Cora sighed. “But why do we have to hire an expensive company, I just showed you that we can do the pictures ourselves. Miss Baxter is very skilled with a camera and I, myself have always done photography for ‘Levinson and sons’.
“Miss Baxter?” Violet said.
Cora was not sure why Violet was present at this meeting. As she understood from Rosamund, Violet did not have much interest in how the business was run, until now. But since Cora had joined, she was present at every meeting and whatever Cora tried to bring to the table, she brushed it aside.
“Miss Baxter was our receptionist until Miss Levinson here, decided she wanted her as her assistant,” Robert said unkindly, pointing at Cora.
“Robert.” Rosamund hissed.
“What! Robert said. “Is that not what happened?”
Cora felt her cheeks burning, why was Robert doing this? He had John as his assistant. Patrick had agreed that she could use an assistant and he thought Phyllis was a perfect candidate. When Cora found out that she was a photographer, it had all turned out to be even better than she could have hoped for. This way her idea was even easier to accomplish.
“Miss Baxter has indeed started here in this company as a receptionist.” Patrick started, with a stern look at Robert. “But as a lot of people do, she has taken on a new adventure. She is Cora’s assistant and when you ask me, they make a perfect duo.”
Cora felt the knot in her stomach open up. Patrick was supporting her and whatever Robert and Violet thought of her, Patrick was standing behind her and that gave her a good feeling. It was at the same time strange; her father had never done that. He loved her and she adored him, but he would never support her with anything in the business. It was always Harold this and Harold that. He did everything right, even if she had helped Harold to get the success he had. Her father Isidor would never see that. She was his little girl and would always be his little girl. She had hoped that he would stop her mother when this crazy idea of working together with ‘Crawley Advertisements’ had popped up. She still had not figured out what was behind this plan. She had not gotten any further instructions, besides making yourself indispensable.
Cora shook up when Rosamund touched her arm. “Cora?” She asked softly.
“I am sorry, what was the question?” Cora asked.
“What is your plan regarding the sky garden promotional work?” Patrick asked again, still with a soft tone.
“I was thinking, we could organise a dinner and invite some local people. Not the well-known, rich, and famous people. But just the local people who live in the area. We will decorate the area and shoot some pictures while they are dining. Then we can write an article about what Sky Garden has to offer and use those pictures.” Cora stopped. It was awfully quiet in the room, and she looked at Rosamund for support.
Patrick was the first to speak. “It is something we could work with.”
“Inviting local people?” Robert sneered. “And what is your reasoning behind that?”
Cora swallowed, she was already calculating on Robert being against is, but still, it caught her off guard. “It will attract more people, when they see that everybody can go there. When we will use only famous and rich people, we will make it look like, Sky Garden is only for the rich. And that is exactly the opposite of what the goal of Sky Garden is. They want to offer that luxurious feeling to everybody. They say: ‘You do not need to rent out the Ritz for an exclusive dinner party. We can do the same with an even better view.” So why would we use the rich and famous for their advertisement?”
Robert looked at Cora. He had seen a slight change in her. The way she straightened her back and her voice had gotten a different tone. She was more confident than she had been until now. It suited her, he thought. His eyes followed the neckline of her blouse, her blouse was neatly buttoned up, so her breast line was not visible, but he could imagine how it could look like with one more button open. This thought annoyed him, why did he even think about Cora’s breasts? She was his colleague and he had to admit, she was incredibly beautiful, but he was not attracted to her, not at all, he said to himself. He forced his eyes to look at her face again. He saw her eyes go around the table, while she was explaining why she wanted to invite local people. Her mouth had a perfect shape, he thought, and her blue eyes were sparkling while she spoke. He could see her passion in them, and it made her even more attractive. He quickly looked away; he did not know why these thoughts came up. He was not interested in her, she was a forced addition to the company that was all. Robert heard his father agreeing with the things Cora had said.
“So, we will follow Miss. P…. Levinson.” He had to correct himself, he had almost said, Miss Pretty. “Does that mean, I can focus on other things?” Robert said with an annoyed tone.
“This means, that you and Cora will work together.” His father said. Robert was surprised by his tone. “For now, I think we have discussed what was needed. Cora, can you write your plan, and have it on my desk by Friday?”
“Of course, I will start as soon as I am back at my desk. Thank you.” Cora got up and walked out.
Robert saw his mother and Rosamund also leave. His father stayed behind.
“Do you have a minute?” Patrick said.
“John is waiting for me, but what is it, Papa?”
“When you think I do not see what you are trying to do to miss Levinson, you are wrong. You will accept her working in this office. It is still my company, and you work for me.” Patrick gave Robert a warning look and walked out.
Robert sighed, what had he done wrong to deserve this treatment. It was unbelievable that losing that one client resulted in this. Soon and Cora would be his father’s successor. Robert was determined not to let that happen. Whatever that Mr. Levinson was planning, he was not going to get his hands on this company. It was his and his only.
Verhalen van Traan 