Tall Poppies (47 page)

Nina glanced up at him. That was the first time he’d

ever referred to their time together before. But Harry

didn’t look sarcastic; he was just asking a question.

‘Sure, South Slope, Brooklyn.’

Harry winced. ‘Nasty neighbourhood. You ever have inventory problems?’

‘Every week,’ Nina agreed.

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‘Well, if you’d had Home Office, it would have done your inventory in ten minutes max.’

Nina looked at her watch. Quarter of eleven. ‘Eliza

beth’s not coming, but I know what she’s going to say.’ ‘She’s going to turn it down?’

‘She’s going to love it.’ Nina shook her head. ‘It’s brilliant, Harry, it’s going to lift us to the next level.’

‘But we’d need money.’ Namath looked at her hopefully. ‘To manufacture it, I mean. Unless you think I should license it?’

‘Like hell, we’ll do it ourselves,’ Nina said firmly. ‘That means a factory, sales force, packaging, the works. That means capital. And that means bank loans, or going public.’

‘Which do you prefer?’

‘A bank loan,’ Nina answered. ‘If we go public we’ll get takerr over, and we’re not ready for that yet.’

‘But if we go for a bank loan and it goes wrong, we’ve

lost this company. My credibility. Everything.’

‘That’s right. So will it go wrong?’

‘Not the code, sister,’ Harry said with a grin. ‘Then we’ll do it,’ Nina said.

Namath let out a whoop of joy. Then he came over and started to massage the back of her aching neck. He was strong, his fingers were pleasurable, she wanted to melt into it, just melt against him and let him take all her pains away.

Roughly Nina pushed him off. ‘Cut it out, Harry,’ she snapped.

‘Right.’ He lifted his hands and spun away from her. ‘Business, I forgot. That’s all life ever is with you, kid.

Business. Is that it? Don’t you want anything else?’ Nina got up to leave. ‘It’s a great idea, Harry.’ ‘Don’t dodge the goddamn question.’

She turned at the door. ‘You know what? You’re right, they’re all right. There’s nothing but business in my life. ‘I

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really don’t see the point, because every time I’ve tried something else, I’ve always got burned.’

‘By who?’ Harry sounded furious. ‘Tony Savage, the great heartbreaker? Are you going to pine after him for the rest of your life? Because he burned you?’

‘Get this straight,’ Nina snarled. ‘If there’s any burning between me and Tony, be’s the one that’s getting fried. And you can take that to the bank.’

She slammed the door behind her.

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When Nina woke up, it was a bright, cold morning, the early light crisp with the promise of great heat later on. For the first time in years, it reminded her of Brooklyn: summer on the Slope, when she’d woken up early in order to get a few moments on her own before Pop dragged himself out of bed to switch on the cable. But now her sheets were Irish linen, and her window had William Morris curtains instead of grimy slats. This morning, felt significant somehow. And then she remembered. They were going to gamble.

A million things could go wrong. Her instincts, for a start. Maybe shopkeepers would be technophobes, maybe the village trader would as soon fly to the moon as buy a computer program. Tall Poppies was still small. If they blew several million pounds of financing, they were history. Like Elizabeth’s skiing career.

This was the biggest stake she’d ever risked. For the first time in her life, she had something precious of her own to lose.

What the hell. Nina jumped out of bed and into the shower. She had never second-guessed herself. Make a decision, then go with it. Win or lose. Move to London, or sleep with Tony Savage. Start her own firm, or fall in love with Harry Namath—

Angrily she grabbed a towel from the rail. Bullshit, Nina thought, I’m not in love with Harry. I just find him attractive.

She went into the hall and phoned Elizabeth.

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‘Hey, kiddo, you awake?’

‘I am now.’

‘Come on, it’s quarter of seven. No rest for captains of industry.’ Nina teased her partner a little, but she could hear pain in her voice. Was she missing Jack already? You had to really know Elizabeth to hear anything under that well-bred Brit politeness. Elizabeth would have to be tortured before she complained about anything in public, still less something so private as an.emotion. ‘Get up but don’t get in the car. I’m coming round. We need to have a meeting, I’ve got some great news.’

‘Marvellous, Elizabeth said, with a total lack of enthusiasm.

,Nina reached Elizabeth’s thirty minutes later. Her house near Green Park was direct on the Piccadilly Line, and that meant pushy, grouchy crowds of early-morning bankers facing another boring day with their caffeine and migraines, but she didn’t care. Turning into Elizabeth’s

little tucked-away street she almost ran.

