Remember Me? (13 page)

As he finishes, Simon is beaming at me; so are the balding guy and a couple of the others.

I’m in a state of total shock. My face is puce; my legs are wobbling. No one’s ever spoken about me like that. Ever, my whole life.

“Well…thanks!” I stutter at last.

“Lexi.” Simon gestures at an empty chair. “Can we tempt you to stay for the budget meeting?”

“Er…” I glance at Dana for help.

“She’s not staying long today, Simon,” says Dana. “We’re popping down to Flooring now.”

“Of course.” He nods. “Well, you’re missing a treat. Everyone loves a budget meeting.” His eyes crinkle with humor.

“Don’t you realize I
did
this to avoid the budget meeting?” I gesture at the last remaining graze on my head and there’s another huge laugh around the room.

“See you soon, Lexi,” Simon says. “Look after yourself.”

As Dana and I leave the boardroom I’m light-headed with exhilaration. I can’t quite believe all that just happened. I bantered with Simon Johnson. I’m a whiz kid! I have strategic visions of the future!

I just hope I wrote them down somewhere.

“So, you remember where the Flooring department is?” Dana says as we descend again in the lift. “I know everyone’s eager to see you.”

“Me too!” I say with growing confidence. We head out of the lift and Dana’s phone gives a little chirrup. “Oh dear!” she says as she glances at it. “I should take this. Do you want to pop along to your office and I’ll see you in there?”

“Absolutely!” I stride down the corridor. It looks just the same as it ever did, with the same brown carpet and fire notices and plastic plants. The Flooring department is just along, to the left. And to the right is Gavin’s office.

I mean
my
office.

My own private office.

I stand outside the door for a moment, psyching myself to go in. I still can’t quite believe it’s my office. My job.

Come on. There’s nothing to be scared of. I can do this job, Simon Johnson said so. As I reach for the door handle, I see a girl of about twenty darting out of the main office. Her hands go to her mouth.

“Oh!” she says. “Lexi! You’re back!”

“Yes.” I peer uncertainly at her. “You’ll have to forgive me. I’ve had this accident; my memory’s gone…”

“Yeah, they said.” She looks nervous. “I’m Clare. Your assistant?”

“Oh hi! Nice to meet you! So I’m in here?” I jerk my head toward Gavin’s door.

“That’s right. Can I bring you a cup of coffee?”

“Yes, please!” I try to hide my delight. “That would be great.”

I have an assistant who brings me cups of coffee. I have really, really made it. I step into the office and let the door close behind me with a satisfying clunk.

Wow
. I’d forgotten how big this room was. It has a sweeping desk and a plant and a sofa…and everything. I put my briefcase down on the desk and walk over to the window. I even have a view! Of another tall building, admittedly—but still, it’s mine! I’m the boss! I can’t help laughing in euphoria as I swing around and jump onto the sofa. I bounce up and down a few times, then stop abruptly as there’s a knocking on the door.

Shit. If someone walked in right now and saw me…Catching my breath, I hurry over to the desk, pick up a random piece of paper, and start perusing it with a businesslike frown.

“Come in!”

“Lexi!” Dana bustles in. “Are you making yourself at home again? Clare told me you didn’t even recognize her! This is going to be tricky for you, isn’t it? I hadn’t quite appreciated…” She shakes her head, her brow creased. “So you don’t remember
anything
?”

“Well…no,” I admit. “But I’m sure it’ll all come back to me, sooner or later.”

“Let’s hope you’re right!” She still looks anxious. “Now, let’s go through to the department, reacquaint yourself with everybody…”

We head out—and I suddenly see Fi coming out of the Flooring office, in a short black skirt with boots and a green sleeveless top. She looks different from the way I remember her, with a new red streak in her hair and a thinner face, somehow. But it’s her. She’s even wearing the same set of tortoiseshell bangles she always used to.

“Fi!” I exclaim in excitement, almost dropping my bag. “Oh my God! It’s me, Lexi! Hi! I’m back!”

Fi visibly starts. She turns, and for a few seconds she just gapes at me as if I’m a lunatic. I suppose I did sound a bit overexcited. But I’m just so thrilled to see her.

“Hi, Lexi,” she says at last, eyeing my face. “How’re you doing?”

“I’m fine!” I say, my words tumbling out eagerly. “How are you? You look great! I love your new hair!”

Everyone’s staring at me now.

