the severe bob that was currently all the rage in Manhattan. In fact, there was hardly a trace of the Chinese about her. Her bone structure was perfect, the delicate face oval rather than round, her lips pale and plump.
‘She’s stunning, isn’t she?’ prompted Sidney. ‘China’s first supermodel.’
‘Yes. Well, the press call anyone with long legs a supermodel these days,’ laughed Serena lightly.
She noticed a muscle in Sidney’s temple twitch.
‘But … she is extremely beautiful,’ she continued quickly.
‘We’ve moved a quarter of a million units of China Rose lip-gloss already,’ he said, nodding his head slowly. Serena found herself echoing the gesture.
‘Have you ever been to Beijing?’ he asked. It was the sort of question that veered towards an offer. Serena felt her anxiety diminish. ‘No, I haven’t,’ she said earnestly, ‘but I did stay at the Amanpuri in Phuket last winter,’ she said seriously.
‘A Thai holiday resort is hardly the new global commercial headquarters,’ replied Sidney, a disapproving tone in his voice.
Serena’s back stiffened.
‘Unbelievable city,’ he said suddenly, stroking the side of his face and continuing in a more benevolent tone, ‘when Bay Ling and I opened the Beijing store three months ago, I swear the queue was as long as the Great Wall of China!’ He guffawed lightly to himself. ‘It makes the opening up of Russia as a commercial territory insignificant. China is the future.’
Serena had to suppress a bored sigh. She was not in the mood for a lecture on global economics. ‘Well, perhaps you could arrange a visit for me. I’d love to see it all,’ she smiled, taking a delicate sip of tea. ‘It’s probably about time all the Jolie spokeswomen met up anyway,’ she said generously.
Sidney laughed, a little forced.
‘Anyway,’ said Sidney more brusquely, ‘I suppose we’re here to talk about your contract?’
Serena smiled and recrossed her legs. ‘Just the broad strokes,’ she smiled playfully, ‘the rest we can leave to my agent. That’s what I pay him fifteen per cent for.’ Inwardly, Serena shuddered at the thought of that figure. If she was about to be made Jolie spokesperson for North America as well as Europe, that was a deal in excess of £5 million a year. Fifteen per cent of that was … she couldn’t do the maths, but it was certainly a lot of money, she thought, suddenly feeling a little cross.
Sidney paused, moving his swivel chair from side to side. ‘Lysette and I have been giving the renewal of your contract a lot of thought in the last few days.’
‘How is Lysette?’ asked Serena, smiling broadly.
Sidney nodded. ‘Very well, very well indeed. As you know, I have enormous faith and trust in her opinions about the direction of this company.’
‘She is a very astute woman,’ nodded Serena sagely.
‘She is indeed,’ agreed Sidney, rubbing his chin. ‘Not only is she my wife, she is my line of communication to the general public. She was right about signing you up three years ago, and I trust her instincts about your position now. Having moved to New York and taken up with Michael Sarkis –’
Serena jumped in eagerly. ‘I know!’ she gushed. ‘Moving out there is the best thing I have done in years. It has raised my profile Stateside enormously. I can understand why you were initially hesitant to make me the face of North America as well as Europe but now, yes, things are much different.’ She smiled.
‘I didn’t mean that,’ said Sidney without emotion.
‘Oh …’ said Serena. ‘Then I’m not sure I …’
Sidney leant forward on the desk, shuffling up the sleeves of his dark navy jacket. ‘Your relationship with Michael Sarkis has been damaging to the brand.’
The smile fell off Serena’s face.
‘Well, as you are no doubt aware,’ said Serena quickly, trying to sound confident and in control, ‘I found my ex-boyfriend in a compromising situation in Cannes and I terminated the relationship immediately. I felt that was the responsible thing to do.’
‘And you’re pregnant,’ said Sidney matter-of-factly.
‘Yes,’ answered Serena with a little annoyance. ‘Men and women in a relationship often conceive a child.’
Sidney leant back in his chair as far as it would go, seemingly anxious to put as much distance between them as possible. ‘You are a very, very beautiful woman,’ said Sidney, with the hint of a smile. ‘But we took you on because you represented certain things. Elegance. Class. Tradition. They are the cornerstone values of Jolie Cosmetics.’
‘And I remain all those things,’ said Serena indignantly.
Sidney let the silence hang in the air for a few moments. ‘Lysette feels, and I agree with her, that the revelations of this week have changed things considerably. It looks messy, Serena.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ said Serena haughtily. ‘So Michael revealed himself as a playboy. I did the decent thing and got rid of him. I’m having a child. This is the twenty-first century. Plenty of children are conceived out of wedlock.’
‘We are a traditional company,’ said Sidney slowly, emphasizing every word. ‘You know how Midwest America is a conservative market. It is vital for our company to be seen to be projecting the correct values.’ He cleared his throat. ‘This, er, threesome, the prostitutes …’
‘Does this mean I’m not going to get North America?’ said Serena, visibly flustered. ‘But we discussed –’
Sidney appeared to ignore her. ‘As you are aware, your European contract is up for renewal, and we feel that at this time it is not appropriate to renew it.’
Serena began to feel a rage swell up inside her. ‘If this is because I am pregnant, you do realize there are laws against this sort of thing?’
‘Your contract is at an end and it is entirely up to our company whether we renew it. Or not,’ he added. ‘In any event, Bay Ling has been so successful for us in China we feel it may be the appropriate time to increase her profile in the west. We think that will drive even more sales out in the Far East.’
Serena stared at him. ‘You’re going to replace me with her?’ she screamed, her voice a quivering, shrill sound. ‘You sell in this country and all over Europe because of my English Rose image! It’s successful! Why replace me with someone who looks like, who looks like … they work in a chip shop?’ she ranted.
‘We’ve made our decision,’ interrupted Sidney calmly. ‘It really has been a pleasure working with you over the years. Lysette and I would like to give you this as a small token of our appreciation.’ He reached into his top drawer and pulled out a Jolie powder compact that, from the way he lifted it, looked as if it might have been made from solid gold.
‘Please, give it to Bay Ling,’ said Serena, mustering up as much dignity as she could. ‘It looks like she needs it. I’ll see myself out.’
Sidney simply nodded as Serena rose. He flipped open the compact and looked at his reflection in the mirror, rubbing a tea-stain off his teeth with his finger. Then he snapped it shut.
It was a perfect day for polo. Possibly not for the players: the sun was quite ferocious for a late May afternoon but, sitting in the shelter of the big marquee at Staplehurst Polo Club, Camilla sipped her Pimms and thought there could be few better ways to spend a Sunday. Watching a few chukkas, eating a good lunch and being seen at one of the most high-profile social events of the season: it wasn’t too taxing. She didn’t