Can You Keep a Secret?(77)
Author: Sophie Kinsella

‘They’re talking to him about how he works. His inspirations, his partnership with Pete Laidler, stuff like that.’

‘Sssh!’ says someone else.

‘Of course it was tough after Pete died,’ Jack’s saying. ‘It was tough for all of us. But recently …’ He pauses. ‘Recently my life has turned around and I’m finding inspiration again. I’m enjoying it again.’

A small tingle runs over me.

He has to be referring to me. He has to be. I’ve turned his life around! Oh my God. That’s even more romantic than ‘I was gripped’.

‘You’ve already expanded into the sports drinks market,’ the male interviewer is saying. ‘Now I believe you’re looking to expand into the women’s market.’

‘What?’

There’s a frisson around the room, and people start turning their heads.

‘We’re going into the women’s market?’

‘Since when?’

‘I knew, actually,’ Artemis is saying smugly. ‘Quite a few people have known for a while—’

I stare at the screen, instantly recalling those people up in Jack’s office. That’s what the ovaries were for. Gosh, this is quite exciting. A new venture!

‘Can you give us any further details about that?’ the male interviewer is saying. ‘Will this be a soft drink marketed at women?’

‘It’s very early stages,’ says Jack. ‘But we’re planning an entire line. A drink, clothing, a fragrance. We have a strong creative vision.’ He smiles at the man. ‘We’re excited.’

‘So, what’s your target market this time?’ asks the man, consulting his notes. ‘Are you aiming at sportswomen?’

‘Not at all,’ says Jack. ‘We’re aiming at … the girl on the street.’

‘The "girl on the street"?’ The female interviewer sits up, looking slightly affronted. ‘What’s that supposed to mean? Who is this girl on the street?’

‘She’s twenty-something,’ says Jack after a pause. ‘She works in an office, takes the tube to work, goes out in the evenings and comes home on the night bus … just an ordinary, nothing-special girl.’

‘There are thousands of them,’ puts in the man with a smile.

‘But the Panther brand has always been associated with men,’ chips in the woman, looking sceptical. ‘With competition. With masculine values. Do you really think you can make the switch to the female market?’

‘We’ve done research,’ says Jack pleasantly. ‘We feel we know our market.’

‘Research!’ she scoffs. ‘Isn’t this just another case of men telling women what they want?’

‘I don’t believe so,’ says Jack, still pleasantly, but I can see a slight flicker of annoyance pass across his face.

‘Plenty of companies have tried to switch markets without success. How do you know you won’t just be another one of them?’

‘I’m confident,’ says Jack.

God, why is she being so aggressive? I think indignantly. Of course Jack knows what he’s doing!

‘You round up a load of women in some focus group and ask them a few questions! How does that tell you anything?’

‘That’s only a small part of the picture, I can assure you,’ says Jack evenly.

‘Oh, come on,’ the woman says, leaning back and folding her arms. ‘Can a company like Panther — can a man like you — really tap into the psyche of, as you put it, an ordinary, nothing-special girl?’

‘Yes. I can!’ Jack meets her gaze square-on. ‘I know this girl.’

‘You know her?’ The woman raises her eyebrows.

‘I know who this girl is,’ says Jack. ‘I know what her tastes are; what colours she likes. I know what she eats, I know what she drinks. I know what she wants out of life. She’s size twelve but she’d like to be size ten. She …’ he spreads his arms as though searching for inspiration. ‘She eats Cheerios for breakfast and dips Flakes in her cappuccinos.’

I look in surprise at my hand, holding a Flake. I was about to dip it into my coffee. And … I had Cheerios this morning.

‘We’re surrounded these days by images of perfect, glossy people,’ Jack is saying with animation. ‘But this girl is real. She has bad hair days, and good hair days. She wears G-strings even though she finds them uncomfortable. She writes out exercise routines, then ignores them. She pretends to read business journals but hides celebrity magazines inside them.’

I stare blankly at the television screen.

Just … hang on a minute. This all sounds a bit familiar.

‘That’s exactly what you do, Emma,’ says Artemis. ‘I’ve seen your copy of OK! inside Marketing Week,’ She turns to me with a mocking laugh and her gaze lands on my Flake.

‘She loves clothes but she’s not a fashion victim,’ Jack is saying on screen. ‘She’ll wear, maybe, a pair of jeans …’

Artemis stares in disbelief at my Levis.

‘… and a flower in her hair …’

Dazedly I lift a hand and touch the fabric rose in my hair.

He can’t—

He can’t be talking about—

‘Oh … my … God,’ says Artemis slowly.

‘What?’ says Caroline, next to her. She follows Artemis’s gaze, and her expression changes.