Tall Poppies (26 page)

‘You can be a special help to us with a new pill we’re launching,’ Tony said smoothly. ‘People want one pill for everything. It’s been difficult in the past.’

‘And we’ve got one?’

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‘Well, we’ve found a way to combine iron and calcium,’ Nina Roth said. ‘Usually, calcium blocks the absorption of iron. So our new pill will be the most complete thing out there. And you are the perfect person to sell it. You could combine the campaign with your skiing career. You see, we’re thinking of calling it Dragon Gold. As an Olympic hopeful, a World Champion

already, you would be the perfect face for the brand.’

‘You want me to be in adverts?’

‘Only print ones, Elizabeth. I’d find television ads a

little vulgar,’ her father said. ‘But you would also be in charge of the campaign. Designing it. Selling it. You can create copy, oversee the agency account, everything.’

Elizabeth found her fist had curled into a tight ball. mazing what a little blackmail could do. It sounded like a good product, and she would have total control. She

was careful not to betray her elation.

‘Is the pill gold?’

‘Yellow, from the betaocarotine,’ Nina explained. Elizabeth hated her patronising air. She might not be a lab’ rat like Nina Roth, but she wasn’t stupid. Nina thought she had a monopoly on anything needing a double-figure IQ.

‘What do you think, darling?’ the earl asked lightly.

‘Right up your alley, isn’t it?’

‘Right up my alley,’ Elizabeth agreed. ‘If you mean it,

about my having total control.’ She leaned forwards,

looking at Tony challengingly.

She’s ignoring me, Nina thought.

‘Of course,’ Tony said.

‘If I’m to control this line, I shouldn’t have to report in

to Nina.’

Nina sat perfectly still, anger blazing through her like

fire through petrol. She had no doubt at all that Tony would cave in. All he wanted was the quiet life. And if that meant humiliating Nina then that’s what he would

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do. She looked over at her young ladyship, the girl so poised and polished in her upper-class clothes, and her eyes were flint.

‘No. Nina will be out there, supervising the actual launch, but your work will be overseen by Dino Vin cenza. He’s in charge of marketing, after all.’

‘Suits me, Daddy. Although maybe it would be better if I reported in to Dino on everything. In the future.’

Nina bit her bottom lip. Caerhaven had tensed, and she sensed he was very angry, but he was the consummate pragmatist.

‘If you like,’ Tony said.

‘Then that’s fixed.’ Elizabeth stood up, pushing herself up on the soles of her feet, perfectly balanced. It was a strong movement. She gave Nina a barely perceptible nod, then shook her father’s hand.

‘Well,‘that’s all,’ Tony said, dismissing the meeting. Nina got up, unable to look at father or daughter. She followed Elizabeth’s stiff back out into the corridor and waited by the elevator bank with her. She wondered if Mrs Perkins had been listening in to that exchange, thought about the look of triumph that would greet her next time she entered Tony’s office.

Elizabeth stepped into the lift. Nina followed her. ‘You know, this works great for me,’ Nina said. ‘I really have so much work to do already, one less job will be a relief.’

Lady Elizabeth’s green eyes fixed on hers. ‘Nobody asked you if it would be great for you or not,’ she said.

‘That’s right.’ Nina couldn’t help” herself. ‘I didn’t go running to Papa to ask him to fix things for me. But then I’m not a part-timer. I really work for a living.’

‘Yeah, you don’t bother having a life. I heard that,’ Elizabeth Savage mocked. ‘Except when you go running to your boyfriend’s bed. That’s why he lets you do real work, sweetie. Daddy’s not big on women, except th

ones he wants in his bed. That’s the only reason you made the grade.’

‘You silly, spoilt little cow,’ Nina snarled. ‘You’ve got

no idea how I made the grade. I’m the smartest person in

this goddamn company.’

‘Certainly the best at Daddy’s special assignments.’ Elizabeth reached out and slammed the pause button. ‘But don’t get any illusions, Nina. You’ll never replace my stepmother. You’re nothing special. Girls like you come and go, you’re just a toy to him.’

‘He doesn’t give a damn about you. He’s only doing

this to shut your stupid little Sloane mouth up.’

Elizabeth smiled. ‘You think I need you to tell me that?

And you think I care? I’ve got a right to this company. I’ll ‘get my chance any way I bloody well can. Although I expect you’ll be blabbing all this to him next time he takes you to bed.’

