Chapter 13 #2
"Maggie," the celebrity answered, the crispness still in her voice. "Please tell me you have good news."
"It wasn’t your new wedding dress. The woman who owns that boutique must have taken a picture of your previous wedding gown that is on display in the Pre-Loved section.” She rubbed her face. “It also has your name on it, and that’s how she got it.”
“So you know this woman?” she asked.
“Not well,” Maggie explained the situation honestly, and who Vanessa was.
“Oh, Maggie,” the client said sympathetically. “I understand leeches. That's why I divorced my previous washed-up husband.”
“I plan to cut ties with them as well,” Maggie told her.
“You need to, Maggie,” the client agreed. “This could be very damaging to your reputation.”
“Agreed,” Maggie said. “That’s why I have a plan.” She paused for dramatic effect, knowing how much her client loved drama. "But it requires you to be willing to help me set a trap. And it requires you not to tell a single person about it."
There was a small pause.
"Now this," the celebrity said slowly, the ice in her voice melting by half a degree, "sounds interesting. Tell me."
Maggie told her. She kept it brief. She walked the celebrity through the broad shape of what she was thinking, and she watched, in her mind's eye, the celebrity's whole face change as the plan landed.
The celebrity was a woman who lived for theater.
The celebrity had built a career in theater.
The celebrity had not been this entertained by anything in months.
"Maggie," the celebrity replied when Maggie had finished. "You have my full co-operation, and yes, you can use what you asked for.” Her voice was bubbling with excitement. “Now, tell me what time you need me there."
"Just before lunch," Maggie answered. "I will have a car arranged to bring you in privately. And I will need you to wear something specific. I am going to courier it to you within the hour."
"I am at your disposal," the celebrity confirmed.
"I cannot thank you enough," Maggie told her.
"Maggie," the celebrity added. “I’m glad you’re not letting those people walk all over you anymore. Anything you need, just let me know.”
"Thank you, that means a lot,” Maggie said with a smile.
“I will see you just before lunch and can’t wait for my ‘gift,’” she told Maggie, who could all but picture the woman's sly smile.
The line went dead.
Maggie set the phone down and let out a long, slow breath she had not realized she had been holding.
That was the easy part.
She picked the phone up again and tapped Michael's name.
He answered on the second ring.
"Hello, Maggie. I was just going through your divorce file," Michael greeted her, and the warmth in his voice sent a delightful shiver down her spine and made her heart flutter.
"Hello, Michael," Maggie said. "I need your help to catch a cheater and get rid of my estranged husband for good.”
There was a momentary silence. “What do you mean by good?” Michael asked carefully.
“I mean, get him out of my life,” Maggie laughed, realizing what it had sounded like. “Not six feet under out of my life. Just divorced and to leave me alone. Maybe even get some sort of court order to stop them getting anywhere near my boutique.”
"In that case, what do you need?” Michael asked. “And what happened to bring this on?”
"Vanessa happened," Maggie told him. "Do you remember those photographs she took in my boutique yesterday?”
“I do,” Michael confirmed.
“Well, one of them is now plastered across the Kitsch Couture website as their exclusive new wedding line, and my client's name is in the caption.” Maggie drew in a breath as the anger hit her once again. “Not just any client, but the one whose dress I’m currently working on that is highly classified, and if I’m not working on it, it sits locked in a safe along with the patterns and design drafts. ”
“Oh!” Michael drawled.
“The client called me a little while ago. And as you can expect, she is furious. She gave me until five o'clock to fix it." Maggie shook her head.
There was a small silence on the line.
"We can get her for stealing your designs,” Michael told her. “But we will need the proof.”
“I have a plan to get it,” Maggie told him. “But we need to set and bait the trap.”
“Mmm,” Michael said. “What is the plan, and does it lead to you destroying Vanessa’s boutique?”
“I’m not being callous here,” Maggie said. “But I’m not really interested in what happens to Vanessa’s rip-off shop. A shop she only started after she first came to mine with Kevin.”
