New Beginnings

For the New Year another repost from the book Blend 37 – Pippa Bow – CHAPTER Three “New Beginnings”

A week had passed. Pippa had worked all week on the designs for an event agency that had planned a massive opening party in spring. Pippa had created the whole concept, including the artwork. These were the kinds of jobs you could get on the internet. You would work for like a hundred hours not knowing if the client would finally approve the work, and if he did, you would end up with a few hundred bucks, paying a tenth of what the work would be worth.

Pippa was proud of her piece of work, which had been approved. But these jobs would not be enough to keep her running during her study, and she would not have the time to work non-stop on a project since she also had to do the homework for the study. She had also applied for a part-time job with one of the most prestigious event agencies in London. She would start in two weeks. The job paid well for a student job, enough to pay the rent and avoid the risk of starving. Tonight, she had planned to go for dinner with Tess, and later on, they would meet some friends in a bar.

Tess and Pippa had enjoyed their dinner at the Arcadia, a colourful restaurant with Italian food. They were enjoying their tiramisu and a cup of cappuccino while Tess reported on her last date that she got through her dating app. The first date had been a nightmare, but the latest guy in her dating series somehow blew her away. She was sitting there full of excitement:

“Wow, you did not recognize the guy?” Pippa was laughing.

“No! He was wearing a suit, and on those pictures on that app, he had been wearing more casual T-shirts and sunglasses.” Tess laughs.

“Was it a disappointment without sunglasses or does he look that good?” Pippa questions with a bright smile on her face.

“He is handsome, damn handsome, he looks amazing – he actually is amazing.” Tess couldn’t stop; she was absolutely impressed by the guy.

Tess had gone on a date with Gibson on Tuesday, and they had had a great time. He was one of those financial sharks who worked for one of the prestigious financial companies. They had met again just the day before and had spent the night together. She had left his Belgravia apartment this morning as he was heading off on a business trip.

Tess was sitting opposite Pippa, flying on cloud seven and swarming about Gibson like a teenager. They both giggled, while Tess was talking about what he had done to her last night. Gibson had also sent Tess an email just before she left the house to meet Pippa, saying: “I hope you give me a reason to come back.”

The two women finished their drinks and moved on to meet their friends Michelle and Alexa at the lobby bar at the foot of The Strand. A shiny, light-filled space with classy drinks and an even more classy clientele. The four of them took a sophisticated break. As they haven’t seen each other since the last semester, they had a lot to tell. All of them had had major changes in their relationships and were now single except Alexa, who had just gotten engaged, flashing off her ring, and was about to marry in the summer. Michelle was already flirting with one of the guys on the neighbouring couch while Alexa, Tess and Pippa disappeared on the dance floor.

By the early morning hour of around five, Tess and Pippa arrived at their apartment house, standing in the corridor. ”I will see you tomorrow?” Tess murmured while leaning at the door.

“Yes, good idea, or maybe the day after tomorrow, in case I sleep a little longer.” Pippa grinned, opening her apartment door and disappearing.

The weekend had past and Pippa was sitting on another project for the event agency. She worked online and was on the last edits as the deadline was set for five p.m. in the afternoon. She had worked out the whole marketing plan, including the graphic parts, venues, contacts, and much more. So, her rent was saved for this month. The following day university started again, and in the afternoon, she had her first day at her new job at the prestigious event agency. The receptionist opened the door for her, and she got introduced to the team. Two girls, both around their early thirties, one from South London, the other with an Eastern block country accent. The head of digital was not in, as on most days he would delight with his absence. Last but not least, Pippa was introduced to the digital director’s assistant, who, on the other hand, would shine even brighter with his presence. He would be the one Pippa would work closest with, to her delight, which she already knew the moment he shook her hand with such a soft, arrogant, dismissive handshake.

“Welcome Pippa, we are already expecting you. I got lots of projects already waiting for you. Show us how you will delight us here.” Toby, the assistant, pointed to his desk. “Well, you might want to have a seat.”

Pippa could only feel how her stomach acid rushed up and she swallowed it down. Yes, this was exactly what she was looking for; working with the asshole assistant.

“Thank you, Toby.“ She smiled. “Nice to meet you, I am so excited.”

Pippa took a seat, and Toby started explaining his role, since when he was in the company and what important work he was doing, which prestigious clients he worked with and that Pippa’s forerunner had been from the Netherlands and had returned to his study, and he wasn’t really sure if Pippa had what it takes to talk with his important clients.

“But we will see, I have several projects in mind you could work with and then we will see where you fit best,” Toby suggested. Pippa agreed in a friendly manner and repeated.

