Chapter 8

Matt and Kelly's games continued all week and over the weekend. Matt was with his Nana for Sunday lunch when Kelly sent him a particularly dirty text message. He blushed and couldn't stop Nana Edith from snatching his phone away.

'Matthew dear, you really should turn this thing off ... Oh my!'

'Nana! That's private.'

'I'd say, darling. You know that kind of thing was illegal in my day.'

Matt's cheeks went even redder. 'Nana.' He took the phone back and switched it off. 'There you go, look. Off.'

Nana Edith grinned and took another mouthful of succulent roast beef. 'I hope you're treating her right. Matthew. With all their money, I'd imagine she's used to the good things in life.'

Matt smiled.

'And, ' Nana Edith continued, 'I hope you're not pinning your hopes on her leaving her husband. Money is usually a good enough reason to stay with someone.'

'Actually Nana, Kelly's got her own money. And she is planning to leave him. He's not the world's best husband.'

'Oh? So I might get to see you go up the aisle yet? Well, you make sure you bring her around to see me. I want to make sure she's good enough for you.'

'I'm looking forward to this afternoon.' Jerry sipped his wine and then took a bite of his baguette. He and Matt were having lunch in The King's Head, a pub close to the Smith & Jones offices which the staff regularly lunched at.

'I'm not.'

'Why not, Matt? It's not every day we get invited to one of the partners' Champagne receptions. It shows we're on our way up.'

'I'm not even sure I'm going to go. I've a pile of work three feet high.'

'You have to. After all, you brought the client to the firm. It'd be rude if you weren't there. I mean, let's not lose sight of what's important here. There are partnerships up for grabs, for god's sake.'

'I know, but my partnership will be based on the Wingfield estate. I can't neglect it to go drinking Champagne with Roy Lakeland.'

'I don't mean to cast aspersions on your ability, Matt, but do you really think Old Man Jones would have handed you that estate if you hadn't helped us land Lakeland?'

Matt huffed. 'If it had been anyone else, I wouldn't mind. But Roy Lakeland. I mean. Roy Lakeland.'

'He's a nice enough guy, ' said Jerry. 'A little naïve, maybe a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic and a bit full of his own self-importance, but he's okay.'

Matt looked unimpressed by Jerry's assessment of his former schoolmate. 'When we were at school, he was a lurker.'

'A what?'

'A lurker. You'd be having a conversation and he'd be there, lurking. Listening in. He gave me the creeps. Gave a lot of people the creeps.'

'Well, he ended up with the girl you worshipped. He can't have been all that bad.'

'You might be right. Admittedly, the only time I've spent with him is that meeting we had '" and that wasn't very long. He might have changed. But somehow, I think he'll be worse now than before.'

Matt's secretary knocked on his open door and looked in to find him with papers spread all over his desk.

'Matt, I've just seen most of the partners going down to the boardroom. Aren't you going? I though they invited you.'

'They did, Doris. You too as it happens.'

'Oh, I am privileged.' She smiled and they both broke into a laugh.

Matt shook his head. 'I suppose we should make tracks.'

'I suppose so. You know, Matt, I think I'll enjoy working for a partner if I keep being invited to these functions. I quite like Champagne.'

'You're leaving me then, Doris?'

'You know what I mean.'

Matt smiled at her. Doris had joined the firm at the same time as Matt. She'd been part of the typing pool at first, but when Matt was made an associate and given the opportunity to select his own permanent assistant, Doris had been first on the list. She had few a years on him, and he saw her as an older sister that kept him out of trouble.

'Come on, let's go.'

One of the reasons for the success that Smith & Jones had enjoyed over the years was a splendid reputation for client care. The firm held at least one educational seminar a month for its clients, which the firm's lawyers were all expected to attend. Matt had been asked to speak at one the previous summer. It also held regular receptions for its more important clients, giving Milton Keynes' movers and shakers an opportunity to network. Many a deal had been done at a Smith & Jones Champagne reception. Generally only the partners, their secretaries and the office management went to the receptions '" for an associate to be invited was rare and considered a privilege.

