Bad Twins

by Rebecca Chance

  It was the ultimate businessman’s power ploy, echoing the advice in management books to make your visitors sit in a chair that was lower than yours in order to establish dominance immediately. Typical of Jeffrey to have taken it one step further. All that the ambiance was missing was a horsehair wig and the black cap judges used to don when a defendant had been found guilty of a capital offence and was being sentenced to hang.

  Although Jeffrey Sachs had unquestionably been successful in business, his approach would never have worked for Bella; her style was quite the opposite. She had worked very hard to make her own office as inviting as possible. It wasn’t chic, like Charlotte’s, which was as white and gleaming as her home, a pop of colour provided not by a lemon sofa but the huge vase of mauve agapanthus, two feet high, at the far end of the desk, the open ball shape of the flowers a stunning contrast to their slender stems, which were fixed underwater in small mauve glass balls clustered densely at the base of the vase. The arrangement was a work of art in itself.

  Bella couldn’t possibly rival this elegance, and, as with the rest of her decisions around her relationship with her twin, she hadn’t tried. But in her office, free from Thomas’s rather suffocating preference in interior design, she had created a cosy yet businesslike atmosphere, bright and welcoming, in which her team regularly gathered to brainstorm ideas to great effect. And unlike Charlotte, who went through PAs like a hayfever sufferer did tissues, Bella had had the same staff around her for many years. Some had been with her for the entire decade she had been working for Sachs, ever since she had graduated from Harvard with her MBA.

  As a result, her connections throughout the entire firm ran very deep. Her PA, Nita, was a crucial part of the inner circle, the executive assistants’ network which communicated through a complex network of subterranean messaging threads and had its finger pressed directly to the pulse of the Sachs Organization.

  Bella opened her mouth to tell her sister that Nita would know what was going on with Jeffrey and Conway through Jeffrey’s own PA, that Nita was probably getting a running brief right now on a secret WhatsApp group. Then she shut it again. Charlotte was Bella’s rival, more than she had ever been. Why share that with her? It was Bella’s ability to inspire loyalty in her staff that gave her a direct line into the web of connections which might prove crucially useful in her quest to become CEO of Sachs.

  ‘What were you going to say?’ asked her twin sister, who knew her very well indeed.

  But Bella was spared having to make up a lie by the office door being thrown open. It was not Toyah, having miraculously managed to make three cappuccinos at high speed while painstakingly cleaning the milk-foaming jug each time; it was Conway himself, his angry face dark with blood, slamming the door against the wall with a dramatic crash.

  ‘You bitches!’ he yelled. ‘I should have known! I went to Bella’s office and her assistant said she was here—’

  Noticing the little details much more acutely than she had ever done, Bella realized that Conway did not know Nita’s name, even though her PA had been with her for ten years. Conversely, Bella knew what all Conway’s staff were called. Of the four siblings, Bella truly was the one who knew everyone in the main divisions, how they worked, who pulled the strings in each one.

  And if she didn’t, Nita did.

  ‘ – and of course she is!’ Conway was continuing. ‘Of course you two’re sitting here, gloating about having set me up! It’s no coincidence this happened just after Dad’s deadline, is it? You two are bloody getting together to take me down!’

  Bella would have babbled a feeble denial which would only confirm her brother’s suspicions. Luckily for her, however, Charlotte was much more skilled at dealing with direct accusations and knew that attack was the best defence.

  ‘Con! Jesus, take a chill pill!’ she said sharply. ‘You can’t barge into my office and start yelling at me! You’d be livid if I pulled something like this. Just because Daddy’s given you a bloody hard time, that doesn’t give you the right to take it out on me and Bell!’

  Conway’s handsome face was contorted, his blond brows lowered as if he was about to charge. The anger was very upsetting to Bella, as it reminded her so vividly of Jeffrey’s rages. Charlotte, however, was not a whit intimidated.

  ‘Who took those photos?’ he demanded. ‘I mean, who knew to go to Morton’s?’

