Chapter 7
7
‘Style’. The iconic Taylor Swift track streamed to greet them from a Bluetooth speaker on a marble-topped coffee table as the three women entered the styling studio. It was on the top two floors of a converted warehouse in the Meatpacking District above a row of boutiques at the street level selling bubble tea, vegan trainers, matcha smoothies and some kind of kefir-based power shakes Deedee had seen as they’d walked from Anthony’s limousine to the entrance door. Smiling to herself, she had instantly felt lifted. Just being around the Gen Zs in the shops made the atmosphere energising and exciting and much like it was when she had first walked down London’s Kings Road to the Biba studio all those decades ago. When she had been young herself and full of hopes and dreams. When she had thought seventy was absolutely ancient, but now here she was! And there was also just something about the world of fashion with the anticipation of trying on fabulous clothes that got her pulse racing.
She knew this would be a good idea to really get the holiday off to a great start. Since the rocky beginning yesterday and Rosie confiding in her this morning, she was even more pleased to be able to treat her friends after letting them down last night. Plus, they hadn’t even tried on any clothes yet and she already felt brighter and dare she say it, younger and more energised than yesterday, and much more like the young woman she had been in those Biba days. And she had felt fine in the limousine too, when Anthony had driven them here, with no sad thoughts at all of when Joe had last been in the car. Although the French martini that Anthony had mixed for her could have had something to do with that. So strong, the dopamine hit had been instant followed by a warm relaxed feeling. They could have walked here though as the studio was only a few blocks away from their apartment, but Anthony had kindly offered to take them on a little sightseeing tour beforehand, via Central Park so Rosie could take some pictures for her Instagram grid. Anthony had dropped them off so they could wander around admiring the lush landscape and the beautiful Bethesda fountain in springtime as they ate giant salted pretzels from a food truck.
They had then called Anthony to collect them and travelled on to Grand Central Station with its opulent vaulted atrium with stunning creamy-coloured tiled architecture. Anthony’s friend, who worked in the valet parking place near the station, had let him leave the limo there for a couple of hours so he could join the three women. Anthony had taken a picture of Deedee with her arms around Gina and Rosie by the iconic four-faced brass and opal clock in the heart of the station high above the meeting point. And she had only wobbled momentarily on remembering the time Joe had met her there in the exact same spot on their first Valentine’s Day together, arriving late with a flushed face from having run the last two blocks to make up time, and with an enormous bunch of red velvet roses for her. They had skipped the romantic restaurant he had booked and headed straight back to his apartment in Greenwich Village for an evening of incredibly hot sex instead. Even now, after all these years, her face still flushed, and her heart raced when she remembered that night. Joe’s run having most definitely been an effective warm up… given the stamina he’d displayed all night long. She’d been so exhausted the following morning, it was all she could do to stagger into the shower on tingling jelly legs before he had joined her for round two, or had it been three or four… she had lost track. But it had been wonderful watching the world go by in Grand Central Station as she had reminisced inside her head while Rosie had made plenty of picture-perfect reels too for her grid. They had admired the crystal chandeliers and gazed up at the gold and blue celestial starred ceiling before finishing with a lunch reservation that Anthony had organised for them in the famous Oyster Bar. There they had enjoyed delicious lobster rolls and key lime pie, sat at a corner table with a red-and-white-chequered tablecloth as he regaled them with tales of seeing Al Pacino there one time, Meg Ryan another.
‘Oh, wow, the studio looks amazing,’ Gina said in a hushed voice as they entered a hallway where the walls were covered entirely in shimmering white muslin material, giving a dreamy, floating effect as they walked on carpet with a pile so deep Deedee’s wedge sandals were in danger of sinking and never resurfacing.
‘Deedeeeee! How wonderful to see you again. And you are looking divine, my love. Your two gorgeous friends too. How was your sightseeing trip?’ Karl appeared and came walking towards them with arms outstretched in greeting, looking radiant in a black-and-red brocade suit with matching waistcoat and a frothy pink silk pocket square fluttering jauntily.
