Travelling into work on the bus, Tina relished the thought that her daily commute would soon be a thing of the past. Today was the day. Her resignation letter in its creamy white envelope was currently in her bag ready to be handed over first thing. She’d gone over and over the little speech she intended to make as she handed the letter to Kirsty. Would Kirsty even be bothered she was leaving?
They’d been friends before Tina had joined the agency; not best, best friends but close enough. Kirsty had been full of enthusiasm, promises, muttering about partnerships, bonuses, growing the agency together. Eight years of working side by side had changed the dynamics of their relationship though.
These days the annual bonus was the only constant out of those promises, and that had decreased in value over the last few years because, as Kirsty put it, ‘book buying ain’t what it was’. She’d even gone on to point out last year that few of the authors Tina handled had been bestsellers. Tina had retaliated by pointing out the bonus was based on the agency’s overall figures, not just hers alone, and not one of Kirsty’s authors had written a runaway bestseller either. Kirsty had turned on her heels and stalked off without another word. Thinking about it now, Tina realised things had never really recovered from that conversation.
As the bus pulled up outside a furniture shop, through the window Tina glimpsed a designer-created bedroom, all creamy carpets and top-of-the-range furniture. She smiled to herself. Maybe in about ten years she’d have a bedroom like that but right now her home office was already taking shape in the corner of her bedroom and it was more shabby chic, without the chic, than designer.
Calling the space she’d cleared by the window her ‘office’ was a bit presumptuous really. It lacked even the basic necessities like a desk and a chair, but she was confident she could find those down at the weekly flea market in the next few weeks before she launched her agency on the world. She didn’t need anything fancy, just something to put her laptop on, a set of drawers and a filing cabinet, and her office would be set to go.
She’d work on her laptop in the sitting room while she set everything up and worked out her notice with Kirsty, but she was determined to be as professional as possible from the very beginning and that meant having a dedicated workspace for her business as soon as possible. Any meetings with clients would have to take place over coffee or lunch in a convenient restaurant.
Remembering Kirsty’s remark about book buying, Tina sighed. Was she doing the right thing going solo in the current market? Everybody knew publishing was in a state of flux at the moment. Maybe she should just stay put or look for a job with another agency. Even with a loan from Jodie things would be tight for the first year. And that was always supposing Jodie had been serious about her offer. She hadn’t even managed to speak to her about it yet.
Stepping off the bus for the short walk to the office, Tina squared her shoulders. Starting a new business was always going to be a risk – whatever the state of the economy. If she didn’t go for it now, that rut she was in would just get deeper and deeper until it swallowed her.
Both Kirsty and Leah were in the office when she arrived. ‘Good morning,’ she said, walking past them to her office. Placing her bag on the desk she took out the envelope and walked back to them.
‘Kirsty, I need to give you this. It’s a month’s notice,’ she said, holding out the envelope. ‘You know I’ve always wanted to run my own agency – well, I’ve decided to go for it.’ She saw the shock register on Kirsty’s face before she pulled herself together, accepted the envelope and shrugged.
‘OK. I accept.’ Turning on her heel, Kirsty walked away with the unopened letter.
Tina made her way to her own office, unsure of how she felt about Kirsty’s non-reaction. Had she expected her to protest, to ask her to stay? To wish her luck? No, but the complete indifference shown to her news hurt. A lot. The next month was going to be difficult.
She sat down at her desk, switched on the computer and began to read her emails. Barely five minutes later, Kirsty appeared in front of her.
‘I’ve been thinking. I don’t want you here for a month. I think it’s better if you go today. Take some gardening leave.’
Before Tina could reply, Kirsty continued.
‘I’ll tell accounts to pay you to the end of the month and any holiday money you’re owed.’
‘What about notifying my clients?’
‘We’ll do that – and don’t think you can take any of them with you. Which reminds me. That time-slip? Hand the details over to Leah. She can handle that one from now.’ And Kirsty left.
Stunned, Tina sat for a few moments before slowly gathering her things together. She knew there had never been a realistic chance of her signing the time-slip author for her new agency but it hurt that Leah was going to be dealing with her. The only good thing to come out of being told to leave immediately was the fact she was due some holiday pay. She’d completely forgotten about that. It could go in the bank and give her a little bit more of a cushion while she established her new agency.