Boss Meets Baby(50)

It was important she did well this morning. So far she hadn’t managed to find the permanent job she desperately— needed. But, if luck was on her side today, this could be the break she needed. She’d approached her old boss at the computer-software company she’d been working for when she’d met Vito, and as a personal favour he’d been prepared to offer her a chance. If she could sell his company’s web-conferencing system to L&G Enterprises, he’d give her a commission and find her a permanent job.

‘But didn’t Suzy Smith set up the pitch?’ Lily had asked, thinking of the flamboyant brunette who’d willingly stepped into her shoes when she’d handed in her notice so that she could move to Venice to be with Vito.

‘She did,’ Mike, her old boss, had conceded. ‘But honestly, Lily, she won’t be able to cut it. L&G are a notoriously— hard sell. Trust me, Suzy will be glad to hand this one over to you—she even tried to persuade me to take it on.’

‘Why don’t you?’ Lily had smiled wryly, realising she was halfway to talking herself out of this job opportunity.

‘Because you’re better,’ Mike had said truthfully. He might be a computer genius, and was making a success of his small business, but sales spiel was not his greatest strength. ‘You know your stuff,’ he’d continued, pulling out all the necessary files and information for the presentation. ‘And you won’t let those stuck-up executives throw you off your stride.’

And now here she was, walking into a company owned by Vito Salvatore—the man who had thrown her out onto the streets of Venice like a piece of trash because she’d made the mistake of accidentally getting pregnant.

Six long weeks had passed since that awful day in March, but Lily was still in shock over the way he had treated her. Although at the time she’d hardly dared to believe her luck at being with such a wonderful man, she really had thought everything was going well with him. Until she’d discovered in the most appalling way that he wasn’t really so wonderful—otherwise how could he have tossed her aside right when she’d needed his support?

With a determined effort she pushed memories of Vito and the way he had treated her to the back of her mind. Focussing her thoughts on the task in hand, she walked briskly up to Reception, and gave her name and the name of the company she represented. That was the only way she’d got through the last six weeks—by refusing to think about the brutal way Vito had betrayed her and their unborn child She had no choice.

She had to keep it together because she needed to find a job. Then she could make a home for herself and the baby.

‘We’ve been expecting you.’ The receptionist spoke without smiling, and handed Lily a visitor’s badge. ‘Samuel will escort you up to the meeting room.’

‘Thank you.’ Lily smiled brightly and pinned the badge onto the jacket of her ivory linen-suit. Then she glanced round to see a sullen-faced young man she presumed was Samuel walking across the lobby towards her.

He gave no sign of wanting to engage in small talk, so she followed him silently to the elevator and up to the executive floor, where he showed her to the room that had been booked for her presentation.

Vito had described L&G Enterprises to her as one of his smaller business interests, but there was nothing small about the glass-walled executive meeting-room that she found herself in. This certainly wasn’t going to be a cosy pitch, she thought, looking at a vast smoked-glass— table surrounded by black-leather chairs.

She had just finished setting up when she heard a voice behind her.

‘Ms Smith, I assume?’

Lily plastered a bright smile on her face and spun round to see a short, balding man dressed in a dark suit. She recognised him from his photograph on the company website—he was the head of Corporate Communications.

‘It’s Lily Chase, actually,’ she said, holding out her hand to him. ‘I’m very pleased to meet you, Mr D’Ambrosio.’

‘Decided to send in the big guns, did they?’ D’Ambrosio asked. He let his beady eyes slide over her in assessment, and held onto her hand for far too long.

‘You could say that.’ Lily smiled. One of the most important— rules in sales was always to appear bursting with confidence, even if it sometimes went against the grain. She retrieved her hand and resisted the urge to rub it vigorously on her straight skirt. ‘L&G Enterprises is potentially a very important customer, and it was felt that I have the necessary experience to explain our product fully.’

‘Hmm.’ D’Ambrosio looked unimpressed. ‘Let’s get started,’ he said, sitting down at the immense glass table as another group of suited people came in. One of them, a woman wearing scarily high heels, was talking on her mobile phone in a loud, insistent voice. Another, a young man in his twenties, sat down, opened his laptop and started scrolling through his emails.

Lily looked at the assembled executives, wondering if she should let the woman finish her phone call before she started. They were an arrogant bunch, and she’d long since learned not to expect much common courtesy from this type of person—if she didn’t catch their attention quickly, it wouldn’t be long before they were all talking on their mobile phones or looking at their laptops.

‘What are you waiting for?’ D’Ambrosio barked. ‘We haven’t got all day.’