  ‘How the fuck should I know? A member of the club, or one of your whore’s friends trying to make some money?’ his sister snapped. ‘You can’t think Bell had any idea what you were up to! She never goes anywhere cool or sexy!’

  Humiliating as it was for Bella to be cast as the boring sister, she could only be grateful when, as Conway’s forward-thrust head turned to her, he drew a long breath as he acknowledged the truth of Charlotte’s last statement.

  ‘You two are sticking together, though,’ he said, but his tone was much less combative. ‘You twins. I still think you were behind it – you, Charlotte! This is exactly the kind of thing you’d do! Why is Bella here, anyway?’

  ‘Oh my God, Con, don’t be so stupid,’ Charlotte said with utter disdain. ‘We just found out that you’ve been cheating on Samantha! It’s a bit of a shock for your sisters, as you can imagine! Obviously we’re going to talk about it with each other!’

  Bella was deeply impressed by her sister for coming up with such an excellent explanation for her twin’s presence in her office.

  ‘What did Daddy say?’ Charlotte asked, pressing her advantage.

  Conway muttered:

  ‘Oh, I’m sure you can imagine. It’s terrible bloody timing, just terrible. He didn’t want any coverage about him and Adrianna, or at least any more than the bare minimum. He’s been calling in favours from the press and media he knows, all the newspaper owners.’

  ‘Mmn, yeah,’ Charlotte murmured. ‘I noticed that the gossip bitch in the Herald steered well clear of mentioning Daddy’s new girlfriend.’

  Conway heaved a sigh.

  ‘He’s told me to sort things out with Samantha so there won’t be any more stories like this,’ he said. ‘Stage a big reconciliation. But frankly, I don’t know if I want to.’

  This was a genuine surprise: Bella looked at him with wide eyes.

  ‘Really?’ she said.

  ‘Yeah. Ever since the kids were born, Sam’s been ploughing all her energies into them, and I haven’t got much of a look in. It happens sometimes, they say. It hasn’t really been much of a marriage for years . . . I’m pretty sure she knew what was going on. I tried to talk to her about setting things right, but it was never a good time, so eventually I just—’

  ‘Okay, enough pathetic male excuses for cheating with a bar slut,’ Charlotte said, holding up one perfectly manicured hand. Not a French manicure, nor shellac; she had learned from observing Samantha that the upper classes did not consider either of these U, or upper-class, and Charlotte was always aspirational. ‘We get it.’

  ‘I’m glad to hear Samantha won’t be upset,’ Bella ventured.

  ‘Of course she’ll bloody be upset!’ Conway bellowed at her, finding something onto which he could legitimately release his frustration. ‘Don’t be more ridiculous than you can help, you silly cow! She was quite happy to go along with all the perfect-wife-and-mother routine: I was always there for her family, we’ve got two lovely kids, all the money and status in the world, and me quietly getting myself sorted out when I needed to, nice and discreet – why wouldn’t she be upset at losing all that?’

  He loomed over Bella, and for a moment she shrank back. Then she thought how well Charlotte had just handled him, deflecting his direct accusation, and how Charlotte had refused to let him bully her, and how Bella would never make an effective CEO if she let men shout at her. So, much to everyone’s surprise, she pushed back her chair and got to her feet.

  ‘Don’t yell at me!’ she shouted. ‘I’m sick and tired of people yelling at me!’

  Conway’s expression at the sight of his mild-mannered
sister, arms folded across her chest, shouting angrily back at him, was a picture of disbelief. Charlotte huffed out a laugh.

  ‘Well, well, well,’ she commented. ‘The mouse who roared.’

  ‘Excuse me . . . Charlotte . . .’

  Toyah, sounding and looking on the verge of panic, put her head around the door. She was young, pretty and highly fashionable, like all of Charlotte’s staff; they helped keep her in touch with the latest apps and social media platforms. They were up to date with which non-dairy milk was currently in vogue, and they were attractive enough to be used to pose in shots for the latest Sash branded products. The choice of toiletries in the Sash boutique chain alone was endlessly debated, and Charlotte had her team test them out and take cheeky, sexy selfies of themselves in the smart office bathrooms for the Sash blog, holding the latest branded products.

