The Mince Pie Mix-Up (16 page)

Bloody Abby Frost and her big gob. ‘No, sweetie. You have to wear your uniform, but only for one more day this term. After today it’s the Christmas holidays.’

‘Yes!’ Charlie jumped out of her seat, knocking her bowl and sloshing leftover milk onto the table. ‘Miss Daniels said we’re having a Christmas party this afternoon. Did you get my party food?’

‘Party food?’ Calvin grabbed a cloth and wiped up the milk. ‘What party food?’

‘For the
party
. I had a letter.’

Calvin threw his eyes around the kitchen, as though the letter would suddenly appear, floating helpfully towards him.

‘Where is the letter?’

‘In my book bag.’ Charlie raced into the hall, returning with a piece of paper which she thrust at Calvin. Sure enough, Charlie’s class were having a party that afternoon and the parents were asked to bring in some party food for the class to share.

Damn.

Calvin’s eye fell on the pastry circles. ‘We’ll take in some mince pies.’

‘Those mince pies? Aren’t they for the Teapot?’

‘It’s okay. I’ll think of something.’

Charlie raced up the stairs to get washed and dressed. The thought of going to school was suddenly very appealing.

With Charlie and the mince pies despatched at school, Calvin made his way to The Green Teapot empty-handed.

‘I’m sorry but I have no mince pies,’ he said as he shrugged off his heavy winter coat. It hadn’t snowed yet but the threat was still in the air. ‘The oven’s on the blink. I’ve got someone coming out to see to it tonight.’

Calvin felt a stab of guilt at the sympathetic tsk from Enid as she patted him on the arm. ‘Don’t worry about the mince pies, love. I just hope you manage to get your oven fixed. They aren’t cheap and added expense is the last thing you need at this time of year.’

‘I’ll bake some now while we’re quiet,’ Calvin suggested, ducking into the kitchen before his guilty face gave him away. Only Norman and Mrs Freeman were seated in the tea room, their tea and toast already in front of them.

‘Do you think you could whip up a couple of batches?’ Enid asked. ‘The gardening club are coming in for their elevenses today and you know how traditional that lot are. I don’t think a snowman cupcake will cut it.’

Calvin baked up a storm that morning, barely leaving the kitchen in his quest to keep the residents of Hartfield Hill supplied with mince pies. The gardening club demolished the first two batches before they returned to the allotment and the lunchtime rush pretty much depleted the third he’d knocked out. Calvin was halfway through a fourth batch of the day when a phone call from Scott’s school came through.

‘It’s about your son, Scott,’ the woman on the phone told him. ‘He’s been involved in a fight during the lunch break.’

Calvin had his mobile wedged between his ear and his shoulder while he continued to knead the pastry dough but he forgot about the dough and grabbed the phone with a gloopy hand. ‘Is he all right?’

‘He’s fine, Mrs Neil, but I’m afraid you’re going to have to come into school as soon as you can to have a chat with his head of year.’

‘I’m at work.’ Calvin completely abandoned the dough and wiped his hands on a tea towel.

‘Like I said, as soon as you can.’

The woman said goodbye and ended the call.

‘Is everything okay, love?’ Enid popped her head into the kitchen. Judy didn’t usually receive phone calls during the day and now she looked worried. ‘Is it about your oven?’

Calvin shook his head. ‘It was Scott’s school. He’s been in a fight and I have to go and speak to his head of year.’ Calvin didn’t even know who Scott’s head of year was. Judy always dealt with school stuff. She occasionally wafted a school letter under his nose but he never actually read them.

‘Do you want to finish early? There’s only Norman and Mrs Freeman in now.’ Enid lowered her voice. ‘I don’t think they’re leaving today.’

‘No, it’s okay. I’ll be finishing in just over an hour and I’ll have to wait and pick Charlie up and take her with me anyway.’

‘Okay, love. Just let me know if you change your mind.’

Calvin returned to the matter of mince pie baking. The fourth batch – and hopefully last of the day – was finally in the oven when Calvin heard a crash from the tea room. When he popped his head out of the kitchen, he saw what had been the cause – Enid had dropped one of the teacups on the floor.

‘Stay where you are, Mrs Freeman.’ Enid held up a hand as her customer stood up to help. ‘Some of these pieces might be sharp. Ouch!’ Enid had been gathering the bigger pieces but now she dropped them onto the floor once again, holding up a bloody finger.

