Chapter 33 #2
‘Darlings,’ she went on, ‘I could not do this show without every single person in this room. Every one of you is going to make this an amazing evening that people will talk about for a long time.’
Rising to the kind of crescendo that was going to galvanise them all, Svetlana ended with the words, ‘I know we are going to raise ￡1 million tonight. One million pounds to help people! And next year, we are going to come back and do it all again – even bigger, even better! So, please, go out there, play your part, and with the whole of my Ukrainian heart, I thank you.’
There was an electrifying round of whooping, cheering and grinning in response to this.
And the DJ captured the mood perfectly with a loud blast of Daft Punk reminding everyone that they’d all come too far to give up who they are.
Finally, Annie could feel her heart lift and her belief begin to grow that They Could Do This.
* * *
Finally, it was 7.35 p.m., the audience was seated, the lights were low, and backstage, there was fever-pitch anxiety.
Annie, Paula, superstar Anoush and all the other models were gathered, dressed, made up, all ready for take-off, sweating so much with heat, with fear, Annie wasn’t even sure how she and the models could still be wearing make up.
Anoush had already promised the dance girls that she would walk down the catwalk arm-in-arm with them all on that opening number.
It was going to be Madonna’s ‘Vogue’ because they all loved it.
Arm-in-arm march, release arms, twirl at the bottom and march back.
‘You will love it, the audience will love it and from then on, you’ll be fine,’ she had promised.
And it was hard not to believe a kind and beautiful superstar in towering heels, with another six inches of height from her wild and untamed mane.
Annie kept peeking out into the audience, scanning for faces…
there was Svetlana, surrounded by all her grandest friends, then a smattering of fashion journalists and influencers; Ed – God bless him, dressed exactly as instructed – beside Dinah, who’d been freed by the arrival of the head girl to babysit.
Lauren, Annie knew, was not in a seat, because she and her friends were tearing around sorting one million last minute things, manning stalls, rails, guiding late arrivals into back-row seats…
Annie’s TV crowd was there and so many other guests, hundreds and hundreds of people.
She scanned once more for PaigeP. Could she—?
Would she come? There didn’t seem to be any sign of her yet.
‘Break a leg, Annie.’ It was Connor whispering against her ear. ‘We’ve had the signal. It’s showtime.’
And then the blur of intense images, feelings, excitement all began.
Connor and Vince, striding out onto the catwalk to open with jokes, some cheesy lines from Vince followed by an immediate mauling from Connor.
Omg, did he really say that? Did Connor just say he would offer Vince’s toupee a saucer of milk if it started miaowing?
No matter, everyone was laughing… including Vince.
Another peek into the audience and Annie spotted Florence!
Oh, and she was wearing the Schiaparelli jacket, of course she was…
how fabulous. Not only that, but underneath there seemed to be a gold blouse, not black.
And beside her was a very beautiful old lady, white hair, silver dress, stunning diamond chandelier earrings, which Annie could see even at this distance.
Could that be Mrs K. Lawson? Annie wondered.
Maybe she had decided she wanted to come up to London and sit with Florence to see these precious items, once worn by both of their mothers come back to life and hopefully go off to exciting new homes for a huge, charitable sum.
Looking at Florence in gold and Schiaparelli, Annie couldn’t help thinking that perhaps the dresses had brought an exciting new chapter to Florence’s life just when she needed it.
And now Connor and Vince were ending their turn, the music was ramping up and the girls were holding tight to Anoush, about to come on…
that’s when there was a small flurry of activity in the front row.
There was a shuffling, standing, making room and there, taking her front row seat at exactly the last moment, was PaigeP.
‘Ohmigod!!’ Annie gasped and when the dance girls looked at her with panicked expressions, she decided not to tell them about the latest guest. It was too much pressure. Instead, she broke into a grin and told Anoush, Bria, Shivani and Chloe: ‘You are all fabulous and it’s showtime!’
So out they went. And then it was far too fast and too busy for Annie to do anything other than concentrate on the girls and together with the small backstage army, focus on undressing and re-dressing them, fluffing their hair, adjusting their lipstick, helping to push up zips and find missing shoes and tuck in bra straps and tape loose hems and do whatever was required to keep the show on the road.
