Chapter 3 third chapter

Simon walked into the office before eight thirty.The austere corridors look lonely and empty, dotted with palms and fig trees.Due to the large number of flowers and plants now, we have to hire a special person.Responsible for managing these plants, the young man in charge of gardening is quite slender and often wears cotton gloves to wipe the leaves of these plants.Ennis called him Plant Manager. Simon passed an open door and glimpsed an accountant sitting at his desk reviewing the first memo of the day.He looked up at Simon, glad his hard work had been noticed.Simon nodded to him and said good morning, still wondering what his last name was.The office is filled with employees like him, most of whom look alike under their smartly tailored dark suits.Maybe he should ask them to wear name tags.

He walked past Lisa's office and into his own.A visiting American once told him that his office is a symbol of power because it is located in the corner, with twice the line of sight of lower-ranking employees, and the most humble thing in the office is the inconspicuous desk inside.Dark leather sofas, low tables, wall cabinets for TVs and computers, and larger and more lush plants than other areas of the company, constitute this tycoon's paradise. Lisa put the accumulated documents from the previous day on the side table and neatly divided them into four stacks: Messages, Correspondence Records, Contact Reports, Confidential Strategic Reports and Marketing Plans. the results.

While Simon was flipping through the message, the sound of a fax machine came from the next room.Jigler called from New York.Caroline's lawyers called.Four customers call.The creative director, financial director, two accounting directors and the head of the TV station all left messages.And Jordan.Oh my god, what a day with so many things going on!Then Simon remembered the decision he had made last night, and his mood suddenly lightened.He's going on vacation! He picked up Jordan's message and must see you, the sooner the better.A line of words crawled under the message: When you are ready, eight o'clock in the morning.This little lie can put Jordan on the defensive.He never showed up before half past nine.With the message in hand, Simon walked down the hall to see Jordan's latest hobbies and past leisure activities prominently displayed in his office.This must be Jordan's purgatory, Simon thought, trying to outdo everyone.Tennis had long since fallen into disuse, and executives below him had become obsessed with the game.When Jordan first joined the country club, he once shot a pig with a shotgun.Then he became obsessed with sea sports, wearing fins and waterproof clothing, and was active in the sea.Now, apparently, polo is his new favorite.

On the wall behind Jordan's desk were three clubs and a helmet; a list of Ham's Polo Club events posted on a bulletin board eclipsed the modified invitations to the reception.Polo is, of course, an activity popular among socially active advertising people. It is hopelessly expensive, and it is definitely the patent of the upper class. If you are lucky, once you get hooked, you can never get out of it.Simon smiled and thought, how soon, Jordan will ask for a parking space for his horse, and an official helicopter to take him to Windsor (Note: in Polk County in the south of England. ).

At this moment, he heard the sound of high-heeled shoes stepping on the tiles, and he stuffed the message into the frame of the photo, which was Jordan's beautiful and rich wife. Lisa was sorting out last night's faxes from America, her body reflected in the window, a charming figure, her long dark hair falling down her cheeks.Her dress was decent and elegant, and at the same time set off her beautiful legs.Simon is a self-proclaimed connoisseur of beautiful legs. In his opinion, Lisa's beautiful legs are comparable to the beautiful legs he has seen, and the calf part is particularly slender.Simon's intentions of being kind and hiring middle-aged spinsters with not-so-smelling, not-so-sweet-legged, mediocre features ended up finding charming secretaries, and he always got a lot out of admiring them. fun of.Watching the scene of Lisa bending over often inspired him in countless meetings.

Good morning, Elizabeth! Good morning, Mr. Xiao!How are you doing today?She held a stack of faxes in her hand and smiled at him.Whenever he called her Elizabeth, she knew that he was in a good mood. Not bad, and a cup of coffee makes me feel more refreshed.Then we had to find buckets, shovels and sunhats and get ready to play on the beach. Lisa stopped suddenly on her way to the coffee pot, frowning. I'm going to take a few days off.I thought, I'll drive all over France to see if what they say about Saint-Tropez is really what it is! I think this will be of great help to you.What do they say about Saint-Tropez?

Simon replied: St. Tropez in autumn is not attractive at all.At that time, there will be only me alone and the seagulls flying in the sky at the beach, and at night I will stay lonely in a small room like a monk.Can you fax Bibro and book a room for me? Lisa bowed her head and wrote it down on the note on the table.You also have to find a place to live while the car is being airlifted. Then spend the night at the Hotel Lancaster in Paris. when are you going to leave tomorrow.Call Murray for me and see if he's free tonight.For God's sake, you have to tell him it's business, or he'll be bringing his model girlfriend for ELLE magazine (Note: Women's fashion magazine.) He leaned against the girl's ear to blow the air.You know he's virtuous and there's a sexual lust lurking beneath his clean-shaven exterior.

