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.20am.She hailed a taxi - an extravagance, but one she justified by wanting to look her best for her meeting with the chairman.She sat in the back of the cab and checked her appearance in her compact mirror.Her recently acquired Anand Jon suit and white silk blouse would surely make heads turn.Although some might be puzzled by her black sneakers.The cab took a right on FDR Drive and speeded up a little as Anna checked her cellphone.There were three messages, all of which she would deal with after the meeting: one from her secretary, Rebecca, needing to speak to her urgently, which was surprising given they were going to see each other in a few minutes' time; confirmation of her flight from BA, and an invitation to dinner with Robert Brooks, the new chairman of Bonhams.Her cab drew up outside the entrance to the North Tower twenty minutes later.She paid the driver and jumped out to join a sea of workers as they filed towards the entrance and through the bank of turnstiles.She took the shuttle express elevator, and less than a minute later stepped out onto the dark green carpet of the executive floor.Anna had once overheard in the elevator that each floor was an acre in size, and some fifty thousand people worked in a building that never closed - more than double the population of her adopted home town of Danville, Illinois.Anna went straight to her office and was surprised to find that Rebecca wasn't waiting for her, especially as she knew how important her eight o'clock meeting was.But she was relieved to see that all the relevant files had been piled neatly on her desk.She double-checked that they were in the order she had requested.3�Anna still had a few minutes to spare, so she once again turned to the Wentworth file and began reading her report.'The value of the Wentworth Estate falls into several categories.My department's only interest is in.'Tina Forster didn't rise until just after seven.Her appointment with the dentist wasn't until eight thirty and Fenston had made it clear that she needn't be on time this morning.That usually meant he had an out-of-town appointment, or was going to fire someone.If it was the latter, he wouldn't want her hanging around the office, sympathizing with the person who had just lost their job.Tina knew that it couldn't be Leapman, because Fenston wouldn't be able to survive without the man, and although she would have liked it to be Barry Steadman, she could dream on, because he never missed an opportunity to praise the chairman, who absorbed flattery like a beached sea sponge waiting for the next wave.Tina lay soaking in the bath - a luxury she usually only allowed herself at weekends - wondering when it would be her turn to be fired.She'd been Fenston's personal assistant for over a year, and although she despised the man and all he stood for, she'd still tried to make herself indispensable.Tina knew that she couldn't consider resigning until.The phone rang in her bedroom, but she made no attempt to answer it.She assumed it would be Fenston demanding to know where a particular file was, a phone number, even his diary.'On the desk in front of you' was usually the answer.She wondered for a moment if it might be Anna, the only real friend she'd made since moving from the West Coast.Unlikely, she concluded, as Anna would be presenting her report to the chairman at eight o'clock, and was probably, even now, going over the finer details for the twentieth time.Tina smiled as she climbed out of the bath and wrapped a towel round her body.She strolled across the corridor and into her bedroom.Whenever a guest spent the night in her cramped apartment they had to share her bed or sleep on the sofa.They had little choice, as she only had one bedroom.Not many takers3ilately, and not because of any shortage of offers.But after what she'd been through with Fenston, Tina no longer trusted anyone.Recently she'd wanted to confide in Anna, but this remained the one secret she couldn't risk sharing.Tina pulled open the curtains and, despite its being September, the clear, sparkling morning convinced her that she should wear a summer dress
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