Upside Down Inside Out Read Online Free

He’d be giving the keynote address and then running several workshops. He wondered when he was going to find the time to write that keynote address. The way his schedule was at the moment, it would be on the flight itself.
    ‘Will I book a car to take you to the airport?’ Rosemary asked, pen poised over her notebook.
    ‘No, thanks anyway. I’m having dinner with my mother that night and she’s offered to drive me out to Heathrow afterwards.’
    Rosemary noted that. ‘And how is Kate, Joseph?’
    Joseph looked up from the letters he was studying and smiled briefly. ‘She’s much better, Rosemary, thanks.’
    ‘Oh, that’s good.’ She didn’t enquire any more about his mother’s cancer scare. Joseph kept himself to himself, pretty much. She’d once dared to ask him how he was when she’d realised he and his girlfriend Tessa had broken up. It was as if a shutter had come down over his face.
    ‘Now, I need your signature on these,’ she said, getting back to business and handing over a pile of paperwork. ‘And your answers to a few queries. There’s a request from that new design magazine to do a profile on you, full-page photo, interview, you know the sort of thing.’
    ‘No thanks,’ Joseph said.
    No surprise there, Rosemary thought. Joseph hated doing media interviews. The journalist would be disappointed, though. She’d sounded very keen indeed to follow Joseph around for a few days.
    ‘Two requests from design students, asking about the possibility of work experience here.’
    ‘That’s fine. A week each, once I get back from Australia.’
    Rosemary nodded. ‘Next item. The website designer rang to say he’s finished the updates to your site. I saw it this morning, it looks good. Lots of information, more photos. I think you’ll be pleased.’
    Joseph pressed a few keys on the computer beside him. There was a flash of colour on the screen then the Wheeler Design website came up. He quickly scrolled through, clicking from page to page. ‘Great stuff. I’ll call him later and tell him.’
    ‘I’ve had an email from the Canadian company, too. Wondering if you’ve made a decision about their offer as yet.’
    Joseph glanced at the paperwork again. ‘I’ll look at it again today, I hope. Can you please put them off
    for another few days? In fact, until I get back from Australia.’
    ‘Of course.’
    ‘Thanks, Rosemary. And are you sure you’ve enough time to help the auditor while I’m away? We can get a couple of temps in if your workload is too much.’
    She smiled at him. Her last boss wouldn’t have noticed if she’d been buried under her desk in paperwork. ‘I should be fine, Joseph, thank you. That’s all for the moment. I’ll shut the door behind me, will I?’
    He nodded. ‘Thanks.’
    After she’d gone he stood up, coffee cup in hand, and walked over to the big window. The rain was pelting against the glass, obscuring the view of the Hoxton shops and bars two floors down. He felt like he was in a carwash.
    The paperwork on his desk was like a siren calling him over. He resisted it for a while longer, looking around the office instead. He’d designed it himself when he’d first moved in to the old warehouse five years before. Wheeler Design shared the building with ten other companies, everything from graphic designers to freelance journalists. The first couple of years had been great, like a social and work co-operative. But these days he hardly had the time to talk to any of the others, let alone socialise.
    ‘You’re on the high road to success now, Joseph,’ Maurice had said that morning as he handed over the
    hundred-page document outlining the conditions and patent situation if Joseph were to take the job with the Canadian luggage company. They’d invited him to base himself in Toronto for six months to work with their team on a new version of his backpack. The work would be long and hard, but the money and prestige would more than compensate. This was the high