Younger Read Online Free PDF Page A

table in the middle. She didn’t mind riding backward, so she sat down across the table, but on the aisle so they’d both have legroom. Now it wouldn’t be so obvious that she was on her own.
    She settled down, surreptitiously looked around, and saw no one suspicious. With a perfunctory smile at the young woman across from her, she slipped off her coat and pulled her scarf up over her chin and her hat down to her eyes. Closing them, she feigned sleep.

    The weeks between that fateful lunch at The Ivy and the Madame X launch had flown by so quickly Anna could almost feel the air rushing past, bringing her closer to no work and too little money. She was busy with the details of the launch party, which she’d booked months ago at Block, the hottest new New York club. Otherwise, life was uneventful; the few things that stood out were notable solely for their awkwardness.
    The first was Clive Madden’s discomfort when she bumped into him in the lobby at Coscom after Easter. She was arriving to see Richard and he was on his way out. As they came face-to-face, the chubby little Englishman turned bright red and smiled hesitantly.
    He’s afraid I might make a scene, Anna thought, putting on a fake grin and forcing him to speak first.
    “Ah, well, hello there!” he finally blustered. “Here to see Richard?”
    Her smile tightened. “Am I still allowed in the building? Hard to finish the launch otherwise, you know.”
    His color deepened. “Of course you’re allowed. You’re welcome here any time. And congratulations on the Madame X collaterals. Even Mr. Barton said they were spectacular.”
    Now it was her turn to be speechless. “No good deed goes unpunished, right?” she finally blurted.
    At five foot eight plus heels, Anna towered over him. Looking far from ruthless, he peeked up at her. “Sorry, but it wasn’t—it wasn’t . . . an easy decision. Naturally, I’ll give you the highest recommendation and send any work I can your way. And I deeply appreciate your agreeing to work through the launch.”
    He held out his hand. Of course, she shook it, a reputation as a poor loser being one of the many things she could now ill afford. “Thank you, Clive.” They stood in silence before smiling with jointly false brightness and nodding good-bye.
    As she walked down the wide hallway toward Richard’s office, Anna couldn’t help but think Madden had seemed about to say, “It wasn’t my decision.”
    When she related the encounter to Richard, all she got was a shrug. “C’mon, Richard, if not his decision, whose was it?”
    “But he didn’t actually say that, did he? And whose decision could it be? You don’t think I’d suggest letting you go, do you?” He looked horrified.
    “Of course I don’t. You have to admit it seems odd, ditching me in the midst of a major launch,” she mused. “I mean, slashing budgets, et cetera, et cetera. Which other consultants were let go?”
    Richard hesitated before shaking his head. “None that I know of.”
    “Any in-house staff shown the door?”
    Another head shake.
    “You know, almost twenty years ago, at my last job in New York, the head of the company didn’t like me because I wouldn’t suck up.”
    “And?”
    “And I was chosen to be part of a general layoff.”
    Richard peered at her over his glasses, tortoiseshell today to match his brown silk tweed jacket. “And?”
    “And the rest of the big ‘general layoff’ was a guy in accounting with late-stage AIDS.” Anna shook her head. “I don’t doubt Clive made the decision. But something about the way he spoke gave me a weird feeling.”
    “Just relax. Don’t start getting obsessed with Clive.”
    “You’re right.” She did a quick shoulder roll and took a deep breath. “Now, let’s decide on these gift bag items and get some of Coscom’s excess minions busy.”

    Then there was her lunch with Gregg Hatch, executive director of the Western Cosmetics Council and unofficial go-to guy for anyone