“Anyway”—I force myself to sound more composed—“maybe we can catch up properly later? With the others?”

“Uh—yeah.” Fi nods without looking me in the eye.

Why is she being so off? What’s wrong? Coldness clenches me around the chest. Maybe that’s why she never replied to any of my messages. We’ve had some huge row. And the others took her side. And I just don’t remember….

“After you, Lexi!” Dana ushers me into the main, open-plan office. Fifteen faces look up at us and I try not to gasp.

This is so weird.

I can see Carolyn, and Debs, and Melanie, and several others I know. They all look familiar…but three years on. Their hair and makeup and clothes all look different. Debs has super-toned arms and is tanned as though she’s just got back from some exotic holiday; Carolyn’s wearing new rimless glasses and her hair’s cropped even shorter than before…

There’s my desk. A girl with bleached hair in braids is sitting at it, looking totally at home.

“You all know that Lexi has been ill following her accident,” Dana is announcing to the room. “We’re delighted that she’s back with us today for a visit. She’s suffered a few side effects from her injuries, in particular amnesia. But I’m sure you’ll all help her to remember her way around and give her a big welcome back.” She turns to me and murmurs, “Lexi, do you want to say a few motivational words to the department?”

“Motivational words?” I echo uncertainly.

“Just something inspiring.” Dana beams. “Rally the troops.” Her phone chirrups again. “I’m sorry. Excuse me!” She hurries out to the corridor and I’m left alone, facing my department.

Come on. Simon Johnson says I’m a natural leader. I can do this.

“Um…hi, everyone!” I give a small wave around the office, which no one returns. “I just wanted to say that I’ll be back soon, and…um…keep up the good work….” I flounder for something motivational. “Who’s the best department in the company? We are! Who rocks? Flooring!” I give the air a little punch, like a cheerleader. “F! L! O! R!”

“There should be another
O
,” interrupts a girl I don’t recognize. She’s standing with her arms folded, looking totally unimpressed.

“Sorry?” I stop, breathless.

“There’s a double
O
in
flooring
.” She rolls her eyes. Two girls next to her are giggling into their hands, while Carolyn and Debs are just gaping at me.

“Right,” I say, flustered. “Anyway…well done, everybody…you’ve all done a great job…”

“So are you back now, Lexi?” demands a girl in red.

“Not exactly—”

“Only I need my expenses form signed, urgently.”

“Me too!” say about six people.

“Have you spoken to Simon about our targets?” Melanie is coming forward, frowning. “Only they’re totally unworkable as they are…”

“What’s happening about the new computers?”

“Did you read my e-mail?”

“Have we sorted the Thorne Group order?”

Suddenly everyone in the room seems to be swarming toward me, asking questions. I can hardly follow any of them, let alone know what they mean.

“I don’t know!” I’m saying desperately. “I’m sorry, I can’t remember…I’ll see you later!”

Breathing hard, I back out across the corridor and into my own office and slam the door.

Shit. What was all that about?

There’s a knock at the door. “Hello?” I call out, my voice sounding strangled.

“Hi!” says Clare, coming in under a vast pile of letters and documents. “Sorry to bother you, Lexi, but while you’re here, could you just have a quick run-through of these? You need to get back to Tony Dukes from Biltons and authorize the payment to Sixpack and sign these waivers, and some guy called Jeremy Northpool has rung several times, says he hopes you can resume discussions…”

She’s holding out a pen. She’s expecting me to spring into action.

“I can’t authorize anything,” I say in panic. “I can’t sign anything. I’ve never heard of Tony Dukes. I don’t remember any of this stuff!”

“Oh.” Clare’s pile of papers drops slightly as she surveys me, wide-eyed. “Well…who’s going to run the department? Byron?”

“No! I mean…me. It’s my job. I’ll do it. I just need a bit of time…Look, leave all that with me.” I try to pull myself together. “I’ll have a read-through. Maybe it’ll come back to me.”

“Okay,” Clare says, clearly relieved. She dumps the pile of papers on the desk. “I’ll just bring your coffee through.”

My head spinning, I sit down at the desk and pick up the first letter. It’s all about some ongoing complaint. “As you will be aware…expect your immediate response…”

I turn to the next document. It’s a monthly budget forecast for all the departments in the company. There are six graphs and a Post-it on which someone has scribbled: “Could I get your views, Lexi?”

“Your coffee…” Clare taps on the door.

