Never Mind the Botox by Penny Avis

Author:Penny Avis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd

Chapter 16

Meredith got back to the office relieved with the way the meeting had gone. After everyone else had left, Charles Sutton had congratulated her on the excellent way the project was being run, and reported that the other doctors were very pleased with the offer from Equinox. Ryan had also emailed her to say he’d been very impressed with the presentation from Stella Webb on the growth prospects for the business and that he was feeling more comfortable with the offer they’d made. Her relief, though, was short-lived. Not long after she had sat down in her office and started going through her emails, Alfred appeared, looking worried.

‘I’ve just had an email from Lars. He’s set up a meeting with the commercial director at Altacon to discuss their “strategic options”,’ he said.

Altacon were one of VuePharma’s main competitors. Meredith sat back in her chair and shook her head in disbelief.

‘Shit. The bloody idiot. When for?’

‘Thursday.’

‘Then we’ll have to tell Nick straight away. Have you made those notes I asked you to?’

Alfred nodded. ‘Nick will kill me.’

‘No, he won’t. It’s not your fault if someone more senior than you does something wrong, provided you don’t cover it up. You’ve done the right thing and spoken up. He can’t ask for more than that.’

Meredith couldn’t quite believe what she was saying, given the circumstances on her current project. What would she say to Alfred if the boot were on the other foot and he’d found out about her and Ryan? Meredith thought for a moment. She’d hope he’d give her some time to sort it out before running to Nick.

‘Actually, on second thoughts, maybe we shouldn’t go straight to Nick. If I speak to Lars first, tell him to cancel the meeting and stop chasing down any other leads, then maybe we can avoid it. Give him a chance to back off before it’s too late.’

‘Maybe,’ said Alfred, looking doubtful. ‘He’ll still be livid with me, though – and who’s going to look after me if he starts gunning for me?’

‘I will,’ said Meredith firmly.

Alfred didn’t look convinced.

‘I promise, and if he causes any trouble then we’ll tell Nick anyway. Okay?’

Meredith waved a miserable-looking Alfred out of her office and picked up the phone.

‘Lars, it’s Meredith. Glad I caught you. Look, can we grab a coffee?’

‘Sorry, but I’m a bit tied up,’ said Lars rather dismissively.

‘No, you don’t understand. I need to talk to you and it can’t wait.’

‘What about?’

‘The VuePharma pitch.’

There was a pause at the end of the line.

‘Shall we meet downstairs?’

‘I’ll be there in five,’ said Meredith.

She hurried out of her office, gave Alfred a motherly ‘it’ll be okay’ type smile as she walked past him and then made her way to the ground floor coffee shop. Lars arrived out of another lift at almost exactly the same time. They stood in awkward silence next to each other in the coffee queue until they’d got their drinks and sat down.

Lars ran his hands through his blond hair, then sat back and crossed both his legs and arms.

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