A Class Apart (55 page)

Conrad stood up, and she was pleased to see his eyes widen as he looked at her. The last-minute trip to Fifth Avenue had been worthwhile.

“You look beautiful, dear,” said her mother. “Doesn’t she look lovely, Dad?”

Ashley blushed.

“She certainly does,” said her father, beaming at her in the way that proud fathers do.

Ashley looked at Conrad, and immediately looked away again. He was smiling the smile she hated so much. Funny though, how it didn’t seem to bother her quite so much of late. Probably she was just getting used to it.

“Have you seen my bag, Mum?”

“Yes, it’s here, dear,” and her mother picked it up from the table.

Ashley took it. “Shall we go?”

“By all means,” Conrad said.

They walked downstairs, and got into his car. As he switched on the engine, the stereo came softly to life, and Ashley settled back to listen. Conrad steered the car out into the street, and then threw a look across at her, but her eyes were closed, and she didn’t see. He smiled, and turned the car onto Park Avenue.

“I spoke to David Burgess today.”

Ashley’s eyes flew open. “Well? What did he say?”

Conrad smiled, and pulled out round a double parked taxi. “As a matter of fact, quite a lot.”

“And does he like it?”

“I wasn’t sure at first, he was too busy tearing me off a strip for the sheer audacity of it.”

“Oh,” said Ashley.

“But you can relax, he likes it.”

“But that’s terrific. Does that mean we’ve got the account?”

“Not yet.”

“When will we know?”

Conrad smiled. “You’ll know soon enough,” and that seemed to be all he was going to say on the matter.

She wanted to ask him if that meant that she would be staying at Frazier, Nelmes, but she didn’t, she was too afraid of the answer. They didn’t speak much after that, and in no time at all they were at the Pierre.

Conrad sent someone to find their table. Ashley waited beside him, looking around to see if she recognised anyone. She wished that Kate was there, she was always good at spotting the rich and famous.

Conrad watched her for a moment, until she turned to him and caught him looking. She blushed, and he smiled.

“You do, you know,” he said.

“Do what?”

“Look very beautiful tonight,” and he smiled again to see the look that came over her face.

The waiter returned, and showed them through the crowd to their table. Bill Fownest and his wife were already there, and Ashley was surprised to see Ron Fairchild and Cole Wallace, two other Account VPs from Frazier. Nelmes, sitting at the table with them.

The men stood up as Conrad and Ashley approached, and Ashley greeted them all warmly. Bill introduced her to his wife, an attractive woman in her late thirties. Ashley liked her on sight, just as she had her husband.

Later, after the tables had been cleared of dinner, a band began to play, and the Chairman of Warners took the floor first with his wife. Others were quick to follow, and Ashley accepted immediately when Bill asked her to dance.

“Doesn’t everyone look wonderful,” she remarked, as they pushed rather than danced their way round the floor.

“Mmm, don’t they just,” said Bill, looking down at her, and she laughed.

“Your wife seems very nice. How long have you been married?”

“A couple of years. You?”

“Me? I’m not married any more.”

“But you still wear the ring.”

“I know,” she said, looking at her left hand. “I don’t know why. Maybe I should move it over onto my other hand.”

“How long have you been divorced?”

“A couple of years,” she said, and he smiled.

They could hardly be supposed to be dancing, they were stopping so frequently. Bill knew just about everyone, and introduced her to them all. She protested, laughing that she would never remember so many names, and begged him not to introduce her to anyone again, at least for the next two minutes.

He obliged, and devoted his attention to her.

“You haven’t told me yet what Conrad thought of your Mercer Burgess pitch.”

She grimaced. “Ah, well, that’s not easy. I think he liked it, but I’m not sure. Has he said anything to you about it?”

Bill nodded.

“He has? Well, aren’t you going to tell me what he said?”

“No.”

“No? No, just like that.”

“No,” he chuckled, “just like that.”

“Oh.”

“You’ll know soon enough,” he said, repeating what Conrad had said earlier, and she had to be satisfied. At that moment they came across his wife, dancing with Cole Wallace, and exchanged partners.

