdog with onions; maybe some of those sugared nuts . . .

Focus!
If you nail this, you’ll be executive producer!
He puffed out his chest and straightened up from his usual slump, putting on a serious
I’m an executive producer
expression.

‘
Al
l right, mate?’ Mick the Slick gave him a funny look.

Nate let out his breath. ‘Fine,’ he muttered, backing slowly away from the hotdogs.

He continued
marching around the cobblestones, running snippets through his head. Prize money . . . good PR for business . . . prize money . . . A woman clutched her baby closer and gave him the evil eye and Nate realised he’d been muttering aloud. But he didn’t care. He was almost a big-shot executive producer now! He returned the woman’s glare with one of his own, feeling victorious when she looked away first. Ha!

He walked to
wards Mattie’s office, determination flooding into him. This was it. The last step before he had everything he’d ever dreamed of. There was no way he could mess up now.

*

S
taring at her empty inbox, Mattie couldn’t help but notice the dearth of appointments. There was only one – Nate Reilly – on the agenda for this afternoon.

Where had she heard that name before? She almost called out to Jude,
the receptionist, before remembering she’d had to let Jude go last month to save costs. It was for the best, anyway. Jude had witnessed Kyle’s sleaziness first hand and the last thing Mattie wanted was someone around to remind her of his treachery.

Mattie pushed away the familiar pang
at the thought of Kyle. Where was she? Oh yes. Nate. That was the guy who hadn’t even bothered to show up a few days ago. Loser, Mattie snorted. She hated people who took up space in her agenda, then didn’t even have the common courtesy to ring and cancel. When she saw Mr Nate Reilly, she’d give him a piece of her mind. It would feel good to let off some steam.

T
he familiar sound of the un-oiled door reluctantly giving way alerted her to the fact that someone was in reception.

‘
Come through!’
she yelled, grimacing at the sight of a lumpy man about her age, dressed in baggy jeans and an oversized T-shirt. His hair sprung off his head like an aging Orphan Annie gone wrong and horn-rimmed glasses clung fast to his nose, as if keeping it in place in the middle of a blobby face. She remembered from his file that he worked on kids’ shows. The way he looked, he probably fit right in.

‘
Have a seat.’ She waved him towards the Philipe Starcke chair in front o
f her desk, trying to keep a straight face as he squirmed not to fall off the edge. She’d deliberately chosen the most uncomfortable chair she could find for her office. Watching candidates’ discomfort was both useful in giving her the upper edge and, depending on her mood, highly entertaining.

‘
So.’ Mattie fixed Nate with a glare, noting with satisfaction that he already seemed nervous. ‘Thanks for taking the time to show up on Tuesday.’ Just the right level of flippant sarcasm, she congratulated herself.

Nate shifted on the chair again. ‘Um, yeah, sorry about that.’
His round open face coloured.

‘
Sorry about that?’ Mattie mimicked. ‘That’s all you have to say? Consider yourself lucky. Normally I wouldn’t offer someone like you a second appointment. I had a last-minute cancellation – someone who bothered to call – so I decided to give you another chance.’ She was enjoying the shell-shocked look on his face. God, some men were just too easy to wind up.

‘
Um, thanks.’ Nate
leaned forward in the chair and nearly slid off the edge again. ‘Look, I didn’t come here for a job. I’ve got a business proposition for you.’

Mattie
almost snorted. A business proposition – from a toad like him? ‘Really?’

Nate sat up straight. ‘Seriously.
I’m a producer for SiniStar Productions and I’ve just been talking to our MD.’

‘
So?’
Mattie tried not to roll her eyes. Was he going to tell her what he’d eaten for breakfast too? By the looks of things he’d downed ten bacon butties followed by some McMuffins.

S
hifting uncomfortably, Nate cleared his throat. ‘Well, SiniStar’s launching a new show, a spin-off of
The Dating Game
.’

A ne
w show! Mattie’s heart-rate quickened. Was he here to ask her to drum up some crew? Maybe she could pay her rent this month if she upped her usual commission?

‘
I’m pretty busy but I might be able to help you with your recruitment needs. Of course, it will take some time to put together a list but I should be able to have it to you by tomorrow. If you’re lucky,’ she added.

Nate held up his hands. ‘No, no.’ Beads of sweat were forming on his broad forehead. Mattie watched one burst and run down the side of his face. ‘We don’t need you to do the recruitment.’

Her
heart plunged. ‘Why are you here, then?’ This better not be some joke courtesy of Stuart.

‘
We want you to be
on the show,’ Nate said.