Lisa looked serious and said: I think Mr. Mullie is very charming! Simon was overjoyed and couldn't wait to get out of the office.Ennis would manage the Lulan Gate apartment, and Jordan could be the general manager.In just one week, nothing can go wrong! Lisa returns with a cup of coffee.Are we going to return these calls? Only deal with the customer part.Jordan can handle the matters of the advertising agency. What about Mrs. Xiao's lawyer? They!Don't you think I should send them a postcard from Saint-Tropez? The senior partner at the law firm called yesterday.He said it was urgent.

Simon took a sip of his coffee.Elizabeth, you know what, he has a timer next to his phone.He is charged per minute.If you are not afraid of death and dare to call and invite him to dinner (God forbid), he will even charge for the time of the call.A postcard definitely saves a lot of money. Talk to him when you get back. You're right, I know you're right.Simon sighed, all right!Call him before that greedy guy accuses us of contempt for his phone!After he comes online, you can definitely hear the timer ticking.It's the kind of timer you use when poaching eggs. The call was short and expensive.Caroline wanted a new car, needed a new car, and was entitled to a new car in order to get a divorce agreement.Simon agreed with her to buy a BMW, but haggled over the price on the car stereo.In the end, he finally understood that if he hesitated for another five minutes, the legal consultation fee would be enough to buy a sound system, so he had to give in.When he put down the phone, he wondered if there might be forgiveness for killing a lawyer out of agitation.

He raised his head and saw Jordan standing at the door with a cup of coffee in his hand, but he was dressed very differently from most people's impression of the ad man.His prim, respectable appearance may be why clients feel safe with him.Ennis swore he had heard Jordan's suit creak because it was so heavy. Today he appears in the attire of a successful financial man in a three-piece striped suit, striped shirt, stout tie, a gold watch chain under the lapel that disappears into the wide folds of a silk handkerchief in his breast pocket, and a well-polished black leather shoes.His mouse-colored hair was brushed back neatly, and some strands of it were out of place above his ears.Simon noticed that he looked like a retired naval officer with a handful of hair on his cheekbones.He was perfectly English.

