Chapter Text
Sitting in the bright, airy waiting room, Kate Sharma took a deep breath, willing away the sick, nervous feeling in her stomach, wishing she could put her head between her knees. With three years of refurbishing homes, offices, restaurants, and hotel lobbies, she should be used to interviews like this.
This, however, was a step up. With one notable exception, most of her clients had been decidedly upper middle class. Compared to her past jobs, the prospect of renovating the home of the CEO of Bridgerton Holdings, Inc., was nerve wracking, to say the least. If Kate was being honest, this was several steps up. She was way out of her league here, sitting in her high street top and skirt, a slightly scuffed heel tapping against the marble floor.
"Kate Sharma?"
Kate rose out of her chair, turning to greet the elegant blonde woman- younger than Kate by a few years, Kate guessed, nineteen, maybe twenty years old- who had poked her head around the door of the office. She subtly, (or at least, she hoped it was subtle), wiped her clammy palms on her skirt as she made her way across the room.
"That's me," Kate answered, holding out her hand to shake the woman's.
"Thank you so much for coming to our offices today,” the young woman replied with a smile. “I'm Daphne Bridgerton. If you'll follow me, we can get started."
As Kate followed Daphne into the spacious office, she was awestruck by the incredible view of the London skyline she could see through the floor-to-ceiling windows on either side of the room. Taking in the rest of the room, she couldn’t help but be impressed. The room was furnished with tan-coloured suede chairs and sofas, brass furnishings giving the room a decadent feel.
One wall was dedicated to a series of pale bookshelves, beech or possibly maple, Kate suspected, filled with leather-backed books, a couple of (definitely fake) succulents, and a number of framed photos. The remaining wall displayed an abstract piece of art, bursting with colour, at odds with the neutral tones of the rest of the room.
“Please, take a seat.” Daphne gestured to one of the mid-century sofas surrounding the glass coffee table. Kate took the seat Daphne had indicated, putting her phone and a copy of her résumé on the table.
"So, Ms Sharma, you come highly recommended by Angela Danbury, something that can be said about very few people," Daphne began, placing her phone down beside Kate’s. The two phones were the same size, with similar cases, although Kate doubted Daphne’s phone had a screen that was cracked and chipped in the top right-hand corner.
Daphne flipped open a copy of Kate's portfolio. "I have to say, I think your style is exactly what we're looking for."
Slightly confused, Kate was nothing if not professional. "Mrs Danbury was very good to recommend me to you- when I remodelled her summer home in Kent, I found her very difficult to read, and wasn’t sure if she approved of any of the updates I made to her home."
Daphne grinned. "Yes, Agatha loves to keep people guessing as to her opinion, but she's a softie really." At Kate's incredulous look, Daphne laughed, continuing, "My husband is her godson, and trust me, she is far less fearsome when you've seen her doting on our son, even as he drools all over her designer clothes."
As Daphne turned to another page showcasing Kate's previous jobs, Kate, confusion getting the best of her, finally plucked up the courage to ask the question that had been bugging her since Daphne had welcomed her. "And will your husband be joining us?"
"Simon?" Daphne replied, her eyebrows scrunching together. "No, he has absolutely no interest in any of this, I'm afraid."
Kate frowned, wondering she was actually in the right office after all. "I was told I'd be interviewed by Mr Bridgerton about remodelling his house?"
"Oh, you mean Anthony!" Daphne's face cleared, and with a slight smile she explained, "Anthony, my brother, has a house in Mayfair that is in desperate need of refurbishment. He was meant to join us, but-" she picked up her phone, checking it and rolling her eyes, before continuing, "-it appears that he has been waylaid in another meeting."
"I see," Kate replied, now recognising the exasperation on Daphne’s face as one she was far too familiar with, a look that seemed to be universal amongst siblings. She and Edwina adored each other, but both had a similar reaction to Daphne’s when faced with some of the other's aggravating behaviour.
"However, I will be happy to relay your suggestions to my brother, and will be sure to let you know if we decide to move forward."
Daphne laid her phone back on the desk as she reached for another folder, this one containing pictures of the house in question.
"I hope you had a chance to look over the pictures we sent in the email?"
