Tall Poppies (12 page)

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Harvard via Brooks Brothers. It wasn’t big on ethnic

minorities, City College grads, or women.

Why me? Nina thought.

‘So, would you consider interviewing, Ms Roth?’ ‘Absolutely,’ she said. It was certainly worth a shot. At worst she’d get a little flavour of life inside a market leader.

The interview took place a week later. Uncharacteristically nervous, Nina arrived at the Dragon building on Park Avenue ten minutes early, wearing her best suit and imitation leather shoes. Dragon’s HQ was a palace. The reception area was a study in burgundy leather, mahogany and marble, bustling with middle-aged men in expensive suits. The receptionist looked at Nina like she

was gunge sticking in the sink drainer.

‘Yes, miss, can I help you?’

‘I’m het’e for a job interview.’ Nina’s voice sounded very small in her own ears and she cleared her throat. ‘My name’s Nina Roth.’

The woman tapped her hi-tech keyboard and unbent slightly. ‘Yes. You take the elevator to the thirteenth floor. You’ll be seen by Mr Gary Bellman from our Personnel division, and Lord Caerhaven.’

The back of Nina’s throat dried up. ‘Lord Caerhaven, personally?’

‘That’s right. He’s visiting New York,’ the receptionist said blandly.

Nina could feel the hostility rising off the older woman like steam. There you go, cutie, it said, how do you like them apples?

Tony Savage. The Robber Baron. She’d clipped countless articles about him at Dolan, everything from Vanity Fair puff pieces to Fortune assessments. Savage had ripped the heart out of countless small firms and research teams, invested brilliantly, fired thousands of workers, and turned his moribund family business into a global’

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giant. He was respected but loathed. The drugs business feared him. And adored him. What the hell was he here for? Why was he attending this interview? Nina buzzed for the elevator and tried to calm herself. Thank God, she thought, I don’t have too much time to think about it.

Upstairs a secretary ushered her into Gary Bellman’s spacious office. The two men were sitting casually on chairs behind a long table; one, smaller chair was set in front just for her. It felt like a long walk before she could sit down.

‘You’re Nina Roth?’

‘Yes, Mr Bellman, how do you do.’ Nina shook hands, hoping she sounded confident.

‘

The sandy-haired guy raised an eyebrow. ‘How do you

know I’m Bellman?’

‘Because I recognise Lord Caerhaven.’

Tony grinned. He liked to sit in on odd meetings around the world; lightning visits to keep his people on their toes. Today he was inspecting Human Resources. Bllman, his new guy, liked to pick people from different backgrounds to the norm: scholarship kids, entrepreneurs, corners cherry-picked from Glaxo or ICI. This girl, Roth, had brought in some reforms at Dolan. Her file said she had a reputation already. She was clearly terrified, but putting on a good act. It impressed him; her lovely face and sexy figure impressed him a lot more.

He didn’t mind the odd woman around. They cost less, they worked harder. The Dragon boys’ club was no place for a lady, but then this kid wasn’t a lady, she was a

working-class hustler from the wrong side of Brooklyn. And she knew who he was. ‘Tony Savage,’ he said.

His strong, fleshy hand gripped hers like a vice, dark eyes sweeping across her body like they could X-ray her.

Nina blushed. Savage was physically overbearing,

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large and muscular. He had an air of ruthlessness that matched his reputation. She had to fight not to flinch under his stare. Next to his charcoal wool Turnbull & Asser suit, his gold Blancpain watch and his immaculate manicure, Nina felt cheap and underdressed.

‘Thank you for seeing me,’ she replied coolly.

‘Lord Caerhaven has some questions for you, Ms Roth,’ Bellman said.

Tony Savage looked Nina over for a long, luxurious moment, careful to keep his eyes expressionless. The scout reports on her work suggested some ugly bluestocking.

Nina Roth was anything but..An awesome body under that shapeless suit. A flaring bosom tapering down to a handspan waist, a tight, round ass, creamy white skin, nicely turned calves. Her body language was repressed, though.°Knees pressed together. Back rigid. Clothes designed to play down that sexy shape.

Savage fired a question. Nina answered it sharply. He fired another.

Nothing seemed to raze her. As Nina talked, Savage’s thoughts drifted. He wanted to see if his hands would really fit round that waist. What colour the nipples were on top of those creamy breasts. She looked uptight: great.