‘Marvellous.’ Deedee stepped forward. ‘It’s been a while since I was last there in Grand Central Station,’ she smiled.
‘And lunch? I do hope Anthony didn’t bore you with his Al and Meg tales again.’ Karl laughed and rolled his eyes as Anthony gave him a hug and a big kiss on the cheek.
‘You love it really!’ Anthony quipped before turning on his heel and waving a hand in the air. ‘Must go, more people to bore with my tales – see you later, ladies. I’ll come and rescue you from Karl’s incessant fashion chatter in a few hours, if you haven’t died of boredom before then that is.’ Laughing, Anthony quickened his pace and scarpered as Karl pretended to go after him with a clenched fist raised up high in the air.
Deedee introduced Gina and Rosie and after hugging each of the three women and giving them several air kisses, Karl took Deedee’s hand and looped it into the crook of his elbow to escort her. ‘Come with me and let’s make you all even more fabulous than you already are.’
On reaching the studio, Karl gently let go of Deedee’s hand and pushed two enormous double doors wide open to reveal a glittery disco ball-lit room that resembled a nightclub. All three women gasped in unison. At the far end wall was a floor-to-ceiling oval-topped mirror. A sofa sat by the window with a snack station and fridge beside it, stocked with smoothies, juices, cans of bubble tea and every kind of coffee you could ever desire. A silver ice bucket packed with crushed ice and mini bottles of prosecco was chilling on a poseur table in one corner and a silver hanging rail stocked with clothes in every colour of the rainbow ran the length of the other wall. And Taylor was still singing.
‘Oh my God, Deedee, this place is amazing. And just the distraction I needed. Thank you,’ Rosie said, her eyes scooting around the studio trying to take it all in at once. Deedee squeezed her friend’s hand as they wandered through.
‘Ooh, look at this.’ Gina was over at the red section of the clothes rail now and fingering an exquisitely tailored trouser suit.
‘Try it on, darling. The scarlet palette will be a dream on you with your sun-kissed complexion,’ Karl told her, and plucked the hanger with the trouser suit on from the rail, together with several other choices and ushered them all towards their changing areas. After placing his selections for Gina and Rosie in their booths, he turned to Deedee. ‘Honey, you’re over here on the other side of the studio by the red carpet – I took the liberty of selecting a very special piece for you to try on seeing as you are the birthday queen. And you are going to love it. The dress is to die… and go to heaven for! The perfect party gown.’ He pressed a palm to his chest dramatically as if to emphasise this endorsement. After giving him a quick kiss of thanks on the cheek, Deedee slipped straight into the changing booth ready to try on the glittery gold dress that was hanging in there with matching shoes and a Chanel bag nestled in tissue paper on a stool next to it.
Moments later, having managed to get the incredibly flattering, figure-skimming gown on, but unable to reach the zip at the back, and Deedee swung open the curtain. Both Gina, looking stunning in the red trouser suit, and Rosie, glowing in a frothy floor-length tulle ballerina skirt, stopped chatting on the other side of the studio and stared open-mouthed as they walked over to join her.
‘What is it?’ Deedee asked, wondering if the gown was too much as it really did skim every curve and her body wasn’t as firm as it once was. ‘Is something wrong?’
‘Not at all,’ her two friends said in unison.
‘The dress is stunning on you,’ Rosie beamed, doing a little clap.
‘You look absolutely sensational, Dee!’ Karl came over, fixed the zip and after ruffling and fluffing the train of the dress into a shimmering pool on the red carpet at her feet, he stood back and opened his arms wide as a frame for the dress. ‘Now strut!’ And he flapped a hand in the air and motioned for his assistant, Iris, who had just entered the studio, to turn up the volume. Beyonce’s ‘Cuff It’ came on and Deedee didn’t need asking twice. So with a hand on one hip she put a foot in front of the other and worked the red carpet catwalk, remembering to take her steps in time to the beat of the music and to pause and pivot at the end before coming back again. Gina and Rosie clapped enthusiastically, and both gave her a double thumbs up before having to dash over to Iris who was calling their names and waiting with arms full of several more items she had selected for them to try on.
