Breaking Point (Drew Ashley 1) (21 page)

I'd already discovered the staff directory during my break, but I let her show me. She pulled up the directors' team and showed me their pictures, told me their names, and pointed out who was most likely to be stiff and severe, and who was most likely to crack a dirty joke.

I laughed politely, although I found it a little odd that all four directors were men. We took the lift up to the top floor, and Rosie used her swipe card to access the director's suite. Four women were tapping away at computers when we walked in.

"These are the directors' PAs," Eva said. "Hi, girlies. This is Drew. She just started with us today."

The women all said hi. I tried to imagine my mum in an office like this at Reed Housing. The fact that she had a job still baffled me.

"Let's get the big one out of the way," Rosie said knocking on the door that said, Larry Greaves, Chief Executive. She opened the door and introduced me to the big boss. He had a permanent frown line between his brows, but he was quite friendly. He asked how my day was going and I told him it was going okay.

Next I met the Director of Resources. He was in charge of finance, HR, IT, and all the support functions.

The Director of Arts and Culture was out so we went to see the Director of Entertainment next. He seemed friendly enough, too.

Lastly we went to see Harvey. His door was open so Rosie didn't have to knock. "This is our director," she told me.

Harvey looked up as we walked in. "Here's Drew," Rosie said. "I've brought her up for her chat."

Harvey's gaze was neutral. "Take a seat, Drew."

"Did you see my email about the sick journalists?" Rosie asked Harvey.

"Yes, I didn't reply because I was going into a meeting. It wouldn't be so much of a problem if weren't already so short-staffed. I'll ask HR if we can recruit."

"They'll say no. I literally had to beg before they let me take on another media researcher."

Harvey looked thoughtful. "We'll come up with something."

"I already have," Rosie said. "I'd like to see you about it and discuss it with you. It'll mean a change to my team's structure. I'll book a meeting in your diary for some time this week."

"Okay," Harvey said.

Rosie left the room and Harvey got up to close the door behind her. "Drew," he said returning to his table. "Directors here are supposed to meet with any newcomers in their directorate and welcome them to the company. Since I'm pretty new myself I'm not sure what I'm supposed to say to you, but you're very welcome. How is it going?"

"Fine." Harvey's office was just like the other directors', huge and immaculate. I noticed a Rubik's Cube on his desk, beside a mug that said 'overworked and underpaid.'

"What are your personal goals as an employee of News24, and of the Brooker and Cole media conglomerate at large?" Harvey asked.

"Well, uh, to work hard."

"That's good enough for me. I'm sure you will. Any questions?"

"No," I said slowly.

"Great. The meeting's over, then."

***

Two weeks after I'd started working for News24 an international journalist job came up in my department. As soon as I saw it advertised on the intranet I pulled Rosie into a meeting room. "Am I allowed to apply for the international journalist job?" I asked her.

"Of course," she said. "Anyone can apply."

"But do I honestly have any chance of getting it?"

"You have as good a chance as anyone else," Rosie said.

"I don't have the required experience."

"You didn't have the experience for the job you're doing now, but I chose you above the other more experienced people, and you haven't given me any reason to regret my decision."

I decided I was going to go for the job. I heard later on that week that Eva was applying for it too, and that knocked my confidence a little. I didn't feel good about going head-to-head with one of my colleagues.

Kale invited me to his place the weekend before I was to submit my application. It was a rainy Friday evening at the end of June. We'd planned to go out but the weather put us off.

"Let me see your application when you finish," Kale said from the couch where he was watching bad Friday night TV.

"Okay." It was my first time in Kale's flat. It was small, but tidy. I was impressed.

He reached over the side of the couch and took a file from a side table. "I'm defending my thesis in two weeks," he told me, opening the file.

"I'm defending mine next week," I replied, as I typed the contact details for my referees on my application form. "And I can't even remember what I wrote in it."

I liked seeing Kale like this. Relaxed and chilled out. He read a few pages of his thesis then returned it to the table. "I'll fix us a snack. I've got your favourite: Ferrero Rocher."

I forced a smile.

Kale shook his head. "Drew, why didn't you just tell me you don't like them?"

I paused. "So you know?"

"Yes. Your mum told me. She said she's the one that's been eating them."

Thanks, mum.
"I didn't say anything because it's the thought behind the gift. Not the gift itself."

Kale reached for the TV remote and started flicking through the channels. "How often do you see Harvey at work?"

I stopped typing and looked at him. "Hardly ever." It was the truth. Despite working in the same building, I never saw him unless he came down to see Rosie, which had only ever happened like twice in the past few weeks. "I see his car a lot, though."

"Oh, is it the car you like?"

I laughed. "It was a joke."

"That day that Harvey showed up and crashed our date, I wanted you to choose me," Kale said softly, taking my hand and brushing his lips across my fingers. "It really knocked my confidence when I realised that you weren't going to."

"I couldn't choose between you because you were both just trying to be sweet."

"Well, I've learned my lesson. It'd be nice to have what you want just come to you, but sometimes you have to fight for what you want." Kale released my hand. "I want you all to myself Drew, but I don't know if you're ready. First it was because you'd just broken up with Travis, then Harvey came into the picture and I didn't know if it was him you wanted."

I waited for Kale to say more. To follow through and ask me to be his girl. But he just stared at me for a moment. It looked like he was going to say it, but I knew the moment he back down in his mind. His eyes clouded over and he cleared his throat. "Uh, that snack. I'll just go get it."

I watched him go, wondering what was holding him back.

