The Ex Who Hired Her

‘I’m Harry Blake, the personnel manager,’ he said, smiling back. ‘This is Gina Davidson, the deputy store manager.’ He paused for long enough to let Alexandra exchange a greeting and shake the deputy manager’s hand. ‘And this is Jordan Smith, the CEO.’

Jordan had to be a good twenty years younger than his colleagues. He was only thirty now. How had he made CEO of such a traditional company that fast?

Stupid question. Of course Jordan would be on the fast track, wherever he worked. He’d always been bright; his mind had attracted her teenage self just as much as his face. A man who could speak three other languages as fluently as his own; who knew all the European myths, not just the Greek and Roman ones; who knew Shakespeare even better than she did, back in the days when she still wanted to lecture on Renaissance drama. Dreams that had shattered and died, along with—

Alexandra pushed the thought away.

There was no way round it; she was going to have to be polite and shake his hand. She forced herself to keep her handshake brief, firm and businesslike and to ignore the tingles running along every nerve end as his skin touched hers. But then she made the mistake of looking into his eyes.

Midnight blue. Arresting. His eyes had caught her attention, the very first time she’d met him. Sweet seventeen and never been kissed. Until that night, when he’d seen beyond her image of the geeky girl with the mousy hair and glasses who didn’t really fit in with everyone else at the party and had come over to talk to her. He’d danced with her. Kissed her.

She swallowed hard, and looked away, willing the memories to stay back.

She couldn’t meet his eyes, Jordan noticed. Guilt? Not that it mattered, because as far as he was concerned she wasn’t getting this job. No way was she going to be back into his life, not even in a work capacity. He’d get through this interview, and then he’d never have to set eyes on her again.

As the personnel manager, Harry was officially the one conducting the interview, so Jordan sat back and listened to him take Alexandra through the same questions he’d asked the others. Her answers were pretty much as he expected, so he glanced through her CV again. And then something stood out at him. The date she’d given for her A levels was three years after the date he remembered her being due to take them. Why? She’d been a straight-A student, the last person he’d expect to fail her exams.

Had the guilt of what she’d done finally hit her in the middle of her exams, so she’d messed them up? But, in that case, why had it taken her three years to retake them? And she didn’t have the English degree he’d expected, either. She’d planned to become a lecturer, so why was she working in business instead of in an academic role?

He shook himself. It was none of his business, and he didn’t want to know the answers.

He really didn’t.

‘Any questions?’ Harry asked his colleagues.

Gina smiled. ‘Not at this stage.’

And here was Jordan’s opportunity to show everyone that Xandra Bennett was completely unsuitable. ‘We did ask all the other candidates to prepare a presentation on how to take Field’s forward,’ he pointed out.

‘But the agency added Xandra to the list at the very last minute,’ Harry said, with a slight frown at Jordan. ‘So it wouldn’t be fair to expect her to give a presentation.’

‘Not a formal presentation, of course,’ Jordan agreed. ‘But I do expect my senior staff to be able to think on their feet. So we’d like to hear your ideas, Ms Bennett. How would you see us taking Field’s forward?’

Her eyes widened for a moment; she clearly knew that he was challenging her. And it was obvious that she also knew he was expecting her to fail.

Then she lifted her chin and gave him an absolutely glittering smile. The professional equivalent of making an extremely rude hand gesture. ‘Of course, Mr Smith. Obviously, if this were a real situation, the first thing I’d ask is what the budget and the timescales are.’

She was the first person that day to mention budgets and timescales; the other candidates had just assumed. And some of them had assumed much more money than was available, talking about putting on TV spots in prime-time viewing. Completely unrealistic.

‘And secondly I’d ask what you meant by taking Field’s forward. Are you looking to attract a different customer base without losing the loyalty of your existing customers? Or do you want to offer your existing customers more services so they buy everything from Field’s, rather than buy certain products and services from another supplier?’

Both Harry and Gina were sitting up a little straighter, clearly interested. She’d gone straight to the heart of their dilemma.

‘What do you think?’ Jordan asked.

‘I’d start by doing an audit of your customers. Who they are, what they want, and what Field’s isn’t offering them now. And I’d talk to your staff. Do you have a staff suggestion scheme?’

‘We used to,’ Gina said.