‘Let’s get that under the tap.’ Calvin guided Enid into the kitchen, placing her finger under the stream of cold water.

‘I should be okay now, love. If you grab the first aid kit and leave it on the side, I’ll sort myself out. It’ll only need a plaster. Can you sweep up the mess out there before Mrs Freeman has a go?’

Grabbing a dustpan, brush and mop, Calvin returned to the tea room to clear up the mess. He was bending down to brush the smaller pieces into the dustpan when he felt a pinch on his bum. He probably should have ignored it or moved away, but Calvin had had enough. He was sick of the lewd comments and lecherous looks and his stress levels were already dangerously high. The switch with his wife was taking its toll and he was worried about the Benvenuti presentation that should be happening right about now, not to mention the upcoming meeting with Scott’s teacher.

So he lost it.

‘Get your filthy, geriatric hands off me.’ Norman snatched his hand away and jumped back into his seat as Calvin growled at him. ‘Don’t you ever touch my arse again, you dirty old bugger. In fact, don’t you ever touch anybody’s arse unless they’ve specifically invited you to do so. Otherwise I will break your fingers. Got it, old man?’ Calvin flinched when he felt a hand on his arm but it was only Enid.

‘Judy, love. Why don’t you let me take over here?’ Enid’s finger was now patched up with a blue plaster. She prised the dustpan and brush from Calvin’s hands. ‘Why don’t you pop over to the school now? Get that meeting over and done with before Charlie finishes for the day?’

Calvin allowed himself to be led towards the door. Enid handed him his coat and handbag, promising to sort everything. A feeling of dread weighed Calvin down as he plodded towards the bus stop. Judy was not going to be pleased if he’d lost her this job. And if the Benvenuti presentation didn’t go well, they could both end up unemployed before the day was out.

Chapter Eighteen:
The Presentation

Francesco Benvenuti had claimed that the campaign as it stood made his product look just the same as every other project management app out there and, after a bit of research, Judy was inclined to agree.
Because Project: Planet was like all the other project management apps out there
. Like the others, Project: Planet had a calendar with reminders set in with the ability to create to-do lists and schedule meetings with the tap of the screen. The only real difference from most of the others was its ability to download bus and train timetables and plan car journeys, but was that enough to make it stand out?

‘Maybe we’re looking at it from the wrong angle,’ Judy mused as she and Sarah sat in the meeting room, the entire campaign spread out before them. The photo shoot Sarah was supposed to be attending had been cancelled as there was little point having a photo shoot when they had no idea what they were supposed to be shooting now. The shoot would have to be rescheduled – again – which had turned Perry’s face an alarming shade of purple. Francesco was due in the building within the next twenty minutes and Judy and Sarah had yet to come up with anything substantial.

‘The product claims you can plan your world from the palm of your hand, but it’s all aimed at businesses. Life doesn’t start and end at the office.’

‘What do you mean?’ Sarah asked.

Judy grabbed a pen and started to make notes, filling Sarah in as she went along. ‘Do you know how hectic family life can be? Sometimes more hectic than life at the office. The job of being a mother never ends. Look here.’ Judy circled the point about creating lists. ‘A mother could utilise this for so much more than creating a daily to-do list. She could plan her entire Christmas and take the strain off herself. Christmas shopping lists, movies to watch with the children, make a list of the children’s activities – nativity plays, ballet recitals and Christmas fairs. And it doesn’t have to be just Christmas.’

‘Mmm. I think you might be on to something here.’ Sarah grabbed a pen and made a few notes herself. ‘Do you think we have time to run this by Perry?’

‘I doubt it.’ The door opened, revealing Perry with a suited man with slicked-back hair towering above him. Judy guessed this was the infamous Francesco Benvenuti. ‘I think we’re going to have to wing it.’ Sarah flashed Judy a look of alarm, but what else could they do? ‘We can do this.’

‘We?’ Sarah laughed. ‘Perry won’t let me anywhere near this. He thinks all I’m good for is answering the phone and making the tea.’

‘Francesco.’ Perry strode into the meeting room. ‘You’ve met Calvin Neil before.’

Francesco nodded before turning to Sarah, his lips spreading into a smile as wide as the Cheshire Cat’s. ‘And who is this little beauty?’

‘That’s Sarah.’ Perry dropped his plump behind into a chair. ‘Bring us some coffees and the good biscuits.’ Perry smiled patronisingly at Sarah. He might as well have patted her on the head and added ‘there’s a good girl’. Ugh.

