“Lara, I have a question,” says Ed as we walk. “Please don’t take this the wrong way.”
“I’m sure I won’t,” I say. “Fire ahead.”
“I just want to get something straight. You don’t want to be my girlfriend. Is that right?”
“That’s right.” I nod. “And you don’t want to be my boyfriend.”
“No,” he says, emphatically shaking his head. “Uh-uh.” We’ve arrived at the table by now. Ed folds his arms and surveys me as though mystified. “So what are we doing here together?”
“Er… well. Good question.”
I’m not sure how to answer. The truth is, there is no sane reason.
“Friends?” I suggest at last.
“Friends,” he echoes doubtfully. “I guess we could be friends.”
He pulls out my chair and I sit down. By every place is a program with Guest Speaker: Ed Harrison written across the bottom.
“Are you nervous?”
Ed’s eyes flicker, then he gives me a tiny smile. “If I were I wouldn’t say.”
I flick to the back of the program and feel a little kick when I find my own name in the list. Lara Lington, L &N Executive Recruitment .
“You don’t strike me as a typical headhunter,” says Ed, following my gaze.
“Really?” I’m not quite sure how to react. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
“You don’t seem obsessed with money, for a start.”
“I’d like to make more money,” I say honestly. “Lots more. But I suppose that isn’t the main point for me. I’ve always seen headhunting as a bit like-” I break off, embarrassed, and take a sip of wine.
I once told my headhunting theory to Natalie, and she said I was crazy and to shut up about it.
“What?”
“Well. Like matchmaking. Matching the perfect person with the perfect job.”
Ed looks amused. “That’s a different way of looking at it. I’m not sure most people around here would say they were having a love affair with their jobs.” He gestures around the crowded room.
“Maybe they would if it was the right job, though,” I say eagerly. “If you could just match people up with exactly what they want…”
“And you’d be Cupid.”
“You’re laughing at me.”
“I’m not.” He shakes his head firmly. “I like it as a theory. How does it work in practice?”
I sigh. There’s something about Ed that makes me lower my guard. Maybe it’s because I honestly don’t care what he thinks of me.
“Not great. In fact, right now, pretty shit.”
“That bad, huh?”
“Even worse.” I take another drink of my wine, then look up to see Ed watching me quizzically.
“You’re in a partnership, right?”
“Yes.”
“So… how did you decide who to go into partnership with?” he says lightly. “How did that all happen?”
“Natalie?” I shrug. “Because she’s my best friend and I’ve known her forever and she’s a very talented top headhunter. She used to work for Price Bedford Associates, you know. They’re huge.”
“I know.” He seems to think for a moment. “Out of interest, who told you she was a very talented top headhunter?”
I stare at him, feeling slightly wrong-footed. “No one had to tell me. She just is . I mean…” I meet his skeptical gaze. “What?”
“It’s none of my business. But when you and I first…” Again he hesitates, as though searching for the word. “Met.”
“Yes.” I nod impatiently.
“I did a little asking around. Nobody had even heard of you.”
“Great.” I take a slug of champagne. “There you go.”
“But I have a contact at Price Bedford, and he told me a little about Natalie. Interesting.”
I feel a sudden foreboding at his expression. “Oh, really?” I say defensively. “Because I bet they were pissed off to lose her. So whatever he said-”
Ed lifts his hands. “I don’t want to get into this. It’s your partnership, your friend, your choices.”
OK. Now I have a bad feeling.
“Tell me.” I put my glass down, all my bravado gone. “Please, Ed. Tell me. What did he say?”
“Well.” Ed shrugs. “The story went that she lured a number of high-profile people onto a list for some anonymous ‘blue-chip job’ that didn’t exist. Then she tried to offer them up to some less-than-blue-chip client and claim this was the job she’d meant all along. The shit hit the fan, big-time. The senior partner at her firm had to step in, calm things down. That’s why she was fired.” Ed hesitates. “But you knew this, right?”