The rest of the morning zipped past in a blur of meetings, papers, and phone calls. Laura came in to let me know it was time to leave for my lunch meeting with yet another client. I checked my makeup before trotting down to the Italian bistro on the ground floor to schmooze a rather rotund CEO, who made full use of my expense account before instructing me for a real estate purchase.
At five to one, I raced up to Ivan's office, and arrived just before the other party. As usual, I sat quietly and made notes, as Ivan negotiated for their company. One of the figures quoted by the other party sounded wrong, I glanced up at Ivan to see if he'd picked it up, but it appeared that he'd missed it. Lifting my pad slightly so the other party couldn't see, I wrote a note, and the equation he'd missed, then I nudged his foot. He glanced over at the pad I was holding, and carried on, not missing a beat.
When he corrected the figure the other party had quoted, there was a murmur around the room. "I know you were under the impression that 120 million represented 60% of your company, but I can assure you that from your share price, it computes to 67%. Would you like time to check the figures?"
They all shook their heads, resigned to the fact that the amended figures were correct. As soon as Ivan finished the negotiation, we went straight to his office to update the contract I'd written. "I have never, ever met anyone quicker at maths than me. I can't believe I missed that. A stupid mistake that could have cost me millions. Fuck." He paced around the office angrily as I typed quickly to amend the parts that needed changes. Even though he wasn't angry with me, it still felt like I was locked in a room with a rather cross and growling lion. He even lapsed into Russian at one point, banging his fist on the desk, and I presume, letting out a string of foreign swear words.
"Would you mind allowing me to concentrate please?" I asked sweetly. He stared at me for a moment before sitting down opposite and staring sulkily out of the window. Thankfully, I finished fairly quickly, and I pressed 'print' with a sigh of relief. Ten minutes later, the agreements were all signed, and the meeting ended. As Ivan appeared to be in a foul mood, I decided to abort the shopping trip. I didn't fancy an afternoon walking on eggshells, and thought it would be better if I disappeared and looked for a dress after work.
Maybe we'll go shopping another time, I can see you're angry," I said, grabbing my handbag, and standing up to leave.
"Don't leave, I'm not angry with you"#p#分页标题#e#
"You just spent the last half hour sulking and swearing. It won't be a fun afternoon if you sit there with a face on you."
"A face on you? What does that mean?" The corners of his mouth twitched.
"It's a south London phrase for looking pissed off," I clarified.
"I think that seeing you dressed in couture will cheer me up. Come, let's go spend some money. You just saved me around 20 million quid, you deserve a treat."
The personal shopper at Harrods was a delightful middle aged lady, with an eye for detail and a superb changing room manner. We were installed in a suite, a comfy sofa for Ivan, and a roomy changing area for me. Ivan described the event we were attending, and after sweeping her eyes over my figure, she left to fetch a selection of dresses. The first couple I tried on were lovely, but when I stepped out to show Ivan, he pulled a face. "She needs something extraordinary, something that shows off her beautiful figure," said Ivan. She brought out another two dresses, one a deep red, fitted, and with origami style ruching down the bodice. It was impossibly glamorous, and looked extremely expensive. The other dress was champagne coloured, with hand sewn crystals embedded all over it. I loved the strapless design, with it's built in corset to pull my waist tight, and prevent the dress from slipping down. Ivan also liked both dresses.
"Let me try the red one again, and I'll make a choice," I said.
"No need, have both. Now, she needs shoes and bags to match them." The shopper scurried off.
"I don't need both," I protested.
"You look lovely in them, like a work of art. I want you to have them."
"Thank you."
Matching high heels were brought for me to try, and a selection of clutch bags. I made my choices, and they were taken to be wrapped. I made the assumption that we were all done.
"We still have an hour and a half till your appointment in the spa," said Ivan, "new lingerie? Work outfits? What would you like?"
"I couldn't possibly allow you to buy me lingerie," I flirted.
"In case I demanded to see you wearing it?" He looked lecherous.
"Er, yes."
"Work outfits it is then." We walked through to desk to pay for our purchases. Ivan made me stand away so I didn't find out the prices. I heard him asking the sales lady for directions to the department for women's day wear. We were quickly whisked into another suite, and racks of suits, blouses and day dresses were brought in. I tried each outfit on, with Ivan giving a yes or no. By the time we were done I had five new suits, three dress/jacket combos, seven tops, five pairs of shoes, and a new Prada handbag.