The Billionaire Banker (8 page)

‘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.’

‘That’s nearly seven thousand pounds!’

‘Yes, but we have no limit. Besides, every girl needs a pink handbag. What else can you carry when you want to dress in white?’ Fleur says reasonably and phones Peter to come and pick up the packages.

Almost in a daze, Lana is led into and out of a string of designer boutiques. Most of the shop assistants seem to recognize and head for Fleur immediately.

‘Cupboard love,’ Fleur dismisses, as they flutter around her with accommodating smiles. ‘I am often here helping the wives of our high profile Middle Eastern clients spend their money.’ Fleur seems very sure of exactly what will look good on Lana. They buy a cream and gold suit, a red cocktail dress; a backless, sequined, black evening gown, and a sleeveless signature dress from Pucci, and of course shoes to match. Fleur decides that Lana will need a black pair of court shoes for the trousers, dainty diamond-studded stilettos, two tone sandals, tall brown boots, and multi-colored, ultra fashionable platforms.

‘Right, we are almost running out of time, but first a quick trip to Versace. Versace can be too gaudy and whorish, but this season they have something that I think will suit you perfectly.’ That something turns out to be an electric blue shirt that is almost the same color as Lana’s eyes and skin-tight black leather trousers. ‘Exactly as I thought—fantastic,’ she says, pleased with herself.

Fleur looks at her wristwatch. ‘Perfect timing. Let’s have some tea.’ Once again Peter comes to collect the packages, and they find themselves a table in a French patisserie full of women. They order cream tea. Lana bites into a buttered cream and jam filled scone ravenously.

‘It is wonderful that you can eat so much and still be so slim. I have to be careful,’ Fleur says, sipping lemon tea and breaking off small crumbs of her croissant.

‘Missed lunch,’ Lana says, swallowing.

Once Lana catches Fleur looking at her with an unreadable expression.

‘Do you have to do this often for Blake?’

‘To be perfectly honest, I have never done this before or heard of Mr. Barrington asking anyone else to do something similar, and though I was flattered to be asked, I was also dreading it. I thought you would be a brash gold-digger, but you are an unassuming breath of fresh air. I am glad to have taken you around.’

After tea, Lana and Fleur climb into the Bentley and Peter takes them to a hairdressing salon that belongs to one of the top hairstylists in the country. They go in and a young girl with bright red hair comes to greet and lead them into a private area. Two glasses of champagne arrive on a tray.

‘Go ahead,’ Fleur encourages. ‘You’ll be grateful for it when you are at your next appointment.’

‘Why? What’s next?’

Fleur smiles cheekily. ‘Full body wax.’

Lana’s jaw drops when the celebrity stylist himself appears. He noisily air-kisses Fleur on both cheeks and does the same with her. Then he stands back to look at Lana thoughtfully. Tipping his head to the side he reaches for her hair.

‘Oooo,’ he says, rubbing it in his fingers. ‘Virgin hair.

You have never bleached or permed it, have you?’

Lana shakes her head.

‘Beautiful. It is a sin to cut such hair. Come, come,’ he says leading her to a single chair in front of a mirror and waiting while she sits. ‘We will leave the length, but we will do something wonderful for this heart-shaped face.

We will give it a fringe.’

He picks up his comb and scissors. When he is finished Lana can hardly believe what a difference a fringe has made. Her eyes are suddenly enormous and her little chin now looks delicate and cat-like.

‘Beautiful,’ declares the stylist flamboyantly.

‘Very beautiful, indeed,’ agrees a delighted Fleur.

While Fleur is paying, Lana stares at herself in the mirror. She looks so different she almost doesn’t recognize herself.

‘This is where I say goodbye,’ Fleur says from behind her. Lana turns around to face her. ‘Peter will take you to the beauty salon where you have your last appointment.

That over with, he will take you to the apartment where you will soak in a lovely bath and then you will dress in your new clothes. I believe you have a hot date at nine.’

‘Thank you, Fleur.’

‘The pleasure was all mine.’

‘I don’t know if we will ever meet again, but I’ll never forget you.’

‘Nor I you,’ Fleur says, and bending forward plants a light kiss on Lana’s cheek.

Lana’s next stop is in High Street Kensington. In an all-white salon an olive-skinned, middle-aged, barrel-like woman in a white trouser uniform with a clipboard smiles and introduces herself as Rosa Rehon. Rosa is Spanish and has retained her thick accent despite having been in England for fifteen years. She shows Lana into a small room with a beautician’s bed.

‘Ever had a full body wax before?’

‘No.’

‘No problem. We use three different waxes here. For the longer hair, the medium length, and for the pesky short ones.’ The waxes are heating in three pots. Each one is a different color.

‘Shall we do waist down first?’

‘Will this hurt a lot?’

‘Well, it depends on your pain threshold. Some people fall asleep while I am waxing them.’