“Ah yes,” I say, summoning a bosslike tone. “Thank you, Clare.” As she puts down the cup I nod at the graphs. “Very interesting. I’ll…formulate my response to them later.”

The minute she’s gone I drop my head down on the desk in despair. What am I going to do? This job is really hard. I mean…it’s really,
really
hard.

How on earth do I do it? How do I know what to say and what decisions to make? There’s yet another knocking at the door and I hastily sit bolt upright, grabbing a bit of paper at random.

“Everything all right, Lexi?” It’s Byron, holding a bottle of water and a sheaf of papers. He leans against the door frame, his bony wrists protruding from his white shirt. Around one of them is an outsize high-tech watch, which I’m sure cost a lot, but it looks ridiculous.

“Fine! Great! I thought you were in the budget meeting.”

“We’ve broken for lunch.”

He has this sarcastic, drawling way of speaking, as though you’re a total moron. Truth be told, I never got on with Byron. Now his eye is running over the pile of papers on my desk. “Back at it already, I see.”

“Not really.” I smile, but he doesn’t return it.

“Have you decided what to do about Tony Dukes? Because Accounts were on to me yesterday.”

“Well…” I hesitate. “Actually, I don’t quite…I’m not…” I swallow, feeling color sweep through my face. “The thing is, I’ve had amnesia since my accident, and…” I trail off, twisting my fingers into knots.

Byron’s face suddenly snaps in comprehension. “Jesus,” he says after surveying me for a moment. “You don’t know who Tony Dukes
is,
do you?”

Tony Dukes. Tony Dukes. I rack my brain frantically—but nothing.

“I…um…well…no. But if you could just remind me…”

Byron ignores me. He comes farther into the room, tapping his water bottle against his palm, his forehead creased in an appraising frown.

“Let me get this straight,” he says slowly. “You remember absolutely nothing?”

All my instincts are prickling. He’s like a cat prodding a mouse, working out exactly how weak its prey is…

He wants my job.

As soon as it hits me I feel like a total idiot for not having worked that one out before. Of course he does. I leapfrogged over him. He must totally loathe me underneath that polite, pleasant veneer.

“I don’t remember
nothing
!” I exclaim quickly, as if the very idea’s ridiculous. “Just…the last three years is a bit of a blank.”

“The last three years?” Byron throws back his head and laughs incredulously. “I’m sorry, Lexi, but you know as well as I do, in this business three years is a lifetime!”

“Well, I’ll soon pick it all up again,” I say, trying to sound robust. “And the doctors said I might remember everything at any time.”

“Or presumably you might not.” He adopts a concerned, sympathetic expression. “That must be a great worry for you, Lexi. That your head will be blank forever.”

I meet his gaze with as much steel as I can muster.
Nice try. But you’re not going to freak me out that easily.

“I’m sure I’ll be back to normal very soon,” I say briskly. “Back to work, running the department…I was having a great chat with Simon Johnson earlier,” I throw in for good measure.

“Uh-huh.” He taps the water bottle thoughtfully. “So…what do you want to do about Tony Dukes?”

Fuck. He’s outmaneuvered me. There’s nothing I can say about Tony Dukes, and he knows it. I shuffle the papers on my desk, playing for time.

“Maybe…you could make a decision on that?” I say at last.

“I’d be happy to.” He gives me a patronizing smile. “I’ll take care of everything. You just look after yourself, Lexi. Get yourself better, take as much time as you need. Don’t worry about a thing!”

“Well…thank you.” I force a pleasant tone. “I appreciate it, Byron.”

“So!” Dana appears at the door. “Are you two having a nice chat? Catching up with things, Lexi?”

“Absolutely.” I smile, my teeth gritted. “Byron’s being very helpful.”

“Anything I can do to help…” He spreads his arms in a self-deprecating gesture. “I’m right here. Memory intact!”

“Super!” Dana glances at her watch. “Now, Lexi, I have to shoot off to lunch, but I can see you out if we leave now…”

“Don’t worry, Dana,” I say quickly. “I’ll stay on here a bit longer and read through some paperwork.”

I’m not leaving this building without talking to Fi. No way.

“Okey-doke.” She beams. “Well, lovely to see you, Lexi, and let’s talk on the phone about when you want to return properly.” She does the phone-under-chin gesture and I find myself copying it.

“Talk soon!”

The two of them walk away, and I hear Byron saying, “Dana, may I have a word? We need to discuss this situation. With the greatest respect to Lexi…”