‘Oh, darling, you’ve chosen so well for me!’ Deedee said, turning to Karl and running her fingers over the exquisite material. ‘I’ve not felt this…’ she paused for the right word, ‘ alive , since, well… I can’t remember when. And these heels fit like slippers. I may have to pass though as it all looks very expensive and the Chanel especially… My budget won’t stretch that far at the moment.’ She grinned awkwardly, thinking of the precarious situation with the travel agency and knowing there was no way she could afford an expensive designer dress and handbag, especially as she may still have to make Molly redundant if Rosie’s rebranding and restructuring idea didn’t take off as she was hoping it might. Yes, treats like these would have to wait until business was booming again… one day soon, hopefully.
‘No need. A birthday gift for you,’ Karl said swiftly as he twirled her around to unzip her.
‘But you can’t do that, darling,’ Deedee said over her shoulder as she scooped her hair aside so he could reach the top of the zip. ‘It’s far too much. I couldn’t possibly accept.’
‘Of course you can. The dress and shoes are samples from a wonderfully talented young designer I’m working with. I commissioned her to make bespoke adjustments to them for you. She owed me a favour in any case, after I set her up with a wealthy sponsor for her next collection. And the Chanel is pre-loved, so was a fraction of the original price. Plus, between us darling, I think it may be an exceptionally good copy, hence the very generous discount the seller gave me,’ he whispered as he ushered her back inside the changing booth.
‘Oh, um…’ Deedee said, running a finger over the soft, supple leather of the bag which looked just like the real deal to her untrained eye. ‘Are you sure?’ She turned to look at him head on.
‘This conversation is closed!’ he replied in a sing-song voice, although quickly averting his eyes, she spotted, as she slipped the dress from her shoulders. And she knew it wasn’t to protect her modesty as he had seen her semi-naked plenty of times previously, when he’d styled her for various red carpet Hollywood film premieres she had attended with Joe back in the day. So she wasn’t at all convinced that the Chanel was fake, as he was trying to imply. She made a mental note to have a handwritten thank you card delivered to him when she got back to London with a spray of his favourite fuchsia-coloured orchids. She knew he’d appreciate the old-school glamour of this gesture as he had a collection of monogrammed cards from various friends and clients going all the way back to the eighties when he had first styled George Michael on a photoshoot.
‘Well, in that case, I’m incredibly grateful. Thank you, my love.’ Deedee stepped out of the dress and slipped her arms under his to wrap him in a huge hug.
‘Just promise me one thing.’ Karl pulled back to look in her eyes.
‘Anything,’ she laughed.
‘That you cherish the Chanel. See it as a symbol of our love for you, darling – mine and Anthony’s. You’ve been such a good friend to us, an ally too back in the day when things weren’t the way they are now.’
‘Of course, always, love is love and all that,’ she smiled, wondering where this was going as Karl wasn’t usually this sentimental. ‘You’re not ill, are you?’ she swiftly asked, her brows dipping in concern when he held her gaze momentarily as if there was something more he wanted to say but wasn’t sure whether to or not. ‘Or Anthony?’ She held her breath.
‘No!’ He batted her arm and shook his head. ‘Why on earth would you think that?’
‘Well… the way you just looked at me. With a sort of sadness in your eyes. And you never know at our age—’ She stopped talking. A sudden memory of sitting with Joe in the consultant’s office in the hospital when he had delivered the devastating diagnosis flashed in front of her. ‘Err… I had better get dressed,’ she said, changing the subject.
‘Dee.’ Karl gently took hold of her hand, so she stopped moving. ‘Is everything OK, darling?’
‘Yes, yes, why wouldn’t it be?’ She flicked her hair back from her face and found the white broderie sundress she had been wearing when she arrived here. A beat of silence followed before Karl replied.