‘Really?’

Her pearly whites flash. ‘Really. Pop on board. We will start with the legs.’

Lana reluctantly climbs on the bed that has been lined with paper, and lies down.

Rosa paints a thin layer of warm wax on Lana’s calf and lays a strip of cloth on the wax. ‘Ready?’ she asks. Lana nods and she rips.

‘Ow,’ Lana says.

‘The first one always hurts. The next one will be better,’ she says.

She paints another layer of wax and, stretching Lana’s skin, rips it off.

‘Ow,’ Lana says again.

‘It gets better after a while,’ she consoles unconvincingly, and launches into a monologue about how she and her husband have jam sandwiches every night while they are watching TV. ‘Sometimes, on weekends we will turn to each other and say, “Shall we have another?”

and we do,’ she enlightens.

Despite a penchant for innocuous jam sandwiches, Rosa turns out to be a hair Nazi. She will not tolerate even the smallest hair anywhere. A painful hour, later Lana is red and hot and stinging all over. She has been asked to assume embarrassing positions so any stray hairs around what Rosa calls the bum hole can be ripped off.

Why would anyone want to do that, Lana thinks.

‘It looks prettier this way,’ Rosa says, as she rips another offending hair out.

‘Ow,’ replies Lana.

When it is all over Rosa squints at Lana’s face. ‘I can do your eyebrows for free,’ she offers. ‘Eyebrows don’t hurt at all.’

‘Yes, I know. Some of your customers fall asleep.’

Again that flash of strong teeth. ‘Well, shall I? I can make them look very beautiful.’

‘OK.’

The Rehons have a son in art school apparently, and Rosa fills Lana in about him while she works on Lana’s eyebrows. When she is finished she applies aloe vera gel before bringing a round mirror and giving it to Lana. The skin looks red and a little swollen but Rosa is right—her eyebrows actually arch and frame her eyes.

After that torture the manicure and pedicure are a pleasure. She watches the orange nail varnish that Billie so painstakingly painted onto her fingers and toes get wiped away. On the drive to the apartment Lana looks at her French manicure. She has to admit it is very pretty.

The car comes to a stop at a tall white building with a glass-fronted entrance.

‘Here we are,’ says Peter, switching off the engine.

Ten

he reception is plush with deep, cream carpets and Tchandeliers in every hallway. There is an Indian guard slumped behind a desk reading a newspaper in a foreign language who immediately straightens and stands to attention. Peter introduces her.

‘Lana, this is Mr. Nair.’

Peter turns to Mr. Nair. ‘This is Miss Bloom. She will be living in the penthouse for the next three months.

Please ensure that she will be well taken care of,’ Peter tells him

Mr. Nair smiles broadly. ‘Certainly. That will be my number one priority,’ he says in a strong Indian accent while shaking his head like one of those nodding dogs in the backs of people’s cars. He turns to look at Lana. ‘I am very pleased to meet you, Miss Bloom. Anything at all that you need, please do not hesitate to ask.’ He has seen many young girls like her come and go from these apartments.

Most of them are the mistresses of rich Arabs who were very rude to him. But this girl holds out her hand to him and smiles at him.

Peter accompanies her into the lift. He inserts a card key into a slot and hits the top floor button. Lana leans against the shiny cold brass handrail while the lift silently races upwards. When the lift doors whoosh open, he allows her to exit first, and then precedes her into the corridor. The corridor is thickly carpeted and tastefully wallpapered in beige and silver.

‘There is only one other apartment on this floor,’ Peter explains and opens the door. He deposits the shopping bags in his hands on the floor by the doorway. ‘I will go and get the rest of your shopping and then I will show you how everything works.’

Lana closes the door behind her and leans against it.

Wow! Just wow! A long corridor with richly enameled walls seems to lead to a light-filled room. As if in slow motion she lets her fingers trail on the cool, enameled surface as she walks down the fluffy white runner carpet towards the glorious light. With the evening sun pouring in, she stands at the doorway to what is the living room, and looks at her surroundings in wonder.

At the imposingly high ceilings, the amazing glass walls that lead to a wide balcony laid out with a table, chairs and potted topiary. At the mirrored wall that reflected the elegant silver patterned pale lilac wallpaper, the rich furnishings, and the deep-pile, white carpet. It is so massive, so hugely extravagant and luxurious it is as if she has walked into a page of a glossy magazine. She turns when she hears the door opening.

Peter puts the rest of her shopping on the floor and walks towards her. ‘Beautiful, isn’t it?’

‘Yes, very.’

He takes her around the spacious four-bedroom apartment and shows her how things work. Which buttons on the remote cause the curtains to open and close and which one makes a gorgeous painting rise onto the wall to expose a TV screen. There are buttons for the shutters, buttons for working the wine cooler, buttons for the lights, the media room, and for the coffee machine.