Chapter 20

Isobel knew that James's ex-girlfriend, Jayla, had worked with Jason Whiteley at Schumann, Crowe & Dyer, but she never expected to meet her in person. From Jayla's reaction, Isobel was ready to bet it was a surprise to her, too. Upon hearing Isobel's name, Jayla had withdrawn her hand as if she'd been scalded, and Isobel entertained a fleeting regret that she hadn't poisoned today's coffee. Observing her now across the conference table, Isobel realized that it must have taken Jayla every ounce of self-control not to rake her long crimson nails across Isobel's cheek. Every once in a while, Jayla would shoot a murderous look in Isobel's direction, and Isobel couldn't begin to fathom why James's ex-girlfriend should loathe her so much.

"The bottom line," Jayla said, after another digressive glance at Isobel, "is that we're getting pressure from ICG to keep you on. The partners aren't happy about it, but they have no choice. So you're officially on probation."

Isobel could sense her colleagues' relief. Katrina seemed to be sitting up taller, Liz had audibly begun breathing again, and Aaron was almost grinning.

"Don't get too excited," Jayla continued. "We have a big announcement in the offing and it's a potential minefield. What I'm about to tell you requires complete confidentiality. Everyone in this room will be held accountable." She turned a meaningful eye toward Isobel.

Isobel stood up. "That's all right. I have other things to do."

Liz pulled her back down. "Whatever it is, Isobel will probably be working on it."

It was clear that Jayla didn't relish the idea any more than Isobel, who knew full well that if she were privy to the ensuing conversation, any future disasters would be attributable immediately and exclusively to her.

Jayla set her mouth in a thin line. "We're about to announce a deal with a big publicly traded company, but we're at odds with them about the level of press exposure. They want to keep it under the radar, but it's a big win for us and we want to get some play from it. How would you advise us to proceed?"

Aaron rolled his pen between his fingers thoughtfully. "We should determine which reporters follow this company regularly. If we confine our outreach to that group, it will be hard to argue that we overreached."

Jayla nodded. "I'm fine with that, but you'll have to put together your own list. I don't want to ask the target for theirs."

Aaron eyed her steadily. "You'll have to tell us the name of the company."

Jayla looked around the room and then sighed. "MacBride's."

The name meant nothing to Isobel, but the others immediately perked up. Katrina must have sensed her indifference, because she leaned over and whispered, "Huge investment bank. Right up there with Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs."

Jayla stood up. "Timing is ASAP. If you botch this one, that's it, no matter what ICG says." Aaron remained seated while Jayla turned one final malevolent gaze on Isobel and let Liz escort her out.

When they were gone, Aaron rose as well. "Katrina, this one's on you. Pull together a smart list, and then call to confirm that they still cover MacBride's. Nothing in email, no names, use caller ID block. Nothing to trace the query back to us."

He strode out briskly, leaving Isobel and Katrina alone. Katrina leaned back in her chair and folded her arms.

"What on earth is up with you and Jayla Cummings? I had no idea you knew each other, let alone hated each other."

"I don't hate her. I'd never even met her before today." Isobel ripped a sheet of paper from the pad in front of her and started shredding it absent-mindedly. "She used to date my temp agent, though. They had a nasty breakup, and from her attitude this morning, all I can think is that she blames me, though God knows why. It's not like there's anything going on between James and me."

"Do you want there to be?"

Isobel arranged her yellow paper shreds into a small neat pile. "No. Yes. I don't know. He's not my type, and I'm not his. No. What about you?"

"What about me...what?"

Isobel swept the paper shreds into her palm and crunched them. "Aren't you surprised that Aaron put you in charge of this highly sensitive confidential press list?"

"Why wouldn't he? I'm the most junior person on the account. It's the sort of thing I usually do, plus I'm sure they want to keep our billing down right now, and I'm the cheapest, next to you." Katrina brightened. "You can make the calls after I pull the names."

Isobel frowned. "But what about the Brazil pitch?"

Katrina froze. "What about it?"

Isobel struggled to find the least accusatory words. "You didn't notice that the reporter was sniffing around?"

Katrina inhaled sharply. "What? That wasn't me! Liz sent that pitch out. She was the one who didn't pick up on the significance of that email!"

Isobel backtracked immediately. "Sorry! I didn't...I don't know why I thought it was you."

Katrina's blue eyes blazed. "Who needs my dad when I've got you to assume that if somebody did something stupid, it had to be me?"

She stormed out, and Isobel berated herself for shooting off her mouth without thinking. Even if Katrina had sent those emails, she wouldn't have wanted to admit it. But her anger struck Isobel as genuine. Was Liz lying? It's never fun to take the blame, and in a case like this, it might have gotten Liz fired. But she wasn't fired - nobody was. In the end, they didn't even lose the account. So was there some other reason Liz didn't want Isobel to know she was responsible? Or was Katrina putting on a show?