Chapter Six
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"T hat will be stage one," said Nina. "Naturally, we'll have the ornaments ready as soon as the tree arrives for the party, and it will match the windowscape, continuing that flow of harmony."
To her amazement, the main floor of the new Van Stewart house in the Billington building had been transformed in the past twenty-four hours from a construction site to fashion house chaos. Crates with import stamps, plastic-sealed garments, and industrial sewing machines replaced scaffolding and ladders. Large bolts of imported fabric installed on rolling open cabinet shelving were moving from point to point on the landing above, and more assistants in eclectic fashion had joined the jumpsuit-clad moving crew in the upstairs-downstairs parade.
She showed the digital sketches for Natalia, pointing to the mannequins on the screen — above, dressmaker's mannequins were piled on a freight dolly with a long-armed embroidery machine.
"Each of these will be dressed in ensembles chosen from Simone Van Stewart's winter collection, your choice," said Nina. "We thought iconic British themes would naturally be at the top of your selection, but we can fit anything with some minor adjustments."
Natalia sniffed. "It's ... prosaic," she said. "Slightly cliché. I suppose it's suitable." She sounded like someone who wanted to send back custom drapes for being inferior, but had already done so five times before.
"Okay. Then we'll begin next week, and have the unveiling the last week of November as scheduled," said Nina. "We'll start work on the interior decor and finish in advance of the party, and be on hand for any adjustments you need."
She swiped to the digitally-rendered Christmas tree with chrome ornaments and steel icicles, softened the slightest bit by a set of exclusive crystal ornaments that still came within budget limits. Those had the look of something cold and expensive — like empty Chanel bottles, Molly had joked.
Natalia's sniff was approving — if unimpressed. "Simone does prefer simple lines," she remarked, in a dismissive tone.
Nina swiped to the closer images rendered by Molly's software, with the Big Ben sculpture as a
3-D model. "This is the first piece the artist will be creating, they promised to have all three delivered in advance of the windows' reveal."
"Cool." The voice speaking came from behind them, belonging to the handsome man in the suit, who was checking the deliveries on a freight dolly on its way to the elevator. "I like that one," he remarked.
"Yes." Natalia plucked an invisible line in her suit jacket sleeve. She turned back to Nina. "The tree will be here two weeks before the party. It would be preferable not to have you and your assistants underfoot while Simone is here, so you will be delaying until after her inspection."
"Whatever you'd like," answered Nina. "It's our goal to please, like we said in our pitch."
Natalia texted someone. "Speak with my assistant about the garments and the color swatches you need," she said. "I'm sure the finished product will be ... charming." She walked away.
Nina tried not to take offense. Natalia never bothered to hide her preference to chat with a Parisian decorator about the perfect tree for Van Stewart's — even a 3-D sculpture of Big Ben wasn't going to impress her easily. It was more the store coordinator's speed to be ordering around the design assistants who were trying to coordinate all these deliveries.
She turned around to negotiate her way out of the hustle and bustle, and nearly bumped into someone — handsome suit guy was standing there.
Nina's face caught fire. "Sorry," she apologized.
"No need. I think we're equally at fault," he said. "I should have been paying attention."
"I was just looking for Ms. Gaborelli's assistant," she said. "Not you, is it?"
He laughed. "No, not me," he said. "You're looking for Franz, he's probably over there with the stock shipment." He pointed in the direction of the elevator.
"You're the window decorator, aren't you?" he said. He extended his hand. "Vincent Gainsborough."
"Nina Alvarez," she said, shaking his hand. "I've seen you here before. You must work for the Van Stewart store."
"Actually, I'm one of Simone's designers," he said. "I'm here to help set up the London branch of the design house."
"Wow," she said. At the same time, the word designer flashed in her brain with a sense of disappointment. He was making conversation to be nice, therefore. "That's a lot of responsibility."
"That says something, coming from the person in charge of bringing Big Ben here," he said, with a laugh.
She tried to hold back the blush. "All in a day's work," she said. "A building this historic, a brand this iconic, you have to go the extra mile."
"Vincent, the movers want to know about the hat blocking press?" A blue-haired girl leaned over the banister above.
"Duty calls," he said. "Good luck with the sculptures."
"Thanks." Nina let him pass, and tried to bury the effects of her initial attraction. It was a little unprofessional, wanting to drool at the sight of a good-looking man who was sharply dressed. Wasn't it?
"So, that's five cases of chrome, three cases of the crystal, and about five dozen of the icicles," read Molly from the list. "And that's a rush on those."