Chapter 13

It was ten o' clock on Saturday morning and I was helping Kale set up for missionary football. I watched him as he moved around, checking that everything was set. Kale was quite the man in charge, but let Harvey show up and he'd just deflate.

I poured ice cubes into a bucket of bottles of water to keep them chilled.

"Okay, guys," Kale yelled. The guys made their way over from all over the field. He gave them some last-minute words of encouragement, and then prayed that everything would go well. "Remember," he said finally, before the guys all returned to their duties clearing the field of litter and setting up goal posts. "No preaching."

The guys nodded. I liked Kale's reasoning. Football should be strictly football, so that no one would be turned off. After the match, the guys were going out for pizza, and preaching would be allowed while hanging out if the opportunity arose.

I was filling another bucket with ice cubes when I heard Harvey's voice. I looked across the field, shielding my eyes from the sun. Sure enough, Harvey and Jazz were approaching in the distance. Jazz waved. I waved back and focused on my ice cubes.

They went over to Kale, who was talking to the First Aiders. "I invited someone," Jazz told Kale. "Where does he sign up?"

The look of challenge that passed between the two men was unmistakable. And pretty pathetic too, if you asked me. "Hi," Kale said to Harvey.

"Hi," Harvey replied.

Kale pointed at a guy with a clipboard. "André will sign you up and tell you which team you'll be playing on."

"Thanks," Harvey said. He swaggered over to André.

Kale turned to smile at me. "You okay?"

"Yes. How about you?"

"I'm great. The Fruit of the Spirit is love and joy, there are souls to be won, God is good."

I laughed. "Indeed."

Jazz and Harvey came over after Harvey was all signed up. "It looks like we're early," Harvey said. "What time is this missionary soccer supposed to start?"

"Half ten. And it's called football, not soccer," I corrected.

"Oh, pardon me," Harvey said sarcastically.

"And the guys don't know it's missionary football, so just call it football."

"Give him a break, Drew," Jazz said.

I moved away to get another pack of water bottles. Kale hurried over to help me carry it. I was grateful. The pack was pretty heavy.

"Have we got any more ice cubes?" I asked him when he dumped the pack of bottles on the floor beside a bucket.

"Yeah, I'll go and get them."

I sat down on the grass while I waited for Kale to return. Guys started arriving in droves. Some started warming up, jogging around, and doing stretches. Harvey and Jazz were sitting on the grass not far from me. All I could hear was the word soccer. If Harvey called it soccer one more time I was going to shoot myself.

Kale returned with an armful of bags of ice cubes, and helped me finish putting all the bottles in ice. At half ten he went to organize the guys into teams.

The first match kicked off at the far end of the field. I didn't know anyone who was playing so I didn't go to watch. I removed the blanket I'd brought from my bag, spread it out on the ground, and sat down. Jazz came and joined me on the blanket.

Five minutes later, another match kicked off at another side of the field. Harvey was in it. "Coming to watch?" Jazz asked.

I shook my head. "I'm watching Kale. Maybe I'll watch Harvey's second match."

"Okay. See ya."

Girls were scattered all over the field, watching the guys that they'd invited. There were probably as many girls there as guys, all dressed to impress.

Kale allocated himself to the last team. I went to sit with the group of girls that had congregated to watch that match.

Each match was only going to be thirty minutes each way. Each team was playing two matches.

An hour later, Jazz ran over to me laughing. "Harvey is rubbish! I swear he's probably never played football before," she gasped. "Oh my days, it was embarrassing!"

"Really?" So there was something Harvey wasn't good at. "Kale's really good. He scored a goal."

"Uh oh! I think their teams are playing each other next."

"Let's hope they don't end up trying to foul each other."

Kale's team, accompanied by their band of female groupies, started walking across the field to where Harvey's team was waiting. Jazz and I lagged behind.

The match had already started by the time we got there. Kale was dribbling the ball all over the field. He scored a goal and the girls cheered. The match resumed and Harvey found himself with the ball. Kale immediately ran over and tackled him effortlessly. In fact, whenever Harvey had the ball, Kale tackled him. Harvey tried to tackle Kale one time, but Kale just dribbled around him and continued towards the goal. He missed the shot, but there was still a lot of cheering. Kale was good.

Eventually, Harvey's teammates substituted him. I didn't blame them.

"Whatever," Harvey said, laughing as he walked off. "I challenge ya'll to a game of basketball!"

Everyone laughed good-naturedly.

"Where are the drinks?" Harvey asked me.

I pointed. They were halfway across the field. "At least he's a good loser," I whispered to Jazz," as he walked away.

"Unlike someone who shall remain nameless," Jazz agreed.

I removed my sun cream from my bag. It was midday now and the sun was high in the sky, blazing down upon us. I was rubbing it into my arms when there was a commotion among the girls around us. They were removing their sunglasses and craning their necks, twittering about something under their breaths. Jazz chuckled.

"What's going on?" I asked, looking in the direction in which they were all staring. It was Harvey. He'd removed his t-shirt and was pouring water over himself as he walked back, giving everyone an eyeful. He came and sat with me and Jazz.

"Why is Kale so jealous over you if you're not even his girlfriend?" he asked me.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I replied, not looking at him.

Harvey wasn't the only guy who'd removed his top. It was warm today so a lot of them were playing topless, but none of them had a physique quite as impressive as Harvey's.

"You still coming to my place today?" Harvey asked Jazz.

I frowned. Jazz was going to Harvey's place? What on earth for?