‘I think you had a meeting at Midas this week, didn’t you?’ she said.
‘Yes, I’m Julian Sewell. You’re Adam Gold’s assistant, right?’
‘Um, yes, I am. I mean, that’s where you probably know me from and yes, I’m Adam’s assistant. Erin Devereux,’ she gabbled. It was so long since Erin had had any male attention, she had forgotten how to flirt. It wasn’t as if Chris took her seriously and, much to her daily disappointment, Adam didn’t even seem to notice she was female. Erin stood there awkwardly as the handsome stranger looked her up and down. Why wasn’t she wearing one of the sexy little numbers she’d spent a bloody fortune on over the last couple of months, she scolded herself.
‘Devereux. That’s an unusual name.’
‘I think some distant relatives were Huguenots,’ she smiled.
‘A sexy French name. I like it.’
Erin blushed furiously. ‘So. How did your meeting go?’
Julian laughed. It was a lopsided smile and, as the corners of his eyes crinkled, Erin’s heart did a somersault. ‘Don’t expect much will come of it. We’re only a boutique practice and the Midas Corp tend to use the starchitects.’
‘Starchitects? What are they?’
‘You know. The biggies. Architects as famous as their buildings. Richard Rogers, Norman Foster, Frank Gehry.’
‘As you can tell, I’ve not been in the business long,’ she said with an embarrassed smile. ‘I don’t know the lingo.’
‘Well, then,’ he said pulling up a bar stool for her. ‘I appear to have been stood up by my friend. How about I buy you a drink and you can tell me what you’ve been doing all your life.’
28
It was six o’clock and Molly was desperate to leave the office, go home and have a hot bath. She applied a second coat of Chanel’s Vamp polish to her nails and wondered how she could while away another forty-five minutes. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy having drinks at Claridges, it was just that she didn’t much enjoy having to do work at the same time. The meeting she had scheduled there was with some guy called Jasper Goodman, about the Midas Christmas Party. It would no doubt be deadly dull, but she supposed it had to be done. Adam had indicated he wanted it to be the biggest, the most extravagant festive corporate bash, but quotes from all the party planners that Molly had contacted were nothing short of extortionate. Not that Midas were strapped for cash, but Molly wanted to impress Adam, to prove herself an indispensable new asset to the company, so when Jasper Goodman, MD of a new company called HangDog Productions had called promising to do the job for no fee, she had agreed to meet him immediately.
Deciding her nails had had enough TLC, she went down to Claridge’s a little early; there was always a chance there might be some Euro prince hanging out there. She took a seat in the bar, ordered a cocktail and had just begun flipping through American Vogue when an outrageously handsome man appeared at the door, smiling.
‘I bet you’re Molly Sinclair,’ he said. He was around thirty, tall, lean, in a slim-fitting navy suit, with dark blond hair and a curl to his lips that made it look as if he was thinking something filthy. Molly felt as if she was going to come just by looking at him.
‘You don’t mind if I have a beer, do you?’ he smiled as he squeezed in next to her and signalled to the barman. ‘I don’t usually drink when I’m presenting to clients, but I’ve have a day from hell and you look as if you wouldn’t say no.’
‘To what?’ flirted Molly, her eyes holding his.
‘To me having a beer,’ he grinned, his hand brushing hers as he pulled a ring-bound folder from out of his attaché case
. ‘Now, shall we get started?’
Molly found it hard to say no to anything at the best of times, especially if it involved drink, drugs or men, and she had a feeling she was going to agree to whatever Jasper Goodman asked her.
When he took a sip of his beer, leaving a trace of froth on his mouth, Molly was desperate to kiss it off. For the next half an hour, Jasper took her through the costings for three options of Christmas party: a Bollywood banquet at Hampton Court Palace, an Alice-in-Wonderland themed bash at Shepperton Studios, and a recreation of Lapland in Battersea Park, complete with reindeers, real snow and Asprey baubles in the goody bags. The cost of suppliers seemed very reasonable compared to other quotes she had received and, as Jasper’s company would do it for no fee, it was definitely the most cost-effective pitch she had seen to date.
‘So, what do you think?’ he asked cautiously.
Molly paused, looking at Jasper’s worried expression and enjoying the power. ‘I won’t beat around the bush, Jasper, I’m impressed by the pitch but, as you’ll be aware, Midas are a huge, high-profile company, and everyone wants to be seen to be organizing our party.’
‘That’s why we’re doing it for no fee,’ said Jasper eagerly.
Molly nodded. ‘Well, I’m going to show my boss first thing in the morning and we will make a decision on who we are going to go with immediately after that. Good enough?’
‘Excellent. But how do you rate my chances: “good”, “poor” or “middling”,’ he asked, the flirtation thick in his voice. ‘I know I could definitely get my teeth into this one.’
‘At the current time, I’d say your chances were good,’ smiled Molly as she paid the drinks bill. And getting better all the time, she added to herself as she felt Jasper’s hand on the small of her back, gallantly steering her towards the exit.
‘I don’t suppose you have any literature on the company, do you?’ asked Jasper suddenly when they were out on the street. ‘I think I could tailor something even more tightly towards your boss if I knew a little more about the company.’
Molly smirked. ‘Well, when you think Midas Corporation, you just have to think very up-market, very luxurious, very sexy,’ she smouldered. ‘But I do have some brochures in the office. It’s just around the corner, if you’d like to …?’