‘No reason, just that you seem a little different, quieter than you were the last time we were together.’ He gave her a kind smile as he gathered up the gold gown and the shoes.
‘Honestly, I’m fine,’ she batted away the question, not wanting to talk about Joe – she had made a promise to herself, after all, to keep an upbeat mood and make the most of being here. Now wasn’t the time to get into telling Karl how much she was missing Joe and wished he was here because then he would feel sorry for her, and they would end up having a heart to heart, and it would spoil that upbeat mood she desperately wanted to hold on to.
‘OK, if you are sure. Then I’ll wrap these for you.’ And he went to leave but stopped by the curtain and turned back to look at her. ‘There is one other condition with the Chanel…’
‘Yes?’ she asked slowly.
He hesitated again.
‘That you take it on your date with McDreamy and let yourself have the time of your life! Have fun, my love, with an open heart. Promise me you’ll see where the night takes you.’ Karl lifted one immaculately groomed brow with a quizzical look on his face.
More silence followed.
‘But—’ Deedee opened her mouth, but quickly closed it again.
‘No buts.’ He put an index finger to her lips.
She moved it away and with her hands on her hips she questioned Karl, ‘How do you know about the date?’ She shook her head as if to recalibrate and start again. ‘The date , that isn’t actually a date, I should add – it’s just a turn of phrase – it’s a catch-up over dinner, that’s all.’ She frowned. ‘You know what Yiannis is like, he’s a flirt. A player. Always has been. And he’s kind too, which is why he’s taking me to this new Parisian restaurant… to cheer me up because the prospect of hitting seventy isn’t exactly charming me right now and is most likely why I may have been a bit quieter recently,’ she retorted. And no sooner were the words out of her mouth, and she regretted how defensive she sounded and how that upbeat mood she had so desperately wanted to hold on to instantly nosedived. Damn it! She quickly turned away from him and pretended to adjust her dress, inhaling hard through her nose and out through her mouth in an attempt to calm herself. But still, curiosity got the better of her and so she turned back to face him. ‘Did Yiannis tell you something different then?’
‘Yes, I ran into him earlier, literally, when I was out jogging. I turned the corner at the end of the block and crashed right into his perfectly honed and super-solid muscular chest – and I certainly wasn’t mad about it I can tell you!’ Karl lifted another brow, his lips curling into a naughty smile. ‘And he said you had agreed, at last, to a date. Clearly such a situationship! And I can also tell you that even my stony cold heart did a little leap of joy. But then, today I see you are less perky than usual. Anthony said so too when he collected you from the airport. And Yiannis mentioned something along the same lines as well about you being a bit flat when you and he talked on the phone, so this is perfect timing for you, darling.’
‘I see,’ Deedee paused and took a beat. ‘So what you’re saying is that the three of you have been talking about me.’
‘Not like that, Dee… We care about you, we love you… that’s all,’ he said, his eyes softening.
But Deedee couldn’t bear the pity there too in his eyes and swallowed hard as she glanced at the floor. ‘And what is this situation thing… what are you going on about?’ she asked, shaking her head as she fiddled with the buttons on the sleeves of her dress. She could actually feel a flutter herself, one of flaming frustration! That Anthony, Karl and Yiannis, her three best friends, all appeared to be discussing her and speculating about her mood… and her love life too it now seemed.
‘OK, well, I made that bit up – he didn’t say anything about a “situationship” exactly.’ Karl paused to do silly quote signs in the air. ‘But still, it’s about time you moved things on to the next level. Don’t you think?’
‘There is no level,’ Deedee sighed. ‘Yiannis and I are old friends, have been for years, you know that. We are practically brother and sister, so?—’
‘Eeuwwww!’ Karl pulled a face and fell silent momentarily before asking, ‘Darling, is that really how you see your situation with Yiannis?’
‘Stop saying situation like that. Where did you even get the word from?’
