The Princeling of Nanjing Read Online Free PDF Page A

Clark might have a more visible and obvious charisma, but Suki made an impact in her own way. Ava began to reconstruct their conversation and then paused. Suki had put all of her proposals in writing — those proposals, along with Amanda’s analysis of them, were in Ava’s bag. She took the documents out, along with a Moleskine notebook in which to record her impressions and questions.
    She pushed the green leather chair closer to the window, pulled a small table alongside, and began to read. She took her time, expanding on the notes and adding questions as went. She remembered additional facts and figures that Suki had thrown at her the night before and added them to the proposals. She had no idea how long she spent poring over the numbers, but she had drunk two more coffees before she felt satisfied that she fully understood where Suki wanted to take the business and why she was so excited about the prospects. She was starting to recalculate how much more money would be needed when her room phone rang.
    “Hello,” she said.
    “I’m downstairs in the restaurant,” May said.
    Ava glanced at the bedside clock. It was almost eleven thirty. “I lost all track of time,” she said.
    “Are we still on for lunch?”
    “I’ll be there shortly,” Ava said, and then shook her head as if she was trying to clear it of Suki’s numbers. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so absorbed.

( 4 )
    They ate lunch in the Lobby restaurant. The rain had stopped, and the sun poured through the twenty-foot-high windows that framed the north side of the dining room. May had chosen a table near these windows, set against one of the room’s giant pillars. As the sun lit the room, Ava saw subtle changes in colour and form and shape in the floor-to-ceiling wall murals, which had been created by Hong Kong artist Helen Poon. The murals were almost a living thing in the way they responded to the light.
    May had a bottle of sparkling water, a cheese plate, and a tray of finger sandwiches in front of her. “Help yourself,” she said as Ava sat down.
    “You’re wearing your PÖ clothes again,” Ava said.
    “You too, and I have to say that dress looks even more stunning in this sunlight.”
    Ava poured some water and reached for a smoked salmon sandwich. “I’m happy to see the sun,” she said. “When it was raining earlier, I began to worry that it might have a negative impact on the launch.”
    “It would take more than a bit of rain to dampen spirits around here. I poked my head into the Rose Ballroom. Clark looked like he was floating on air.”
    “How were the girls?”
    “They’ve been here for hours with the producer and his staff. The last models are arriving now,” May said, pointing at two willowy brunettes walking through the lobby.
    “How many models did we hire?”
    “Twenty. Most of them are Chinese, but the producer brought six women from London with him.”
    “What a production.”
    “You’ve no idea. Chi-Tze took me on a tour yesterday before I went off to meet with Suki. They’ve taken over the back rooms and hallways that lead into the ballroom and have turned it all into a dressing room. They built a stage at the far end of the ballroom and a runway that’s thirty metres long. We’ve got a hundred and fifty seats, and the producer ordered special lighting and a sound system that he brought in from Europe. When Chi-Tze saw the cost, she asked him if it was really necessary. He told her, ‘This is show business. You’ve got one chance to make an impact. The clothes may be great on their own, but the right lighting and sound can make them otherworldly.’”
    “So we obviously spent the money.”
    “We did, and then we spent more again. The models cost a fortune.”
    “How long will the show last?”
    “About half an hour.”
    “You’re kidding. I thought it would be longer than that.”
    “Me too, but the producer was insistent that the length of time is appropriate. He was equally