Simon never gave him a chance to speak. Come in, Nigo, come in.Listen, I'm sorry for canceling last night's meeting, but I really had enough and had one hell of a day yesterday.Can't adjust at all.Let's have some more coffee!Have a cigar and tell me you forgive me! He said: Simon, I don't care about that.He talked as if the collar was too tight, choking him, but something else.They began to wonder if the Director's Report still existed.It has been canceled three times.Old man, I can tell you, they're pissed off! Of course Simon could guess who was most annoyed.Is there anyone who is particularly unhappy and needs me to apologize? Jordan took out a golden cigarette case, and picked out a cigarette from it leisurely.He took a gold lighter from his waist pocket.The firelight caught his gold signet ring and gold cufflinks.The man, Simon thought, looked like a walking jewelry store. Simon, I think I can handle them this time.Drinking him after get off work, whiskey and euphemistic words should calm everything down.why don't you let me come Simon pretended to look grateful.If you insist. Stop thinking about that.Jordan exhaled a puff of smoke into the air.The way he smoked with such skill and smugness made Simon want to give him an exploding cigarette.Frankly, I'm probably closer to that group than you are at the moment.Be it personally or otherwise.Don't worry about management. Whenever he was confronted with someone he thought was his equal in the company, Jordan would recite his tirade about management, which Simon had heard no less than a hundred times. That's what I want to talk to you about.Jordan smelled the truth, and leaned forward as Simon's voice became secret.The truth is, I should take a break.The past few months have been a tough time. Jordan nodded thoughtfully.Divorce, of course, is big bad news. Anyway, I'll come out.But I want to stay away from this battlefield for a few days. I was wondering if you could take my place for a week.I don't like to bother you.God knows, you've been busy enough yourself.Unless I'm sure nothing catastrophic will happen, I won't be able to take a vacation. Jordan tried not to be proud of himself. Simon said: I would like to leave tomorrow, but obviously, the schedule will depend on your situation.I know, I was too hasty in notifying, but I thought it was better to leave early than late. tomorrow?Jordan couldn't help frowning when he thought of the overload of official duties.I still have several meetings to attend, and in the next few days, the itinerary in the diary is also densely packed. Simon had seen Jordan's diary.Sometimes only one line is written all day, and only a few words of Cotswolds are written at the top of the page.In that backcountry, there would be no customers.There are quite a lot of horses. if it is too Jordan raised his hand.I can handle it.He frowned again.However, I have to borrow Lisa.Susan is pretty good, but if I wear two hats by myself, she definitely can't handle it. In Simon's mind, Jordan presided over the meeting wearing two polo helmets. Of course.Simon pushed the boat along.It would be better if you had an office here and maybe get you more into the situation. Jordan pretended to mull over the inconvenience of moving down the hall to this office ten yards away, then frowned and gave Simon a very sincere look, which usually works well with clients.Old guy, it should be better, it should be better, this way, it will be more convincing. Simon said: Let them know that there is still a steady hand at the helm. I mean exactly that.You don't think I want to replace it!Just for fun, such a big company is like a horse with a big head. You should know what Oscar Wilde said about horses!Dangerous at the front and rear, uncomfortable in the middle.I feel the same way. Don't know what you might be missing, old man!Jordan stood up and adjusted his cuffs left and right.I figured, I'd better get to work.Before you leave tonight, I will hand over to you. Simon heard him talking to Lisa next door: When Simon is away, I still have to do things and keep in touch with Susan. I think all the meetings will be held here! Now, Simon thought, he was a happy man.Simon spent the rest of the day on the phone. The next afternoon, he had already arrived in Paris, and before anyone arrived, there was already a message for him at the Lancaster Hotel: Mr. Mouret would meet him at the Café Louis at eight o'clock (Note: Chez L'Ami Louis, Famous café in Paris.) Meet.It's a great start to a vacation.It was Simon's favorite restaurant in Paris, and he didn't have to wear a tie.He showered and changed, and decided to walk to the Café for Two on the Boulevard Saint-Germain for a drink. He almost forgot what a beautiful city Paris is.It's second only to London in cleanliness, with no rubbish bags on the sidewalks and no signs advising houses for sale on houses.He stopped at the Pont Neuf and looked back at the Louvre across the river.In the blue light of the dusk, dotted with the light cast by the windows and street lamps, he now felt a little regretful that he should have dinner with Murray.Although he liked Mu Lie's very much, such a night should be spent with a beautiful woman. The Café for Two is as crowded as ever, the waiters are just as arrogant, and the customers are just as bored as ever.The girls were already dressed in black for autumn, with long hair carefully braided, pale faces, oversized leather jackets and those heavy flats that Simon hated, which made legs look clumsy too .Why do they all want to look the same? Simon lit a cigarette and a Kiel.Nice to be back in France again, nice to hear French.He was pleasantly surprised that he could still understand.It had been a long time since he had been a waiter in Nice for six months, probably more than twenty years.At that time his French was slipping, or at least slipping enough to survive, and he rejoiced that some linguistic abilities had not faded with the passage of time. He saw a Japanese couple in the corner, trying to order food from the waiter, but the waiter was playing the trick of pretending to be puzzled in front of foreigners. Whiskey!The Japanese compared two fingers, Whiskey! What? Wei Tu Kee! The waiter shrugged.The Japanese picked up the small menu, opened it, and pointed to the Scotch on the bottom half of the menu. The waiter pretended to look down kindly, and sighed, no!It's whiskey. Yes, yes, Scotch whiskey! double? The Japanese grinned and nodded vigorously. The waiter was quite satisfied seeing that his superior posture had been established, and walked across the table to the bar. The Kiel wine made Simon feel hungry, and he wondered whether he could taste the slightly premature wild porcini mushrooms here at this time of year.This wild plant produces only once a year.It just occurred to him that he hadn't thought about the office all afternoon, and he hadn't even called Lisa to say he had arrived.France has had a cure for him.He paid the bill