meant to be a bit of a terrier …’
‘You know her?’
‘Just in passing. We haven’t worked together. So, what’re you going to do?’
‘Nothing. I mean, what can I do? Marsha’s within her rights to bring in whoever she wants …’
Sean sighed. ‘Just sit tight, darling, and see how things pan out.’
‘Yes, I will. Sorry to land all of this on you. I know you’re busy shooting today—’
‘Hey, I’m okay for a couple of minutes,’ he said gently.
She cleared her throat. ‘Pringles all ready?’
‘Huh?’
‘For the party,’ she prompted him.
‘Oh. Haha – well, Louie’s been onto the caterers. Foie gras lollipops! I don’t think so …’
‘Let me know if you need anything,’ she added, before they finished the call – knowing, of course, that he wouldn’t, and that this was hardly a casual flat party where one might expect friends to bring a bottle of wine. No, this was an extravaganza with waiting staff, a seafood bar and a budget of thousands, and right now she couldn’t wait to slick on her red lipstick and get her hands on that first glass of wine.
The office announcement about Tina’s arrival was brisk and to the point. Jacqui had rounded everyone up, in the manner of an eager sheepdog, and now the whole team stood around stiffly while Marsha, who was perched with exaggerated casualness on the edge of Jacqui’s desk, enthused over Tina Court’s imminent arrival.
‘I know she’s going to fit in so well here. You’re all going to adore her. She’s such a breath of fresh air …’ Implying what? Roxanne mused. That they were currently stale? ‘She’ll shake everything up!’ Marsha wittered on, seemingly oblivious to the cloud of gloom now hanging heavily above them as she babbled on about figure-fixing fashion, page after page of cheap knickers that promised to squish in one’s tum.
‘How depressing,’ Tristan mouthed at Roxanne, with a horrified look. She nodded and shrugged. At least her colleagues seemed to share her view. Roxanne had assumed a non-committal expression, and was trying to keep her gaze firmly on Marsha as she spoke. However, it was impossible not to register the quick looks of alarm and sympathy her colleagues were giving her. She knew what they were all thinking: Poor Rox! How must she feel, being effectively demoted? Is this a sneaky way of trying to force her out?
Then Marsha was thanking everyone for their time – ‘We’re heading into such an exciting new chapter!’ she trilled – and everyone was trying to check out Roxanne’s face as she scuttled back to her desk. Before anyone could accost her, she scooted out of the office and along the short corridor to the ladies’ loo.
As she tried to collect her thoughts at the basins, Serena and Kate arrived in pursuit. ‘My God, Rox, what’s going on?’ Serena exclaimed.
‘You heard,’ Roxanne replied with a grimace.
‘Fashion-director-in-chief? We’ve never had one before. I’ve never even heard it used as a job title …’
‘No, that’s because Marsha probably made it up.’
Kate ran a hand through her short coppery hair. ‘What does it mean?’
‘It means she’ll be running our department and changing the style of our pages beyond all recognition,’ Roxanne muttered.
‘But why?’
‘Because that’s what Marsha wants, and she and Tina go way back, apparently. They’ve worked together before. Marsha said they’re quite the team …’
‘Well, that’s complete nepotism!’ Kate gasped.
Roxanne murmured in agreement, once again visualising the chilled glass of wine she would soon be clutching at Sean’s party. Usually she was happy to work late, but she was now experiencing a strong desire to escape from the building as soon as possible. ‘Everyone hires people they know,’ she said, trying to remain professional rather than letting rip with how she really felt. ‘Cathy brought me in, remember? We’d worked together before too. It’s natural to want people you trust.’
‘Yes, but that’s because you’re the best,’ Serena declared, ‘and this is different. Tina’s pages are a mess, more like a tatty old catalogue than proper fashion – and come on, we’ve all heard what she’s like to work with. She’s had her assistants and interns in tears. No one seems to last there more than a couple of months …’
‘I’ve heard all that too,’ Roxanne remarked, touched by her friends’ loyalty, ‘but we haven’t actually worked with her ourselves. We should just keep an open mind …’
‘Oh, stop being so reasonable!’ Serena exclaimed. ‘If it was me, I’d be having a complete meltdown.’
Roxanne forced a brave smile, pulling out her topknot and shaking her hair loose to signify that they had given the matter of Tina’s imminent arrival quite enough of their attention for now. ‘Don’t worry,’ she remarked dryly, ‘I’m saving that for Sean’s party so as many people as possible are there to witness it.’
And now she was extracting her make-up pouch from her bag, plus the original 60s black dress she had earmarked to wear tonight, and which was ideal for this kind of office-to-party scenario as it simply didn’t crease, even after being scrunched in the bottom of a shoulder bag.
She turned to Kate and Serena, who were still looking mournful in the wake of the day’s news. ‘Come on, you two,’ Roxanne said briskly. ‘Let’s get ready and off to this party. Anyone would think we weren’t desperate for a drink.’
Sean’s studio occupied the entire second floor of a canal-side warehouse close to King’s Cross. All white-painted brickwork with a glossy concrete floor, tonight it had been filled with silver helium balloons which were bobbing up at the rafters. The biggest, tethered above the huge metal-framed windows, read SEAN50. When Roxanne, Serena and Kate arrived, the room was already bustling.
There was a pop-up bar, manned by almost laughably handsome young men. Roxanne recognised them as new faces at one of the model agencies she used regularly, and Serena and Kate scuttled over to say hello. Other fledgling male models patrolled the studio, joking and flirting and carrying trays laden with glasses of champagne. At the far end of the room, a DJ was playing mellow tracks.
‘Hi, sweetheart,’ Sean said, having made his way towards Roxanne and given her a heartfelt hug. ‘Sorry about your awful day. Are you okay?’
‘Oh, I’m fine – don’t worry about that now. It’s your party! It looks fantastic in here …’
He grinned. ‘I’ll give Louie his due, he pulled out all the stops.’ Sean paused and appraised Roxanne’s appearance. ‘You look drop-dead gorgeous tonight, babe—’
‘Thanks,