Mattie
stared. Was he on drugs?

‘
You’re the perfect package.
’ Nate’s voice was shaking and Mattie looked at him closely. Maybe he
was
on drugs – that might explain the bloating.

‘
You have a great look for television, a strong persona and I’ve no doubt men find you attractive.’

She made a face
.

‘
Think how good it would be for your business,’ Nate said
quickly. ‘You could raise your company’s profile in the media. You could show how well you understand the needs of your clients, because you’ve actually been on a game show. Not to mention the prize money.’

Mattie
’s ears perked up at that. ‘Prize money? How much?’ She couldn’t believe SiniStar wanted her on a dating show. Obviously they had no idea what her track record was like. But if there was money to be made, she wasn’t about to inform them of her love ‘em and leave ‘em past.

‘
Let me tell you what’s involved first.’

‘
Go on.’

Nate
quickly explained the format. ‘And if you stick it out to the end, there’s two hundred thousand pounds waiting for you.’

Her
mouth dropped open at the sum but she snapped it shut. Two hundred thousand pounds! That would cover all her debts and leave some for savings. She’d finally be back in the black! And the time away from work wouldn’t matter much. She looked out at the empty reception. It wasn’t like she was in demand, was it?

Sure, s
he’d have to deal with cameras and the media but that wouldn’t be a problem. She was a natural performer. Whenever they had the Christmas pantomime in primary school, she’d always got the lead role. Except for that one year when the new Head refused to take her mother’s ‘contribution’. Mattie sniffed, remembering how she’d been relegated to wearing a hideously striped tea towel on her head. Her mum had reacted by calmly stating the Head was a chauvinist – Jesus could have been a female, after all – then getting him transferred elsewhere.

Bringing herself back to the present, Mattie decided all would be fine if she
just stayed in control and didn’t let down her guard. She’d caught a few glimpses of
Big Brother
and it always amazed her how people behaved, knowing a camera was watching them. Burping, kissing . . . sex in some festering hot tub. She shuddered. No, she’d behave as she always did: professional and businesslike. And Nate was right. It was a great opportunity for her to promote her company, too. All in all, it was a win-win situation.

‘
Well, what do you think?’

God, the man was almost quivering in anticipation of her answer.

She looked straight in
to his Play-Doh face and smiled. ‘Where do I sign?’

*

Nate scuttled out of the office and around the corner to the nearest pub for a drink to calm his nerves. Mattie scared the shit out
of him, if he was being honest. Her mocking eyes and dismissive tone reminded Nate of his Granny Edith, who was forever grabbing handfuls of his puppy fat and cackling.

Stil
l, he couldn’t believe it’d been so easy to convince Mattie to go on the show. Maybe he was smoother than he thought – or she was in bigger trouble than he’d heard. She couldn’t be yanking his chain, could she? What if she didn’t sign? No, she was desperate. Desperate people did anything for money, didn’t they? He took a deep breath and wiped his face, letting the built-up tension from the day drain away.

Well done, Nate-o, he said to himself, sipping his pint. The business angle had definitely been the right way to get her hooked. He just hoped she wouldn’t walk when she found out who the other contestants were. But Mattie could handle herself, he was sure, and if she really did need the money then she’d stick it out. And how cool would it be if she actually ended up with one of her exes when the show was over!

Nate downed his pint then headed back to the office, feeling like he’d just scored the winning goal at a World Cup football final.

Womanising sleazebag extraordinaire Baz
Jonson clapped him on the back as he crossed SiniStar’s foyer towards the lift.

‘
Hey, mate. Long time no see!’

Baz’s hair was
gelled so high it added a good three inches to his height and his crisp white shirt made Nate feel like a bum with his in-need-of-a-wash tee and jeans.

Nate
checked behind to make sure Baz actually was talking to him and not some director or hot-shot producer. Nate had worked with Baz for almost a year before Baz got promoted to
Naked or Not,
but Baz had never even so much as sneezed in his direction.

‘
Hiya, Baz
. All right?’ Nate tried to sound casual.

‘
Good, mate, good. Listen, a group of us are going out for drinks tonight. Movida.’ Baz winked. ‘Top totty. You in?’

Despite the uneasy feeling Baz was setting him up, Nate didn’t hesitate
. ‘Sure, Baz. Sounds good.’ Well, why not? He hadn’t been out clubbing for ages, plus he had something to celebrate now, didn’t he?

‘
Cool. S
ee you there around nine.’ Baz waved and strode confidently from the building, his gelled hair defying the wind tunnel outside.