Magic by Danielle Steel Read Free Book Online Page B

that. A chance like this one doesn’t come along every day, and if I turn this down, there may never be another. I may be pounding along for the next twenty years, trying to make ends meet and put money aside. If we go to Beijing, I could make money and secure our future. I think she’ll hate me if we go, and she’d have to give up her career. And I’m going to have a hard time swallowing it if she deprives me, and us, of this opportunity. It’s a terrible situation,” he said, looking mournful. Chantal thought carefully about what he’d said. It was not going to be an easy decision, and she agreed with him that Valerie would be upset. She would have to give up her career for his. And she couldn’t put it on hold for three to five years. Someone else would take her place. Competition at fashion magazines was stiff.
    “Have you asked her?” Chantal inquired quietly, trying to weigh all the pros and cons in her head. But if he was trying to make money, and needed to for his family, the pros in favor of China won out hands down.
    “They just called me three days ago, and I met with them yesterday. Their American partners were in town, and last night was the White Dinner. I didn’t have time to sit down and talk to her about it before last night. But I have to tell her very quickly. They want to know in the next few weeks, and they want me there by September.” He told Chantal the name of the firm, and she was impressed, and by the Americans they were allied with. It was a bona-fide offer from an important group.
    “When are you going to tell her?”
    “Tonight. Tomorrow. Soon. Chantal, what do you think I should do?”
    “Wow,” she said softly, meeting his eyes as she sat back in her chair and stopped eating. “That’s a tough one. Someone is going to lose here, or it’s going to look that way. You or her in the immediate, or all of you in the long run if you turn down the offer.”
    “I don’t see how I can,” he said honestly, “but what if she won’t do it? What if she leaves me?” He looked panicked as he said it, and Chantal felt sorry for him. Why was there always a downside to a golden opportunity? Nothing was ever simple, not when there were big bucks attached. And Beijing was going to be the rub here. Chantal couldn’t see Valerie making the move easily, or even willingly. He would have to drag her kicking and screaming to Beijing, or she might refuse to go and give up her own career, even if it was less lucrative than his. It meant a lot to her, and she had worked in fashion, and for
Vogue,
in two countries for more than a dozen years, ever since college. That was a great deal for her to give up. But so was the job he’d been offered.
    “She’s not going to leave you. She loves you.” Chantal tried to reassure him. “But she’ll be upset.” She couldn’t deny that, and they both knew it. “And you can’t blame her. She works hard at
Vogue,
and the big job she wants is in sight now, when the Paris editor-in-chief retires. Could you go to Beijing for a shorter time? A year or two maybe, not three to five?” That was a long time to commit for, and he shook his head in answer.
    “I might be able to limit it to three, initially at least, but no less than that. They want me to head up the Beijing office. The guy they have there now is leaving. He’s been there for four years and opened the office for them.”
    “Do you know why he’s leaving?”
    “His wife hates it there. She moved back to the States a year ago,” Jean-Philippe said ruefully, and then they both laughed.
    “Well, that tells us what we need to know, doesn’t it?” Chantal said, smiling at him. “I think if you do it, you just have to know it won’t be easy, but it’s worth it for a limited amount of time, to achieve your goals. Sometimes we have to do something unpleasant to get where we want to go. It’s a good career move for you. Valerie will understand that too.” But she also knew, as he did, that