and crossed the Boulevard Saint-Germain to the taxi rank. The taxi dropped him off on Greenwood Street.He stood outside the restaurant for a while.Thank goodness it wasn't remodeled.He pushed open the door and stepped into the busy, intimate atmosphere of one of the best restaurants in Paris. Its decor is early twentieth-century and dated, with cracked paint the color of tan stew and tiles on the floor worn away to bare concrete.Apart from a photo of Anthony, the customer with a gray beard, and one or two mirrors dotted with years of weather, there is nothing long on the wall below the coat hook rack.Little has changed here in half a century, and Simon feels (he feels the same way every time he visits) that he is dining in an old friend's old restaurant. Murray had already reserved a seat behind the traditional wood-burning stove, and when Simon arrived, he waited first and studied the people around him in detail.People come here of all kinds, the famous, the rich, the notorious like movie stars and directors, politicians who want to be recognized, politicians who don't want to be famous, young people from Parisian families. People, actresses surrounded by admirers, and middle-aged playboys, and at any given time, there is a group of first-time guests who have no idea how to enjoy this ancient dining environment. Two American couples walked in, the gray-haired lady in out-of-date leather, the man in his summer sportswear.Simon noticed the disbelief on the faces of the waiters as the waiters cluttered thousands of dollars worth of chinchilla leather and hung them carelessly from hangers above their seats.One of the women asked her husband: Clayton, are you sure this is the restaurant?The husband patted her seat and asked her to sit down.Honey, it's just a diner!what do you expectCan someone park your car for you? The waiter brought Simon a bottle of Meursault, and Simon smelled the aroma, which reminded him of a dark wine cellar and cobwebs in it.The wine was already cold, but the low temperature was not enough to cover up the flavor of the wine.Simon took a sip and nodded cheerfully. The waiter filled his glass.It's strong, isn't it? At this time, there was a loud bang on the door of the restaurant, and Mu Lie walked in quickly.He was late, and his wrinkled black suit and long pink scarf made him look disheveled. When he turned to Simon, his teeth and glasses shone on his bronzed skin.His shoulder-length hair makes him look like a refugee from the 1960s.How he manages his business in Paris with one hand, has a tanned skin, and has a colorful love life at the same time, which really puzzles Simon.They met when Simon bought a majority stake in Murray, and their business relationship turned into a friendship. Philip, it's a pleasure to meet you. Simon, you are early.no?Well I'm late.Damn it!The meeting is endless! Who is that lucky one? Mulie sat down, untied the pink cashmere scarf from his neck, and looked at Simon.He smiled innocently.Simon was sure he practiced that charming smile in the mirror every morning. My friend, you really use the heart of a villain to save the belly of a gentleman.But I remember you told me: don't make nonsense to people who like to talk nonsense!Mu Lie relished Simon's famous quote.He is very fond of colloquial English and slang when appropriate.All right!I tell you.That's my yogurt client.she is old and You date her because of the company.Simon replied. Mu Lie poured himself a glass of wine.She signed up for next year's advertising program.We drank a little wine to celebrate, and then he shrugged helplessly. Don't bother me with trivial matters.What do you want to eat? While they were studying the menu, they overheard a conversation from the table of the American couple.You know what happened next?Disgusted!I want a roast chicken.So he was released from the hospital and sued for medical malpractice Simon smiled at Murray.I think I'd rather hear you talk about your sex life.He waved to a waiter and ordered. Murray asked Simon: How long are you going to stay in Paris?There is a party this Saturday, guaranteed to be full of beautiful women.People without advertising circles.You should attend.He blinked and spat out his latest idiom.I spit out my heart, do you understand? Simon said: It sounds romantic to you, but I might not be able to attend.I'm leaving early tomorrow morning and I'm driving to St Tropez for a few days. The waiter arrives with sea scallops still sizzling in garlic, foie gras that Simon can never resist, and a plate of toast.A bottle of dusty Burgundy red wine was placed beside the table, exuding fragrance.Simon took off his coat and looked around.The restaurant was full at the moment, crowded and noisy.Always laughing and laughing, this is a place destined to have fun.People are not allowed to go on a diet here, and there are too many dishes.No one would come to Louie's house and just order a plate of high-altitude leaves. St. Tropez?A disapproving expression appeared on Mu Lie's face.That place is now doomed!Unless you want to play golf with a bunch of donkey eggs from Paris.That place has been taken over by tastebuds and you can get fined for not wearing a crocodile shirt? Presumably you are not a family of taste wearing crocodile shirts?So where are you all going? Mu Lie dipped the last seashell on the plate with the sauce. Have you ever been to Luberon?It is between Avio and Aix.It looks a bit pretentious especially in August, it's a beautiful, old village with rolling hills, no crowds and great light.Natalie and I were there for a week in June.Before Natalie's husband arrived, everything was hopelessly romantic! The waiter came to clear the table.Simon had never been to the Luberon.Like everyone else, he headed straight to the Côte d'Azur, sunbathed on the beach, and then went home.The Provence countryside is almost like unknown territory, like vague words appearing on highway signs. how did you go Exit the highway at Cavillon and head towards App Township.For twenty minutes, I can tell you that the little place where Natalie and I were staying was simply charming!It's a privately owned verandah where the two of you can even sunbathe naked. Philip, I'm all alone! so what?Then dry it alone!If you're lucky, Mullie leans forward, a mature Provençal seventeen-year-old woman with olive skin and big brown eyes who will make your bed in the morning, and she finds you, an English gentleman, lying naked on the veranda, and she I couldn't resist it at all, just like that, the sky thunder set off the ground fire. Murray's description of a peaceful, innocent vacation was interrupted by a plate of roasted pheasant they shared and a pyramid of crispy french fries.The woman in the American couple can be heard expressing dismay at the size of the chicken as it arrives.Is it all mine?God! Mu Lie poured the red wine and raised his glass.Happy holidays my friend!The Luberon I'm talking about is really special and worth a visit!