A Very Corporate Affair Book 2 (The Corporate Series) (20 page)

     "I heard about the non exec positions. Quite the little rising star you turned out to be. Do you think you can deliver Conde Nast?"

  
    "I won't know too much until I attend the first board meeting, but I'll do my best. The main head office is in the states though, so I may be battling New York's finest for the work. Do you know much about our practice there? The calibre of the team?"

 
     "I spent a bit of time seconded there a few years ago. The corporates are as sharp as knives. They'd make us look laid back and lazy. Our recruiting there is about ten times tougher than here."

     "Good to know. No doubt Ivan would prefer to stick with a company he's happy with, and with me backing him up on that, we should be able to make it happen."

 
    "Good, now I noticed you're off this afternoon. Anything nice planned?"

    "Yes, for a change. I'm accompanying Lady Golding to afternoon tea, then the theatre. Taking her to see Les Miserables. Should be a nice afternoon."

   "Given that she's still a shareholder in the bank, it pretty much counts as client entertainment. I'll wipe the half day off your holiday records, and turn a blind eye on your expenses form," he said, winking.

 
   "That's kind of you, but it's social, not business, and it won't cost much. Knowing Lady Golding, she'll want to pay as it is. She likes to spend."

 
    "Oh well, enjoy yourself, and well done for getting Lassiter to pay on time, he's notorious for making companies chase for payment."
What is it with that man and money?

  
     Lewis left, happy that all was well in my particular corner of his domain. Five minutes later, Laura came in bearing two cups of tea, and a notepad, to get her instructions for while I was out. As I was on top of everything, it was a short list, mainly consisting of some filing, a few things to post, and an appointment to book with Giuseppe for the day of the awards do, which to be honest, I could do myself. She looked mildly disappointed at such a short list, as she liked to be kept busy in much the same way as I did.

 
     At two o'clock, Oscar brought Lady Golding down to my office, as she had met him for lunch at his. "Hello Elle, you look lovely dear. Is that one of the Mouret dresses? What a beautiful view you have from here."

 
     "Nice to see you. Yes it's one of the dresses Oscar treated me to. You look lovely." She was wearing a floaty day dress, with a neat little bolero jacket, and looked extremely elegant.

 
     "Thank you, it's a Caroline Charles design. Very cool and comfortable on such a warm day." She turned to Oscar, "thank you for a lovely lunch darling, and I'll see you at the weekend." She kissed his cheek.

 
     "Have fun ladies," said Oscar, "mother is armed and dangerous with a credit card." He winked at me, and said his goodbyes. I shut down my computer, and led her through to the lifts.

 
    "Such a lot of busy people. What do you all do here?" She asked, looking around the main secretaries floor.

 
    "We do corporate law, so mergers, acquisitions, finance, flotations, that type of thing," I explained.

 
    "What made you choose corporate as your specialism?"

 
    "It's the most prestigious out of general law, and the most well paid really. Unless you make it to top barrister, criminal law is mostly done in prison cells, and most clients are on legal aid, and family law tends to be mostly divorces, so is quite unpleasant. Corporate is done in nice offices, and although it can be stressful, and long hours, isn't terribly harrowing. My friend Lucy does family law at our head office, and some of the cases she has to deal with can be quite distressing."

 
     "Sounds as though you made a good choice. Your office is very nice." We travelled down in the lift. A sleek, navy blue Bentley was outside waiting for us. I slid into the air conditioned comfort, and we set off for the west end. Lady Golding told me about the places she used to frequent as a young debutante. It all sounded terribly glamorous, and exciting. "Did you ever attend a coming of age ball?" She asked.

 
     "No, not really. I attended balls at Cambridge, which were fun, but my course was quite intense, and didn't leave as much time for socialising as other undergraduates had." I said, sidestepping the question rather neatly.

 
     "That was a shame, still, plenty of time to make up for it now. Oscar told me how lovely you looked at that charity fundraiser a few weeks back."

 
      "I found a super hairdresser and makeup artist in a salon near work. They were practically magicians. I just took a photo of my dress to them, and they took over. I've booked them both again for an awards dinner I've got coming up."

 
      "I must get the number from you. I'd love a new hairstyle, but the girl who does it for me is a little set in her ways I think. I'd love to go a little blonder, and a little softer looking, more up to date." I looked at her dyed brown hair, and had to agree.

 
     We chatted about hairstyles, handbags and perfume, as we mooches around Fortnum and Mason. Lady Golding bought herself a new bag, several pairs of shoes, and we both had a makeover in the beauty hall, purchasing new cosmetics each. She tried to pay for mine, but I refused. Oscar had already treated me, and I was happy to spend a hundred quid or so on a new look. She was delighted with hers, the makeup girl updating her frosted pink lipstick by introducing her to new, sheer pinks. By the time we were both finished, we looked great.

 
       "I wish my daughter would do things like this," she said, as we were shown to our seats in the restaurant for our tea.

 
       "I've not met her. Doesn't she like coming up to London?"

 
       She sighed, "no, she's into horses and gardening. Years ago, she would have been called a blue stocking. Likes hockey, rugby and lots of fresh air. I don't think she's ever worn a scrap of makeup or a skirt in her life."

      I was surprised. For all her gorgon-like qualities, Lady Golding was extremely glamorous in a dowager kind of way. "Oscar said she was in Italy. Is she studying out there?"

 
     Lady Golding snorted. "She lives there with her 'best friend', Paulina. I don't ask questions. There are some things I'm better off not knowing. Put it this way, I think Oscar is my only hope of grandchildren, and I wasn't too sure about that a few weeks ago."