At Kate's nod, she turned the folder towards her, and asked, "Well then, Miss Sharma, what updates do you recommend?"
"For the last time Daph, I don't need an interior designer!" Anthony asserted, closing his eyes and rubbing his temple, trying to will away the headache that was forming at the idea of having this argument again. Having returned to his office, hoping for a blissful half hour of peace between meetings, he was instead greeted by his younger sister, who was obstinately refusing to leave without once again discussing the renovations she felt were necessary to the house at Grosvenor Square. His house, which was absolutely fine. Why did she feel the need to butt in and try to micromanage him?!
"Anthony, given the disaster of your living room when you were left to your own devices to redo it, you absolutely do need an interior designer!" Daphne replied, leaning forward in her chair, which was actually his chair. Unfortunately, Daphne seemed unwilling to move until Anthony listened to her, resulting in Anthony being relegated to one of the visitor chairs. Loosening his tie, having already discarded his suit jacket, now draped over the back of the chair, he closed his eyes, leaning back in the chair, as if, by not seeing Daphne, she would somehow disappear. As if to prove him wrong, his sister continued to berate him, at times sounding eerily like his mother used to sound.
"And Kate is brilliant- which you would know if you had come to the interview! She has great ideas about what to change, how to revamp the place, how to restore-"
"Daph, I do not need some overpaid, self-important, hippy-dippy feng shui enthusiast who thinks all my problems will be solved by moving my sofa three inches to the left and adding a goddamn water feature!" Anthony said, his voice getting louder as he reached the end of his tirade.
The clearing of someone’s throat behind Anthony had his head whipping toward the door. For a second, he could only stare at the beautiful woman standing in the open doorway of his office, her dark hair pinned back from her face, her long legs going on for miles, made even longer by the high heels she was wearing.
"Ms Bridgerton, I wanted to return your phone- it seems I picked it up by mistake.”
"Oh, Kate, thank you," Daphne replied, flustered- clearly aware, as Anthony was, that his rude remarks had been overheard. One glance at the stony look on Kate's face, the clenched jaw, the stiff posture, and Anthony knew she was livid.
"Ms Sharma, allow me to apolo-"
"I can assure you Mr Bridgerton, that I have absolutely no interest in adding water features to your home, or even moving your sofa a single inch in any direction. Ms Bridgerton, I apologise for wasting your time today, but I am no longer available to work on this project."
With that, Kate is gone, out of the office, the door slamming behind her before either Bridgerton can say a word. With a withering glare at Anthony, Daphne hissed at her brother, “Anthony, you and I both know that the house at Grosvenor Square needs to be redone, and that woman-” Daphne pointed at the door where Kate had been, “-is the perfect choice to do it. So get your head out of your ass and go fix this!”
Slumping in the chair for a moment, running his hands through his hair, Anthony decided to heed his sister’s words, running out of the room in search of Kate.
Reaching the lobby of the building, he scanned the open space for the elusive Ms Sharma. Catching sight of her near the security desk, returning her key card, he rushed to catch her, coming face to face with her as she turned to leave.
"Excuse me, Mr Bridgerton.” Kate glared at him, her polite words at odds with the hatred in her eyes.
Fixing a bright smile on his face, the kind he used for investors and women he hit on at the bar alike, Anthony attempted to reconcile with Kate.
“Ms Sharma, you will have to excuse my outburst-”
“Mr Bridgerton, I have no need of your platitudes, you have made your opinion of me very clear-”
“If you would simply allow me to apologise-”
“I have no interest in hearing your apology-”
“For fuck’s sake, will you just let me speak?!”
Kate was momentarily taken aback by his raised voice, but recovered quickly to glower at him.
“Mr Bridgerton, you may be able to win over blushing debutantes and simpering starlets with your charming smile and empty words, but not everyone is so blinded by your wealth to ignore your glaring deficiencies!”
Anthony smirked at her, choosing to ignore most of her harsh critique of him, instead focussing on what he felt was the most pertinent part of her response.
“So you find my smile charming?”
Kate scoffed. “I should have known.”
“Known what?”
