Monday

You know that summer has arrived when it is already daylight when you get up at six, and you can step out of the back door and not notice any change in temperature. It’s also nice to get home at 7.30, and sit out on the lawn with a cup of tea. It makes long-distance commuting much more bearable.

Ian (MD of our division and a Director of the agency) was on holiday this week (“does anyone notice any difference” said Tony W, media buyer and print buyer plus also he has been calling himself “Traffic Manager”). Paul (graphic designer) is also on holiday so freelance Joey worked full-time in the “studio” (the area by the back windows). Joey was limping up and down the floor, having injured his leg in a boxing match (“spent Saturday night in Casualty, missed the wedding of a good mate, I’m still in pain despite the pain-killers…”).

Late morning I was called suddenly to Rocket to in Holland Park take a brief. Rocket has been very quite for several months, so that I had begun to feel we had lost the client. Their reactivation is encouraging as they are big spenders.

I arrived at their offices and all the old nausea returned (they are very unpredictable and a nightmare to handle). I met with Rosina, who is Rocket’s marketing manager (aged about forty, short, overweight, black permed hair, podgy fingers so that her gold rings are almost enveloped in flesh, wears a dark navy suit that resembles the sort of uniform worn in retail outlets). She rushed through the brief, which was very involved.

In the afternoon I had to calm down Pete (my “assistant”) who was angry and scandalised that Angela, Ian’s PA, has been promoted to Assistant Account Executive (Pete’s title). Pete had been very quite since this was announced formally last week, so that I thought he had taken the news well. In reality he had been bottling it all up, and poured out his worry and frustration to me (as if could do anything about it).

I took him into the small meeting room where we could talk privately. He was very paranoid about his job, saying that Angela had been given all the accounts he had hoped to get. He thought he was being pushed out of the agency (this is almost certainly true as he has started an affair with Receptionist Sarah who is the partner of Ian’s son).

Tuesday

Looking at the profits from my account list for June, things look very healthy. This is also true across the agency, and so far we seem to be unaffected by the down-turn. Kate said June had been one of the best months for the new clients she has brought in (“this company is run by idiots but we are still making lots of money”).

Joey’s arrival has changed the character of the agency, mainly because he feels the need to vocalise his every thought, loudly expressing himself in a sarf London accent. He described how he intends to go swimming every evening (the only sport he can do with his bad leg). Mid-morning he limped out to a newsagents and came back with lots of magazines, looking through them for lay-outs he can rip-off.

In the afternoon Kate sat on the edge of my desk and we had one of the little private conversations we sometimes have. She wanted to know how secure she thought our jobs were. I thought how beautiful she looked with her wavy blonde hair and concerned expression, her pale face only inches away from me.

Last thing I went to see an Entertainments client in west London. They are probably my favourite client. Pleasant and undemanding, they have interesting briefs and never ever complain.

Wednesday

Joey described his visit to a physiotherapist yesterday afternoon. “I had to take me kecks off and everything and get face down on the table. Then loads of people came in to watch - he was giving a class!”

Most of the morning spent with Alan and Angela in the upstairs Board Room, briefing Angela on the clients she will have to handle (under supervision). She was concerned about who would do Ian’s PA work now she has been promoted (no-one has given any thought to this, which is absolutely typical). Sheila (Office Manager) was brought in to discuss the issue and instead of recruiting a new PA she proposed using temps under Angela’s supervision - which did not please Angela at all.

We went downstairs again. A general discussion developed on knife crime. Joey blamed the Macpherson Report for making the police afraid to tackle inner city gangs.

In the afternoon I went to Rocket again for a suddenly-called meeting. The meeting was held in the office of Rocket MD Geoffrey K, and while we waited for Rosina to join us I sat in a chair directly opposite him. He was pretending to work, but I could see that he was looking at meaningless papers.

Thursday

Kate told me that Ben (Ian’s son and Sarah’s partner) had caught Pete and Sarah kissing in the Haagen Daz café in Leicester Square. As the Haagen Daz café is a favourite haunt of agency staff it seems unwise for them to have met there. Ben and Sarah are still living together, and Ben had been hoping for a reconciliation (none of this would be important except that it has created a peculiar atmosphere in the office.

Friday

I am having to pressure Joey so that he does not slacken on the Rocket work. “I realise of course that Rome wasn’t built in a day” I said, trying to sound understanding. “Nah, it would look like Catford it ’ad been.”

I am also having to pressure Sheila over provision of a car. Normally I borrow Ian’s but he is on holiday and I have some out-of-London client visits next week. Eventually she hired a Ford Focus for two days.

Another rushed visit to Rocket - the project grows and grows. I managed to negotiate an extension to the deadline as we are going in many more publications. This in turn took the pressure off Joey so that he didn’t need to work over the weekend.

Later Joey showed me his on-line portfolio (nothing remarkable - mostly defence industry work). He said he had enjoyed working at the agency each day. He had gone to an interview recently as he preferred regular hours to freelance work:

“He wanted to meet at The Royal Oak, and I’m not being funny or nuffin but it was gay night and he was half an hour late, the bastard. I kept feelin all these blokes were eyeing me up. I had to leave my drink in the end and go and stand outside.”