Free Younger by Suzanne Munshower Page A

to you. You’ll be able to choose an age at the end. We need you to look like someone in her midtwenties for the research, as some women will choose the option to work with a doctor and use the stronger version to look even younger, but we’ll cut back gradually before the product launch because we also want to experience how it will actually feel for the retail customer. But you get to choose your end result. We’ll supply you with both the weaker over-the-counter formula, and enough of the dermatologist formula for the occasional deeper treatment as well. I’d suggest you go home looking remarkably refreshed from your trip and perhaps fifteen years younger. You’ll retain the product account if you like—we’ll say you ran into me in London as your final port of call—at a salary to be determined at your contract’s end. And, by the way, you’ll also receive a salary for working in London, at a lower rate than you’re used to and commensurate for someone younger, of course.”
    “And in London? What if I run into people I know?”
    “Ah, that’s a bit top secret right now. Until you sign, you see. Let’s just say we’ll be putting you in place at the office under a different name.” He looked serious. “This is a very big project, Anna. We’ve got some extremely important people on board. Higher-ups, if you know what I mean. And it’s important that you enter the Barton Pharmaceuticals workforce as a younger woman. Your diary will be an important marketing tool—it will say in your own words what it feels like to become a new woman, a younger version of yourself. I doubt anyone you might bump into would recognize you.”
    She had no idea what he meant by “higher-ups” and was sure he wouldn’t tell her anyway. The royal family, for all she knew. And here she’d always thought the British took a secret pride in letting themselves go to pot!
    “Let’s order something, shall we?” He smiled as he discreetly raised an index finger for the waiter. Anna thought of his mother’s hands, then of the casual way in which he’d sent the waiter away a few moments before. Beneath the charm and easygoing façade, Pierre Barton was plainly a hard-nosed businessman used to getting what he wanted. She closed her eyes for a moment, picturing herself thirty years younger, looking at a bank balance of over one and a half million dollars. That vision was beatific. For better or worse, she knew she was in.

Chapter 5

     
    Anna spent only three more weeks in Los Angeles before embarking on what she thought of as her “globe-trotting.” She closed up the house and put her clothes in mothballs. Deciding what to take was hard at first. A big part of her didn’t believe she was going to look like a twenty-five-year-old again, ever. She deemed it more likely the magic formula would take ten years off her looks. If she really did end up looking like someone in her twenties, the sleek clothes in her closet were certainly what a younger woman would dismiss as drab and matronly. All those earth tones! In the end, she took very little, just making sure she had the tights, leotard, and cross-trainers Barton had told her to bring.
    She announced the temporary closing of her office with a small release to Advertising Age and Adweek , as well as to her press contacts, saying she’d be “checking out international trends and developments.” The version reserved for personal contacts, as dictated by Barton, was “living my dream and seeing the world while I can.”
    Richard admitted to envy. “You’re so smart, kiddo. This is the perfect time,” he said as they lay side by side on lounge chairs next to his pool. “By the time you get back here, the economy will have turned around. And who knows? You might even find clients in the countries you’ll be visiting.”
    “That would be nice, but I’m doing this to clear my head, not scout for work.”
    “Whatever. You’re a lucky girl to be able to afford to do it.”
    She