Page 6 of First Impressions
“Ah, yes. We have the account but it’s on a trial basis for the next three months to make sure they are happy with our work. They just finished with their big Mother’s Day campaign and are now beginning to focus on their summer promotions. They’ve moved into the city for the next month or so and then are spending the rest of the summer at their house in the Hamptons. While they are here, Mrs. DeBourgh obviously wants to meet you and have you assess some potential press opportunities in the city. Then, once they are back in the Hamptons, she wants you out there for possibly up to a week for some events.”
“Great! When am I meeting with her?”
“How did I know that after this weekend you would be itching for some new work?” Phil chuckled at her enthusiasm. “I’ve scheduled you a lunch meeting with her today at noon at the Waldorf.”
“Great! Ok, let me go catch up on their file and then I’ll head over there,” Beth said as she took the DeBourgh folder from Phil and left his office, heading down the hall towards her own.
She spent the next few hours going over their recent PR for the last 3 years – both business and personal stories. DeBourgh Diamonds had been around for over one hundred years. Aside from a few questionable pieces on their supply being fueled by blood diamonds, a majority of their business press had been positive - mostly comprised of pieces about their history and charitable ventures. Their personal PR was a little scarcer. The only stories in that time frame were initially about the death of the late Mr. DeBourgh, followed by several more pieces on Mrs. DeBourgh’s daughter, Anne, and her speculative relationship with one William Darcy.
Could she not escape this man?
Like Mr. Intolerable, there hadn’t been much in the news about Anne DeBourgh. She had gone to school out of the country and when she graduated from Oxford, she returned home and began working for her father. She was strikingly beautiful, with pristine white skin, pale blond hair and ice blue eyes. From all the photos, she looked like she was a royal bitch. Beth hoped that wasn’t jealousy talking but seriously, hardly any image had her smiling in it, and the ones that did looked like she was either faking it or like she really didn’t feel well.
Being that both families were very powerful, wealthy and owned companies that had been around for many decades, the story surrounding their suspected relationship gathered some traction for a while. It seemed that the Darcy and the DeBourgh families were very close and the potential for a marriage between the two excited the press almost as much as it excited Mrs. DeBourgh, who had alluded to a “joint venture” between the two firms.
After several public appearances together at corporate functions for both his and her families’ companies, the couple split. There was no comment at the time from either of their reps confirming a break-up or even confirming a previouslyexisting relationship. However, a few months later, when questioned at a Harry Winston event about her relationship with Mr. Darcy, Anne broke down in tears and retreated behind the security line, unable to answer the question.
Even though she knew she should be focused on their business PR, since that was going to be the focus of her work for them, Beth found herself inexplicably sidetracked on Darcy and Anne’s previous relationship for the last hour before leaving the office. She realized she was becoming borderline obsessed with finding out if they had actually been dating and why they broke up when she resorted to reading the tabloids for more information - even though she knew that they rarely ever gave correct or verifiable facts.
At the end of that hour, she admitted frustratingly that she hadn’t learned much. From all the photos that she had seen, it was pretty obvious that they had been in a relationship even though no rep would confirm it, but as to what had happened, she had no clue. She had read several statements that Mrs. DeBourgh made about the match though they seemed to imply her confident expectation of a marriage between the two. Beth wondered if Darcy would come up in their lunch meeting as she walked out of her office and grabbed an Uber.
Wouldn’t that be her luck.
Chapter Seven
Beth wasthe first to arrive at Peacock Alley which was pretty typical when meeting with high profile clients; they liked to be fashionably late. She ordered herself an iced tea and a small fruit and cheese plate for the table. As the waiter left, she saw Mrs. DeBourgh walking into the restaurant, followed by a larger gentleman whom Beth assumed to be her personal security. Mrs. DeBourgh, while in her early sixties, still looked very good for her age - whether that was her genes or a very good plastic surgeon, Beth wasn’t going to speculate.
She was very elegantly dressed in a pale-pink pantsuit with a white blouse and navy scarf. Beth observed her demeanor from afar and while cordial to the hostess and others working at the restaurant, she still exuded a degree of hauteur. She appeared kind, but only because she was ‘above’ them. As she approached the table, Beth stood to greet her.
“Mrs. DeBourgh, I’m Beth Bennet with the Gardiner Group. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said as she shook Mrs. DeBourgh’s hand.
“A pleasure, Miss Bennet. Now, I assume Mr. Gardiner has brought you up to speed on our arrangement,” Mrs. DeBourgh responded as they both took their seats.
“Yes, I spoke with him this morning and he informed me that we are on a three-month trial. I just wanted to speak with you and get a feel for what events you have planned during that time and what your press goals are.”
“Lovely. Yes, now that Mother’s Day is over, we slow down a bit for the summer to work on designs for the fall/winter collection; however, we have a few events planned over the coming months – the biggest of which takes place at our private residence in the Hamptons, which it would be essential for you to attend. We host the ‘Summer Ice’ White Party every year and invite a slew of high profile persons, from public officials to celebrities, to bid on select, rare pieces, which a portion of the proceeds then go to fund one of ourcharities. We would obviously need you to put out information on the event, as well as a few pieces on some of the guests expected to attend. I have a feeling this year is going to be the most talked about event of the season.”
“Wonderful. I’m familiar with the event and I can certainly put together several releases to major print and online news outlets in advance. Is there anything else I should be focusing on?”
“No, not for DeBourgh Diamonds. However, personally, there is something more important that I will need you to investigate and keep me apprised of,” Mrs. DeBourgh continued very seriously, her genial smile leaving her face. “I’m sure you are aware of the press several years ago surrounding my daughter and the CEO of Fitz Corp, William Darcy. I’ve heard that he is back in town and was seen at your father’s firm. I specifically requested you because I will need you to keep me apprised of his business here, but more importantly if he is seen with anyone that would suggest his being in a romantic relationship.”
Beth couldn’t believe her ears.She’d been kidding when she wondered if Darcy would come up.She was a publicist, not a private investigator - what was this woman thinking?
“This is the most important thing that I need from you and I trust that you will remain discreet about it,” Mrs. DeBourgh finished with a very stern stare indicating that this was the real reason for her approaching the Gardiner Group and any disagreement or refusal to perform the task would result in her taking her business elsewhere.
“Of course, ma’am, but you know that this isn’t what I normally do. I’ve barely even met Mr. Darcy, so I’m not sure I’m going to be privy to any of his other business outside my father’s firm, especially anything involving his personal life.” Beth tried to gently lower Mrs. DeBourgh’s expectations of what she thought she was capable of.
“Yes, yes, but I know he is there on behalf of Charles Bingley and that man is very open with information, so I’m sure between you and your sister, you’ll be able to track down these details for me. Iknowyou will be able to do this for me. I assured Mr. Gardiner that you were the one I wanted for thejob. I would hate to have to go back and retract my statement,” Mrs. DeBourgh then not-so-subtly intimated.
Beth couldn’t believe what she was hearing; first, being asked to spy on a man she despised, then realizing that the only reason she got the job was because of her close proximity to him and one of his good friends, and last basically being threatened if she didn’t get the job done.
What was she going to do?
Not that she really had a choice in the matter. The DeBourgh account was a major account for the Gardiner Group to acquire and she wasn’t going to ruin that for Phil after all that he had done for her.
How bad could it be?
She really wasn’t going to be able to find out much; the man barely spoke two words to people that he liked, let alone to those he found justtolerable.
