Chapter 9 #2
Eugenia positioned the racks where she wanted them with the Cotton Candy line hanging on them, set up an empty rack, and began moving things around.
As she did, she took out six dresses and two pink denim jackets and laid them on the white bouclé couch to deal with later.
She started moving the Cotton Candy around on the racks at full speed, and shortly after there were jackets, shorts, skirts, and dresses all set out in progressive sizes with the colors of the clothes looking like a sparkling pastel rainbow, as her two employees watched her in admiration.
She had an eye for display and merchandising, even with playful teenage merchandise.
“We need five more mannequins, and you need to undress the one in the window.” The mannequin was wearing a sleek bun of dark hair.
Eugenia told Pam, squinting at the clothes, “And we need to get two long blond wigs, two red ones, and two with dark brown hair. Put away the blond one in the window. The spare mannequins are in the upstairs storeroom.”
They brought them down and assembled them, and Eugenia dressed them herself with the outfits she had laid on the couch.
She put them in more playful poses than the staid one in the window.
When she was through, they were still bald, but there was a perfect lineup that gave the tone and flavor of the style of the clothes.
She grabbed the bolts of tulle then, unrolled them, created big balls of crushed tulle the size of beach balls, and put one in two of the mannequins’ hands.
By the time she finished bunching the fabric into balls and crushing them a little, and put them on the floor at the feet of the mannequins in the window, it really did look like cotton candy, and she didn’t even have to use the staple gun or the glue gun.
The window looked terrific. Eugenia was pleased, and asked Pam to take a picture of it and text it to Izzie and ask her what she thought of it.
“We need the wigs right away,” Eugenia said to Marina, and sent her to a shop she knew on Lexington to get them. She was back twenty minutes later, with what Eugenia had ordered.
“They didn’t have enough long ones. I got two with short dark hair, one with bangs and one with pigtails. I thought it might look right with our new look.”
“Perfect, thank you.” They all unwrapped the wigs and Eugenia put them where she wanted them, just as Izzie answered her mother’s text.
“Sorry, I was in the pool. It looks fantastic, Mom. Tell Eugenia I love it.” Pam relayed the message to her boss, as Eugenia stood back to look at what they’d done, then walked outside to view the window from the street and liked it even better.
Now all they had to do was discover who their customer was.
But the display work had been done in less than three hours from the time they opened the crates.
Pam was standing shaking her head, and admiring the way it all looked.
“Eugenia, you’re a genius.”
“No, Eloise is.” Eugenia took no credit for the concept.
She just hoped she wasn’t crazy with what she’d done.
She had embraced it completely. No one would have recognized it as Eugenia Ward’s store except for the name on the door and the address.
They were standing around admiring how everything looked, when Eugenia’s cell phone rang and she went to answer it, pulling it out of her purse.
It was Eloise, calling from Paris, and ten o’clock in the morning there.
“You wouldn’t believe what I’m looking at,” she said with a wide smile.
“The store is completely transformed. Welcome to Cotton Candy, and all thanks to you.” As she said it, she heard a sob at the other end, and her smile faded instantly.
“Eloise? What’s wrong? Darling, are you okay?
” The sobbing continued for a full minute while Eugenia tried not to panic.
“Tell me. Are you hurt? Did something happen?”
“Yes, I was right. I got fired.”
“Oh shit. Just like that? Why?” Eloise’s design work was excellent, she couldn’t believe it was about her designs, and she’d worked there for seven years.
“I told you, Mom. They’re making huge cutbacks, everyone is, even the big brands.”
“And they walked in and fired you just like that?” Eloise had been worried for so long that her mother hadn’t taken her concerns seriously.
“No, but the only markets that are doing well for anyone right now are in Asia. They told me that they have to make drastic cuts in Paris. A third of the staff was fired today. They offered me Bangkok or Hong Kong, but I don’t want to live in Asia.
I want to stay in Europe. And they said they had to let me go if I didn’t want to move.
I would do Italy or London, or even Germany, but not Bangkok or Hong Kong, and they’re making the same cuts all over Europe.
They’re not offering anyone jobs here.” She was still crying and sounded devastated.
“They said they’ll start rehiring when business picks up, but not for a while.
Maybe in a year. But they can’t promise anyone anything now. So I’m done. They just told me.”
