‘Yes. Only I prefer Alex...’
‘Fewer syllables to contend with?’ Leo’s quiet, understated humour had remained intact, at least. She grinned up at him stupidly, a mixture of pleasure and panic rendering her silent.
‘Did you know it was me?’
It was somehow engaging that he could even entertain the notion that someone could forget his smile. ‘Yes. I didn’t think you’d remember me.’
‘Well, it’s good to see you. I’m afraid I haven’t had a chance to go through all the material you sent yet.’ He bent to pick up the papers, shuffling the disorderly pile and laying it on the table.
She’d read every word of his PR material. Top of his class at medical school, and now practising as a GP in central London. An advanced diploma in counselling, and membership of a long list of professional bodies. Co-hosting a radio phone-in had quickly led to his own show, which aired three evenings a week, and then TV appearances, a couple of bestselling books and patronage of various health initiatives. On its own that was impressive, but if his social life was even half as interesting as the papers would have everyone believe, it was practically superhuman.
‘So...’ He gestured her towards the armchair standing opposite his. ‘Shall we get down to business?’
‘Yes. That would be good.’ That was what she was here for. Not to spend the time gawping at Leo’s smile.
‘Right, then.’ He seemed impatient now to start and Alex dumped her coat and bag onto an empty chair, sitting down quickly. ‘I’d like to be honest with you about why you’re here.’
That would be good. Alex nodded dumbly.
‘Only I need your confirmation that this information will stay confidential. It’ll be public knowledge soon, but I’d prefer it didn’t come from anyone connected with us.’
‘I understand. I won’t say a word.’
‘Thank you.’ His stern look promised all kinds of retribution if she did. ‘As you know 2KZ, the radio station I work for, holds an annual charity spotlight during February. And your charity applied to participate in that.’
‘Yes. We were told before Christmas that our application wasn’t successful.’
‘It wasn’t.’ He paused to let that particular defeat sink in. ‘But the charity we chose has had difficulties. We stuck by them for as long as the allegations were unsubstantiated but, now that they are, we have little choice but to look elsewhere.’
‘And we have another chance?’ Alex wondered which charity it was, and what the allegations were, but Leo’s measured professionalism made it clear that he wasn’t about to divulge that information.
‘We considered abandoning our plans for this year completely, but we feel that a new charity, which we can investigate thoroughly for any sign of irregularity, would be an appropriate fallback position. The format would be slightly different—we’ll be doing informal phone-ins instead of a series of pre-recorded programmes, because of the time factor. Are you still interested?’
Alex swallowed. ‘This is a big project for us and it’ll take a good proportion of our resources if we get involved. Can you tell me how far down the list we were?’ Her feelings about being told that they were second best were irrelevant, even if Leo could have put it a little more tactfully. But she did need to know that 2KZ were interested enough to present her charity properly, and that they weren’t just filling a few spare hours in their programming schedule.
‘No. That would be inappropriate. But I can assure you that we’re fully committed to going ahead with this and that I believe you’re a good fit for the project. And I do need your answer now.’
In other words, she had to trust him. The old Leo would have been a lot easier to trust than this new one. But Alex knew she’d have to be crazy to pass up a chance like this.
‘Yes, we’re interested. Thank you. This is a wonderful opportunity for us.’
He dismissed her gratitude with a practised smile, a flip of his finger bringing a waiter over. ‘Shall we have some tea? The Darjeeling, I think...’ The waiter began to scribble on his pad.
She’d never been here before and had no idea what to order. All the same, Leo had left her to choose for herself at the coffee bar. Alex supposed that it had been a bit more straightforward then—coffee or tea, with or without milk. But it seemed that everything had been a bit more straightforward that night.
‘That sounds nice. But I’d prefer Lady Grey if they have it.’
The ghost of a smile flickered around his lips. ‘Lady Grey it is.’ He looked up at the waiter. ‘A pot for two, please.’
‘Sandwiches or cakes, sir?’ The waiter’s gaze turned to Alex as Leo deflected the question her way.
‘No, thank you. Not for me.’ Dealing with Leo was taking all of her concentration. She wasn’t sure she could manage cake crumbs as well.
Leo was shuffling through the papers in front of him on the table. ‘Right. So your charity is called Together Our Way?’
‘Yes.’
‘No acronyms? Something a bit more snappy?’
‘No.’ Defiance bloomed suddenly in her chest. If they were going to do this, she was going to have to learn to stand up to Leo’s steamroller tactics. ‘We like to be referred to by our full name because it’s the way we do things.’
‘Yeah, I got that. And you’re...’ He caught a sheet from the pile which Alex recognised as her own CV. ‘A qualified physiotherapist, and you founded Together Our Way to help young people with disabilities participate in sport.’
‘Yes. I’ve brought some photographs with me that I think best show...’
‘Later, maybe. I’d like to ask a bit about how the charity’s run first.’ He didn’t even look at the pile of photos that Alex had pulled from her bag. ‘From what I can see here, you’re managing on a shoestring. You work three days a week as a physiotherapist and you don’t take a salary from the charity. And you just have one part-time paid employee, who called me back yesterday to arrange this meeting. From what Rhona says, she seems to be doing rather more than I’d normally expect from a part-timer.’
‘When people give us money, they want to see it spent on our core aims, not our running costs. We have an arrangement with Rhona that suits us both—she has family commitments and we give her very flexible working hours, and in return she’s very committed to us. And we have a network of very enthusiastic supporters.’ Alex had photographs of them as well, but she doubted that Leo would want to see them.
He nodded. ‘And you have your own office?’
‘Yes. It’s a loft room. The law firm that owns the building wasn’t using it and they let us have it free of charge.’
‘That’s good of them. And what do you do for them in return?’ His eyes seemed to bore into her, both tempting and cajoling at the same time.
‘The senior partner’s son takes part in one of our training programmes.’
‘And this boy—he fulfils your standard criteria for this service?’
Anger seized hold of her. Alex knew the exact position of the photograph in the pile, and she snatched it out, dropping it onto the table in front of Leo. ‘He was born without the lower part of both legs. Like most five-year-olds, he loves running and playing football. His name is Sam.’
Leo glanced down at the photograph, his face suddenly softening. As he reached out to touch it with his fingertips, Alex saw the melting blue eyes of the young man she’d once met.
‘It looks as if Sam’s