Not the kind to sleep around.

A challenge.

Tony nodded coldly and made a small note on his pad. Nina Roth had a great future with Dragon.

Nina gave herself a last check. It-was her first day at Dragon and she wanted to look perfect. She’d chosen her new suit at Saks on Saturday, something she could barely afford, but it was an investment. The eighties were here.

It was a brave new world, and women executives had a new rulebook to go with it - John Molloy’s Dress for

‘

Success. Nina had a well-thumbed copy of this bible next to her bed, and she obeyed it to the letter. Adopt a business uniform. Blouse lighter than the suit. No bright red, bright orange or bright anything. Avoid emphasising the bust.

Easier said than done, Nina thought uneasily. Her suit conprised a white cotton blouse, a boxy jacket with the latest ‘power dressing’ essential - padded shoulders - a skirt that hovered precisely on the knee and low pumps with natural hose. In her one concession to individuality, Nina rejected navy in favour of rich burgundy. Hopefully the jacket was boxy enough to disguise her breasts.

Nina fiddled with the floppy bow tie at her neck, and picked up her new leather briefcase.

‘Let’s go to work,’ she said.

As her yellow cab crawled up Park towards the Dragon building, Nina read over her product marketing file. She didn’t think about the oddity of her situation. A young woman with no formal training, from the wrong side of the tracks, storming one of corporate Manhattan’s most exclusive male bastions … it was unheard of. But it had

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happened, and Nina didn’t waste time wondering why. That was the past. Her eyes were fiercely trained on the future. She’d make her mark fast and keep moving up. She soon realised how tough that would be.

‘Good morning, Ms Roth,’ an elegant blonde receptionist greeted her as she stepped inside the Italian marble lobby. Nina had thought she would be early, but the lobby was full of Identikit young men striding purposefully towards banks of elevators. It was eight-twenty a.m. She made a mental note to arrive at eight tomorrow.

‘I’m the new Business Development manager,’ Nina explained, trying to sound like a businesswoman. ‘I’m due to report to Mr Jax at nine.’

The receptionist’s gaze swept across the glossy black bob, the grey eyes and ivory skin. Then she stared almost rudely at the hourglass figure only half-hidden under the burgundy suit, and the long, curvy calves that tapered down to the neat pumps. Nina had to restrain herself from checking to see if she had coffee stains on her lapels.

‘Yes, ma’am,’ the girl said thinly. ‘Business Development is on the twelfth floor and you have offices next to Mr Robbins and Mr Daly. They’ve already arrived.’

‘Thank you,’ Nina said, but the girl had already returned to her magazine. Clearly that was it. Uncertainly, Nina picked up her briefcase and headed for the nearest elevator bank. Three young men were standing inside one car, but as Nina hurried towards it, the doors hissed shut. They didn’t try to hold them open for her. She took a deep breath and pressed the button for the next one. Maybe this was just how’people behaved in a big corporation, Nina told herself as she waited. After all, they didn’t know her yet, and time was money. Right?

In the slow ride up to her department Nina fiddled anxiously with her buttons. The reflection in the mirrored doors showed a pretty girl, maybe a little flushed, but

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neatly, conservatively dressed. She examined it carefully but still couldn’t see anything wrong. Shrugging, Nina shook it off. Two minutes inside the corporate jungle and already she was getting paranoid …

At the twelfth floor the elevator stopped gently and the smoothly hissing doors opened on to a luxurious corridor. The floor was carpeted with a soft grey weave and elegantly framed prints of Dragon products. Men and women were walking in and out Of various offices, but only the men were executives. The women wore short skirts, heels and pretty dresses in pastel colours, and they all hovered and smiled deferentially. Nina glanced around but could not see one other woman in a business ,suit.

‘Excuse me.’ She stopped a young redhead carrying a freshly made mug of coffee. ‘I’m new. Could you tell me where to go?’

‘Sure,’ the girl said neutrally, giving Nina a once-over.

‘The typing pool’s at the end of the next corridor. You should report to Mrs Finn.’

‘No, I mean - I’m the new Business Development manager. Apparently I’m going to be working with Mr Robbins and Mr Daly,’ Nina explained. ‘Could you direct me to my office?’

The girl did a double-take. ‘You’re N. Roth?’

‘Yes. Nina Roth,’ Nina confirmed.