“Yes, well, let’s see what fits best.” She was impressed by what an asshole this guy was, how someone his age could talk with such arrogance, and she wondered what else he could do besides talk nonsense. It seemed like as more asshole the people to work with, the better the pay. Pippa had forgotten about the idea of simply looking for another job because it was difficult to find one that fit the hours and paid well. Otherwise, she would need to ask her father to support her with her living costs which she wanted to avoid under all circumstances. She was so glad not to need to ask him to support her, despite the fact that, of course, he would pay her lots of extras that made life damn comfortable and allowed her to live in such an area. She would rather have to find a way to get along with this assistant director. Toby kept talking himself into heaven. In between, he was looking at Pippa.

“You are in the third year of your design studies, aren’t you?”

“Yes, and in programming as well.” with her proud voice.

“Very good. I need your help with this then.” Toby nodded. “We are working with a designer and programmer who are specialized in this, and I need a list of all those activities and the payments. “Can you work with Excel?”

Wow, what an eloquent question! Pippa was stunned, sitting on her chair, trying to fake her politeness with a smile.

“Excel? What is this?” she asks jokingly.

“Well, we do a lot of calculations; what did you study?” Toby was asking with his missing sense of humour.

“I was just joking, it is like asking a drawing student if he knows a pencil, isn’t it?” Pippa replies.

“Like a pencil?” Toby repeated. He was lacking the link to Pippa’s comparison, and she thought, let it be.

“Well, yes, I am quite familiar with Excel, Toby. I work daily with the program, for calculations, forecasts, budget calculations, and things like that.” Pippa explained and couldn’t hide her lack of excitement about calculations.

“Good, we will see.” Toby replied. “But entering some data shouldn’t be too difficult, I guess.” He commented. “Well, I have a meeting now. You will come tomorrow afternoon. Here is what you can start with; you will sit at the side of Rebecca at the reception, and she will show you the computer.” Toby finished.

Pippa couldn’t believe her luck with this new job. This was going to be like working in hell. She said goodbye and left the office, texting Tess: “Ready for a drink? Meet me at Kay’s Bar!”

A Victorian bar in South Kensington that somehow had become Pippa’s second home during the last summer semester.

“I will be there at around six. I’m with a client here.” Tess replied.

“See you, there. Drinks waiting.” Pippa wrote.

Pippa was on her second Martini when Tess arrived.

“Hi sweety, how is it going? You are impressed by your new job as I see, aren’t you?” Tess asks ironically.

“Yeah, I’m so impressed, you can’t believe what kind of asshole this assistance guy is who I have to work with, unbelievable, a total sexist!” Pippa states this with anger.
“Well, you better get used to this, when you enter the working sphere, that’s the first thing they will pick on, after all it is all about competition, honey.” Tess tries to calm Pippa down. “You have no idea what I experience with my colleagues; even in our law firm, half the energy goes into fighting against our colleagues. Jim lately sued Kathrin for dealing with one of her clients, and that’s within our own firm. Imagine that!” Tess keeps going.

“How do you get through that?” Pippa asks. “When I look in the mirror in the morning, I tell myself, “This is the best time. You can do this, if you want to drive a Maserati, you better be a bitch.” Tess said.

“You say what?” Pippa laughs out loud.

“Yes, that’s what I tell myself every morning, and it works.” Tess says, “and don’t take things personally, darling. That’s rule number one. People don’t do all this because they are against you, they do it because they are for themselves.” Tess continues.
“Well, I was thinking changing this job, looking for another one, but this again takes time, and I am in my final year now, so I don’t want to waste too much time on job hunting.” Pippa says.

“You know most of these bricks are just insecure or feel intimidated by you in some way; they might not appear to be that smart. That’s the main reason why people bully. There is always that one jackass who ruins everything. Get your own strategy on how to get along with those morons, and you will find your way. This event company is good for you to work with. Rise above it; you’re not doing this for him; instead, you should focus on your studies and your bright future; and, of course, the money. You’re doing it for greater things ahead. Always know your “why”!

They both have another drink and change the topics. Tess is again reporting the details and latest news about her new lover and they are big. “He asked me for a boat-trip. Can you imagine?” Tess giggles.

“A boat-trip?” Pippa asks and was astonished by that idea as most guys would simply ask for a weekend-trip to the country-side.

“Yes, he suggested a turn from Mallorca to Ibiza, he has an invitation on a party in Magaluf, one of his friends is throwing a party there. It sounds amazing and I really would love to go there, but I have this case with that merger running so I don’t know if it is a good idea to take the whole week off.” Tess says hesitating.

“Well, come on, you are almost through with this case, can’t your associate do this paper stuff, you will be back at the opening day. Imagine what a great time you will have there, go for it, girl!” Pippa keeps motivating her as she has worked so hard since the break-up and really deserves a good break.

“Yeah, you are right. It is just the paperwork that needs to be sorted, and the form of order sought is already here. I should go for the trip.” Tess agrees with a big, triumphant smile on her face. “I’m going.” Tess was working on a merger between a global media company and an Asian production company, and it had taken her endless nights to finally get the deal together, but it was all set, and it seemed like it was never the right time for taking time off for a holiday, so if it wasn’t now, then when.

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