The Cradle in the Grave Read Online Free PDF

.’
    â€˜It’s industry-wide. Everyone’s tightening their belts, making cuts where they can.’
    â€˜Who made the decision? Was there a vote?’ I can’t believe Binary Star would keep me and lose Tamsin. She’s got loads more experience than I have, and unlike me, she isn’t constantly pestering Raffi for a dehumidifier for her office.
    â€˜Sit down,’ says Laurie impatiently. ‘You’re making me nervous. Tamsin’s the obvious choice for redundancy. She’s earning too much to be value for money in the current economic climate. Raffi says we can get a new graduate researcher for half the price, and he’s right.’
    â€˜This is so out of order,’ I blurt out.
    â€˜How about you stop worrying about Tamsin and show me some gratitude?’
    â€˜What?’ Was that the great crusader for justice who said that to me?
    â€˜You think Maya wants to pay you what she’s paying me?’ Laurie chuckles. ‘I talked her through her options. I said, “If there’s a line in the budget for me, then there’s a line in the budget for Fliss.” She knows there’s no film without my cooperation, not for Binary Star. Ray Hines, Sarah and Glen Jaggard, Paul Yardley, all the solicitors and barristers, the MPs and doctors I’ve got eating out of the palm of my hand – one word from me and they walk. Whole project falls apart. All I need to do is bide my time, then sign a new contract with the BBC as MD of Hammerhead.’
    â€˜You blackmailed Maya into agreeing to promote me?’ So that’s why she was less gushy than usual when I passed her in the corridor. ‘Well, I’m sorry, but there’s no way I’m—’
    â€˜I want this documentary made!’ Laurie raises his voice to a level some might describe as shouting. ‘I’m trying to do the right thing here, for everyone! Binary Star gets to keep the film, you get a package that’s appealing enough to make you get off your arse and do the work . . .’
    â€˜And what do you get?’ I feel unsteady on my feet. I’d like to sit down, but I won’t, not after Laurie ordered me to. Not when he’s just made a snide remark about my arse .
    â€˜I get your full cooperation,’ he says, so quietly that I wonder if I imagined his outburst a few seconds earlier. ‘Unofficially I’ll still run the show, but my involvement will be strictly between you and me.’
    â€˜I see,’ I say in a tight voice. ‘You’re not only blackmailing Maya, you’re blackmailing me, too.’
    Laurie falls into his chair with a groan. ‘I’m bribing you. At least be accurate.’ He laughs. ‘Fuck, did I read you wrong! I thought you were rational.’
    I bite my lip, struggling to take in this latest revelation: that Laurie has an idea of what sort of person I am. It means he’s spent time thinking about me, even if only a few seconds. It has to mean that.
    â€˜You deserve a chance,’ he says in a bored voice, as if it’s tiresome having to convince me. ‘I decided to give you that chance.’
    â€˜You want control of the film even after you leave. You chose me because you thought I’d be easier than anyone else to manipulate.’ I hope he’s impressed by how calm I am. On the surface, at least. Not in a million years did I ever imagine that I would stand in Laurie Nattrass’s office and accuse him of bad things. What the hell am I doing? How many innocent citizens has he sprung from their jail cells while I’ve been whiling away my spare time leafing through heat magazine on the sofa, or shouting abuse at Strictly Come Dancing ? What if I’ve completely misread the situation and I’m the one in the wrong?
    Laurie leans back in his chair. Slowly, he shakes his head. ‘Fine. You don’t want to exec the documentary that’s going to win every prize going?