  However, choosing a young and pretty team meant you got neither experience nor the kind of common sense that is developed when a candidate cannot rely solely on good looks and charm. Twenty-seven-year-olds who were truly talented and photogenic were PR stars, highly paid influencers, not PAs to difficult bosses who seemed to have based their management style on the worst kind of fashion editor. Poor Toyah looked absolutely terrified as she said:

  ‘Shall I bring in the coffee? I was going to, but then Mr Sachs came in, and I couldn’t stop him, and I wasn’t sure—’

  ‘Well, you should have stopped him!’ Charlotte said, very unfairly, as it would have taken three Toyahs working in unison to physically block Conway from entering her office. ‘And yes, bring in the coffee, Bella must be desperate for it by now!’

  Toyah carried in the tray, her hands shaking, the cups rattling a little as she set them down.

  ‘This is full fat, and this one’s—’ she started. But before she could continue, Conway, naturally assuming that Toyah had made a round of cappuccinos for the three of them, picked up the one closest to him and took a long sip, without, Bella noted, thanking Toyah, let alone acknowledging her in any way.

  ‘Pffffffft!’

  Milk foam spewed out of Conway’s mouth.

  ‘What the fuck?’ he spluttered as the beige liquid splattered over Charlotte’s desk. ‘What is this shit?’

  ‘Looks like Conway got the hemp milk,’ Charlotte commented dryly. ‘Well, don’t just stand there gibbering like a maniac, Toyah! Get a cloth and clean up my desk! What are you waiting for?’

  Chapter Nine

  It would have taken her father jumping out from an open doorway, dressed in a clown costume and yelling ‘Boo!’, to make Bella react as she walked very slowly back to her office. She was as lost in thought as if she were making her way through thick white fog which blinded her to any noises or sights that weren’t immediately within her narrow field of vision. Having worked in this building for ten years, she could navigate through it on autopilot. She was so clearly distracted when she reached her own suite of offices that Nita, stationed in the large anteroom to Bella’s suite, took one look at her and stood up, following her boss into her office and closing the door behind them.

  ‘What happened?’ Nita asked intently. ‘Sit down. How was it? I heard Conway got taken to the cleaners by your dad, then went to Charlotte’s floor in a flaming temper . . .’

  Bella flopped into her chair, her head still spinning.

  ‘Yes,’ she confirmed. ‘He shouted at me. And I shouted back.’

  ‘You shouted back?’ Nita’s big, black, heavily outlined eyes widened as she sat down opposite her boss. ‘You shouted back?’

  ‘Yes. It felt . . . okay. I didn’t enjoy it, but I had to do it.’

  She considered a moment.

  ‘It felt better than okay, actually.’

  Nita’s face was a picture: she tended to say very little but express much, and this time was no exception. Usually Bella was very attuned to her assistant’s reactions, but she was too busy staring ahead of her without seeming to focus on anything, let alone small, smooth-haired, carefully made-up Nita.

  Nita had ensured that she, or rather her own assistant Tal, had refreshed the jug of ice water on Bella’s desk since Bella left her office forty minutes ago; Nita was a detail-orientated caretaker. And now, as her PA reached out, poured a glass of cold water and slid it over to her, Bella took it with a grateful smile and a murmured ‘thank you’, more than Conway or Charlotte ever gave to their PAs.

  ‘Nita,’ Bella said eventually. ‘I could totally run this company, couldn’t I?’

  ‘Of course! I’ve been telling you that ever since your father—’

  ‘No. Wait. Stop.’ Bella set down the glass. The icy water had been just what she needed to clear her brain: she’d never ended up drinking that promised cappuccino, not after watching her brother spit his out. ‘That’s not what I mean. I’m nice to everyone.’

  Nita stared at her, frowning intently as she focused on what Bella was trying to say.

  ‘I’m a good manager,’ Bella continued. ‘I know everyone’s strengths and weaknesses. The Sash people, the financial people, the tech team. I know the assistants’ names. I eat lunch in the canteen with everyone else, unlike my brother and sister. I’m not siloed. And you know everyone. Everyone. You’re this close with HR.’