Round after round of fabulous items went out there.
There was music, applause and the sound of the bidding mounting higher and higher.
‘Come on, this is gorgeous stuff… this skirt, I think we can do one better than ￡850,’ Connor was urging the crowd. ‘Think of the good this will do… and ￡950 and… done!’
So very dizzyingly quickly, it was the 1980s round… then it was the ladies who lunch round… and already there were just two more rounds to go before the wedding round.
And then wedding music was playing and the girls all in their wonderful bridal finery were heading down the aisle.
There was Chloe with her halo of wild, frizzy curls and a bouquet of the palest pink roses, just as Annie had imagined from when she’d set eyes on her.
After the brides came the special moment when four women who had been helped by the charity and beautifully styled in auction-item clothing by Annie and Paula came out and didn’t just twirl up and down the catwalk, they spoke in their own words about what the charity had meant to them and urged everyone to dig deep for the headline items of the evening.
‘And now, ladies, gentlemen and everyone in between, here we are…’ Connor was back on stage, sounding excited but serious and every eye in the room was on him.
‘It’s the moment you have all been waiting for, your chance to see the most wonderful treasures of the night on the runway.
We’re going to start the bidding for these items at ￡30,000, so do not wave your bidding number at me unless you are serious and ready to pony up the cash. ’
A hush descended and then sophisticated jazz, from the height of the cocktail lounge era, struck up and every one of the girls came onto the stage in turn in the best vintage items the show could offer.
First the dance girls in glorious Christian Dior and Yves Saint Laurent.
Followed by Phyllis in a ball dress that Madame Chanel had touched with her very own hands.
Then it was time for Gwen to emerge in the orange and pink Schiaparelli that caused cheers and even tears from some of the most dedicated fashionistas in the audience.
And as the other girls stayed out on the runway, forming a guard of honour, out stepped Anoush looking completely sensational in the lobster dress.
At that point, the atmosphere turned electric.
More cheers, even screams… something a little close to Beatlemania was going on.
Something even of a surge towards the runway.
So much so, that both Connor, Vince and now Svetlana felt they had to come onto the catwalk and help to calm the situation down.
‘It’s wonderful, wonderful stuff… and let’s all remember why we’re here,’ Connor reminded them.
And as he began to talk about the work of the charity, Annie didn’t think she’d ever been so proud of her friend.
Oh, so professionally, he brought calm and togetherness and real warmth to the mood. And that was when the bidding began.
The dresses all sold for magical numbers.
Magical! Annie and Svetlana were holding onto each other’s arms backstage and trying to stem tears as the tens of thousands flew upwards.
‘I have someone on a computer backstage totting everything up, we were already close to a million before these dresses went out,’ Svetlana whispered.
‘That’s amazing! Amazing,’ Annie told her.
‘We do it again next year. Promise me!’ Svetlana said.
‘Ermmmm… maybe ask me in a week… or a month, babes… it’s been a lot!
’ was Annie’s honest response. And then everything was sold and the compères were back telling the audience they must go and enjoy the stalls and buy more for this wonderful cause.
But not before Svetlana, Annie and Paula were all whisked onto the stage and Svetlana was holding the microphone and delivering a thank you speech worth of Oscars night.
Svetlana was truly magnificent, Annie couldn’t help thinking.
She had given so much of her time, of her money and of her own fabulous wardrobe to make this show happen and to reel in the very big bucks for the charity.
‘Thank you so much to every single person who has made this show possible…’ Svetlana began her long list of thank yous.
She had thought it through carefully and everyone was fully appreciated, from her ‘right-hand women’ Annie and Paula, to the compères, models, music maestro, all the helpers, the audience, her husband, everyone, even the florist who’d provided the ‘funereal’ flowers got a mention, proving how happy Svetlana must be feeling.
‘We’re already planning to do this all again next year, even bigger, even better…’ Svetlana told the audience. Annie felt Paula’s arm around her waist and the two looked at each other with raised eyebrows…
‘Could we?’ Annie asked.
‘Never say never,’ Paula replied with a smile.