‘No chance, bitch,’ Nina snapped. ‘I can look after myself.’

‘Ditto.’ Elizabeth let the lift slide downwards. ‘And I

caf handle you. In fact I just did, didn’t I? I’ll be trotting

off to Dino now, since he’s my new boss.’

‘Watch your back, kiddo,’ Nina said.

Elizabeth laughed. ‘I don’t think so. I’m more than a match for you. And give it a rest with the melodrama, would you? You’re in England now, you know, not a bit player on Starsky and Hutch.”

The lift slid smoothly to a halt and the doors hissed open.

‘After you, milady,’ Nina said softly.

Elizabeth turned and gave her a brilliant smile. ‘Oh,

you can call me Elizabeth, Nina. I like to encourage familiarity from the staff.’

She walked off towards Marketing in a soft swish of cashmere and tweed, her long, honey-blonde hair gleaming neatly down her back, her elegant walk giving Nina

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visions of deportment lessons and private dances. Fury balled like a fist in Nina’s stomach.

I might be in England, she thought, but I’m still playing by Brooklyn rules. And girl, you just had your first and last warning.

Nina sat down at her desk and tapped into her computerabsently. Her mind was already in Switzerland. And on what it would take to bring Lady Elizabeth down.

‘So. Tell me more about these Wiinderkinder you’ve discovered,’ Frank Staunton said.

Nina crossed her legs and leaned back in her chair. Lady Elizabeth had flown off to Switzerland, and no one else around Dragon dared to give her a hard time. She was wearing a navy suit with white piping, a prt porter fm Chanel. Gucci heels gave her an extra inch of height and Tony’s diamonds glittered on her lobes. The Swiss team she’d found were a slam-dunk. Right now she could face Heinrich Giinther, Don Hadley and the rest without a qualm.

For a moment Nina remembered the frightened, desperate teenager she’d been barely three years back. Well, that girl was dead. She’d killed her. The power she felt right now was worth any amount of catty looks from Tom, Elizabeth and the rest of them.

‘I’ve found a primary research source I think should replace Steele and Ripley.’ Nina passed folders around the table. ‘Dr Henry Namath-, Dr Lilly Hall and four technicians under their employ are currently operating in Zurich. They’re freelancers and have supplied specialist work to pharmaceutical giants and biootech companies. They work on complex computer modelling systems. Dr Hall’s the biochemist, Dr Namath the computer expert. Their ratio of success to failure is very good.’

‘But slimming drugs, Miss Roth,’ Heinrich Giinthr

objected. ‘Your folder refers to cardio, respiratory, antiinflammatories

…’

‘If they already had a slimming drug, we wouldn’t be taking this meeting.’ Nina risked insolence; she saw the amused gleam in Tony’s eye. ‘The reason I propose we annex them is that they have recently done some interesting veterinary work. A drug called Leptate has helped to slim pigs.’

There was silence. Pigs weren’t humans, but they were mammals; they were close.

‘And why has not ICI jumped on them already?’ ‘Only because they aren’t sca.nning the breakthroughs in animal medicine, I guess. It occurred to me to crosscheck over the vacation.’

‘ There, Nina thought. Under the table her manicured fist curled softly in on itself. Now they’ll stop despising me, she thought. They’ll have to. That kind of lateral thinking is what’s lacking over here. And with one brainwave I just got them closer than they’ve ever been before.

tWe should move fast, though. Somebody else is bound to notice soon.’

‘I agree.’ Frank Staunton was looking at Tony, nodding.

‘And I.’ Seeing which way the wind was blowing, Herr Giinther had decided to jump in there too.

‘My daughter will be out there supervising a new product launch. As she’s skiing in the Olympics, it will be perfect cover. Meanwhile Nina will be in Switzerland, essentially to cover sales and shipping, but actually talking to Doctors Hall and Namath.’

‘Terrific, sir,’ Gerald Jax said admiringly.

‘]a,’ Giinther agreed. ‘Nobody will think twice about it.’

‘Then that’s settled.’ Caerhaven smiled softly.

The meeting broke up. Nina noticed that the soft

murmurs of congratulation were all headed Tony’s way. Heinrich Giinther gave her a sharp look of dislike, which was the best compliment she was likely to get. She glanced angrily at Tony. Why did he want to steal her idea?

The earl looked over from his crop of courtiers and caught her staring. He frowned slightly and Nina dropped her eyes. He didn’t appreciate the protest. I’m still the boss, his dark eyes warned. Don’t luck with me.