SYou look happy,’ Elizabeth said.

‘You look terrible,’ Nina replied. It was true. Her partner wore a defiantly pretty amethyst DKNY, and her blonde hair was gleaming, but she’d obviously been crying all night.

‘I feel terrible,’ Elizabeth admitted, then sank on to her chintz sofa and burst into tears.

Nina put aside her notes and .finance projections and gave Elizabeth a hug.

‘Jack and I are through.’ Elizabeth explained what she could, in between sobs.

‘But that’s terrible. Did he fly back to Texas?’

‘Just to Dublin.’ Elizabeth was distraUght, almost choking on her tears. ‘He said he’s got stud business there and in England … God, if he comes back to London I don’t think I’ll be able to bear it.’

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‘London’s a big city, babe, and he likely won’t be here for long.’

‘I don’t know if that makes it better or worse,’ Elizabeth said, wiping her hand across her eyes.

‘Look, we’ll buy you out if that’s what you want,’ Nina said bravely, wondering where the hell she was ever going to get the money. ‘You should be happy.’

‘But that’s just the problem. I can’t be happy in a gold cage. I should know,’ Elizabeth said. She picked up the notes Nina had put down. ‘Come on, tell me what’s going on.’

‘Are you sure? It’s … a pretty big deal. Do you want to look at it now?’

Elizabeth nodded. ‘Don’t worry, my head’s still intact. It’s just my heart that’s broken.’

Outside.Tony Savage’s windows, all was calm. The sun glittered on the sluggish Thames, lambswool clouds bobbed across a periwinkle-blue sky, traffic flowed serenely across the bridge below them. Inside the office, things were not so calm.

‘They’re doing what?’ Tony barked.

Frank Staunton recoiled from Tony’s anger, the Terrier shrinking from its master’s boot. ‘Bank financing,’ Staun ton repeated. ‘Maybe they suspect that going public would see them taken over.’

The earl got to his feet and started to pace around his office. The anger in his stomach was going to give him an ulcer. In the early days he’d kept tabs on Nina Roth’s little adventure through a discreet but expensive private investigator; looking for the moment it got off the ground, so he could crush it. Then Elizabeth had hooked up with her. He had to hear that news twice before he believed it; didn’t the silly little bitches hate each other? Evidently, not so much as they hated him. Tall Poppies! Elizabeth’s long-distance insult, her arrogant slap in the

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face. And when they’d gone out and picked up Namath, that unshaven, unbusinesslike slob, Tony had fired three of his personnel directors in a blind fury. His company had discarded the programmer as so much excess baggage. At Lilly Hall’s request, all Namath’s royalties were sequestered; the bonus was eliminated; he’d got nothing. But Lilly’s work was an expensive bust, while Harry Namath was already paying off. For a company that was turning into the London School of Dragon Rejects.

Yesterday at lunch Bob Cohen had teased him unmercifully. ‘And you let them go, Tony! Talent like that?’ The financier clearly enjoyed the joke as he speared his arugula salad. It had been a long time since the Robber ‘ Baron had looked this dumb.

‘They’re riding a craze,’ Tony replied tightly.

‘You think?’ Bob shook his head. ‘Home computing’s not just PacoMan any more. If this new venture is as hot as the money is saying, all bets are off.’ Cohen lifted his Chteau-Lafite. ‘Your daughter’s company could be as bi as yours in a year, Tony, it must run in the family. Good Lord, you must be busting with pride.’

Tony pleaded sickness and called for the bill. He couldn’t deal with this, just couldn’t bear it. All round the Square Mile they were whispering at him and laughing. He hadn’t felt such powerful rage since Louise ran off with that prick DeFries.

‘It would see them taken owe. By me.’

I expect they know that, Savage, Staunton thought but didn’t say. ‘Of course, if the product fails—’

‘They fail. So we must make sure it does.’

‘I don’t see how we can do that, sir. Dr .Namath is a genius programmer, the Roth girl seems to know what she’s doing and the banks are queuing up to lend them money. Lady Elizabeth has them mad with curiosity

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move pretty fast.’

‘There’s a simple way to stop them,’ Tony said. His manicured fists clenched on top of the table. ‘There’s always a simple way. Get out, could you, Frank, I need to think.’

