Читать книгу Daddy’s Girls - Tasmina Perry, Tasmina Perry - Страница 20

‘The problem you face is this,’ said David Goldman, sticking his fork into his medium-rare steak and trying to make himself heard over the Coq D’Argent lunchtime crowd. ‘You’re trying to raise money for magazine publishing, one of the highest-risk businesses of all, and investors are frightened of it.’ Goldman paused to chew his beef and looked at Cate and Nick sitting nervously across the table from him. ‘And they’re frightened for a good reason. Did you know that out of four hundred and fifty-three new consumer magazine launches last year, three hundred and seventy of them have already folded? Not good odds, is it?’

Cate took a sip of her wine and sized up her lunch guest. A slick, mid-thirties corporate broker with a Meribel tan and an immaculately tailored Gieves & Hawkes suit, David Goldman oozed confidence. It was just a shame none of that confidence seemed directed at their magazine project.

‘All that may be true,’ said Cate, glancing to Nick for support, ‘but the magazines that do succeed can make a lot of money. We have a great product, years of experience, a strong management team –’

David wiped his lips with a linen napkin, the corners of his mouth turning into a smile. ‘Cate, you don’t have to convince me about how good your proposition is. Your track record speaks for itself. As for young Nick here –’ he hit his friend on the arm playfully with his napkin –‘I’ve known him since our first day at university together, so I know that, even though he can act like a buffoon, he can also make anything work if he puts his mind to it.’

Nick Douglas managed a weak smile. Trapped in his badly fitting suit, drinking wine he knew he could not afford should David not offer to pick up the bill, Nick had felt uncomfortable since lunch had begun and his friend’s harsh assessment of the business’s prospects hadn’t helped. ‘Thanks for the vote of confidence,’ he mumbled, poking dispiritedly at his moules-frites, ‘But seriously, do you think we can raise enough cash to do this thing or are we wasting our time? We have to launch in June or we’ll miss all the summer trade – not great for a travel and style mag. The only other option is to leave it for another nine months, by which point I’ll be jobless and bankrupt.’

David Goldman let his eyes wander across the restaurant to a curvy blonde in a tight short skirt wiggling across the room. ‘Well, the other problem you face, of course,’ he said, turning reluctantly back to look at Nick, ‘is the amount of money you want to raise. How much is it again?’ he asked, flipping through the pristine business plan that Nick had placed in front of him. He nodded and pursed his lips. ‘One point five million quid?’ There was something about the way he said it that made it seem an insignificant amount of money.

‘What’s wrong with that?’ asked Nick anxiously. ‘Too much? Not enough?’

David put his glass of wine down on the business plan cover sheet, leaving a claret-coloured mark. ‘Difficult amount, that’s all. A bit too much money for most individual investors, a bit too small for the venture capital companies. They usually deal in investments well over five mil. Even then, they don’t like start-up companies.’

Nick and Cate looked deflated. Since their first meeting a little over a week ago, they’d worked fifteen hours a day creating a convincing business plan. Now they were sitting in one of the City’s hottest power-broking dens, multimillion deals bouncing off the walls around them, and it was beginning to sound as if it had all been a waste of time.

‘Is there any good news?’ asked Nick grimly, his large hazel eyes searching his friend’s.

David slowly gave something that resembled a smirk.

‘Look, if it wasn’t you two sitting opposite me, I’d turn this gig down right now. It just wouldn’t be worth my while when frankly I think it’s got a fifty-fifty chance – at most – of raising the cash. But …’ He looked over at Cate and flashed her a brilliant row of straight white teeth. ‘… there is something quite sexy about investing in a glossy magazine.’ He laughed, his gaze still fixed on Cate. ‘It’s certainly a damn sight more glamorous than putting your money into widgets; although widgets are a much better investment in my opinion. However,’ he continued, running a finger up and down the stem of his glass, ‘I reckon that’s how you get your investors. By appealing to their vanity.’

He picked up the business plan and thrust it into a calfskin leather briefcase sitting on the seat beside him, snapping it shut with a click.

‘I tell you what, I’ll sound out a few of the VC firms for you – see if any of them are interested in a small media project, but I think your best bet is to get a handful of high-net-worth individuals to chuck in some cash. All you’re asking is for two hundred thousand pounds each to say they own a slice of a fancy magazine, and that’s a day at the races for some of these guys. Maybe you could even chuck in a dinner-date with your sister, Cate?’ He looked again at Cate in her fitted Alberta Ferretti black silk dress and corrected himself. ‘Actually, forget Serena, chuck in a dinner-date with you.’

Cate laughed politely, carefully moving her foot away from David’s, which seemed to have slipped next to hers under the table.

‘So we’re looking for investors with a few quid and a bit of time on their hands,’ said Nick. ‘Blokes like Cate’s old man, for example?’

David perked up, his financial radar sensing a kill. ‘That’s a point, Cate – your dad and some of his mates might want a punt at this. It would really help me get the ball rolling with other investors if I say we have some initial investment, particularly from high-profile investors.’

Cate felt some colour drain quickly from her face. ‘I don’t know about that,’ she stammered.

‘Come on, Cate, give old Daddy a ring,’ chided Nick. ‘Why not call him now? I’m going to call Tom to see if he’ll chuck in a few quid.’