“That’s not callous, Maggie,” Michael assured her. “You’re protecting your business and high-end clients. They don’t just deal in excellent products, but they demand trust from those they deal with.”
“Exactly,” Maggie stated. “And right now, Vanessa and my soon-to-be ex are tarnishing a reputation I’ve worked very hard to get.
” She glanced at the sketch of Michael on her desk and quickly put the book in her top drawer.
“My main goal here is to get enough leverage to get Kevin to sign the divorce papers without another long, drawn-out trip to his attorney's office, only to find more demands. And for him to go away with nothing of what I built or access to Toby until my grandson is old enough to decide if he wants to know his grandfather or not.”
“So, taking down Vanessa in the process is just an added bonus?” Michael asked.
“I don’t wish ill on anyone’s business,” Maggie assured him. “But make it your own. Don’t steal it from someone else.”
“Your heart is too good, Maggie,” Michael told her. “So what is your plan>”
Maggie walked him through it. She kept it simple.
She told him what she needed from him. She told him what the celebrity would do.
She told him about the design on her desk that Vanessa would not be able to resist. She told him about Vanessa's habit of sending her stolen photos straight to Kevin's phone, and about the slip Vanessa had made eight months ago that Maggie had filed away in her memory and never quite forgotten.
"You thought up all that in a few minutes?” Michael sounded impressed. “Good grief, Maggie, I always knew you were good at scheming, but this is terrifying.” He laughed. “Remind me to never get on your bad side.’
“This is not my bad side,” Maggie told him. “This is my fed-up and protective side.”
“All right, I’m in," Michael agreed, without another thought. "Tell me what time you want me there."
Maggie gave him a time. “I will confirm it as soon as I’ve spoken to Kevin and got him to agree to be here just before lunch.”
They said goodbye, and she hung up.
Maggie looked down at her phone in her hand. It was show time. She found Kevin’s number and dialed. He picked up on the fifth ring.
“Hello, Maggie,” Kevin answered. “Are you calling to let me know that you’re letting my grandson come to my wedding?”
“I’m phoning to tell you that I just want you to sign this divorce now,” Maggie told him, ensuring she sounded resigned.
“Bring me your new list of demands, and I’ll go over them.
I think we should just do this without the pressure of attorneys around us.
Once we’ve agreed, we can bring them in again. ”
“Does this mean you’re agreeing to give me part ownership of your business, Maggie?” Kevin asked, and she heard the spark in his voice. “You know I do have a right to it. You spent a lot of time there during our marriage and neglected me.”
Neglected him. Not their son, just him. That was Kevin, the most selfish, self-centered person in the world, who really did think the earth revolved around him.
How had she ever let herself believe she was in love with him?
Maggie suppressed a shudder, reminding herself he’d given her their son and, as a result, her other pride and joy, Toby.
“Bring the demands,” Maggie told him. “If you can bring them to my boutique. I have to fix this design and create a fresh dress for a very important client. Someone leaked the last one, and she is not happy.”
“Of course,” Kevin said without hesitation. “I don’t mind coming to you at all. What time suits you?”
“How about just before lunch?” Maggie told him. “That will give me time to finish off this sketch.”
“That works perfectly for me, too,” Kevin agreed.
Of course it does. Maggie thought with a smile. “I’ll see you just before lunch.”
“Yes, I’m looking forward to it,” Kevin told her. “And maybe we can finally get this divorce over with.”
Here’s hoping, Maggie thought. “Yes, then you can finally have your engagement party.”
They hung up, and Maggie sat back. “Trap set,” she mumbled with a smile.
Maggie called her client and then Michael to confirm the time, then went to the shop floor, picked out one of the new outfits that she had her staff put on the racks last night. No one had even seen them yet. Called a courier company before carefully boxing the outfit, getting it ready.
Once the outfit was sent, Maggie went to her files and pulled out the design she and her client had agreed she could use. She went back to her desk and started to make it look like it was being worked on.