Tasmina Perry - Gold Diggers

She stroked her hand across the top of his head, wondering if she could get Harry Levin to cough up for that five hundred acres of Mozambique rainforest she’d won at the auction and not yet paid for. At the very least, she was sure he would give her a good price for that tummy tuck she’d been meaning to get.

Erin had only had been at the Midas Corporation a matter of hours but already she felt lost. As Adam’s PA, she needed to know every aspect of his business, and she was quickly finding that the scale of his empire was vast. She knew that he was a property developer, and while real estate did appear the core of the business, that was only the beginning. The property portfolio alone was mind-boggling – from luxury residential developments in Manhattan and Macao to prestige office blocks in nearly all of the world’s financial centres – but on top of that, Midas owned a dozen hotels, a copper mine in Kazakhstan, a ski resort in Maine, two huge retail villages in Connecticut and Florida and a private jet company leasing out executive aircraft to the super-rich. And that was all she’d managed to find since she’d arrived at 7.30 a.m. It was now dark outside and she was still finding new files and reports. The intercom buzzed suddenly.

‘Erin. Can you come in please?’

As it was her first day at work, Erin had tried her damnedest from the moment she had got into the luxurious office block behind Piccadilly, but she still felt as if she was groping about in the dark. Adam already had an executive assistant, Eleanor Bradley, a fiercely efficient New Yorker who had worked with him for seven years and sat outside his door like a Rottweiler. Erin’s position seemed to be more like a social secretary: taking calls, making appointments, accepting or declining party invitations and arranging for errands that Eleanor was too busy and important to carry out. She had hardly seen Adam all day and had no idea if she had performed her duties to his satisfaction. Padding into his office from her desk as fast as her brand new three-inch heels would carry her, she smoothed down her long-sleeved cotton dress from Debenhams, feeling even more nervous than she had when she’d met Hector Fox at the benefit dinner. Adam’s large corner office was an overwhelming space. With its masculine grey walls, stark architectural photography and dark antique furniture, it reeked of power, money and testosterone.

‘Ah, take a seat, I have a question to ask you.’

She perched on the edge of a padded velvet and mahogany chair, clasping her clammy hands together and hoping she looked efficient.

‘Erin, why are you still here?’ Adam looked up at her from behind his wide wraparound mahogany desk with a straight expression.

Erin’s eyes lowered to the floor with embarrassment. She’d been told she had to be in work for 7.30 a.m., ready for Adam’s arrival at 8 a.m., but she had no idea how late she was expected to stay. For a £70,000 salary, she suspected it was probably a twenty-four-hour job, but when was she supposed to sleep?

‘I wasn’t aware that I should be somewhere else, Mr Gold,’ she stammered. ‘There doesn’t seem to be anything in the diary for tonight.’

‘Precisely,’ he smiled, ‘which is exactly why you should go home.’

Erin felt her eyes linger a little too long on his strong tanned hands. She also noticed that his eyes were a rich, intoxicating brown. She wished she could think of something to say, but she found her brain fog and her throat clam up.

Adam let his smile linger, as if he was aware of his young PA watching him and was enjoying the moment. ‘So how was it?’ he asked. ‘I hope it wasn’t too painful a first day.’

Erin smiled. ‘I loved it. Everyone seems really nice.’ You seem really nice , she wanted to add. ‘Is there anything else you need me to do before I go?’ Please say yes.

Adam leant back in his black leather chair and folded his arms behind his head. ‘I don’t suppose you could dig me out Karin Cavendish’s phone number, could you?’

She thought she saw a flicker of pleasure stretch across his face as he noted her disappointment.

Erin nodded. ‘I’ll bring it through straight away,’ she said, rising.

What did you expect ? she thought, scolding herself. Men like Adam Gold would only consider women like Karin Cavendish. He was hardly going to be interested in her, was he?

‘How was your first day, then?’

Richard Pendleton was already home by the time she got back to the flat, standing in the little kitchen cooking chilli con carne. Not for the first time she wondered why he was back so early. In the four weeks she’d been staying at his flat, Richard had never once worked late, let alone clocking up the two-in-the-morning marathon sessions he’d constantly complained about when she’d been down in Cornwall. Still, she shouldn’t grumble; this week he’d been the most attentive he’d ever been since they first got together eighteen months ago. Not that Richard had ever really been particularly devoted, especially since he had moved to London the previous autumn. He was always taking about ‘his own space’, even though they lived two hundred miles apart and he had almost blown a gasket when she had asked him if she could stay for a few weeks while she was working for Karin. Now those weeks had become a month, she had been expecting him to start making noises about how his Earl’s Court apartment was too small for two but, ever since she had landed the job at Midas, his mood seemed to have softened. Maybe he was getting used to her. The kitchen was a small gallery kitchen with smart wooden units and a little window that looked out onto a tiny manicured patch of lawn that the estate agents had dared to call a ‘delightful’ and ‘mature’ garden. She went to stand next to him by the oven and he spooned some sauce into her mouth.

‘Mmm, that’s actually edible!’ she teased. ‘Not bad for a pillar of the establishment.’

Richard was still in his pinstriped suit trousers and a white shirt, looking considerably older than his twenty-five years. Erin had noticed that, since he had begun work, he had adopted a rather superior expression, and the arrogant, offhand mannerisms of a man who believes himself to be a cut above. Leave him alone Erin , she thought, you’re just stressed and tired .

‘So come on,’ urged Richard, ‘what was Gold like?’

‘Oh Richard, I’m knackered,’ she replied, sinking onto a bar stool and kicking her heels off. ‘These early starts are going to kill me.’

‘Well, that’s international business, darling. The man works across several time zones. I bet he was still in the office when you left him, wasn’t he?’

‘How did you guess?’ she said flatly, pouring herself a glass of wine from the open bottle next to the cooker.

Richard ladled the chilli onto two plates and led the way into the main living area that had a couple of sofas at one end and a table and four chairs at the other. Erin had started eating when she looked up to see Richard was clearly still waiting for answers.

‘Why are you so interested, anyway?’ asked Erin, tearing off some pitta bread and dipping it in the sauce. ‘You’ve never shown this much interest in my writing.’

‘I’m hardly going to be interested in those silly fantasies, am I?’

She raised her eyebrows and Richard backtracked furiously. ‘Sorry, sorry. Out of order. I’m just excited for you now, that’s all. I mean, to be so close to such an important businessman. I bet you’re going to hear all sorts. Hey, maybe you could get us a few share tips,’ he winked.

‘That sounds illegal, Richard,’ she scolded. ‘I’m sure your senior partner won’t like you saying things like that.’ Richard’s cheeks flushed.