  Bella held up index and middle fingers, pressed tightly together.

  ‘You’re so close with them that I don’t even need to run anything by their office, because I can just check with you. You know what they’re going to say before they say it. And they run a lot of things past you, even though they’re not supposed to.’

  ‘I can’t confirm or deny anything,’ Nita said, with the tiniest of smiles. ‘But yes, I have a very good working relationship with HR.’

  She leant forward, steepling her fingers on the desk.

  ‘Look,’ she began, ‘Conway’s actually fine as the CFO, but he’s alienated a lot of people in his department because he’s so entitled. Let alone the rest of us! He thinks we all work for him, and he makes that very clear. Meanwhile, your sister has never built what I’d call a team. She’s very, very good at what she does, but it’s all about her, which definitely wouldn’t fly if she weren’t working in a family company. Besides, that boutique brand is never going to be anything but a marketing leader for Sachs hotels overall. It’s not our core business and it’s not where the vast majority of the revenue stream is generated.’

  Bella nodded. ‘It only just occurred to me that neither of them has any people,’ she said. ‘While I have a machine, and all the goodwill they don’t have.’

  ‘I thought you knew that already,’ Nita said, looking surprised.

  ‘No. I’ve been so . . .’ Bella still felt as if she were wrapped in white fog. ‘I was distracted by how glamorous Conway and Charlotte are. They seem so popular, I only took in now how badly they treat everyone. I could go to Daddy after six months with pretty much the whole company behind me, not just my division. I could put an entire package together. I could cherry-pick people from finance and Sash to join my management team and build all the bridges that Daddy and Conway and Charlotte haven’t bothered to do. We could transform how everyone communicates here—’

  ‘But your dad won’t give you the job just on that basis,’ Nita said intently; it was a mark of Bella’s management style that her staff knew they could interrupt her if necessary without consequences.

  ‘No. Which is why we’re going for the new points scheme as the huge pitch, plus the website rollout,’ Bella said, like a robot computing everything slowly but surely.

  This had been her priority for the last two weeks, ever since her father’s announcement and her realization of how much she wanted to run the whole company. It was a project she had been developing for a while, but now she was living and breathing it, aware of how extremely complicated it was to slot together all the nuts and bolts, the tiny workings that would pull the scheme to fruition. It was an incredibly thankless task because, if it worked, it would seem like an effortless transition, while i
f there was the tiniest glitch the media would be ready to jump all over it.

  And yet, if she pulled it off . . . if she launched a scheme which let the Sachs point-holders buy goods from major online travel retailers, upgrade on a partner airline and pool together with family or friends to book holiday packages; if they could combine their points with money on a sliding scale, as some airlines allowed, to make them go further, or buy and gift them to friends and relatives; if Sachs Plus members could digitally select their hotel rooms online, with 3D video of the layout of the room or suite – even the view – available to help them with their choice, and then be issued a digital ‘key’ sent to their smartphones, so that they no longer needed to check in at the front desk . . .

  It would be revolutionary. Bella’s name would pass into industry legend. The technology had been in existence for a while now, but other chains were baulking out of fear that the rollout would be so fraught with teething problems that any positive press and attention would be entirely overshadowed by the individual stories of family woes and stranded business travellers, on which the press could be guarantee to pounce gleefully, knowing that sad faces made catchy click-bait.

  But if it worked, business travellers, dying to expedite their endless weary routine, would be able to choose their rooms in advance, check in from the Wi-Fi-enabled plane, walk in and out of a Sachs airport or conference hotel without having to wait in line for a receptionist, avoid making the same clichéd conversation as they waited for their room key . . . even see the charges being assigned to their room account updated every few hours, so they had no unpleasant shocks on checking out. If there were a minibar or bar tab query, for instance, so very frequent and so niggly, not to mention potentially embarrassing to dispute in public, the guest could dispute it immediately online, able to check the scanned receipts and the electronic records from the sensors in the minibar.