"Got it. Oh, the artist? They want you to know that they can get the first piece to you, but there will be a delay on the other two — something about another commission getting moved up," said Val. "But they can still finish on time."
"That's fine," said Molly. "We can see one to be sure that way, not that we're changing our minds."
"Do we have time to change our minds?" asked Bradley.
She scoffed. "No, that's the point," she said. "Val, can you price those crystal branches we talked about?"
"The fakey fakes made from resin and glitter or the good ones? I found a dealer online who can have six dozen of the plastic ones on your doorstep overnight."
"You can price both, but you know which one we're using," said Molly. "Can I help it that we're quality now?"
Nina entered just as Bradley was finishing opening the boxes for the drape fabric and the oversized paper ream they had ordered last night. Molly turned around.
"Val, gotta go, Nina's back. Keep us posted on the tracking for those supplies."
"You know I will," their office manager answered before hanging up.
"Hey, how did it go with Ms. Frostybrow?" asked Molly. "Naturally, I'm talking about our current employer Ms. Gaborelli and her impression of our timeline for this job. See, I can be polite, I'm making an effort. This is sophisticated Molly Stephens henceforth. I might even go by Marianne again to make it official."
"This morning she was still calling her Ms. Garbanzo Beans, so there's been an improvement," vouched Bradley.
"She wasn't moved, but she didn't fire us." Nina slid off her coat. "She wants the tree decor delayed until after Simone Van Stewart gives her stamp of approval to the store."
"Hey, maybe we'll meet her. Maybe we can show her our work firsthand," said Molly, excitedly. "Ms. Van Stewart, welcome to Christmas, courtesy of the Display by Design." She gestured with a flourish.
"Plus one," Bradley added.
"Fantastic as it sounds, I will have to burst your bubble, because Natalia more or less implied to me she didn't want us around while the designer's in town," said Nina.
Their faces fell. "It's not like we're wearing blue shoes and orange dresses, or mixing animal prints — I left my shoes shaped like a cow's hoof at home," said Molly sarcastically. "What have we done that's so crude and unsophisticated that it's unforgivable? Everybody wears white after Labor Day now, right?"
"It's her store, so what can we do?" answered Nina. "At least she'll see it for the Christmas party."
"Which I'm pretty sure we won't be at, having taken red eye flights home by then," said Molly.
Nina shrugged. "We'll see photos," she said. "After this, we'll be busier than ever, so it's not like we'll have to care, right?"
"I suppose," mumbled Molly. "I just don't like being the cousin with the flu that everybody avoids at a party."
"Not everybody avoids us," said Nina, putting away the electronic tablet and her purse. "You remember the guy in the suit who told Natalia to give us a chance? He talked to me today, and he was nice."
"Wait — the hot guy who was with the chick in the Asian nightmare dress?" said Molly. "Yeah, I remember him. He was smoldering in the looks department."
"What did he say?" asked Bradley, sitting down.
"Did he flirt with you?" asked Molly.
"No, he's not going to," said Nina. "He's a designer for Van Stewart, so you know what that probably means."
"Not necessarily," said Bradley. "I have a friend who studied ballet, he had a girlfriend who was a model."
"Look at Calvin Klein," said Molly.
"Okay, there are exceptions, but look at me, I'm a bottom-dwelling window dresser to somebody like him. He knows fashion models, if he wants to, he can date them," pointed out Nina, trying not to be ruffled.
"So he was just wasting time," said Molly, pretending to sound sympathetic. "Poor you. Being chatted up by some hottie who may or may not be interested in dating models."
"Forget I said anything, I was just trying to make the point that not everybody is unfriendly," said Nina. "Back to the important part, which is what you learned from Val about the status of our orders." She sat down on another chair, a new one that Bradley or Molly had scrounged from somewhere — she didn't want to ask.
"It's good. We're on track, and I think we can pick up a few supplies to create our teaser at the shops tomorrow and kick this thing into gear. Bradley has a line on the metal Christmas tree already from a local weld artist who has a website, we'll check on that, too."
"All the chic pieces are coming together," said Nina. "Let's get started on the fabric swatches and the fashions. Natalia's assistant hooked me up with some samples, although Natalia will probably make the final selections for the store."
The digital catalog featured all the latest in Van Stewart's lines along with its signature garments. Molly and Nina pored over the pages of belted silk dresses, trousers in silk wool blend, and winter evening wear in a palette of rich colors.
