A very Corporate Affair 2(4)

"I doubt that very much Ivan, can't see those little girls sulking over anything, especially given the way you dispense sausages."

"Have you never seen a spaniel sulk? I can assure you that they do."

I laughed, "I hope you gave them a cuddle from me. Anyway, what can I do for you today?"

"I'm negotiating a deal for a controlling interest in a telecoms company. I may need heads of agreement drawn up fast. Are you free today at all? I can run through the points I'm negotiating to give you a head start on the contract."#p#分页标题#e#

I checked my schedule. "Can do six onwards today."

"Ok. I'll pick you up at six from your office. We'll go eat."

"Great, see you then." Bugger, there goes my manicure and waxing appointment. I went out to Laura's office and asked her to cancel my beauty appointments, and put Ivan in my diary at six. I spent the rest of the afternoon with another new client who wanted some corporate structure work done. I just about had time to email Steve Robbins the projections from Deloitte and explanations I'd promised him, before Ivan arrived.

As usual, my brain fried slightly at the sight of him. He'd had his hair trimmed at the weekend, but it was still floppy, and slightly messy. He was wearing a dark grey suit, with a white shirt, and a deep charcoal tie. Knowing how muscular he was underneath the urbane exterior made me shiver slightly.

"Are you cold?" He asked, "the air con is up quite high in here." Damn, he noticed.

"No, I'm fine thanks. Where would you like to go eat?"

"I'll surprise you."

His hand rested in the small of my back as we walked through reception to the lifts. Priti raised an eyebrow and gave me a wide smile as I bid her goodnight. Outside, the Bentley was waiting, and I slid onto the buttery soft leather seat, before fishing around in my bag for my notebook and pen.

"Shall we do the notes for the contract now and get it out of the way?" I asked Ivan.

He proceeded to list out the points of negotiation, the figures he was aiming for, and the terms he was demanding. I could effectively write a head of agreement with that information, and simply amend any changes on the fly if needed. By the time we finished, the car pulled up. I peered out of the window to see where we were, and discovered we were outside Claridges. The doorman opened my door, while Ivan's bodyguard opened his, and we made our way inside.

We sat in the bar and had a gin and tonic before being shown to our table. Ivan seemed a little edgy, his eyes sweeping the room before we sat at the table. His security were stationed just outside the restaurant, which seemed to make him nervous.

"We don't have to eat here if it's making you edgy," I said, frowning.

"It's fine, I'm just not used to them being out of the room," he admitted, "I'm just being a girl."

I told him I'd had a pay rise, and a load of new clients thanks to him, and he seemed pleased, until I mentioned that Oscar had instructed us too.

"I thought you told him to leave you alone?" He looked cross.

"I did, but I also said that if we are in a professional setting, then he was to be polite. He's going to be a client, I can't tell him to piss off. I'll make sure he keeps his hands to himself."

"Hmm, sneaky. Take Roger tomorrow night, so at least you have someone with you."

"Is that alright? I don't want to keep nicking your driver."

"It's no trouble at all. I have several drivers and security people, sparing one to ensure your safety is no issue. I'd have one with you 24/7 if you'd let me." I pulled a face.

"No thanks. I doubt very much that anyone's bothered about assassinating little old me, apart from Marion Smith."

Ivan laughed. "She is out on bail, probably wants to poke you in the eye with her knitting needle."

I laughed, "So why did you buy that company? I thought you were mainly into corporate finance?"

He looked quizzical, "No, telecoms primarily, I own mainly communications companies, although I do quite a lot of venture capital these days too. I bought the engineering firm because they manufacture the cables I use. I get a hell of a cost saving through owning it. I own the 'Talk ‘n’ Walk' network."#p#分页标题#e#

"Priti thought you were only into venture capital and corporate finance. Shows what she knows. I had no idea. Are all the T&W shops yours too?" He nodded.

"My biggest company is the Russian one. We're the biggest comms company in Russia and the old Soviet union   countries. Fair sized on the African continent too. You need to start googling people Elle, you should know all this," he chided.

"I thought Priti was the human equivalent of google. I'll stop listening to her in future," I said, embarrassed. He smiled, and leaned over to squeeze my hand.