Nina walked through to Marketing at five p.m., carrying a folder on Dragon Gold. Ad executives and their secretaries gave her nasty glances and stopped talking when she passed by their desks.

She stopped in front of Elizabeth’s little cubicle, expecting to see it plastered with pictures of Elizabeth holding medals or grinning out of the pages of Tatler. Maybe some shots of Jack Taylor; she’d heard the rumours they were seeing each other. One rich-kid jock screwing another, just perfect. She knew Tony thought so. And she was with him there: Elizabeth married and in Texas meant Elizabeth out of her hair, giving dinner parties and throwing charity balls like little ladies were intended to. But the walls were covered with ads. Saatchi’s pregnant man, the Honey Monster, some apes throwing a tea party. Nina recognised each one of them. Maybe looking up at other people’s triumphs was the closest her little ladyship would ever come to work.

Elizabeth looked up. Her long hair was caught back now in a velvet clip. It looked ludicrously fresh faced and boarding-schoolish.

‘I’ve come to bring you the notes on the new product, Elizabeth.’

‘The notes? Oh, thank you, but I have them already. Mrs Perkins is making sure I’m up to speed.’

Nina shrugged.

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‘I’ll get everything I need direct from my father,’

Elizabeth said, ‘so you needn’t concern yourself.’

‘OK,’ Nina said, through gritted teeth.

‘And I’ve just heard that you’ll be out in Switzerland too. Do you like skiing? Maybe you could come out and watch the Olympics.’

‘Thanks, but I find work keeps me busy. I prefer to concentrate on the job in hand.’ Nina dredged up some murky names from her memory.“I guess I’ll just keep my fingers crossed for Kim Gideon and Holly Ferrell, those are our girls, right? Or if not, Louise Levier and Heidi Laufen. The Swiss. If you’re neutral, it’s nice to support the host nation.’

Lady Elizabeth’s green eyes regarded her with maddening coolness.

‘How silly of me. You’re the total professional. Just work, work, work, but then of course that’s how you’ve been getting all your wonderful promotions. Pretty

earrings, by the way. They look rather expensive.’ ‘I earned them,’ Nina said. ‘So I hear,’ Elizabeth replied.

Nina turned on her heel and walked away. She didn’t want the rich bitch to see her riled. She wanted to slap that silly, smug little face until the ears bled. Goddamn, I’ve been working since I was seven years old, I don’t need to come to England and have some no-nothing blueblood call me a whore to my face.

Nina’s office was a haven of silence. She looked round: soft, dove-grey carpets, an orthopaedic chair, a kidney shaped desk and top-of-the-range computer. She was a senior manager now, with her own secretary and two fax machines.

I earned this, she thought fiercely, I did, I did.

The wall opposite her desk was decorated with a large square photograph. Nina had chosen a Patrick Demarchelier shot, a black and white showing a grimy

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Brooklyn street scene. It was nowhere near ler old neighbourhood but so what, poor was poor. As Nina stared at it her heart hardened up again, shaking off the insults and misgivings.

Jeff Glazer. The laughing kids at St Michael’s. Her fat fuck of a father slumped on the couch in front of Jeopardy.

Never, never again. She was sitting here wearing Chanel. It was gonna take more than a few dirty looks to raze her now.

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Tony Savage lay back in bed and watched Nina. He felt marvellously relaxed. The ultra-modern, Japanese d6cor of the Halkin Hotel matched his mood perfectly; soothing, with no fuss or bother. He congratulated himself as Nina dressed. The girl had been quite a find; an off-the wall thinker, with relentless ambition. And the best piece

‘ of ass he’d ever had.

He thought of Camilla Browning, with her horsy voice and clingy manner. Looking back on it she seemed as exciting as a lowing cow. Nina was in another league. She turned him on like a light switch. Nina Roth would die before she’d cling on to anything. Tony casually tudied the soft creamy flesh at the top of Nina’s thighs as she pulled on her panties, plain white cotton from Marks & Spencer. Nina had the best pair of breasts he’d ever seen, she was all soft curves and hardoassed Yank attitude. Tony knew it was one more source of jealousy around Dragon that he was laying her. Heinrich, for example, looked at her when her back was turned like a slavering dog. He’d even caught the bellboy tonight with his eyes on her butt like he could see through her dress. Tony liked that. He loved lesser men drooling over what he had.