‘Sarah is going to be presenting the campaign with me today,’ Judy said as she gathered the notes from the table. Calvin had faith in his colleague’s abilities and so did Judy. ‘Why don’t I grab the coffees while Sarah fills you in on the research she’s carried out?’

Without waiting for an answer, Judy left the meeting room, grabbing four coffees from the vending machine and filling a plate with the biscuits they weren’t usually permitted to even look at. By the time she returned, Sarah was just finishing up on comparing Project: Planet’s strengths and weaknesses to those of its competitors.

‘I’m afraid we don’t have any visuals prepared as these changes were all very last minute,’ Judy said after distributing the coffees. ‘But we believe Project: Planet can go far further than the most popular project management apps on the market already. Project: Planet says you can plan your life from the palm of your hand, but life isn’t nine to five. It doesn’t start and end at the office. And neither should Project: Planet.’

‘Imagine a harassed mother of three,’ Sarah said. ‘It’s coming up to Christmas and she has so much to do. How is she going to fit it all in?’

‘Project: Planet can help,’ Judy said. ‘Christmas card and shopping lists can be created in minutes, their items crossed off in seconds. She can record multitudes of festive activities – concerts, nativity plays, Christmas fairs – then set up monthly, weekly or even daily reminders so she can keep track of them all.’

‘And it doesn’t stop at Christmas,’ Sarah added. ‘She can create shopping lists and packing essentials for their family holiday. She can note down places to visit, films to see, places to eat.’

‘And it isn’t just busy Mum who can use the app.’ Judy was in her stride now. She believed in this product so much she was going to download it as soon as it was available. ‘Students, teachers, gardeners, knitting clubs. Project: Planet shouldn’t be aimed solely at the corporate world. It should be aimed at all.’

‘Project: Planet is going to revolutionise everybody’s world from the palms of their hands, whether that world is of the professional or personal variety.’

Francesco leaned back in his chair as Judy and Sarah’s spur-of-the-moment statement came to its conclusion. ‘And how do you propose to market my product?’

This was by far the easiest part of the presentation as they could lift the information from the previous plan, tweaking here and there where necessary.

Francesco clasped his hands in front of him once they’d finished and gave a languorous nod, his lips pursed. ‘Thank you, Calvin. Sarah.’ The Cheshire Cat smile made a brief comeback. ‘I’d like a word with Perry now.’

‘Of course.’ Judy and Sarah fled the meeting room, sighing with relief that it was over as soon as their toes crossed the threshold.

‘How do you think it went?’ Sarah asked as they returned to the office.

Judy shrugged her shoulders. ‘I have no idea. Hopefully he bought it.’

‘He didn’t look all that impressed.’

‘Only when he looked at you,’ Judy said with a grin.

‘Don’t be daft.’ Sarah played coyly with her hair.

‘It’s true. But who can blame him? You’re a very attractive woman.’

Sarah sighed. ‘My ex doesn’t seem to think so. He hasn’t even been in touch to see if I’m okay. The pig.’

They had to wait an agonising forty-five minutes before Perry called them into his office. There was no sign of Francesco and, when Judy enquired about him, Perry said he’d left the building, but he didn’t say whether it was full of disgust or triumph.

‘What did he make of our new thoughts?’ Judy asked when it became clear Perry wasn’t about to put them out of their misery.

‘Honestly?’ Perry leaned back in his chair in much the same manner as Francesco had earlier. ‘He loved the idea.’

Judy blew out a puff of noisy air. ‘Really?’

Perry nodded, though he didn’t look pleased about the news he was delivering. ‘He thinks it needs some work but …’ Perry shrugged his shoulders. ‘You nailed it.’

‘Yes!’ Judy leapt out of her seat, punching her fist in the air like Judd Nelson at the end of
The Breakfast Club
. Realising where she was, she sat back down again quickly. ‘Sorry.’

‘Don’t be sorry. I’m impressed. With both of you.’ Perry smiled briefly. It was a strange, unsettling flash of teeth, there and gone again in the blink of an eye. ‘Now get back to work.’

Judy and Sarah scuttled out of the room. Closing the door, Judy threw her arms around Sarah, much like she had the previous day, except this time she was crying tears of happiness.

‘We did it!’

‘
You
did most of it,’ Sarah said but Judy shook her head.