At the precise moment that Lana is staring at her newly resuscitated bank balance, Blake is ending a call from his solicitor. Looking up, he sees a reflection of himself in the highly polished doors of the lift he is waiting for. He watches himself curiously. He is grinning quite foolishly.
Nine
i, I’m Fleur Jan,’ the publicist says, coming ‘Hforward, her hand held out to Lana. She is Polish and her eyes are very large and a much deeper blue than Lana’s. She is wearing false eyelashes that she bats with great effect and her hair is cut very short around her lovely face. Dressed in a brown pencil skirt and a pink top she is effortlessly chic. ‘What we will be doing today has nothing to do with publicity for the company, but Blake knows how much I love shopping so he asked if I wouldn’t mind going shopping with you. Of course I said yes,’ she explains with a twinkle in her eyes.
‘Cool,’ Lana says, some of Fleur’s enthusiasm already rubbing off on her. Fleur is a good change after the drawling Mr. Benby.
‘He mentioned formal attire, beachwear and a pair of new trainers.’ Lana nods. The man is thorough, she will give him that. ‘Do you want a coffee or tea or shall we hit the road?’
‘Hit the road.’
They walk together to the lift. Fleur calls it and turns to Lana. ‘Do you have any specific shops or do you want to leave it to me?’
‘You decide everything.’
And that turns out to be an excellent decision as Fleur proves to be an expert shopping companion. She knows exactly where to go to get what.
Their first stop is Selfridges. Fleur guides her to a cosmetics counter. ‘The girl can make a monkey look sexy, so listen carefully to her advice,’ she says about a sweet-looking girl standing behind the counter called Aisha.
Lana is popped on a high stool, given a hand mirror and taught how to make the best of her make-up.
‘You have such beautiful skin,’ Aisha admires with a warm smile.
‘Have you ever tried wearing waterproof mascara?’
Fleur asks smoothly. Lana looks at Fleur. Her face is innocent, but it is clear that Blake has mentioned something about her smudged mascara. Together the three of them choose two lipsticks, some sparkly eyeliner, cream blusher and waterproof mascara.
‘Now to the perfume department. Something terribly exotic to go with your dark hair and gorgeous eyes.’
Then they go upstairs and pick out a green and blue bikini and a transparent blue wrap-around. Afterwards, Peter drops them off at the front entrance of Harrods.
Lana has never been inside before, but Fleur seems to know her way around, and they quickly make for the first floor where they pick up what Fleur calls the basics: a white blouse and plain black trousers. They walk out of the side entrance of Harrods on the east side and enter Rigby and Peller. Fleur has made Lana an appointment for a fitting. The woman who calls her into the changing room is middle-aged with large strong hands.
‘Most women are walking around in the wrong bra size,’ she says, and makes Lana bend over while she fits her with a bra. It turns out so is Lana. She is not a 34A but a 32B. When Lana has chosen the designs she wants Fleur flashes her company credit card.
‘Now let’s go get the good stuff,’ says Fleur, batting her eyelashes.
‘How much are you allowed to spend on me?’ Lana asks curiously.
‘Actually,’ Fleur says, ‘Mr. Barrington didn’t see fit to set a limit.’ She winks conspiratorially. ‘So we make hay while the sun shines.’
They walk around the back of Harrods and down Old Brompton Road. Fleur is a mine of information. She knows everything about fashion, what’s in, what’s out, what’s so in, what’s so out, what’s in if you are not really in, what gets the best second-hand prices when you want to flog it.
She suggests a beautiful red and silver handbag in Gucci. ‘To die for,’ she says.
‘It is a limited edition. Pure crocodile skin,’ explains the snooty-faced sales assistant helpfully.
‘OK,’ Lana says, bewildered by the price tag. She stands by the counter while Fleur pays and wonders what sort of reception she would have received if she had come alone.
‘Let’s go,’ Fleur sings merrily.
Then Lana is being led into Chanel. All her life she has dreamed of owning a Chanel bag. Once someone gave her a fake Chanel bag for Christmas and she waited until a reasonable time had passed before giving it away to a charity shop. If she couldn’t afford the real thing she didn’t want to pretend.
Fleur is clever. It is as if she understands; here her suggestions are unnecessary. All she says is, ‘Choose.’ Lana feels she is in Aladdin’s cave. She cannot choose. In the end she goes for the classic black with the leather interlaced gold chain strap. But when Fleur goes to the counter she says, ‘We’ll have the pink one too.’