Without saying a word, Staunton glided out of the room and shut the door behind him. Tony stared angrily into his Quotron screen. The Dragon share price was blinking down another eighth. In the dull glass screen he saw himself reflected: handsome, urbane, beautifully dressed. It didn’t satisfy him. Nothing did that any more, not the limpid debs he was screwing, not his sons’ bland obedience, nor the crawling of his corporate vassals like Frank Staunton. The explosion he had thought would catapult him into the really big time had fizzled out with a whimper. He wasn’t ruined, but this felt almost as bad.

Small stock dips. Loss of respect. Treading water.

And two young women laughing in his face.

They were laying themselves open now, though. All he had to do was see that this product failed miserably. Sabotage? No, too clumsy, and he didn’t have the time. He recalled the smug face of Bob Cohen.

‘Home Office. A tailored software package, a Filofax for the PC. Wave of the future, old boy, and Tall Poppies will be the first ones out there. Nobody can catch Namath, and he’s immune to poaching.’

The earl caught his breath. It was so damn obvious, he was amazed he hadn’t thought-of it before. He lifted his Svres coffee cup in a toast.

‘Bob, you’re a bloody genius,’ he said.

They divided up the tasks between them. Elizabeth toured the finance sources with the company lawyers, raising the money. Nina went round the country, interviewing software manufacturers for the subcontracting,

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and talking to sales reps. By the time Elizabeth had moved on to packaging and promotion, everything was in place. They were all waiting on Harry.

‘Look, when I said it was ready I meant the basic code,’ Namath said.

‘You needn’t talk to us like we’re retards,’ Nina snapped.

‘Time out,’ Elizabeth protested, holding up one hand.

‘Isn’t that what you Yanks usuallysay? Harry, just how

far along are we?’

‘Two weeks away from beta-testing.’

‘Speak English,’ Nina said.

Harry shrugged angrily. ‘Hey, make your mind up, toots. Either you understand or you don’t. Two weeks ‘away from customer try-outs, a month away from production.’

‘Who’s in charge?’

‘I’m doing the user interface - graphics, sound, cartoons, all the stuff that’ll make it attractive to the buyers. Tim Paris is finishing up the platforms. John Cobb is

ch6cking the code, and Lee Reddy’s troubleshooting.’

‘We should be ready earlier,’ Nina fretted.

‘OK, Nina. You want to write the program yourself,

be my guest. Otherwise it’s one month. You must have. business stuff you can do.’

‘No.’ Nina shook her head. ‘The “business stuff”, as

you put it, is all done.’

‘Then the only thing you can do is wait,’ Harry said. ‘Take a holiday,’ Elizabeth said. ‘Oh, don’t look at me that way, Nina, just a week. Recharge your batteries.

Like an investment in your energy.’

‘I can’t, you need me.’

‘No way.’ Harry grinned at Elizabeth. ‘She’s right.

She’s going ahead with the marketing and I’m writing.

What I need is for you to get out of my hair.’

Reluctantly, Nina agreed to a holiday.

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It was a mistake. She found she was scouring the business press every day, devouring Elizabeth’s banner adverts and PR pieces. She couldn’t relax with a book, knowing that her whole future was riding on this. She tried turning up to work on the Wednesday, but Elizabeth pushed her back out the doors again.

‘But I’m going stir crazy,’ Nina pleaded. ‘I want to do something to help the company.’

‘You really want to do something? Then you should go see Harry,’ Elizabeth told her. ‘Seriously. I mean it. When Home Office is launched, Tall Poppies will take off like a rocket, but the rocket will explode unless you guys sort yourselves out. Whatever the problem is, you need to talk

it through. We’re partners.’

‘You don’t understand.’

On the contrary. I do understand. Look, Nina, if you and me-can wind up friends, so can you and Harry. You’re both adults.’

‘OK.’ Nina nodded. ‘OK, I’ll go round right now. We won’t be friends, but … we can work something out.’ She

pressed Elizabeth’s hand. ‘How are you?’

The? Terrific, this is an easy sell.’

‘I meant personally. With Jack. Is he still around?’ Elizabeth’s beautiful face took on a tight look. Her smile no longer reached her eyes. ‘Yes, but he’s going home next week, so I’ll be able to forget all about him.’

Nina smiled back and turned to hail a taxi. She knew neither of them belieced that, but there was no point in saying so. Elizabeth was trying to get on with her life, and, as Nina knew herself, there was really nothing else for a woman to do. It was why she’d agreed to see Harry. To put the past in the past, and move on, like a grown woman.