The Out of Office Girl (37 page)

‘If.’

‘When.’

As he takes my hand, I try and think how many times we’ve seen each other since he came to London, and I realise I’ve lost count. Being
with Sam doesn’t feel like anything else I’ve ever experienced. When I think back to my thing with Simon, it seems hard to believe I put up with it. What did I ever see in someone who cared so little about me?

Life certainly can surprise you. I remember how, on the plane to Italy, I had those crazy dreams about having a romance with Luther, and I wanted so much to be promoted. None of those things
happened; instead, it’s been a hundred times better. I don’t know what the future holds for me and Sam. I don’t know how long he’s going to stay in London – a year? Two? Maybe he will move back to America, and I’ll move with him, or something else will happen. Who knows? I only know that right now I’m smiling, and I feel as though I’m going to be smiling a lot more in the future.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Many people helped me while I was writing this book – either with moral support, practical information or by reading it. I hope I haven’t forgotten anyone.

Thank you to all the friends who read early drafts, including: Gráinne Brett, Síofra O’Donovan, Amber Burlinson, Clare Thomas, Hannah Knowles, Natasha Laws, Daniela Buckley, Hilary Attenborough, and, heroically, my brother
Barry. I particularly want to thank Frieda Klotz, my very first reader, for her astute and encouraging comments from day one, without which I probably would not have finished the book. Thank you to my sisters-in-law: Santina Doherty for introducing me to Sicily and Anne O’Mahony for straight-talking and insightful feedback. I also benefited from the advice of Julie Cohen via her fantastic blog, which
I’d recommend any aspiring author to follow. For insights into the European and US film industries, thank you to Olaf Gonzáles Schneeweiss, Daniela Buckley, Helen Berger and MF. Thanks also to Mark Dyson. For inside info on Utah and the LDS, as well as LA café suggestions, thank you Jaremey McMullin. For (hypothetical) legal advice, thank you Noel Dilworth, Lucy Miles and Ronan McCrea. Any mistakes
are all my own work. Thanks to the staff at Alimentari and The
Salusbury Deli in Queen’s Park, who fed me and watered me and got me out of the house.

Thank you to Rowan Lawton and Juliet Mushens at PFD, for brilliant editorial guidance, support and macaroons. Thank you to Sherise Hobbs, for superb edits that have made the book so much better, and to Imogen Taylor and Lucy Foley for welcoming
me back to the Euston Road – thanks also to Imogen for thinking of the title! Thank you Rachel Mills and Alexandra Cliff for sending Alice abroad. For early and invaluable support, thank you to Anne Louise Fisher, Joy Terekiev at Mondadori and Nicola Bartels at Blanvalet. Thanks to my lovely colleagues past and present at Hodder and The Folio Society. Lastly, I’d like to thank my parents, who supported
me through all my decisions and never minded when I came home to visit and locked myself away writing. And to Alex: thank you for holding my hand through submission and rewrites (not literally of course) and for celebrating with me.

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

About the Author

About the Book

Table of Contents

Dedication

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

Twenty

Twenty-One

Twenty-Two

Twenty-Three

Twenty-Four

Twenty-Five

Twenty-Six

Twenty-Seven

Twenty-Eight

Twenty-Nine

Thirty

Thirty-One

Thirty-Two

Thirty-Three

Thirty-Four

Thirty-Five

Thirty-Six

Thirty-Seven

Epilogue

Acknowledgements