He hung up and turned to the crowd of businessmen, holding their collective breath like kids on Christmas Eve.
‘We nailed the sonofabitch!’ he exclaimed.
Joe burst through the door of his wife’s delivery room and stopped dead in his tracks.
Topaz was sitting propped up in bed, two minute bundles cradled against each breast, her face transformed with such a look of love that he thought he’d never seen her so beautiful.
She lifted her head as he entered the room. ‘We’ve got a.
435
son and a daughter,’ she said.
‘I love you, Topaz,’ said Joe, looking at his family, his eyes filling with tears.
Outside in the corridor, Rowena Gordon found a payphone and rang Josh Oberman on his mobile.
‘Josh? Are you at some kind of party?’ she asked, hearing wild shrieks in the background.
‘Gordon? Is that you?’ her chairman demanded. ‘Where the fuck have you been all day? Everyone’s been trying to get hold of you for ever! I’m at Maughan Macaskill with the whole goddamn team!’
‘What? Have we announced a bid?’
‘Yes, we announced a bid! We’ve also given them an
ultimatum, forced them to accept, exchanged signatures ‘ and BOUGHT THE COMPANY’ Oberman half
screamed. ‘And you missed it!’
She glanced back down towards the delivery room, where Jacob and Rowena Goldstein were being held by their father for the first time.
‘No,’ she said. ‘No, I didn’t.’
436
Rowena and Topaz became close friends.
Matthew Gowers resigned from the chairmanship of American Magazines four months later and named Topaz Rossi his successor, making her one of the most powerful women in journalism. Topaz and Joe continued to adore their children, fight about everything and be madly in love.
The engagement between John Metcalf and Rowena Gordon was cancelled.
Barbara-Lincoln divorced Jake Barber, then remarried him. The second time around they were very happy.
Atomic Mass’s third album, Questions, sold sixteen million copies worldwide.
Joshua Oberman was rushed to hospital in New York a few days after the takeover of Mansion Industries with a heart attack, which he survived. He had been defying doctors’ orders to retire for several months, refusing to leave Musica when it was under threat. This time he quit, insisting on signing all his stock over to Rowena Gordon.
‘Don’t be stupid, Oberman. This is worth millions,’ Rowena said, protesting.
‘I’ve got millions. Do what I tell .you,’ he old man snapped.
‘So give it to your family.’
‘I
.
am,’ Oberman said gruffly.
He came round to Rowena’s apartment every Monday for dinner, and rang her every Friday to tell her how she was screwing up.
Rowena Gordon became the first woman in history to be’
437
Chief Executive of a major record label. She stopped seeing Michael Krebs.
‘I want marriage and a family,’ she said. ‘I want us to be
with each other the way Joe and Topaz are.’
‘You know how I feel about that,’ Krebs said. ‘I care about you, but I just can’t do it.’
Rowena nodded. ‘I know,’ she said. She reached out and stroked his cheek, softly. ‘I know. And I’m grateful to you for everything. We’ll always be friends.’
‘What is this? Goodbye again?’ Michael asked, his eyes narrowing. ‘You can’t be serious. What the hell’s changed?’
She shrugged, her eyes bright with tears. ‘I saw Joe and Topaz,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry, Michael. I wish I could separate
everything, but I can’t. I wish I didn’t love you, but I do.’
‘I love Debbie,’ Krebs said angrily.
‘So be with her,’ Rowena said. ‘I don’t want this life anymore.
Rowena saw Michael often, both socially and over Atomic Mass. She amazed both him and herselfby sticking to it this time.
, People live without love.
She loved her job, she saw a lot of her friends, and she was happy enough.
It was three years later that Michael Krebs turned up at her
door.
‘Notice anything different?’ he asked.
Rowena looked him over. ‘Since last Tuesday? I don’t
think so. New runmng shoes?
Krebs held up both his hands.
For a second, she nearly didn’t register.
‘Where’s your wedding ring?’ Rowena asked, feeling her
heart stop beating.
‘I asked Debbie for a divorce,’ Krebs said.
‘Why?’ asked Rowena, numbly.
‘Because I’m in love with you,’ Michael said. ‘Because I haven’t been able to get you out of my head. And because
438
Josh Oberman rang me last week and told me that I’d always loved you and that I was the only person who couldn’t see it. He said one day you would just leave, and I’d never see you again, and I thought about it, and it would break my heart.’
‘It would?’ Rowena repeated, feeling almost faint with joy.
‘Yes, it would,’ Krebs said dryly, producing a diamond ring. ‘So what are you doing for the rest of your life?’
They called their first son Joshua.
439