    "I don't think you need to worry too much. Oscar does like women. I can vouch for that. He'll find the right one soon enough."

 
    "I do hope so. He seems such a lonely boy at times."
Boy?

    "He seems a lot happier this last week. He came round Sunday night." We were interrupted by the waiter serving our tea. Lady Golding took a sip.

 
    "Freshest tea in London, and the sandwiches look delicious. Yes, Oscar does seem alright. He was happy when you stayed at the castle. He seems to light up when you're around. He did tell me during our lunch today that you're seeing that Russian chap now though. He's not terribly happy about it."

 
     "Yes, I've been seeing Ivan a couple of weeks now. I had a lecture off Oscar about it, over the terrible Conde Nast affair."

 
    "It seemed I misjudged him over that. I thought he'd let something happen to you, so he could renege."

 
    "He only found out at the press conference we called to publicly hand the company over to Dascha. He was genuinely very shocked. I wrote the contract giving her the company. By the way, nobody but you, Oscar and I know about this."

 
    "I gather Oscar covered up the money trail, so please don't worry, I won't be telling anyone," she said, a steely look in her eye.

 
   "Good, neither will I."

 
   "I should be of the opinion that my son is the best looking man in the world, but I have to confess that I think that Russian chap is really quite something. If I was thirty years younger, you'd have a fight on your hands." We both giggled.

 
    "My brain used to fry slightly when I first met him," I admitted, "goodness knows how I used to keep up with everything at the meetings."

 
    "I know what you mean, even I was slightly taken aback when I first met him. Maybe I should have introduced him to my daughter. That might have tempted her."

 
    "Probably. When I first started work there, I was told there were two men in the 'super hot club', one was Ivan, the other was Oscar. The secretaries went all useless whenever either of them turned up."

 
    "Are the women at your office jealous because you dated both of them?"

 
    "Not really, plus I work in an office on my own, with my own PA, so I don't have an awful lot to do with the others. Oscar's receptionist hates me though."

 
    "I wouldn't worry about her. Oscar doesn't like that bottle blonde type. He told me she sulks whenever you've been in to see him. Silly girl should know that he would never touch the staff." She took a bite out of her smoked salmon sandwich.

 
     "What other girls has he brought home? Does he have a type?"

  She swallowed her bite, "oh yes, usually tall, slender
, natural blondes, like you, but a bit taller. He's never gone for a well educated girl before though. They've usually been models or socialites. I think he liked the fact you're clever, said it was interesting and intriguing. You don't have any lawyer friends like you do you?"

 
     "I should introduce him to my friend Lucy, she does family law. She's pretty, naturally fair, and comes from a good family. She's nice. You'd like her." In truth, I didn't know how I'd feel about Oscar being with someone else, but I couldn't keep him hanging forever, it just wasn't fair.

     "And how would you feel about that?"
God, she's sharp.

 
     "I don't know. I have to be fair to Oscar, and encourage him to move on with his life, I am seeing Ivan now, and I doubt if Oscar would even want me, knowing I went with someone else. It's just that Oscar is so safe and dependable, which is alluring in itself. I just wish I could get over his 'quirk', but I can't."

 
     "I'm sure the answer will reveal itself in time," she said, patting my hand. "These cakes look almost too pretty to eat don't they?" She helped herself to a tiny choux bun, and bit into it, looking ecstatic.

  
    With tricky subjects out of the way, the rest of our tea was delightful. We sampled a couple of different types of tea, all beautifully presented in old fashioned teapots, and the cakes were out of this world.

 
     The two of us shopped a little more after tea, perusing the womenswear department, where Lady Golding bought a couple of new day outfits, and I bought a new top, before heading over to Shaftesbury Avenue to the Queens Theatre.

 
     Les Miserables was spellbinding, and we both loved it. Lady Golding raved about it as we walked out, and into the waiting Bentley. "Such a wonderful story, and so well produced. I'm so glad you chose it."

 
     "I read a lot of good reviews, which is why I thought we'd both enjoy it. I'll look out for other good shows in future." We sped through to the docklands to drop me home, before Lady Golding made her way back to Sussex.

  
    "I've had the loveliest day Elle, so thank you for arranging it, and I hope we can do it again sometime."

 
     "Definitely. I've had a great time too." Her driver pulled up outside my flat, and I grabbed all my bags, and hopped out of the car, watching as it glided away. I had really enjoyed her company, which surprised me a little, as there was a huge generation gap as well as wildly different social positions, but I had found her to be warm, funny, and fiercely clever. Yep, I'd grown to like her.

  
     Up in the apartment, I switched on the telly and made a coffee. It was nearly ten, but I didn't feel remotely sleepy. I checked my emails, smiling as I read a soppy one from Ivan, and replied to it equally soppily. My phone rang, I pulled it out of my bag, expecting it to be Ivan, but was pleased to see it was James.

 
     "Hey little Elle, I got great news," he said. I smiled.

 
     "Go on big James, what's happening?"

 
     "I'm gonna be home early. We had a breakthrough last week, and are pretty much finished with the coding. We start testing tomorrow, and all things being well, I could be home by next Friday."

 
      "That's fantastic news. I can't wait. I've been drooling over that holiday link you sent me. Even ordered some new bikinis and a kindle."

 
       "I've practically lived in shorts and vests for the last two months, so it's not quite so exciting, but I'm looking forward to eating, drinking and sleeping. I've been really homesick if I'm honest. I miss the flat, London, you, and our telly programs. TV in America is rubbish."