‘I’d reinstate it,’ Alexandra said. ‘Your staff know their products and their customers. They know what sells, what the seasonal trends are, and what their customers are looking for. They’re the ones who are going to come up with the best suggestions for taking Field’s forward—and I’d say that your marketing manager’s job is to evaluate those suggestions, cost them, and work out which ones are going to have the most impact on sales.’

‘Do you buy from us, Ms P—’ Jordan had to correct himself swiftly ‘—Bennett?’

‘No, I don’t.’

That surprised him. He’d been so sure she’d claim to shop here all the time. She wasn’t planning to curry favour that way, then. ‘Why not?’

‘Because as far as I can tell your range of clothes isn’t targeted at my age group, the pharmacy chains have much better deals than you do on the perfume and make-up I buy, and I’m not in the market for fine crystal, silverware and porcelain dinner services,’ she said.

Wow. She was the first of their candidates to criticise the store. And he could see that she’d taken Harry and Gina’s breath away, too. ‘So Field’s is too traditional for you?’ He couldn’t resist needling her.

‘Field’s has one hundred and five years of tradition to look back on,’ she said. ‘Which should be a strength; being around for a long time shows your customers that they can rely on you. But it’s also a weakness, because younger customers are going to see Field’s as old-fashioned. As far as they’re concerned, you sell nothing they’d be interested in. This is where their parents shop. Or even their grandparents. And you need to counteract that opinion.’

‘So how would you raise their interest?’ And, heaven help him, she’d already raised his own interest. Her comments were the best thing he’d heard all day. Her criticisms were completely constructive and she’d given solid reasons for her views. Reasons that he’d been thinking of, himself.

‘Taking myself as a prospective customer—if you tempted me into the store by, say, a pop-up shop showcasing a hot new make-up brand I’m interested in, and you set it up next to my favourite designer’s ready-to-wear range, then I’d realise that maybe I’d got the wrong idea about Field’s. I’d be tempted to look around the store. If you sell what I want, at the right price, and your store loyalty scheme’s good enough to tempt me away from my current supplier, then you’ll get my business.’

He really couldn’t fault that.

‘And I’d also take a look at your online presence. Your website needs to be dynamic and involved with social media. Do you have an online community?’

‘Not at the moment,’ Gina said. ‘How would you see one working?’

That was the moment that Alexandra really lit up. Suddenly she was shining, full of enthusiasm and bringing everyone along with her. ‘Forums, hosted maybe by selected members of staff. Not all the time, just five minutes now and then. You could invite customers to be an expert in their field and share their tips. And you definitely need a plan for taking advantage of new media, if you’re looking to attract a younger audience. Look at how they use social media and mobile media, and how you could make that work for Field’s.’ She rattled off a few examples—all practical ones.

Jordan glanced at her CV again. In her last job, she’d been responsible for online marketing, so she knew exactly what she was talking about. He made a mental note to look up her old company’s website to see what she’d done there.

‘Thank you, Ms Bennett. No further questions from me,’ he said.

‘Are there any questions you’d like to ask us?’ Harry asked.

‘Not at this stage,’ Alexandra said with a smile. A polite smile, Jordan noticed, rather than a triumphant one; she clearly wasn’t taking it for granted that her interview had gained her a ticket to the next round.

‘Then thank you, Ms Bennett,’ Gina said. ‘If you’d like to wait outside for a couple of minutes?’

Jordan was aware of every single step Alexandra took as she crossed to the door. And, although he tried hard not to look, he couldn’t help himself. Ten years ago, she’d been sweet and shy, her beauty hidden away; now, she was polished and confident, and any man with red blood in his veins would stand up a little straighter and try to catch her eye. He hated the fact that she could still make him react physically; so it was just as well he wouldn’t have to see her again. Working with her would drive him crazy.

‘She’s by far and away the best of the bunch,’ Harry said when Alexandra had closed the door behind her.

‘Seconded,’ Gina said. ‘She understands our business a lot more than most of the others did. And she’s got some great ideas.’

Which didn’t leave Jordan any room to manoeuvre. If he hadn’t known her in a previous life, he would’ve agreed with them. But he had known her. And that was a problem. Maybe that was the way round this. ‘Unfortunately, I need to tell you there’s a slight conflict of interest. One I wasn’t aware of before the interview.’

Gina frowned. ‘How do you mean?’

‘I knew her. At school.’ He coughed. ‘Under a different name.’

Harry’s eyebrows arched. ‘Neither of you said a thing just now.’