The boardroom door was wide open as Matt and Doris approached. It would be closed later when all the guests had arrived. Matt glanced around the room from the doorway. All but the two senior partners were present, as were many of the invited clients. Notable by their absence were Jerry and Roy.

'Remember, ' Matt whispered to Doris. 'If it looks like I've been cornered by anybody, it's your job to come and rescue me.'

'Yes, I can see me interrupting a client to offer you more nibbles.'

'Please, Doris.'

'I'll do my best.'

One of the partners called over to Matt. 'Mr. Marsden. Glad you could make it. Have you met Ted Bull; he's a property owner and domestic landlord.'

'Wish me luck, ' Matt said out of the side of his mouth. He walked across to greet the two men, shaking hands and making small talk. Doris hurried over to the other secretaries in one corner of the room.

For the next ten minutes Matt was passed from one partner to the next and introduced to a number of clients. Each partner spoke warmly of Matt and his abilities, often ending with the suggestion that the client could do a lot worse than have Matt write his will, or sell his house.

Then the final guests arrived.

Senior partners Maurice Jones and David Smith were accompanied by Jerry, Roy, Kelly and the other two partners in Top Ten plc. Maurice's secretary took them all some Champagne on a tray, and David's secretary closed the door discreetly behind them. Two more secretaries went around the room ensuring that everyone's glass was full.

'Friends, ' David addressed the room. 'Today, we welcome new members to the Smith & Jones family. The successful internet company, Top Ten plc, has instructed young Jerry McTaggart here - one of our finest associates.'

He turned to the four people from the company. 'So, gentlemen; and madam, of course; may I formally welcome you on behalf all our partners and esteemed friends.' He raised his glass and everyone in the room did the same.

'Top Ten.' The rest of the room echoed him. 'Now, I believe that Mr. Chairman has a few words for us. Roy Lakeland, everybody.'

There was polite applause.

'Thank you, David. Until a few weeks ago I'd not heard of Smith and Jones, which given there are so many people here that I consider friends I should be upset over. You kept this little gem a secret.' Laughter rippled through the room.

It wasn't a particularly memorable speech, and in Matt's opinion it went on for far too long. Then...

'Of course, you all know of my little legal difficulties at the moment; we're a Great British David engaged in a titanic struggle with an international Goliath. But Jerry here comes highly recommended. Admittedly, he comes recommended by one of his colleagues, but that man is an old friend, who I trust. So if we could raise our glasses again, just one more time. To Matt Marsden, with thanks for leading me here.'

'Matt Marsden, ' the guests chorused.

With the formalities over, Jerry escorted Roy to one side of the room and began introducing him to the other partners and guests. David and Maurice each took one of Roy's partners and did the same. Kelly was left standing alone.

'Excuse me please, ' Matt said to the client he'd been talking to.

He strolled over to Kelly. 'I see you've been left all alone, Mrs Lakeland.'

'Yes. I'm just the financial controller; far less important that the other three.'

'Oh, I don't know about that. Would you like me to introduce you to everyone?'

'That would be most kind, Mr. Marsden.' She giggled.

Matt decided to start on the other side of the room to Roy and Jerry, and work in the opposite direction. He put his hand on the small of Kelly's back and gestured for her to lead the way.

As they were walking, he whispered to her. 'He goes on a bit, your husband, doesn't he?'

'Today was nothing, ' she whispered back. 'At the AGM, he spoke for over an hour, telling everyone how wonderful he was and what a success the business was.'

'Does he credit you with any of the success?'

'I've told you before, Matthew. He likes to think of himself as the successful one, not me.'

'More fool him.'

'I hate these things, I wish I didn't have to be here. Isn't there somewhere more private we could go? A room with a lock?'