Authors: Lulu Taylor
It’s over
, she thought, as she walked out of the room.
I don’t love him any more. He’s never coming back here
.
The thought filled her with relief.
30
‘I’VE GATHERED YOU
all here this morning because I’ve got some things to tell you,’ Tara announced. The entire company was gathered in the boardroom, looking apprehensive. Rumour had been sweeping the building since the day before when various directors had been called in only to exit the building hastily not long afterwards. No doubt there were exaggerated stories doing the rounds. Tara needed to nip all that in the bud. She was wearing a bright colour in a strong fabric to accentuate her positivity and upbeat attitude: a bold magenta pink Dior wool suit edged in pink leather, the skirt split at the side to the thigh, and black stilettos. Her dark hair was loose and flowing, her face perfectly made up. She looked every inch the confident, beautiful businesswoman.
‘Before we start on what’s happening here at Trevellyan, I want to let you know something you’re all going to find out in the next few days anyway. My husband, Gerald Pearson, has had a warrant for his
arrest
issued by the South African authorities concerning serious financial misconduct in relation to his business interests abroad. No doubt it will be all over the newspapers, cases like this often are. I want you to know that I have absolutely no knowledge of my husband’s companies, and no dealings with them. My husband and I have separated and nothing in his case will have any effect on Trevellyan whatsoever, so please, don’t be alarmed by it.’ She smiled at the assembled crowd.
‘That’s that out of the way. All very dull gossip. Now for the exciting stuff. What we’ve got planned for Trevellyan. First, the factory is stopping production of
Trevellyan’s Tea Rose
. The other scents will be manufactured but there will be changes coming up. I’ll tell you more about those in due course. Second, the shop below us is closing.’
There was a gentle groan from her audience. They had been expecting something seismic and here it was. Tara held up her hand.
‘But not for ever. It is closing for a refit. The designs will be available for you to see very soon.’
Once we’ve decided what they’ll be
, she added mentally. This all sounded a lot more organised than it was in reality. ‘I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that we’re making some big and necessary changes. Some of you have already met Donna Asuquo –’ she gestured towards Donna, who nodded her acknowledgement – ‘she’s come in to help us relaunch our business. It’s an exciting time. We’ll be creating a whole new look for Trevellyan and recreating our most famous scent for the contemporary woman.
We’re
going to be a boutique perfumer with global appeal. We’ll be re-establishing ourselves to sit alongside the very best and most glamorous of the perfume names. We’ll be expanding our market share wherever possible, particularly in the Asian markets. Alongside this global appeal, we’ll also offer an intensely personal service. Here, at our shop, there will be the opportunity for customers to design their own fragrances, to enjoy treatments based on our products, to buy gifts and treats for themselves. We’ll also have a strong web presence – an Internet gift-ordering service, special pages devoted to our scents with downloads, a free sampling service, gift offers, loyalty inducements and much more. Our key notes will be quality and luxury. Trevellyan has lost its way in the last few years. The people who helped that happen have gone now and in their place we have some new faces. Claudine Deroulier is our expert nose, working for us on a freelance basis. Donna has joined us from the phenomenally successful Erin de Cristo and is running our brand relaunch. Jemima will be heading up our publicity and marketing campaigns. Poppy is focusing on design and packaging. And I’m managing the business aspect and the overall operation, so if you have any questions, it’s me you should come to, OK?
‘All your jobs are safe at the moment, and I intend to keep it that way for the foreseeable future. The girls who work in the shop will move upstairs while the refit’s taking place. No one is about to be turfed out. The worst of it is over and from here on we’re back on the up. It’ll be hard work, but we’ve got a
fantastic
team and I know we’re going to enjoy this journey to success together. To toast our new beginning, we’ve got some champagne on the table over there, along with coffee and orange juice for those who think it’s a bit early to indulge. The patisserie have sent in some delicious croissants and pastries, so please help yourselves and we’ll all be circulating among you to answer any queries you have. Thank you for listening.’ Tara paused, then remembered something she intended to add. ‘Oh, yes, I almost forgot. From today, I’ll be known as Tara Trevellyan. Thanks.’
There was a scatter of clapping that built up into full-scale applause. Someone cheered. Jemima and Poppy smiled at her encouragingly.
