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white striped T-shirts, black trousers and long white aprons, glided
between the guests bearing silver trays laden with Veuve Clicquot.
    Lizzie took a glass of champagne and walked over to the
enormous window. It was dark now but the view across the river and the
shimmering lights beyond made her catch her breath.
    ‘London looks beautiful from up here, doesn’t it?’
    Startled from her reverie, Lizzie whirled round to see who
was talking to her. She almost dropped her glass in shock. It was the man from
Covent Garden. The man who’d been irritated by her chatting to his daughter.
    ‘I thought I recognised you the other day,’ he murmured. ‘Do
you remember? I couldn’t place you.’
    Charming, thought Lizzie. He made her sound utterly
insignificant.
    ‘And then I walked into Ace TV the other day. And there you
were.’
    ‘Was I? I don’t remember seeing you. I’m so sorry, I didn’t
mean to be rude – I just didn’t notice you. ’
    The man smiled and Lizzie warmed to him a bit. Tall and
imposing, he seemed far more attractive when he loosened up. She wondered what
he was doing here. He looked more like a slick city banker than a media type.
    ‘God, Lizzie, you’re apologising for something that didn’t
happen. You weren’t even there. Can I call you Lizzie by the way?’
    Lizzie felt flustered. He was talking in riddles.
    ‘Of course you can. It’s my name. But how do you know it?’
    The man held out his hand. ‘I’d better introduce myself
properly,’ he said, taking her hand in his own. ‘I’m Dan Moody. I’ve just
bought Ace TV. So I’m, well, I suppose I’m your new boss.’
     
    Lizzie gaped at him. She was so astonished by his matter-of-fact
announcement that she couldn’t think of anything to say. When a waiter appeared
at her elbow she held out her glass wordlessly and watched him fill it right to
the top.
    ‘I’ll start at the beginning,’ said Dan. ‘I don’t hang about
when I buy companies. I go by my gut instincts. I don’t bother with huge armies
of lawyers and accountants either. I do my own due diligence and make a
judgement. But to answer your question, when I arrived for a meeting the other
day I saw that huge photograph of you in reception. You can’t really miss it,
can you?’
    Everything fell into place. A year ago the publicity office
at Ace TV had hit on the idea of displaying massive photographs of all the
presenters in the foyer. For a while Lizzie had found it odd to confront her beaming
face when she arrived for work, but now she never noticed it.
    ‘I suppose not,’ she smiled. ‘But what’s all this about the
company being taken over? I didn’t know it was for sale.’
    ‘The previous owners didn’t have a choice,’ said Dan, his
voice cool. ‘The company was running out of cash and they were making a right
mess of it. So I made them an offer they couldn’t refuse. I know that I can
turn it round but if it goes belly up I can always sell the building and make
my money back. This block is quite an asset. I’m surprised it hasn’t been sold
already.’
    He made it sound like a game of Monopoly, thought Lizzie,
even though people’s livelihoods were at stake. She’d never had much time for
the old bosses at Ace TV – they’d dumbed down the news and weather content an
awful lot recently – but at least they were a known quantity.
    ‘But there hasn’t been any announcement about all this.’
Lizzie glanced around the room. No one seemed to be taking any notice of Dan
Moody at all. ‘Does anyone here know what’s happening?’
    ‘Not yet,’ said Dan, a hard tone creeping into his voice.
‘And I’d ask you not to enlighten them. The official statement is going out in
two days time. Will you give me your word you won’t say anything?’
    ‘Of course,’ said Lizzie. ‘It’s not my news to tell.’
    ‘Good,’ said Dan. ‘Anyway, Lizzie, tell me a bit about your
role here. How long have you been at Ace TV?’
    As Dan’s startlingly