Chapter 40
The caller ID was Karine’s.
As soon as Amanda’s brain correlated that information with the late hour, her heart began to race. There must have been a good reason for the friendly PA to call her at ten in the evening. The possibility that the board had just given Julien Barre the sack definitely counted as one.
She picked up her phone.
“They fired him,” Karine said.
“Are you sure?”
“I wouldn’t be calling you if I weren’t.”
“Oh. My. God. Details, please!” She sounded like a giddy teenager, but she didn’t care.
“Sure,” Karine said. “I wasn’t given the unofficial title of ENS’s best-informed PA for nothing.”
Amanda began to pace to soothe her nerves. “Come on, talk.”
Karine cleared her throat. “When the extent of our losses became known, everyone expected Julien to resign. But as you know, he didn’t. Then the board asked him to step down. He told them they had to trust him and he could still fix everything. That’s when they fired him.”
Amanda took a deep breath. “I owe you a drink at the Ritz for this news.”
“The official announcement will be made tomorrow morning, but I thought you’d sleep better if I told you now.”
Amanda grinned. “I’ll sleep like a baby. You made my day.”
“Wait, I’m not finished yet. Patricia Bernier was named acting CEO. She should be confirmed in a week or so.”
“Patricia is good,” Amanda said.
“I think her main asset is that she’s solid, and she’s been with the company for twenty years.”
“She deserves the job.”
“There’s more.” Karine paused. “It concerns you.”
Oh God. Could it be . . .?
Amanda didn’t dare form the question.
“Patricia wants you back. She’ll call you tomorrow, and if I understood her correctly, she sent you an e-mail earlier to—”
“Can you please repeat what you just said?” Amanda sat down. “Slowly.”
“Patricia. Wants. You. Back.”
“How do you know that?”
“She asked me if I had your private e-mail. I said I’d have to search, but I’d find it a lot faster if I knew what she was planning to do with it.”
Amanda smiled. “Now I see how you got your unofficial title.”
“Information is king, my dear, and I do what it takes to have it.”
Amanda found herself struggling to wrap her mind around the news. “I had no idea she appreciated me.”
“I’m sure she has no idea you appreciate her.” Karine chuckled. “You guys have a lot in common. Anyway, Patricia is smart and knows what’s good for the company.”
When Amanda hung up, her hands were shaking. She fired up the laptop that sat on her little desk and opened her inbox.
There it was. Patricia’s short but oh-so-significant note.
To: Amanda Roussel
From: Patricia Bernier
Subject: Job Offer
Dear Amanda,
You may have heard by now about the latest events at ENS. My assistant will call you tomorrow morning to see if you could drop by my office later during the day. But I wanted to give you a heads-up so you can start thinking. I’d like to create a new, tailor-made position that would allow ENS to benefit fully from your unique set of skills and talents. They were sorely missed this summer.
We’ll discuss the details, but please know that I won’t give up until you accept my offer.
Kind regards,
Patricia
Right.
Amanda pinched herself and reread Patricia’s e-mail three more times. She wasn’t dreaming. ENS wanted her back, and boy, she wanted to be back. She’d negotiate and play hard to get, as anyone in demand would, but in her heart she knew Patricia’s offer was as good as signed.
Then she noticed another e-mail that had landed in her inbox a few hours earlier. It was from Kes, and the subject line read, “A Woman’s Guide to Love, Part III.”
Amanda opened it.
Personal Note: It’s four in the afternoon. I’m sitting in front of the family caravan, staring at the smaller caravan next door and waiting for my parents and siblings to reassemble. I’m in the shade, but the heat is liquefying my brain. Maybe that’s why I just had a revelation: you, Amanda Roussel, are a human version of Garfield.
Not convinced? Open my next e-mail and use the gift card to download an e-book titled Garfield Classics, Volume Fifteen (it’s my favorite Garfield volume). Read it tonight, if you can, and tell me what you think.
* * *
Introduction to Part III:
Behavioral psychology has a method that can be highly effective in some situations. The subject must simulate feeling a certain way until she begins to actually feel that way. The idea is that if she behaves as if she were experiencing an emotion or a state of mind, there’s a chance it’ll become real.
For instance, if she’s sad, she should force herself to smile, and continue smiling for as long as she can until she begins to feel happier. Or not. In any case, she should stop when her facial muscles lock into a painful spasm.
It’s unclear where the cutoff line should be when the subject is pretending to be in love. We suggest she does it for three days and then assesses the situation.
Instructions:
Over the next three days, act as if you were in love with a man (for instance, a certain Gitan with highly symmetrical shoulders).
Here are some ideas:
1. Forget you disapprove of his origins and occupation.
2. Tell friends and colleagues how irresistible he is, how he makes you melt, and so on.
3. Isolate yourself five to ten times each day and think about him.
4. At least once a day, imagine the kids you’d make together (hint: they’d be amazing).
Bonus Points: Go to a tattoo parlor and get his name tattooed somewhere. If this seems too melodramatic or if you’re afraid of needles, get a temporary tattoo. It’ll still earn you a point or even two, depending on its size and location on your body.
* * *
This is the third and last part of “A Woman’s Guide to Love.” We hope you find it useful, and more than ever, we count on your goodwill and cooperation.
Amanda closed Kes’s e-mail and downloaded the Garfield book to her laptop. The rational voice in her head whispered she should forget about Kes’s assignment and focus on preparing for her talk with Patricia. But she told that voice to shut up. She’d think about the job tomorrow morning.
Right now, she wanted to think about Kes.
Amanda changed into a silk nightie and made a mental note to tell Kes how unfair it was to give Vivienne a hand-painted scarf and to give her an e-book. As for the experiment he wanted her to conduct . . . why the hell not? It would be fun. She’d do the ridiculous things he asked her to do, and they’d laugh about it.
It would be easy to act as if she were in love with him. She wouldn’t even have to pretend.
Amanda froze at that thought.
Wait, wasn’t she supposed to do something right now? Something super urgent, like . . . er . . . brush her teeth? Yes, this was the perfect time to brush her teeth. She rushed into the bathroom. After she put her electrical toothbrush down and turned off the lights, she returned to the living room.
What now?
A glance at her watch told her she still had over an hour until Kes’s arrival. She picked up the laptop, climbed into her favorite armchair, and opened the Garfield book.
The very first cartoon showed Garfield alone, thinking to himself, “I wish Jon was here. I’ve had to annoy myself all day.”
Amanda grinned.
There was no denying she and Garfield shared some traits.
And no denying that in two short months Kes had gotten to know her surprisingly well.
Maybe even better than she knew herself.