“Known that someone so warped by money, and access, and never hearing the word “no” would have such a high opinion of themselves. I really should thank you for being so open in your disgust for me and my, what was it you called it? hippy-dippy work, as it has made it far easier for me to turn down this job. Your arrogance and self-importance complement your lack of manners perfectly, and I shudder to think of the nightmare you would be as a client.”
Shouldering past a stunned Anthony, letting all the contempt she felt for the man in front of her bleed into her voice, as she said, “Good luck with the home renovations, Mr Bridgerton.”
Anthony, too shocked to speak, simply stared after her. He couldn't remember the last time someone had spoken to him like that, had looked at him as if he was something so far beneath her.
Groaning in relief as she closed her front door, Kate threw her keys on the side table and collapsed face first onto the couch.
Between the delays on the tube, the misty rain that soaked her to the skin as she walked the fifteen minutes from her stop to her dingy apartment, and the knowledge that there was nothing in the fridge that would even resemble a decent meal, Kate just wanted to fall asleep right here and have this awful day end.
Sadly, her stomach wasn’t on board with this, as it growled loudly in the silence of the flat. Reluctantly hauling herself to her feet, Kate made her way to the kitchen, knowing she couldn’t avoid the threatening letter she had thrown on the counter that morning for much longer. Still, she gave herself a couple more moments of blissful ignorance by pulling out her phone and opening her email. A very apologetic email from Daphne waited for her there, asking her to at least consider the offer, and not to take any notice of Anthony. Kate scoffed. As if Kate cared what Anthony Bridgerton thought of her! As if the opinion of anyone that self-obsessed, that high and mighty, would ever matter to her!
Rifling through the cupboards, Kate grinned triumphantly as she unearthed a small can of beans from the very back of the press. Beans on toast is a perfectly healthy dinner, right?
She poured the beans onto a plate, and set them to heat in the microwave. Moving on to popping a couple of slices of bread into the toaster, Kate clicked out of the email without replying to Daphne, instead playing a voicemail she had received from Agatha Danbury.
“Kate Sharma, please tell me I did not recommend you so highly to Daphne Bridgerton, only for you to throw that recommendation back in my face. I knew you were almost as stubborn as I am, but I never thought you were stupid.
“This project is perfect for you, if you can simply put aside your bruised ego and show just how talented you are! I don’t care what petty squabbles you had with him, do not let a dislike of Anthony Bridgerton hold you back from securing the biggest job of your career to date!”
As Kate sat at her small kitchen table, munching her beans on toast, Danbury’s words played over and over in her mind. Was she really just being stubborn? Maybe she had overreacted, maybe she had been too harsh. And yet, every time she thought back to Anthony’s words, his sneer as he disparaged her, his smug, pompous smirk when he thought she was complimenting his smile, she wanted to scream. She never thought she could feel such loathing for someone she had just met, but she would make an exception for Anthony Bridgerton.
Sighing, knowing she couldn’t ignore it any longer, Kate reached out and pulled the dreaded letter towards her, already knowing what it would say. It didn’t take a genius to guess what the contents of the envelope contained; the red “FINAL NOTICE” in all caps stamped across the front was hard to miss.
Kate had known it was coming, had been agonising over the ever-mounting rent she owed for months now. She knew she was running out of time, that she couldn’t afford to pay Edwina’s college fees and keep up with her own rent. She couldn’t let Mary or Edwina know the truth, with Mary working herself to the bone to continue to pay the mortgage for the small house in Kent that was her home, the home her and Kate’s father had built together, only to have her father ripped away from them, from their home, never to walk through the doorway again. Edwina was taking on more and more hours at her barista job to cover her own rent, as if studying medicine wasn’t hard enough without adding a job on top of it.
While money troubles were nothing new for the Sharmas, they had reached a breaking point, and Kate knew, had known all day really, that she couldn’t pass up on this opportunity. This job could allow her to pay her own rent, and even help Mary and Eddie out with their rent, letting them all catch a breath, instead of constantly having to worry. Kate knew she needed this job, and no matter how much she hated Anthony Bridgerton, she would do anything to provide for her family.
Walking up the stone steps to the large stately home, Kate couldn’t help but feel that she was in over her head. Yes, she had three years of experience, working with all sorts of clients, and yes, she had managed to gain Danbury’s approval, whose opinions were so exacting; Kate had drawn up what felt like hundreds of proposals before finally convincing the lady of the merits of updating her home.