“You’re sure about Hong Kong? You might like it.”
“No! And I don’t speak Chinese. Another girl on my marketing team is going to Hong Kong, but she’s half French and half Chinese and speaks the language.
I don’t. What am I going to do? I don’t want to live in New York, and I hate to give up my apartment here.
I love it, and it took me three years to find it. ”
“First of all you’re going to take a breath and calm down. You’ll find another job in Paris eventually. You need to think about this calmly, and talk to a headhunter there,” but they both knew that the fashion industry was suffering everywhere, and had been for a year and a half.
“No one’s hiring here.”
“Now. That will all change in a few months. And your Cotton Candy line looks incredible. We turned the store around, and we’re ready to roll.
” She had sheets of prices, but they hadn’t had time to put price tags on the clothes yet.
Eugenia knew that people would be shocked at how reasonable they were, especially at Eugenia Ward’s.
The numbers were laughable compared to their usual prices.
Eloise didn’t want to hear about it now.
And Eugenia was trying to think about how to help her.
“When do you finish there?” Eugenia asked, assuming Eloise had to give them a few weeks.
“In three hours, at close of business. They gave us all severance. They were very nice about it, but I’m out of a job, and I was fired, Mom.
” It was a first for her. She had gone outside to call her mother, and had walked around the corner so no one would see her crying, but she had seen the others crying too. It was a hard blow for all of them.
“Wow,” Eugenia said. “Well, don’t worry about the apartment now.
We can figure that out later. Why don’t you just take a break and come home?
You can help me with Fashion Week in a couple of weeks.
We’ve got the show all organized except for fittings after we hire the models.
We’ll be taking orders in the showroom. And I’m going to open the doors to Cotton Candy tomorrow. ”
“That was fast.” Eloise sounded surprised.
“The factory was hungry for business. I’ll have Pam send you pictures.
I’ve got six mannequins in the window, wearing our best looks.
And I owe it all to you,” she said gratefully.
“Eloise, get a ticket, hop on a plane. We can figure it all out from here. I really could use your help, in a week or two I’ll be swamped,” she said sincerely. “And I still have a wedding to put on.”
“Oh my God, Mom, if you ask me to help Gloria with her wedding, I’ll shoot her or myself. She gives me anxiety. More than I already have,” Eloise corrected. “And I’d like to help you, Mom, but I don’t know anything about that kind of clothes.”
“Neither do I, but you inspired them, and I think it’s the best thing you’ve ever done for me.”
“Don’t make me sorry I did,” Eloise said, smiling through her tears.
“You can’t afford the luxury of feeling sorry for yourself,” Eugenia said more harshly.
“The race for jobs is going to be acute everywhere for a while. You just have to be patient and hang in. Come home. I’m going to Paris at the end of September, to present the ready-to-wear line in the showroom and take orders.
I’m going to be juggling a lot, and I could really use a spare set of hands, and your genius for design. ”
“Those tutus I sketched for you don’t need a design genius. If they were produced according to my sketches, all they need is a busload of screaming fourteen-year-old girls. I can’t believe how fast you got them made.”
“Neither can I, but they’re all set up here and ready to rock ’n’ roll.”
“Maybe I’ll come home in a couple of days.” Eloise hesitated. “Thank you for the offer, Mom. I’ll let you know. I need to think about it.”
“Don’t think about it, just come. You’re coming for the wedding anyway. This just gets you home a week or two early.”
“I know, Mom,” Eloise sounded exasperated. “But it brings me back fired and in disgrace.”
“You didn’t hold them up at gunpoint. There is a global crisis, and people everywhere are getting laid off. You’ll find another job, El. Now buy a ticket, pack a bag, and come home. It’s admirable that you want to deal with it yourself, but there’s not a lot you can do about it.”
“I have a right to be upset. It just happened.”
“Yes, you do,” her mother confirmed. “But you’re going to have to be a little patient.”
“Okay. I have to go. I’ll call you later and tell you what I’m doing.” Thirty suddenly seemed so young to Eugenia, and so unprepared to weather life’s crises. She really was sorry for her.
They hung up. Eugenia had gone outside to talk to Eloise about getting fired. She walked back into the store and Pam and Marina stared at her.