When they reached the restaurant, the others were already seated at a table for four. After the necessary courtesies, it was easy to move to one of the small tables overlooking the patio.
‘That’s really too bad,’ Armitage said with a broad grin. ‘I guess we’ll have to sit alone and talk tennis instead of track. Before you say one word about Wimbledon, Jack, I’m sorry. But I did take him to five sets this time, and I had a match point on my service. It’s moving my way. I’ll nail him in Forest Hills next month. See if I don’t.’
‘Forest Hills? When is that?’ asked Dryden vacantly.
‘Last week in August.’
‘Of course. I seem to have a mental block about the middle of August. Will you be going to Moscow for the Games?’
‘I’d like to,’ said Armitage. ‘Oh boy, just wouldn’t I? Goldengirl should be the sensation of all time. While I was in London they staged an international track meet with East Germany. I couldn’t get there, of course, but I saw some on TV. The Germans have this girl Ursula Krüll, who is faster than Stecher ever was. She left everyone standing in the sprints. The way the sportscaster was talking, you’d think they might as well hand her the gold medals now. Cute-looking for a Red, but oh, so confident. You could see it all in the way her ass moved. Know what I mean? God, yes, I’d like to see how she moves after she’s raced with Goldengirl, but I won’t, Jack. There’s no way I could take out the week before Forest Hills, even for this. You’ll be there, of course?’
‘Probably.’
‘You’re not sure?’
‘There’s something to be said for staying in America, teeing up some merchandising,’ said Dryden. ‘Still, I suppose by that stage of the game I can bring someone else in at this end. I could be useful with the PR side of things in Moscow. That’s what I tell myself, anyhow. If I’m honest, I want to be around in case of hitches. Your consortium is a volatile group, Dick. You didn’t see the panic in San Diego when Goldengirl misjudged one of the heats.’
‘I heard about it,’ said Armitage. ‘Didn’t Olly Sternberg fix things?’
‘That’s right. Very neatly.’
‘He’s a useful guy to have around if you’re down to the wire. That poundage is deceiving. He can move fast in a crisis.’
‘I can believe it,’ said Dryden, ‘but there are limits. Even Sternberg might be pushed to buy off the entire IOC Executive Board. I hope nothing goes wrong in Moscow. God knows, there’s enough planning gone into the operation. I’ll be happier if the next few days go as per schedule. Have you seen Goldine since you checked in? She isn’t eating with them, I notice.’
Armitage grinned. ‘Easy, Jack. She really is in Eugene. She’s staying on the University campus like all the other competitors. It wouldn’t do for her to put up here with the rest of us. The press boys would be wise to that in no time at all. It should do her a world of good, actually, mixing with other girls. The kid’s had a sheltered life, when you think about it.’
Dryden had thought about it. There were times when Armitage got under his skin. Remarks like that, tossed casually into a conversation, betrayed the shallowness of the man. He hadn’t given a serious thought to Goldine’s predicament. Yet there was no malice in him. He was one of the world’s nice guys. He just assumed everyone else was nice, too. It was the formula for a trouble-free life. Tyrannies were founded on people like Dick.
It was still good to see his amiable face among the others assembled after lunch in the room reserved for the meeting. Serafin ushered Dryden to a chair at the head of a long oak table. In case of any doubt whether this was the place of honour — or the hot seat-there was a jug of water and a glass there. The only other object on the table was Cobb’s electronic calculator.
For once, Serafin spent no time on introductions. ‘Mr. Dryden, this afternoon is yours. Do tell us what you have worked out for the merchandising of Goldengirl.’
The five faces of the consortium turned his way.
‘I hope it isn’t exclusively my afternoon,’ he began, ‘because any ideas I throw up are intended for discussion. Around this table there’s an abundance of marketing experience. Let’s use it. Feel free to come in with your ideas at any point.
‘I’d like to suggest that we agree first on the strategy. The details we can fill in after. I’ve done some thinking on this, and it seems to me we have two quite basic things to settle at the start. One is the phasing of the campaign. The other is the character we should like it to have. The image, if you like. My experience is that you need to present a coherent image, whatever the range of your merchandising may be.
‘Let’s take the phasing first. From tomorrow on, and increasingly as the week progresses, Goldine — I tend to call her by her own name, if you don’t object — will become a public figure, an Olympic hope. Provided she reaches the objectives you’ve set for her — I’m assuming she will — the media generally will take a lot of interest in her. I think we should capitalize on that. She projects herself well in interview situations, so let’s use all the publicity she can get this week. It’s not for me to make suggestions about the way she runs her races, but something special tomorrow or the next day would get the wagon rolling nicely. By Wednesday, she could be getting into feature status. It’s important she isn’t just a sports celebrity. She’ll reach a wider public if she makes the other pages of the papers.’
‘Cleavage shots,’ said Valenti.
‘Christ, they went out with Lyndon B. Johnson,’ said Sternberg. ‘Where you been all these years?’
Cobb looked slightly perturbed. ‘I don’t know that I’d favor full exposure.’
‘Shall we leave it till we discuss the image?’ suggested Dryden. ‘The main objective of this week’s publicity, as I see it, is to provide the lift-off for the talks with big business. As I told you in Cambria, the selling of the project starts now, to have everything set up for the peak of public interest immediately after the Games. If I mention Goldine Serafin to an executive at Coca-Cola next week, I want him to know she was the blonde who went over big at the Olympic Trials without me telling him. Ideally, I’d go flat out on publicity from now on, right through the buildup period to the Games, but it’s obvious that would play havoc with her preparation. The girl can do without being harassed nonstop by the media for the next four weeks. So I propose we give the press and TV boys all the interviews and pictures they can use this week, and then whisk her out of it to the Sierras where she can train without distractions. Two weeks later we pass the word along that she’s visiting L.A. for a day, and lay on what will pass for a hastily arranged press conference at the airport. If she can spare one day from her training, that should give the campaign the boost it needs. More photos, some exclusives, maybe a tour of the TV studios. Then we put up the shutters till Moscow.’
‘It makes sense to me,’ said Armitage.
Valenti wasn’t convinced yet. ‘What kind of deal do you hope to fix with Coca-Cola or anyone else before she’s got the golds?’
‘Quite possibly a better one than if I started talking after Moscow,’ said Dryden. ‘I’ll tell you why. This kind of deal is conditional. They agree to pay a fee for Goldine to endorse their product provided she achieves an Olympic triple. I make it clear we can’t finalize anything until after Moscow, because it would contravene the Olympic rule on amateurism. But they see the advantage of having it all set up now, ready to sign on August sixteenth, the day she wins her third gold medal. On the morning she makes the headlines, they could run her picture in their ads, like the Grand Prix drivers touting gasoline the day after a big win. So we draw up terms in advance, and for them it’s a speculative venture. Winning the Trials is still half a world away from the triple in Moscow. I can use that uncertainty as a negotiating point. They’re more easily persuaded to agree to a figure of three hundred grand now, when it’s speculative, than later, when it’s fact.’