Persuading Annie by Melissa Nathan Page B

and more often than not, into Shirley’s face.
    ‘They’ve just started,’ whispered Shirley, her shoulders hunched for maximum volume control.
    ‘Oh,’ whispered Annie, hunching in response. ‘Shall I wait for the interval?’
    Shirley smiled a little uncertainly. ‘There is no interval. They’ll just keep going until—’
    ‘It was a joke.’
    Annie unhunched, gave Shirley a warm smile as an apology,gratefully took the coffee cup and pushed opened the heavy door with her free hand. The smell of polished wood and cloying perfume made her feel almost instantly claustrophobic.
    Susannah stood at the end of the table, dressed in a sharp business suit, her hair scraped back off her perfectly made-up face. George sat next to her, his Savile Row suit so pristine it almost glowed. To his right sat Davina, pert and pretty, and beside her sat Katherine, dressed head to toe in stylish black. Beside the empty chair sat Charles, looking wistfully out at the bright blue sky.
    None of them turned to look at Annie.
    Just your average cosy family, she thought, as she squeezed past them all to take her seat in the far corner. When she’d sat down, Susannah paused fractionally, and recapped quickly.
    ‘I was just explaining that we’ve been exceptionally lucky and managed to get the crème-de-la-crème of management consultants to come in and help Markhams’ back on its feet. They don’t come cheap but, well, I’m sure you’ll all agree that they’ll be worth every penny.’
    Davina was the only one who turned to Annie and smiled. Annie felt the corners of her mouth lift as her stomach plunged.
    Susannah started passing round copies of the proposal from the man who was to save their future. Annie was the last to receive a copy and she watched it as it made its way round to her. She eyed it with some scepticism. Luminous lime-coloured borders framed each page and at the top of every one jumped out a large, distinctive logo that looked to her like a squashed cockroach.
    Then as she sat there, trapped by her family, a slow senseof significance burned its way through to her consciousness, like dynamite igniting.
    First, there was merely a feeling of mild distaste at the colour of the print. Next, as her eyes scanned the name that was making its way towards her, came a sense of disbelief and foreboding. And then, as the proposal was plonked gracelessly in front of her, Annie’s fuse – seven years’ worth of it – finally went.
    She stared at the lurid lettering:
    JAKE MEAD ASSOCIATES.
    She stared some more at it. She blinked carefully.
    Nope. It was still there.
    Jesus Christ. It was Jake. Jake Bloody Mead, the boy who’d abandoned her, who let her spend her entire final year at college wondering if he’d turn up any minute, apologise, explain himself and let her continue with her life.
    She sat in blank disbelief while her body did a remarkable impression of swimming away from her.
    Was her family really going to entrust their entire fortunes into the hands of a pathetic, obnoxious, immature, self-obsessed boy ? A boy they wouldn’t trust her to elope with? A boy who fainted at the mere thought of making her pregnant? Who accused her of …? Who ran out when …? A boy who wore baggy jeans, for God’s sake?
    ‘Are you all right, my dear?’ she heard Susannah ask her. ‘You’re whimpering.’
    Annie made a valiant effort at a smile. She glanced round. Charles was looking longingly at the clock; Katherine was checking her nails; her father was nodding confidently, which meant he was confused. Davina was still looking pert and pretty.
    Annie realised that Susannah and Cass were the only oneswho even knew about her past – and Cass was the only one who even knew Jake’s name. Good, she thought. That should make it easier for her to keep it a secret. And this had to stay her secret – there was no other way she’d be able to survive. She just had to keep calm, maintain a mask of serenity, a barricade against the