mber stands once again in the corner of her new Amberley Jacks-designed living room, and smiles as she surveys the changes.

The walls are lavender now, just as they proposed, the sofa a rich plum, the armchairs re-upholstered in a plum and chocolate-brown print. The curtains are a mocha and lavender check, and the pièce de résistance is the new antique Asian coffee table in the centre of the room, dressed for today’s committee meeting with silver platters of exquisite handmade cookies and pastries.

Amber comes into this room at least three times a day. She doesn’t actually sit down on the sofa – doesn’t let anyone sit down on the sofa – but she stands and admires how lovely it is, and thank goodness it managed to be ready for the final committee meeting before Friday’s Gala for the League.

Julian and Aidan did a wonderful job, she tells anyone who asks. Now they are working on the family room, the library, and Amber is thinking of adding the master bedroom to the list, although she hasn’t managed to tell Richard about adding a few more rooms, and he’s been so difficult lately about money, it might be best not to mention it at all.

In fact she’s even had to intercept the monthly bills from Amberley Jacks and pay them herself from her own bank account. Richard was furious when he got their first bill. ‘Amber!’ he had roared from his office as he was sorting out the bills. ‘Look at this!’ He’d pushed the piece of paper at her and glared at her in an angry-father sort of way. ‘I thought they weren’t going to be expensive,’ he’d said finally.

‘Ah yes,’ Amber had said, because not only had the furniture they’d found cost far more than Amber had anticipated (everything had turned out to be ‘a piece’, all of it genuine, all of it old, and all of it horrendously expensive), but they claimed to have put in thirty hours during the month of April, which came to $6,000.

‘How can they possibly have spent thirty hours?’ Richard had said. ‘I thought they only came to the house twice.’

‘They did.’ Amber had immediately jumped on the defensive. ‘But they were out buying for us.’

‘Thirty hours’ worth of buying? How can that be? They only bought the coffee table, a couple of side tables and a few lamps. How is that thirty hours?’

Amber had shaken her head. ‘I’m sorry, darling, I don’t know, but if that’s what they say it is, then that’s what it is.’

‘I’m going to phone them and ask them,’ Richard had said, reaching for the phone.

‘No!’ Amber had gasped, already humiliated at the thought. ‘Don’t do that. I’ll speak to them. I’m the one with the relationship with them, so I ought to speak to them, don’t you think?’

‘Well, okay, but make sure you get them to detail the hours. I want to see a list of exactly where these thirty hours went, and Amber, this is it. We can’t afford this sort of money on decorating. Now the formal living room is done that’s it. Okay?’

‘Okay, okay. I’ll speak to them tomorrow.’ Amber had blown him a kiss, knowing that he would have forgotten about it by the next morning, and he was at work all day, he wouldn’t even know if they carried on. She could always tell him she did it herself.

And although the lavender and plum living room isn’t what Amber would ever have done herself, isn’t even what she might have picked if she’d seen a picture in a magazine, it is pure Amberley Jacks, and she can’t wait for the committee, especially for Suzy, to see her new room.

‘Oh it’s lovely,’ Nadine says, walking in and sitting on the sofa next to Suzy, admiring the coffee table and antique brass lamps. ‘Didn’t they do a wonderful job?’

‘I know,’ Amber says proudly. ‘They really are worth every penny. Help yourself to some pastries. I’m just going to get some fresh coffee. Can I bring you anything?’

‘No thanks,’ the two girls smile sweetly and shake their heads. ‘We’re good.’

‘Oh. My. God.’ Suzy turns to Nadine and mouths the words, her mouth hanging open, as Nadine starts to giggle.

‘Oh stop it,’ she shoves Suzy playfully as they both look around the room. ‘What is this colour? What does it remind me of? Oh I know!’ She turns back to Suzy. ‘It’s puke.’

Suzy splutters with laughter. ‘I thought Amberley Jacks were supposed to be talented. This is the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen. Look at this coffee table! How ugly is that?’

‘And what about those curtains? Could they be any more revolting?’ The two girls turn and giggle at the curtains, then stop abruptly as Deborah walks in.

‘Hi!’ She walks over and they all hug before Deborah turns to admire the room. ‘Well this colour is definitely unusual,’ she says, sitting down.

‘Nadine thinks it looks like puke,’ Suzy whispers with an evil grin. ‘Oh my gosh, will you listen to me? I’m being so mean. Don’t tell Amber, I think she loves it.’

‘Do you hate it?’ Deborah returns the smile.

‘We hate it,’ Suzy whispers.

‘So I take it you won’t be using Amberley Jacks, then?’ Deborah’s voice is all innocence.

‘Well they are supposed to be the best. Maybe they just screwed up here. For all we know Amber forced them to use the barf colour.’

‘So you will use them, then? Even though you hate this room?’

‘Um. Well. I don’t know.’ Suzy is aware she has been trapped. ‘I haven’t decided.’

‘I’m going to the kitchen.’ Deborah stands up and walks out of the room, shaking her head in disgust as she goes. ‘Bitches,’ she says under her breath, and walks straight into Amber.

‘What did you say?’

‘Oh nothing.’ Deborah apologizes. ‘Just Suzy and Nadine being as pleasant as always.’

‘They weren’t being mean about me, were they?’ The colour drains from Amber’s face.

‘No. I think they’re just jealous that you were the first to use Amberley Jacks. In fact, Suzy’s so jealous she’s practically turning green. I can’t even stand to be around the pair of them. Let’s go wait in the kitchen, and anyway, I could do with some of that incredible-looking cake.’

Amber is as gracious a hostess as always, a skill she studied for years from her mother-in-law. When Amber met Richard her insecurity and lack of self-worth would come across to others as arrogance, or snobbishness. They didn’t realize that the reason she was cool was because she felt so inadequate. Icy Winslow taught her the value of graciousness. Icy Winslow, despite her glacial looks and frosty nickname, is warm and inclusive to everyone she meets, almost to the point of gushing, and everyone loves her in return.

Icy Winslow doesn’t have to be frosty, or supercilious, or pretend to be better than anyone because she knows exactly who she is, and has never had anything to prove. Amber still feels that she has lots to prove, that she is definitely less than the women sitting around her living room, and yet she has learnt that she needn’t let that show, that to be warm and friendly costs so much less than being rude.

When people talk about Icy Winslow they say she still has the unique gift that several great women have when they’re talking to you, of making you feel that they would not be anywhere else at this current moment than standing right here, talking to you.

‘Think Icy,’ Amber always says to herself when she feels insecurity strike. ‘What would Icy do?’ and she flashes a wide Icy-style smile, makes sure she touches the people to whom she’s talking a lot, and asks lots of questions. She may not feel like Icy, but has learnt that acting as if she does can take her a hell of a long way.

And so now, during this committee meeting, Amber channels her mother-in-law. She hugs everyone who comes in, even the women she doesn’t like. She makes sure the plates of goodies are passed, that people’s coffee cups are refilled, that no one is left out in the cold.

So while Suzy and Nadine can say whatever they like about the Amberley Jacks living room, there is very little with which to find fault in Amber. Who could possibly not like Amber? Who could possibly not be taken in by her charm?