The Birthday Party by Veronica Henry

Author:Veronica Henry [Henry, Veronica]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781409120605
Amazon: 1409120600
Publisher: Orion
Published: 2011-07-01T23:00:00+00:00

Eighteen

Benedict was striding around The Melksham, the latest of his projects. It was a small, three-storey town house on the edge of Covent Garden that had been a rather run-down and unimaginative pub. Benedict had transformed it into a small but perfectly formed hotel-cum-members’ club that felt almost like home on the surface, but with discreet facilities that made it luxurious, convenient and utterly irresistible for anyone who wanted a little place in town. There were twelve bedrooms, a delightfully intimate restaurant, a screening room, and even a facility for members to leave their favourite items so they could be installed each time they stayed. The long-term rates were very favourable, so as to appeal to anyone who had been considering renting a flat but who didn’t want to be bothered with the maintenance.

His brief to the designer had been ‘restrained flamboyance’ – which sounded impossible but the designer had worked with him on many other projects and understood what Benedict meant by this apparent contradiction in terms. One still had the sense of being in a Regency house but with a modern take.

Adjoining the main hotel was a delicatessen, with exposed rough brick walls, a stone floor, and a wood-burning pizza oven. In the basement was an intimate bar with a slightly clubby feel – again the exposed brick, but with industrial chrome fittings and violet down-lighters. To save it from starkness there were plush white velvet sofas, while canvases printed with iconic London symbols – taxi cabs, a policeman’s helmet, Big Ben – gave it a witty edge.

It had been open a month, and Benedict was concerned that it wasn’t yet as busy as he would have liked, hence the visit. He always kept his staff on their toes, as he was fond of impromptu visits to make sure they were keeping up his incredibly high standards. Woe betide the manager if things weren’t up to scratch. In fact, where the hell was the manager? Benedict had been here nearly ten minutes and no one had bothered to approach him …

He finally caught sight of him, escorting someone back up the stairs from the bar area, giving her the spiel. He recognised her immediately: Coco Rafferty. She was just the sort of person they needed as a member. She had a great pedigree, a high profile; she was beautiful, fashionable, intelligent, and people would flock to follow in her footsteps. That was how London worked these days. In the current economic climate, being too discreet could mean disappearing altogether. Benedict needed bright young things who liked the idea of belonging to something exclusive. Once one joined, the others would follow.

And he had another reason for being interested in Coco. Justine was spending a lot of time with the Raffertys these days. Maybe Coco could shed some light on what had made her change so dramatically? He was still waiting for Justine to tell him whether she wanted to go to Berlin. She’d definitely been avoiding him for the past few days.

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