There was a second’s stunned silence, and then the girl

said, ‘If you’ll follow me, Ms Roth,’ with barely concealed hostility. Making no effort to put her coffee aside, she led Nina down the length of the corridor and to the right. A small group of tiny, windowless offices nestled in a corner, with names stencilled in thin black lettering on the doors. ‘N. Roth’ was in between ‘S. Daly’ and ‘T. Robbins’. You had to peer closely to read the titles and Nina was shocked to see that all three of them h.ad the

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same status: Manager, Business Development. She had assumed she’d be the only one doing the job.

‘This is your office,’ the secretary said, showing Nina into the cubbyhole of a room. Between the desk, the filing cabinet and the trashcan, there wasn’t enough room to swing a kitten.

‘Tracy Jones is the assistant assigned to you. You’ll be sharing her with Mr Robbins and Mr Daly,’ the girl continued, her tone making it clear she felt for Tracy. ‘You can buzz her if there’s anything you require. All the new managers have an appointment with Mr Jax at nine and his office is on the thirteenth floor.’

‘Thank you,’ Nina said faintly, opening her briefcase and starting to lay out her documents.

‘Uhohuh,’ the girl said, and closed the door.

Gee, Nina thought wryly. What tells me they don’t have many women in management roles?

Five minutes later, as she was busily setting up her computer passwords, there was a smart rap on her office door.

‘Come in,’ Nina called.

It swung open to reveal two expensively dressed men, both of them wearing big smiles and sombre pinstripe suits. One had a gold watch and one a steel Rolex, and Nina could see at a glance that the shoes were handmade European leather.

‘Hi, I’m Simon Daly and this is Tom Robbins,’ the taller one said, indicating his colleague. ‘You must be Ms Roth.’

‘Nina.’ She stood up and shook their hands. ‘I’m looking forward to working with you.’

‘Ditto,’ Robbins said. He had sandy hair and freckles and she didn’t care for the twinkle in his eye as he took in her figure.

‘Are you guys new here too?’

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‘Yes, ma’am.’ Simon, the blond, seemed more open and relaxed. He had a slight Chicago accent and a straightforward manner. ‘First day of my working life. Dragon yanked me out of my student haven and now I’m supposed to sing for my supper.’

‘Goes for me too,’ Tom added, eyes still roving over her jacket. ‘I majored in economics at Cornell and Simon did math at Yale.’

Nina straightened up. ‘I went sfraight into business from high school. I worked at Dolan most recently.’

‘And now the big time. Well, you’re a liberated lady,’ Tom teased her, with an obnoxious smile.

‘I like to think so,’ Nina replied calmly.

, ‘That’s the reason, then. You don’t have a degree and we don’t have any experience. That’s why we get forty five thousand and all the others get fifty-two,’ Simon grouched. He checked his Rolex. ‘Ten of. Come on, let’s get upstairs. We don’t want to be late for our first pep talk.’

Nina nodded and followed them into the elevator, trying not to let her feelings show on her face. Obviously, working at Dragon would be like running up the down escalator.

She’d thought thirty-five thousand was a fortune, but they’d hired two younger guys with zero experience to do the same job as her. For ten thousand bucks more.

The thirteenth floor was already pretty crowded. Around thirty people were standing in the sumptuous waiting area Nina recognised from her interview, admiring the oil paintings of hunting scenes, sitting on chintz couches, or gazing out of the stunning floor-to-ceiling windows. Nina was relieved to see four other women, but as she introduced herself, the relief lessened. Two of the girls were in Human Resources, one was a creative in

ackaging, and one was assigned to PR. As they shook hands, Nina sensed her isolation creep back. The girls had jobs that sounded impressive but kept them well away from the bottom line.

The door swung open and they filed in. Small, gold backed chairs had been lined up in rows in front of the elegant mahogany desk. Nina noticed the other women automatically seating themselves in the back, anxious not to appear pushy. Squaring her shoulders, she headed for the centre front row.

Dragon hadn’t hired her to be a shrinking violet.

All conversation ceased as Gerald Jax strode into the room. He was wearing a dark suit and a platinum Gucci watch. His grey hair was severely cropped and his dark eyes hard and uncompromising. The head of Dragon US, Jax was Tony Savage’s right-hand man in the States. He radiated ruthless power.