She had won them over. They were all on side.
‘My God, Tara, you were brilliant!’ Jemima rushed to her sister and hugged her. Once they’d talked to everyone who wanted to chat and the last croissant had been polished off, they’d left the boardroom for Tara’s office. ‘And so brave. It’s terrible news about Gerald, terrible.’
‘Thank you.’ Tara returned the hug. ‘It’s a shame that it all had to happen at once like this but, to be honest, we couldn’t go on. It had become too horrible. Once I realised that he was capable of breaking a trust like the one he has, I knew I could never trust or respect him again.’
Poppy came up to add her hug. ‘I’m so sorry. How are the children?’
‘They don’t know much about it at the moment. For them, life is going on much as usual. I don’t think they really mind much that Daddy’s gone away for a while. He gave them an awful fright yesterday.’ Tara looked miserable for a moment. ‘It’s certainly not what I hoped for them. Divorce. A father in court for grand theft, potentially facing a prison sentence.’
‘They’ve got you,’ Poppy said softly. ‘You adore them, they know that.’
‘Yes, but I’ll be providing for them on my own for a while at least. This puts a serious spin on what we’re doing. I’ve got no safety net, no funds to draw on if Trevellyan needs them.’
‘We’re all in the shit now.’ Jemima grinned. ‘We’ve got nothing and everything to lose. We have to go for it.’
‘Of course we do. And if I thought for one minute that we couldn’t make it, I’d be out of here, begging Eric for my old job back. But we can.’
‘You’re being very strong,’ said Poppy, holding her sister’s hand. ‘I admire you.’
There was a knock on the door and Donna came striding in.
‘Well done, Tara. That was exactly the right note. Everyone seemed very reassured and happy in the boardroom. Now, we’d better get going. We need to make some big decisions today.’ She sat down and waited until the others were seated as well, then tapped her pen in a businesslike way. ‘Right, first things first. We’re all agreed that our focus initially has to be
Trevellyan’s Tea Rose
. It’s our most famous scent, it’s what
we’re
known for. But first off, we have to change the name. Don’t be offended, ladies, but Trevellyan is not as sexy a name as, say, Gucci or Guerlain or Hermès … any of those high-end foreign names. Trevellyan says quality, robustness, time-honoured tradition, and all that. But it doesn’t say
sex
, and if we want to reach a new audience, that’s what we have to say. The emphasis today is on sex appeal.’
‘When wasn’t it?’ said Jemima drily.
‘Exactly. Now, Fuchsia Mitchell got back to us with the results of the focus group. It won’t surprise you to learn that people view this company as “reliable but unexciting”. They might consider buying its products for an elderly relative, someone very traditional. They found it “comforting” and didn’t want to see it disappear, but weren’t keen on buying its products themselves. The group consisting of twenty-something women, the single ladies with relatively high disposable incomes, and a strong interest in fashion, beauty and their own attractiveness … well,’ Donna made a face, ‘they’d barely heard of our brand. It doesn’t feature in any magazines they read, any images they see, it’s never mentioned. That crucial customer base is entirely missing. The focus group of older women, mid-thirties to fifties, mothers looking to treat themselves … they’d heard of Trevellyan, considered it high quality and appreciated its prestige, but had no interest in it for themselves. They saw it as more of a “tourist” brand – something very British that was now aimed more at those visiting from abroad.’
‘It’s good to see it all down on paper,’ commented Tara, ‘but I think we could all just about guess this from the start.’
‘Right – but it helps us focus. We need to raise the profile – that means advertising, courting the press, holding events, coordinating a launch. We also need to come up with a look that will appeal to our target audience. Which brings me back to the name.’
‘What are you suggesting?’ asked Jemima.
‘We have to drop the Trevellyan part of
Trevellyan’s Tea Rose
. At the very least it has to be
Tea Rose
. The question is, do we change it further, to indicate that the perfume has been redesigned?’ Donna looked at Poppy. ‘What do you think?’
Poppy frowned. ‘You mean, like
Tea Rose Two
, or something?’
‘Or …
Vintage Tea Rose?
’
Poppy shook her head. ‘We already have
Vintage Lavender
. And
Antique Lily
.’
‘
Tea Rose Revisited?