Ashley didn’t know Cole too well, but he seemed pleasant enough. And he danced well.

“So,” he said, twirling her round, “how are you liking us, here in New York?”

She smiled. “I’m liking you just fine. In fact, given the chance, I think I might grow to love it here.”

He raised his eyebrows, and chuckled. “Don’t you miss London?”

“Terribly, but it will always be there. I can always go back, if I want to.”

“But right now, you don’t want to?”

“No, I’m staying right here. Apart from anything else, I’ve got a major account to win.”

“Do you think you will?”

“Of course,” she answered. “Don’t you?”

“Of course,” he said.

She looked across the room, and through the crowd she saw Conrad talking to some strangers.

“The President of Warners,” said Cole, following her eyes.

A rather drunken couple fell against them, and Cole caught her about the waist. She laughed, and gracefully accepted the rather slurred apologies.

“I think it’s time we sat down again now,” she said, and Cole walked her back to the table.

Conrad didn’t come back, so when Bill asked her to dance again, she accepted, feeling annoyed with Conrad that he was ignoring them all.

“I was wondering,” she said to Bill.

He lifted his hand. “I’m saying no more about Mercer Burgess.”

“No, it wasn’t about them. But I’m determined to get it out of you one way or another. No, I was wondering why Ron and Cole came alone.”

“Ah, the answer to that is simple. Warners always reserve Frazier, Nelmes a table for six, and Conrad decides who the six are to be. He generally invites the Account VPs in charge of the accout. You, Cole and Ron, I believe.”

“Oh,” said Ashley, “so I shouldn’t feel honoured then?”

He chuckled. “Sorry, but this is quite usual.”

“And there was me thinking that Conrad had done something nice for me, for once,” and despite herself, she felt disappointed.

Bill looked at her. “Didn’t he?”

Ashley looked at him curiously. “No.”

“But didn’t he call for you, and bring you here?”

Ashley nodded.

“Then, I suppose you could say that Conrad did do something nice for you, for once. After all, he didn’t call for Ron, or Cole.”

She laughed. “Point taken.”

They were held up for a moment by the volume of people.

“Tell me,” she said, when they were able to move on again, “who did Conrad call for last year?” The question was out almost before she could stop herself, and seeing the look on Bill’s face, she could have bitten out her tongue. It seemed that everyone looked at her that way these days whenever she mentioned Conrad’s name, even her mother.

There was a slight commotion at the door, and Bill looked past her shoulder to see what was going on. She saw him grin.

“Right on cue,” he said. “Don’t look now but the answer to your question has just walked in through the door.”

Ashley looked, and immediately regretted it. Being shown to a table was one of the most beautiful women she had ever seen. She moved across the room with the elegance of a swan over water, and her bright eyes laughed as she stopped once or twice to exchange greetings with someone she knew. Virtually all heads at that side of the room were turned in her direction, and though she must have known it, she seemed unaffected. She had arrived with an escort of three men, and Ashley watched as they sat down at a table, not too far from theirs. Waiters rushed back and forth, bringing champagne and glasses, and small trays of delicacies. The woman dipped her long fingers into them, and put them into her mouth in the most outrageously flirtatious manner.

Ashley turned back to Bill. “Conrad brought her last year?”

Bill nodded.

“Who is she? She’s beautiful.”

“Candida Rayne. Top model and granddaughter of David Burgess of Mercer Burgess fame.”

“Oh,” said Ashley. “I see.”

“I don’t think you do.”

“Does he still see her?”

“From time to time, I think.”

“Would that account for Conrad’s personal involvement in the campaign?”

“Yes.”

Ashley looked away, and back to Candida.

“And yours,” Bill added.

“Mine?”

“All I’m saying is that when Conrad wants something, he knows how to get it. His methods may be a little convoluted at times, not to mention devious, but they seldom fail. And now, as we seem to have stopped dancing, shall we sit down?”

