People were asking: Would the marriage diminish the prestige of the British throne? Andrew emphatically said no. After dinner they listened to a new recording by Elvis Presley-a pop ballad, "Fame and Fortune.”
Presley had resumed his career after a year in the U.S. Army, his absence having left his popularity undimmed. The women liked "Fame and Fortune.”
The men didn't. Finally, over brandies in the Hawthomes' spacious, artistically decorated living room, it was Sam who introduced the subject, closer to home, that was on all their minds. Answering Celia's question, he said, "When I followed you onto that platform, maybe I just couldn't resist being part of a dramatic scene.”
She objected, "You know it was more than that.”
"We all do," Andrew put in. He was leaning back in a comfortable armchair and savoring the brandy; he had had a busy day with patients in a practice that was growing rapidly, and was tired.”You risked everything, Sam-far more than Celia.”
"Of course, I'm grateful-" Celia began, but Sam cut her off. "You don't need to be. If you want the truth, I felt I was being tested.”
He addressed Andrew.”Your wife had already demonstrated she had more guts, along with greater respect for truth, than anyone else Mere. I didn't want to fall below her standards.”
Sam smiled at Celia.”Especially if you're trying to follow me up the ladder at Felding-Roth.”
"You know about that?" "I told him," Lilian Hawthorne said.”I'm sorry if I broke your confidence, Celia, but Sam and I don't keep secrets from each other.” "I have a secret," Sam said; "it's about Celia.”
As the others looked at him curiously, he went on, "She isn't going to be a detail woman anymore.”
Andrew chuckled.”You're firing her after all?" "No. Promoting her. Our company is going to have a Department of Sales Training, just as Celia suggested. She'll help set it up -and will be assistant director.”
"Well, hurrah!" Lilian raised her glass.”The men have shown some sense. I'll drink to that.”
"If all things were fair," Sam said, "Celia would have been director. But there are some in the company who can't swallow quite that much. Not yet. By the way, it'll be announced tomorrow.”
Andrew got up and crossed the room to kiss Celia.”I'm happy for you, darling. You deserve it.”
"Well," Celia told them all, "I'm not exactly upset. Thank you, Sam, and I'll settle for 'assistant.' " She added with a smile, "For the time being.”
They were interrupted by two small, pajama-clad figures who ran, laughing, into the living room. In the lead was Lisa, now twenty months old, lively and inquisitive, whom Andrew and Celia had brought with them and who-so they thought-had been put to bed for the night. Behind her was Juliet, the Hawthornes' fouryear-old and only child. Lilian had confided to Celia some time ago that doctors advised her she would never have more children, and she and Sam lavished love on Juliet, who was bright, intelligent and apparently unspoiled. The two little girls had clearly been excited by each other's company. Lisa hurled herself into her father's arms. She told Andrew, giggling, "Julie chase me.”
Lilian got up.”I'll chase you both. Right back to bed.”
Amid laughter and shrieks the three disappeared in the direction of Juliet's bedroom. When Lilian returned, Celia said, "All of that reminds me of something. I may need a little time off from that new job after a while, Sam. I seem to be pregnant again.”
"This is a night for revelations," Lilian said.”Fortunately there's some booze left, so we can drink to that too.”
There was, Celia thought, a trace of envy in the other woman's voice, through the remainder of 1960, and into 1961, Celia immersed herself in teaching the Felding-Rotb sales force how to sell. Her new chief, the director of sales training, was a former division manager from Kansas City named Teddy Upshaw. When introduced, Celia recognized him at once. His had been one of the sympathetic faces when she was about to be ejected from the sales convention at the Waldorf. Upshaw, a fast-talking, short-statured, dynamic whippet of a man in his late forties, bad been selling drugs all his working life. He radiated energy, always hurried from one place to the next, and had a small round head which he nodded frequently during conversations; it gave the impression of a bouncing ball. Before being promoted to management, Upshaw had been the company's top sales producer and confided to Celia that he still missed the life of a traveling salesman, which he described as "like easy breathing," and added, "in this business you don't have to sell dirty to be good because most does know damned little about drugs, and if you're straight with 'em, and they learn to trust you, you can have all the business you want. Only other thing to remember is to treat the does like gods. They expect that.”
When Celia told Andrew in bed one night about the "gods" remark, he laughed and said, "Smart boss you have. Just remember to treat this doc that way at home.”
She threw a pillow at him then, after which they wrestled playfully. The wrestling became something more, and they ended up making love. After-ward Andrew rubbed his hands over Celia's belly where her pregnancy was beginning to show and he said, "Take care of this little guy, and remember while he's in there-for you, no drugs of any kind!" It was a caution he had expressed when she was pregnant with Lisa, and Celia said, "You feel strongly about that.”
"Sure do.”
Andrew yawned.”Now let this god-doc get some sleep.”
On another occasion when Teddy Upshaw was talking with Celia he described "dirty selling" as "plain goddam stupid and not needed.”
Just the same, he admitted, there was plenty of it in the pharmaceutical business, "Don't think you and me are going to stop detail men saying what ain't true, even at Felding-Roth. We won't. What we'll do, though, is show that the other way is smarter.”
Upshaw agreed with Celia about the need for sales training. He had been given almost none himself and picked up his scientific knowledge-a surprising amount, as she discovered-by self-education across the years. The two of them got along well and quickly worked out a division of duties. Celia wrote training programs, a task Upshaw disliked, and he put them into effect, which he enjoyed. One of Celia's innovations was a staged sales session between a detail man and a doctor, with the former presenting one of FeldingRoth's drugs and the latter asking tough, sometimes aggressive, questions. Usually Teddy, Celia or another staffer played the doctor's role; occasionally, with Andrew's help, a real doctor was persuaded to come in to add reality. The sessions proved immensely popular, both with participants and observers. All new detail men hired by Felding-Roth were now given five weeks of training, while others already employed were brought to headquarters in small groups for a ten-day refresher. To everyone's surprise, the older hands were not only cooperative but keen to learn. Celia, who also gave regular lectures, was well liked. She discovered that detail men who had been at the Waldorf sales meeting referred to her privately as "Joan of Arc" because, as one explained, "while Jordan wasn't burned for heresy, she came damn close.”
When Celia thought about the sales convention she realized, in retrospect, how lucky she had been and how close she had come to wrecking her career. At times she wondered: if Sam Hawthorne had not spoken up, defending her, if she had been expelled from the convention and afterward lost her job, would she have regretted acting as she did? She hoped not. She also hoped she would have the same kind of fortitude in future in whatever other confrontations lay ahead. For the moment, though, she was happy with the outcome. In her new job Celia saw a fair amount of Sam Hawthorne because, while Teddy Upshaw reported to him officially, Sam took a personal interest in the training program and was aware of Celia's contribution. Less harmonious was Celia's relationship with the director of research, Dr. Vincent Lord. Because of the need for scientific help with sales training information, the Research Department had to be consulted frequently, something Dr. Lord made clear was an imposition on his time. Yet he refused to delegate responsibility to someone else. During one acerbic session with him Celia was told, "You may have conned Mr. Camperdown and others into letting you build your little empire, but you don't fool me.”