‘Oh, situationship?’ he repeated it again, and Deedee gave him a tight smile, convinced he was just doing it on purpose now. ‘It’s what all the young people say, sweetie. It’s something to do with relationships that are flirty and need to move on to something more serious… I think. Iris is always talking about them, in fact, she has multiple situationships on the go and often regales us with humorous anecdotes of where each one of them is at. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about.’ Karl tilted his head to one side.
‘I’m not embarrassed!’ Deedee said quickly, feeling very flustered indeed now. ‘And Iris is about twenty-five years old so it’s hardly the same when I’m nearly seventy, and you are in your sixties!’ She stopped talking.
‘Hmm… so if you’re not embarrassed, why did you avoid my question then?’
‘What question?’
‘Oh, Dee, you know what question… the brother-sister thing, it’s not like that with you and Yiannis, is it?’ He paused. ‘Brothers and sisters don’t flirt like you two do. And you know he’s always carried a torch for you. And, why not? – you’re beautiful and vivacious and all the good stuff… and he is hot as fu?—’
‘OK, that’s not happening.’ Deedee swiftly held a hand up to cut Karl off, wishing Gina and Rosie would reappear from wherever they had disappeared to so she could talk to them instead and rescue herself from this scrutiny. ‘Why would you even say this?’ she continued, ‘Yiannis was Joe’s friend… My husband. I’d never betray Joe like that, especially when I still love him just like I did when he was still here. That doesn’t change just because a person dies, you know?’
‘I know,’ Karl said softly. ‘And Dee, I’m sorry.’ He came closer to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. ‘I didn’t mean to upset you. Like I said, I love you and care about you, and want you to be happy… Anthony and I both do. And you just seem… sad! If you want my honest opinion.’
‘Hmm… I don’t, but…’ Deedee shook her head and pulled a pretend cross face as she knew deep down that he really did care, that his concern was genuine and came from a place of kindness, not meddling. But still, right now, she was finding him infuriating.
‘I genuinely am sorry it didn’t work out with Luca.’ Karl said. Deedee went to explain that it wasn’t anything serious with Luca, but Karl carried on talking. ‘What I mean is that you’re not the only one who has loved and lost… we all have. You know what it is what like back then.’ His voice tailed off and Deedee smarted, knowing exactly what he was referring to.
‘I get that,’ Deedee said gently, touching a hand to his arm as she remembered the AIDS crisis in the eighties when they had all been so young. The heartbreaking devastation of losing loved ones. Both Anthony and Karl had lost their partners in the most tragically cruel way so then when they had found each other later on it had made their relationship even more precious.
‘Then you know that when you find love, you have to grab hold of it with both hands and an open heart. And you’ve always loved Yiannis, haven’t you?’
‘Hmm… I suppose I have,’ she said, a swirl of mixed emotions surfacing as it was true, she had always loved Yiannis, he was her first love after all. ‘And I’ve always thought him the most handsome man ever, but you know he hurt me, broke my heart in fact, even though I didn’t tell him at the time of course because I was young and na?ve, and a little bit caught up in the drama of it all, just a part of “being in love”. But it’s not like that now… I couldn’t trust my heart to him… He’s a player and totally inappropriate. And like I said, I still love Joe. No, Yiannis and I are just really good friends.’
‘Exactly! You and Yiannis are so good together and they do say that the best relationships start off as friendships.’
‘And they also say the fastest way to ruin a friendship is to turn it into a romance!’ Deedee said quickly, knowing she would be heartbroken if her relationship with Yiannis fell apart. It was her constant. A shining light that had kept her from falling into an abyss of total darkness many times over the decades, even more so since Joe had died.
‘True.’ Karl nodded in agreement. ‘But you might never know if you don’t give it a try.’
‘Sorry… but the stakes would just be too high,’ she said, resolute. ‘Now, how about we open a couple of these and change the subject?’ Deedee plucked two mini bottles of prosecco from the ice bucket and handed one to Karl, hoping that would be the end of it and they could go back to trying on fabulous floor-length gowns.