"I think I saw Kate Beckinsale wearing that coat in an issue of People magazine," said Molly.
"I think I saw that dress on Lily Collins on the Emmy's red carpet," said Bradley, looking over her shoulder as he compared the designer house's fabric swatches to their color palette.
"Nothing here costs less than five hundred on the rack," said Nina, checking on her phone. "I think I won't be upgrading my wardrobe while we're here."
"Do they seriously charge five thousand for that gown?"
"Here's the catalog from the spring show in Milan," said Nina, opening its link. "The typical over-the-top outfits you'd expect. Diamond-encrusted dress collars — a suit with an asymmetrical jacket —"
"— hat that looks like a mesh beehive with matching veil," said Molly, swiping through it. "Okay, we're not interested in the freak parade part of the line, just the stuff people actually buy."
"It looks like England is getting its own line, one business casual and evening wear, one casual — the kind of clothes you wear hanging out in a ski lodge," said Nina. The assistant had included a copy of some P-R materials for the new store's opening.
"Oh, bookmark that coat, that's exactly the sort of look we want — that says foggy London evening to me," said Nina. "I think I can pick the top likely candidates out of this catalog, so we could make a list —"
"— match them with the palette we're working with, and a neutral background," said Molly. "I'm on it." She reached for the tablet. "Bradley, somebody needs to go grab dinner. Can you run to the pub or find a curry shop or something?"
"Do you not want me to finish looking into drapery rentals for the backdrop?" Bradley looked up. "I'm on hold in this chat with Farique, he's going to hook me up with some details from their warehouse."
"Never mind. I'll eat ramen." Molly curled up in the folding chair's wide seat as she scanned the clothes in the catalog to superimpose them on the mannequins in the program. "We don't have time to waste on meals anyway."
All the props needed to be arranged in the recreated windows based on the garments and the mannequin's poses. Although the digital program made things easier, it meant hours of tweaking and rethinking details to generate the perfect model and its blueprint.
Across from her, Nina answered Val's latest call. "Hey, what's the word?"
"Excellent," said Val. "They're putting a rush on the chrome ornaments, and the fancy ones are backordered, but promised on time. Plus, I pulled a few strings with a friend of mine and got you a line on an ambient lighting rental company and a ladder and light construction rental for decorating companies that's dead cheap. You can thank me later."
"You think of everything," said Nina. "Even what we haven't had time to think of." She covered the receiver and mouthed decorator's ladder . When Molly's brain registered the meaning, she leaned her head back and sighed.
"You're the best, Val."
"I think one in a million has been mentioned in the past. By the way, the ornaments from the chrome place? Not exactly screaming attractive."
"No, but the client wants something more subtle. The store's manager liked those," said Nina.
"Fancy but no fun? Their money, not mine. I'll message the invoice to you, it has the delivery barcodes, so you can track them."
"Definitely one in a million, Val." Nina disconnected, swiping to her email to see the codes arrive a few minutes later.
All of the chic pieces really were falling into place — this is actually going to be a success , Nina thought. They were destined for recognition at last, the future picture of Display by Design, albeit still a little imperfect like before. Nothing in life was perfect, and even the taste of their clients couldn't be satisfying every time.
She looked at the inventory list — so far, the tree's decor was ahead of schedule, and the rest was on track. If they had calculated the numbers correctly, the tree would be suitably bedazzled, and topped by a simple red velvet Christmas bow that draped six red velvet ribbon ends downwards in a vertical garland.
She lowered the tablet computer. "It's elegant, but heartless, isn't it?" she said.
Molly looked up. "What are you talking about?" she laughed.
"The design we're putting together," said Nina. "It lacks something. Something inspirational or personal."
"Since when have we needed it to be any of those things?" laughed Molly. "We decorate people's windows with balloons — we put a giant marshmallow in one —"
"I know. Forget what I said," Nina replied. "It's just that we can look our client in the face usually and know this is what they really want. We have no way of knowing what Simone Van Stewart actually wants for her store's debut."
"It's Natalia we work for," corrected Molly. "You see her, she's clearly running the show. Making Simone happy is her job, not ours."
Molly turned the tablet around. "Herringbone versus tweed," she said, switching between two different models. "I think herringbone's the winner, so I hope that's what she picks."
"We need the tree to be the focus, so we should try moving a couple of pieces of vintage luggage nearer to the base, like presents around it," suggested Nina.
"Genius. Why didn't I think of that?" said Molly, pulling the design elements into new positions.