’ put in Jemima, then said quickly, ‘No, that’s wrong.’
Tara had a try. ‘
Beyond Tea Rose … New Tea Rose … After Tea Rose …
’
Jemima giggled. ‘After Tea Rose. Sounds like it can only be worn after tea!’
‘When Estée Lauder wanted to recreate
White Linen
, they called it
Pure White Linen
. Dior add a different word in front of
Poison
, so it’s now
Midnight Poison
,’ Donna explained.
‘
Pure Tea Rose
,’ muttered Poppy. ‘No, it’s just not working … You know what, I think we should just
stick
with
Tea Rose
.’ Before she could be interrupted, Poppy carried on, surprising herself with how assured she suddenly felt about her ideas. All that research was finally paying off. ‘English perfume names never sound as good as French ones, so I don’t think we should try to get all fancy with ours. If we drop Trevellyan, then we’ve got a new name and it’s pretty. Let’s do the rest of the talking with the design – the bottle, the box – and the advertising.’ She looked at the others almost nervously. ‘Actually, I’ve already been thinking about what the new Trevellyan colours should be. We all agree, I think, that the navy blue and gold have had their day. Those colours are more regal than sexy. Fashionable women today treasure femininity, but not girlishness. They look for sophistication rather than something twee. Now if
Tea Rose
is our signature scent, that’s where we need to start. So … I took a trip to a rose breeder and I came back with these.’ She bent down and lifted a box from beside her chair and placed it on the table. Opening the box, she carefully lifted out some long stems, each one with an exquisite rose bloom on the end of it. ‘These are tea roses.’
The others exclaimed at the gorgeous flowers, which came in hues of soft pinks, dusky roses, pale yellows and ivory whites. Their formations varied from strong, traditional-looking, furled-back petals to soft, bunched, crinkled petals folding in on a yellow heart.
‘They come from an original variety that was supposed, not surprisingly, to have a fragrance reminiscent of tea. They are a great favourite of rose breeders, considered by some to be the most superior
of
flowers, both in beauty and fragrance. They’ve been bred and interbred for well over a century, and there are stunning varieties, as you can see. Just about every shape and colour you can imagine. But the gardener I spoke to told me that they are best in the colours of the dawn – those rosy, gold-tinged pinks. Look at this, I love this …’ Poppy picked up a stem. The rose was creamy white with the faintest hint of a mauvey pink at its heart. The petals in the centre were tightly furled, rolled in like tiny shells. Around them, another row gathered protectively, the valley in the centre of each petal hiding pinkish shadows, and then another, until the rose opened out into a beautiful pillow of petals. ‘This is called the
Devoniensis
, or more commonly, the Magnolia Rose. You can see why, with these waxy white petals tinged with the merest breath of purple.’
‘Exquisite,’ agreed Donna.
‘Look at this one!’ Jemima picked up another flower. ‘This makes me think of old-fashioned country gardens. It’s like a Dog Rose that’s been stretched out.’ Her rose was wide and flat like a saucer, its delicate petals yellowy pink with a hint of apricot, a nest of golden stamens at its centre. She smelt it. ‘Oh, that’s gorgeous.’
‘I love this,’ Tara said softly. She reached for the rose. It was the palest, most delicate pink, its outer petals curling back to display a mass of smaller folded petals, like the lightest tissue paper scrunched up and held in a cup of wafer-thin porcelain. ‘It reminds me of weddings and … yes, like the other one, of country
gardens,
and summer days.’ She sniffed. ‘I really
can
smell tea in this! I’m sure I can. Oh, it’s lovely.’
‘That’s a
Gloire de Dijon
,’ Poppy explained. ‘I like it too.’
‘So do I.’ Donna took the stem from Tara and observed the flower carefully. ‘We’re going to have to be careful if our inspiration is to come from these roses that we don’t end up going too girly and English country garden about the whole thing. We can’t come out looking sickly or saccharine. We have to get that balance exactly right, especially if we’re considering using pink as our signature colour.’
Poppy looked over at the
Gloire de Dijon
. ‘You’re right, but taking that flower as our inspiration, I think we could go as pink or as white as we wanted. Obviously we want to avoid a pastel pink or anything remotely Barbie. That would be all wrong. But a kind of off-white-pink might be feminine without being garish.’