Without a shadow of a doubt, he thought to himself, she was beautiful, almost intoxicatingly so. Her face had a slightly androgynous look to it. Undoubtedly feminine but with a strange almost imperceptible impression that it could equally be the face of an incredibly beautiful young boy. A feeling that was reinforced by her slender frame, almost flat chested, borderline anorexic. But it was the face that drew him in, a face that seemed so perfect it almost made his heart ache with longing for her. Yes without doubt she was the most beautiful on offer but she was also the most expensive.
Max Dixon reluctantly dropped the model's portfolio book back onto his desk on top of a dozen other similar portfolios. His company MaxLook online fashions needed a new "face" to launch their Autumn collection and without a doubt he wanted the young model Francesca Kendall to be that face.
Max had started the company five years earlier and his new approach to offering high end fashion and cosmetics online had quickly taken hold. Within just a few years he had increased his turnover to several million. Keen to stay ahead of the rest of the market he had invested heavily on slick web interfaces allowing customers to try clothing and makeup colours on virtually. Meanwhile advanced data analysis behind the scenes allowed his company to identify changing trends and act rapidly to ensure that he could meet demands for new fashions before anyone else. His company had grown to a turnover of more than fifty million and he had been heralded as the man that could well change the face of fashion retailing forever.
But his company, after five years of constant growth, had suddenly run into problems. In the past few months or so traffic to their site had dropped off a cliff. His team of experts on SEO or search engine optimisation, could not understand what the problem was, let alone solve it. For some reason people either weren't searching for his products or weren't deciding to click through to his site when they did. Heavily in debt from his massive expansion he was now struggling where only a few months ago he was making healthy profits.
He picked up the letter laying on his desk, it was from the politician Don Redmond, and was, beneath the exchanging of pleasantries, asking for another contribution to the MP's campaigning funds. Dixon had not always had it so lucky, coming from a single parent family, living in a rundown council estate in Basildon. He knew what it meant to be on the wrong side of the tracks and so when he found himself suddenly to be a man of some wealth he tried to put something back. Initially by the funding of local charities in his old neighbourhood, but then by more actively supporting and funding the political parties that he believed in.
Don Redmond had become a good personal friend over the years, and behind the scenes had helped Dixon along the way. Nothing illegal, just helpful information and the occasional word in the right ears. Dixon also supported Redmond's personal campaign against the new proposed internet legislation. Partly because he felt it would be bad for his business, but also because he firmly believed in the free nature of the internet that had allowed him early on to get a foothold in the industry.
Unfortunately though he was no longer in a position to spare money or time for non-essential things like political campaigning. He opened up a new email on his computer to his personal assistant, first asking her to confirm with Francesca's agent that they would book her for the Autumn campaign and secondly to contact Don Redmond advising that they could not make a contribution at this time.
Sending the email Max tossed the letter back onto his desk and picked up Francesca's portfolio. It was a shame he'd have to let Redmond down but he needed to focus on his business first, and she was, so very beautiful.