‘Our family doesn’t have money coming out of its eyeballs, you know,’ she replied firmly. ‘And I don’t think he’d take it too seriously anyway. I’ll speak to Daddy if we have to, but …’

After only a week in Cate’s company, Nick had come to recognize her resistance when the name Oswald Balcon was mentioned. He flashed David a look.

‘OK, OK,’ said David, checking his watch. ‘If money from your family is not an option, do we have any other source of initial investment? Can you two bring any money to the table, for instance? Can we get a mortgage on any property?’

Nick laughed again. ‘Like I’m rolling in money. I’ve been unemployed since Christmas.’

Cate said nothing, suddenly feeling very sick. The last thing she wanted to see was her adorable Notting Hill mews house, the beautiful haven into which she’d ploughed every last penny she’d earned, slapped with a fat mortgage.

‘Well, you’d better find something quick,’ said David, draining off the wine in his glass and running his tongue over his lips. ‘Investors are going to want to see something from you two other than good looks and a good idea.’ He clicked his fingers to summon the bill and turned his attention back to the blonde in the miniskirt. The meeting, it seemed, was over.

‘That didn’t go too well, did it?’ said Cate, pulling up the collar on her cream cashmere coat as a cold northeasterly wind slapped against her cheeks. She stuck her hand out to hail a black cab.

‘Well, it could have been worse,’ replied Nick, climbing into the taxi behind her. ‘Anyway, where are we going? Your house?’

She smiled. ‘My house? You mean our office.’ She laughed, thinking of the cramped top floor of her house, tucked away in the eaves, that had become their makeshift studio, the floor strewn with magazines, the walls papered with pictures and ideas.

‘Oh yes, the office,’ laughed Nick, giving the driver the address and sinking back in the seat as they rumbled down the street. The laughter was soon replaced by a gloomy silence, however.

‘Well, I don’t see how you can possibly think that went well,’ said Cate after a while, looking out of the window at City workers scurrying through the drizzle. ‘Basically he said we’ve got to find a dozen billionaire gamblers or we might as well forget it.’

‘Yes, well, don’t underestimate the sort of people that man knows,’ said Nick. ‘Believe me, he knows everyone. How else do you think he got to be head of corporate broking at the age of thirty-five? Anyway,’ he added, ‘he certainly seemed to like you.’

Cate blushed furiously and pretended to stare out of the window.

‘Don’t be silly,’ she said.

‘Oh, I’ve seen David Goldman’s slick seduction moves before and he definitely fancies you,’ teased Nick, poking her in the ribs and trying to get a reaction. ‘Some people consider him something of a catch, you know. Although as his halls-of-residence roommate for twelve long months, I can tell you that his personal hygiene is terrible.’

Now Cate twisted herself around to face him and slapped the back of his hand playfully.

‘Will you stop it?’ she said, her voice flushed with embarrassment. ‘And anyway – you shouldn’t even be suggesting such impropriety. It’s not professional.’

They both began to laugh, the tension of the meeting finally broken. Nick ran a hand through his short tousled hair as he watched fat droplets of rain bounce off the steamed-up window. His voice turned more serious once again.

‘There are a lot of rich private investors out there, but the real problem is raising that initial finance. I agree with David that we’re more likely to get the ball rolling if we can put in some personal funds. I can seriously only scrape together about twenty grand, max.’

‘And I am really, really nervous about mortgaging my house any more,’ admitted Cate, ‘especially with all those statistics about three in four ventures failing. It seems so scary.’

For a second she wondered if they really were doing the right thing. Wouldn’t it be easier to take the dummy to Jonathan Newhouse, European chairman of Condé Nast, to see if he was interested? At least they would have the financial muscle required to launch a magazine, plus they’d be able to see the potential of Sand.

‘Ah, don’t go wobbly on me now, Cate,’ smiled Nick, as if reading her thoughts. ‘What about your sister’s husband? Doesn’t he have a hedge fund or something? He must be rolling in his own cash – or at least other people’s?’

‘Not that I completely understand what a hedge fund is, but I’ve already sounded Venetia out. Apparently his company doesn’t deal in investments like this. It’s all about very high risk, very high return with him, and apparently a start-up magazine doesn’t quite qualify.’

Nick nodded slowly. ‘OK …’

Cate looked at him pleadingly.

‘Nick, I want to try and do this myself. To you it might look like I have a cushy life, but it’s hard when you’ve spent your life being made to feel grateful for everything.’

It was the nearest thing to personal detail he had got out of her in the whole time he’d known her.

‘And no, I don’t want to ask my father for the money either,’ she said gently. ‘Even if he did have lots of cash sloshing about for investments, he’s not the easiest of men to deal with.’

Nick watched her, trying to work out what she wasn’t telling him.

‘You two don’t really get on, do you?’ he said quietly, guessing her emotions.

She shook her head. ‘It’s not really that,’ she said. ‘He’s just a bit unpredictable. I couldn’t tell you how he’d react if I asked him to be an investor. On the one hand, ever since I was a little girl he’s been, “Catherine, you must do better! You must achieve!”’ She mocked his pompous accent. ‘And yes, now here I am trying to do something, so you never know …’

‘But on the other hand?’ asked Nick.

‘On the other hand he can shout me down, make me cry and make me feel absolutely crap. Believe me, he has an incredible capacity to do that to people, no matter how confident you feel. He can destroy you in a minute,’ she said, clicking her fingers.