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tidied up graphics.’ It was unlike any running shoe ad she’d ever seen. Instead of concentrating on lone runners pounding along through mountainous scenery or busy city streets, it was full of fast-paced shots of all sorts of things. Interesting things, colourful things, vibrant things. The clip left her feeling energised and ready to zing along the corridor at speed. That had been Jason’s idea: to convey the swiftness of Mercury, without even showing a runner or a shoe.
    She stopped staring at the blank laptop screen and met his gaze. ‘If there’s something the matter with it, I can’t see it.’
    She didn’t get it. All week Jason had been banging on about how it had needed to be slicker, hipper...cooler. The finished product looked all of that and more.
    He turned the laptop back to face himself, fiddled with the mouse, and when he turned it round again a section of the video swooping through the skyscrapers of Manhattan began to play.
    â€˜What are those graphics running underneath?’ he asked in a low tone. ‘I didn’t authorise those.’
    Kelly’s mouth opened and closed. ‘Those were the stats you wanted to include, that we were waiting for from Research and Design. When I gave your last feedback to the production company they’d just come in, so I asked the team to find a way to add them in.’
    Instead of looking pleased at her efficiency, which he’d been complimenting her on all week, Jason continued to look at her with unblinking eyes. ‘Without consulting me?’
    Kelly swallowed. He’d been very busy on an international call at the time, and she’d known he’d wanted to get the notes off to the production company as soon as possible. ‘I thought that was what you wanted.’
    Jason flipped the laptop closed and pushed it to one side before leaning back in his office chair. ‘I decided to keep the facts and figures to the brochure, just let the video represent the ethos and aspirational qualities of the product—which you would have known, if you’d taken the time to ask me.’
    Oh.
    Jason sighed. ‘I know I said I like your initiative, Kelly, but you’ve been here less than a week and you’re already starting to make executive decisions.’
    Kelly looked at her hands folded in her lap. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said, and she probably should have left it there, but somehow the truth came barrelling out of her mouth anyway. ‘To be honest, I didn’t think you’d mind. I thought you’d just...forgotten.’
    Jason’s eyebrows rose. ‘So now you’re telling me that I can’t do my job properly and that a temp who’s been here five days needs to pick up after me?’
    Okay, it sounded bad when he put it that way.
    Jason shook his head and looked away. ‘You didn’t think I’d care,’ he said wearily. ‘But why would I not care when the new product I’ve been working on for close to two years is on the line?’
    Thankfully, she managed to swallow her next response. Because you don’t seem to care about anything too deeply, she’d almost said. Because everything seems like one big game to you. Just like her boys, he only seemed to care about how edgy or flashy or cool everything was.
    â€˜I’m sorry,’ she said again, but this time there was an added ring of sincerity to her tone. ‘It’s nothing to do with you, really. It’s me....’
    Okay...this was starting to sound like a bad break-up.
    â€˜Sometimes I’m a little too independent,’ she added. ‘It’s just that recently I’ve had to... I’ve been used to...’
    Making it worse, Kelly. He doesn’t want to hear about your personal woes.
    She took a moment then continued. ‘I’ll contact Ace Productions right away and ask them to take it out.’
    Jason’s expression softened. ‘No. Leave it.