But without even seeing the house in person, Kate knew this would be an uphill battle. She had called Daphne last night, and had agreed to take the job. Daphne had been elated, apologising profusely for her brother, and together, they had arranged to meet this morning to view the house, and lay out a timeline for the renovations. Still, even with Daphne’s enthusiasm, Kate wondered if there was any point in her even trying, when she knew Anthony would fight her at every turn? The money Daphne was offering was better than any job she’d ever taken on before, but if Anthony Bridgerton was determined to get rid of her, Kate doubted she would see any of that promised pay check.
“You called shotgun last time Greg, it’s my – woah!”
Kate was shaken from her reverie by the front door bursting open, and a barrel of energy slamming into her. Catching herself just before she fell backwards down the steps, and wrapping her arms around the smaller body that had crashed into her, Kate looked down at the young girl dressed in a school uniform in dismay, wondering if she had come to the wrong house.
A male voice echoed from inside the home, calling, “Hyacinth, your lunch!”
“Who’re you?” The girl asked, staring up at Kate with wide eyes, a small speck of jam on her cheek.
“I’m-”
“Ms Sharma.”
Looking up, Kate willed herself not to roll her eyes at the ridiculously formal greeting, if it could even be called a greeting. She was slightly taken aback, however, at how different Anthony looked. Gone was the tailored 3-piece suit (yes, ok, she had noticed how well it fit him alright? She might hate the man, but she had eyes), replaced by an old, well-worn Oxford rugby jersey and a pair of black Levis (still well fitting, but surely these weren’t tailored, right?). His hair, so well-coiffed the last time Kate had seen him, was now slightly damp, and completely unruly, making him seem younger. As much as she could visually appreciate the more formal attire, even if she detested the man wearing it, she had to admit she preferred this more relaxed look.
“Oh, you’re going to fix what Anthony did to the living room!”
A young boy appeared behind Anthony, in the same uniform as the girl. Closing his eyes briefly, Anthony sighed audibly before correcting the boy.
“The living room doesn’t need fixing, Greg, and Daphne should have realised that before hiring Ms Sharma.”
Still gazing up at Kate, the young girl- Hyacinth, Kate presumed, asked, “Ms Sharma, even if the living room doesn’t need fixing, can you please get us a new sofa? The one in there now makes you sit up so straight, and there’s only room for three!”
“Alright, enough! Hyacinth, Gregory, we need to go or you’ll both be late.”
“Bye Ms Sharma!” Hyacinth, arms somehow still around Kate, squeezed her in a quick hug, before releasing her. Skipping down the steps, she called back to Kate, “Also, if you’re redoing the whole house, I have some ideas for my room!”
“Nice to meet you Ms Sharma!” Gregory smiled up at Kate, cute dimples twinkling in either cheek.
Rubbing the back of his neck, his ears slightly pink, Anthony passed Kate, a curt nod and a terse “Ms Sharma” his only acknowledgement of her.
“Kate!”
Turning, Kate saw Daphne emerging from a sleek towncar, giving her younger siblings a quick hug before ushering them towards a second, equally lavish car. Kate was surprised to see Anthony slip into the driver’s seat, half expecting him to have a chauffeur.
"Eloise and Francesca were alright when you left them?" Kate heard Anthony ask Daphne, leaning out of the car window to talk to her.
"They were fine- I said you'd pick them up later, but if it's easier, I can go?"
"No, that's perfect, thanks Daph."
Daphne made her way towards Kate as her brother drove away, smiling at her in greeting.
“Hello, Ms Bridgerton.” Kate greeted Daphne.
“Oh please, call me Daphne!”
Kate smiled, slightly bemused by how different Daphne was to her brother.
“Alright, Daphne.”
“Squeezing Kate’s arm, Daphne led her into the house, telling her, “I’m so glad you reconsidered- I think when you see the state of the place, you’ll understand just how much we need your expertise!”
Kate laughed, casting her eye around the hallway, already beginning to appraise the house.
“I’m sure it can’t be that bad.”
Daphne turned to her as she opened a door, leading further into the house.
“You haven’t seen the living room yet.”