Ashley followed him back to the table completely baffled as to what was going on. But Bill would not be drawn any further on the subject, so she had to try and puzzle it out for herself. She didn’t know where to begin.

Conrad was still talking to the President of Warners when they returned. He was standing very close to where Candida Rayne was sitting.

Ashley turned to the bottle of champagne on the table, and picked it up. She had so wanted to enjoy this evening, but now everything seemed to have fallen flat. Perhaps a little more champagne would lift the sudden dip in her mood.

Bill’s wife, who had been dancing with Ron, came back to sit down too, and Cole, who had disappeared for a while, ambled up to them looking very down in the mouth because his devastating charms had failed to work on the starlet of his choice. Bill slapped him on the back and told him to try again later when she’d had more to drink.

Ashley watched Conrad as he extricated himself from the group around the President, and went over to speak to someone else. But it wasn’t long before he came back to their table again. He seemed to be in an extraordinarily good mood this evening, and Ashley thought that perhaps she could see, at last, why everyone else at Frazier, Nelmes had such a liking for him. This was a side of him she had never seen before.

Cole was sitting beside her; he kept her glass topped up, and not once did she object. She danced with him again, several times, and with Ron too, but Conrad didn’t ask.

It was much later, when Ron was in the middle of one of his mind-stretching stories, that Ashley found herself watching Conrad’s face, and actually liking what she saw. Of course, he was extremely handsome, that she had never denied. But seeing him laugh was something new to her, and she liked it. Like so many men who smile infrequently, the impact of the smile when it did come was much greater than expected. But now he wasn’t smiling; in fact, he wasn’t even listening. His face was serious, and he was looking across the room at something else.

Ashley followed his gaze, and when she saw who he was looking at her heart skipped a beat. Candida was surrounded by men, quite clearly having a thoroughly good time. She tossed back her mane of blonde hair, and her eyes sparkled into those of her companions. God, men could be so hateful at times, fawning around a beautiful woman like she was some Greek goddess, hanging onto her every word. Why didn’t they just peel her some grapes and be done with it?

She looked again at Conrad, and saw that he was still watching Candida. Ashley turned away, moving herself so that her back was half turned to Conrad, and took Cole by the hand. He seemed surprised, but pleased, and with his other hand he stroked her fingers.

“You having a good time?”

She nodded, and hoped that her smile reached her eyes.

She didn’t actually like Cole stroking her fingers, so she excused herself, saying that she must find the ladies’ room.

When she returned, pushing her way through a cluster of people who were standing near their table, Ashley suddenly came to a stop. Sitting down in the chair she had vacated was Candida Rayne. Ashley looked around in panic, trying to think of somewhere else she could go, not wanting to return to the table. She was forcibly struck by an eerie sense of
déjà vu
, when almost a year ago now, she had returned from the ladies’ room at the Ritz and found Julian at her table, with Blanche. But that was completely different. Her feelings then were not what she was experiencing now. At least, that was what she was trying to tell herself. But what could she do? Bill was looking at her, so she just had to go and sit down. But there was nowhere for her to sit. Surely one of the men would get up. But she didn’t want to sit down at the table while Conrad was talking to Candida. And he was laughing. Candida was making him laugh, and Ashley felt a pang that she had never made him laugh like that. Not that she had ever tried. Was it really necessary for Conrad to look so deeply into Candida’s enormous green eyes? And why, when they were sitting at a table, did he have to hold her hand? Ashley was suddenly aware that her own hands were shaking, and she clasped them together to steady them. She realised, with horror, that she was jealous.

“Dance?” said a voice in her ear. Ashley turned, and found a complete stranger standing behind her.

“Please,” she nodded.

He put his arms round her, and began to sway her gently in time with the music.

She nodded and smiled mechanically in response to his Yuppie small talk, but almost wished that she knew him well enough to ask him to take her home. Her eyes kept straying back to their table; Candida looked like she was settled for the rest of the evening. Ashley watched as Conrad poured champagne into her glass again, and then lifted his own, to drink an intimate toast with her.