giant billboards that lined the opposite side of the retail park. She straightened her back to get a better view. They had just uploaded new ads. Staring Cherry in the eye, five times life-size was Galletti, Barcelona's newly signed striker. Creeping down from the outer edges of his eyes were two neat spikes of rash, red raw, as if two triangles of flesh had been peeled from his cheekbones. It couldn't be real – nothing she'd seen was that neat. Then she noticed the Glaxo logo in the bottom corner. It was real then; a paid for exclusive. Airbrushed though. It must be brand new, as it hadn't been featured in yesterday's seeker bulletin. Either that or Lady was slipping behind on her admin.
As Cherry watched, the image zoomed out to show Galletti performing tricks with a Nike football. He was in good company: the next billboard featured the actress Tilly Harrison wearing a sheer gown, blown against her by an unseen source of wind to reveal shadows of red on her thighs. Droplets of Dior Rash flew towards her from a giant atomiser as she writhed on the spot, scratching herself. That one would be real. Wearing was rife in the fashion world. To Galletti's other side, New York band The Itch were silently slamming away at their guitars, the singer periodically lifting his by the neck to show his fukpunk-style smeary crotch-window. Cherry shuddered.
'It costs me if you're wrong, you know.' Lady stopped mid-circle.
Cherry looked up at her. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to answer. 'I know.'
'Testing has just gone up again.'
'I…' Cherry paused, unsure of the correct thing to say. 'We could wait.'
'Wait? I need you fit to seek at the Global Finance Conference next week.'
'I feel…funny, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I mean it might not even be an STV.'
'Didn't you get your uploads?'
'Yes, but you know sometimes they can be out of date.'
'You should be careful where you get them.'
'I am, but we could wait for some proper signs – wait and be sure.'
'We can't wait. Not if there's a possibility. What if Franco's lot has picked it up? Rumour has it he picked up an exclusive and a mute last month alone. He's got ten girls and fifteen boys now all out seeking. And he's got all the bases covered – sends them all over; sends them to all types of places.'
'Spreads them thin.'
'Did I say that?'
'Yes Lady.'
'Then yes, he does. But he's got more than before.'
Lady started another circle of the couch then paused right behind where Cherry was sitting. Cherry could feel Lady's breaths stirring the hair on the top of her head. She felt for a moment like something might come down on her crown. She braced herself.
'You logged all your encounters?' Lady asked. 'Did anybody claim to have anything? Anybody look like they had something new?'
'There was a guy with sores, but I think it was an oldie. His skin smelled like ointment and I could see the shadow of where the sores had extended originally. I think he was trying to shape them to look like an exclusive.'
'Tosser.' Lady strode over to her door. 'Bring up Cherry's log,' she ordered as she walked in. 'I want to see her account of everyone she's tried for the past two weeks – no, three to be certain. And mark up likely candidates for me. Thank you Ben.'
Lady was already closing her office door when Cherry got up from the couch. She was visible through the frosted glass, pacing up and down. Ben isn't in there, Cherry thought. Lady would never show her emotion like that in front of her secretary, surely. But then she was increasingly frantic these days when she did her rounds. The threat of the big companies catching up and taking all the business in-City was getting to her. Rumour had it that she had had to let Ben go but was too proud to admit it. Cherry watched as Lady's silhouette moved to merge with that of her desk, continuing to fidget.
The ads outside changed again and drew Cherry's eye. Standing, she could see the traffic moving around the busy retail park.
As Cherry watched, the image zoomed out to show Galletti performing tricks with a Nike football. He was in good company: the next billboard featured the actress Tilly Harrison wearing a sheer gown, blown against her by an unseen source of wind to reveal shadows of red on her thighs. Droplets of Dior Rash flew towards her from a giant atomiser as she writhed on the spot, scratching herself. That one would be real. Wearing was rife in the fashion world. To Galletti's other side, New York band The Itch were silently slamming away at their guitars, the singer periodically lifting his by the neck to show his fukpunk-style smeary crotch-window. Cherry shuddered.
'It costs me if you're wrong, you know.' Lady stopped mid-circle.
Cherry looked up at her. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to answer. 'I know.'
'Testing has just gone up again.'
'I…' Cherry paused, unsure of the correct thing to say. 'We could wait.'
'Wait? I need you fit to seek at the Global Finance Conference next week.'
'I feel…funny, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I mean it might not even be an STV.'
'Didn't you get your uploads?'
'Yes, but you know sometimes they can be out of date.'
'You should be careful where you get them.'
'I am, but we could wait for some proper signs – wait and be sure.'
'We can't wait. Not if there's a possibility. What if Franco's lot has picked it up? Rumour has it he picked up an exclusive and a mute last month alone. He's got ten girls and fifteen boys now all out seeking. And he's got all the bases covered – sends them all over; sends them to all types of places.'
'Spreads them thin.'
'Did I say that?'
'Yes Lady.'
'Then yes, he does. But he's got more than before.'
Lady started another circle of the couch then paused right behind where Cherry was sitting. Cherry could feel Lady's breaths stirring the hair on the top of her head. She felt for a moment like something might come down on her crown. She braced herself.
'You logged all your encounters?' Lady asked. 'Did anybody claim to have anything? Anybody look like they had something new?'
'There was a guy with sores, but I think it was an oldie. His skin smelled like ointment and I could see the shadow of where the sores had extended originally. I think he was trying to shape them to look like an exclusive.'
'Tosser.' Lady strode over to her door. 'Bring up Cherry's log,' she ordered as she walked in. 'I want to see her account of everyone she's tried for the past two weeks – no, three to be certain. And mark up likely candidates for me. Thank you Ben.'
Lady was already closing her office door when Cherry got up from the couch. She was visible through the frosted glass, pacing up and down. Ben isn't in there, Cherry thought. Lady would never show her emotion like that in front of her secretary, surely. But then she was increasingly frantic these days when she did her rounds. The threat of the big companies catching up and taking all the business in-City was getting to her. Rumour had it that she had had to let Ben go but was too proud to admit it. Cherry watched as Lady's silhouette moved to merge with that of her desk, continuing to fidget.
The ads outside changed again and drew Cherry's eye. Standing, she could see the traffic moving around the busy retail park.
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