Chapter 12
For the next nine days, Eugenia worked nonstop on her show. She worked all week
and straight through Labor Day weekend, and Eloise helped her. This was familiar
territory for Eugenia. By Labor Day every detail of the show was the way she wanted it,
the music was perfect, the models had the look she wanted, the clothes fit them
perfectly. She had decided on the hair and makeup for each model. Every detail for the
runway show had been worked out, and they had a presentation of Cotton Candy set up
in their Seventh Avenue showroom, and the orders were pouring in.
Eugenia had only seen Patrick twice in the last week, and only briefly. She was so
tired, she nodded off and almost fell asleep at dinner. He teased her about it afterward.
“I’ve always known how boring I am, but most of my dates pretend they’re
fascinated and try to stay awake.”
“I’m so sorry, Patrick.” She hadn’t had more than three hours of sleep a night all
week. It was the nature of the business during Fashion Week.
Patrick was coming to the show, and had asked to bring his son. He said Quinn had
been to Fashion Week before, probably to see the models he dated. But it amused
Patrick to attend Eugenia’s show with Quinn. He was eager to see more of Eugenia
again once the show was behind her, but she was going to Paris in two weeks for Paris
Fashion Week, to do a presentation of her new high-end daywear line and Cotton Candy,
which was set up in their Paris office. Since Patrick was less busy than usual, he had
told Eugenia he wanted to come to see her in Paris and take her out, and she said she
thought it would be fun. He still had his plane so he could fly private to Paris, maybe
with Quinn. He wanted to enjoy the luxuries he still had.
Things were starting to look up for him too. He’d made another deal and had sold
three of his buildings now, at a loss but not too dramatic. He still had fourteen
unoccupied buildings, but some of the larger corporations were moving back in and he
had increased their rent. He still wanted to try to reconfigure some of his buildings on
the successful Chicago model of a block of floors as a hotel, another block as office
space, and the top twenty floors as luxury apartments with spectacular views of the city.
It worked in Chicago, and he didn’t see why it wouldn’t work in New York. There were
even department stores, shopping malls, supermarkets, and movie theaters as part of the
buildings. He was excited by the concept and was determined to try, and from the three
buildings he had sold he had the money he needed to experiment with it. He was
working with an architect on the concept for the first one, and had already sparked some
interest.
—
The day after Labor Day, on the morning of her show, Eugenia was backstage, checking
the models before they walked out on the runway. Eloise was with her and had helped
style the show. Gloria had flown to London the day after the canceled wedding, and
Brad and Sofia were back at their medical center in Memphis. Daphne was home
recovering from childbirth and enjoying visits from Eloise when she had time. Eloise
was enjoying New York more than she had expected to, after seven years in Paris.
Eugenia had invited Liz to the show, and given her a front-row seat, and Liz was excited
to be in the front row, particularly for her mother-in-law’s new concept of chic
daywear. Natasha Wylie was in the front row too, with two friends, explaining to
everyone near them that she and Eugenia were partners. Every fashion editor and store
buyer from around the world was present, as usual. And all of the fashion press. It was
exciting just being in the audience, and Patrick was excited for Eugenia. Quinn was
amused to see his father at the show, since it wasn’t his usual style, but Quinn had
noticed that in spite of the big business headaches Patrick had, he was happy these days,
and Quinn wanted to meet the woman who was responsible for it. He noticed that his
father was shy about talking about Eugenia, and was very protective of her. Quinn had a
feeling that it might just be serious. He knew his father hadn’t had a regular girlfriend in
years, and had no interest in marrying again.
The show was as exciting as Eugenia had hoped it would be, and the critics loved it.
She had hit just the right tone between chic and casual, with clothes that looked great
and were easy to wear but were still high quality and looked it. Her denims were
beautiful and had a slightly dressy feel to the way they were cut in trim suits and
dresses. The other fabrics she had chosen were appealing, and the palette of colors she
had chosen was flattering to women of all ages. Patrick was hugely impressed when he
saw the show, and it brought everything she had explained to him to life.
Quinn enjoyed admiring the models. There were some exquisite girls in the show.
The new trend was to use less attractive models, unlike the big stars of earlier decades,
but Eugenia was more old-school about that, and there were at least three girls he
would have liked to date, and two that he already had, out of thirty-five in the show. The
final look was a less formal wedding dress that made the audience applaud. The music
Eugenia had chosen was so contemporary and exciting that it added life to the girls
striding down the runway. Eugenia came out and took a quick bow at the end of the
show. She was always shy about it. Quinn noticed that a very beautiful young woman
held the curtain back for her. She and Eugenia looked somewhat similar. She had a great
figure and long blond hair and was wearing black jeans and a black T-shirt. She looked
like one of the models, but she wasn’t dressed for the show and hadn’t been on the
runway with the others. She caught Quinn’s attention immediately, and he nudged his
father.
“Who’s that?” He pointed seconds before they dropped the curtain and Eugenia
disappeared backstage, and so did the beautiful younger woman. He doubted that his
father knew, but he might. All he knew was that his father was dating Eugenia Ward, he
didn’t know anything else about her. And many of the models Quinn dated had been in
her shows. She was a big deal in fashion, and his father had told him that she was in the
process of reinventing herself, which seemed to be a common theme these days.
Patrick wasn’t quite sure who he meant, and Quinn described the girl he’d seen
behind Eugenia. “I’m not sure, I didn’t see her for long enough,” Patrick answered. “It
might be one of her daughters. One of them was a designer for Balenciaga in Paris, and
just moved back to New York. She’s been helping her mother with the show.”
Quinn laughed at his father again. “Listen to you, being up on all the big designers.”
It was a whole new view of Patrick, which Quinn thought was great. He used to be all
about business, and lately he was having fun too. In the past, the only fun he had was on
his boat. Eugenia seemed to be expanding his horizons, and Patrick was diversifying his
interests because of her. “Is the daughter nice?” Quinn asked him and Patrick thought
about it.
“I think so, she’s very bright, and is good to her mother. I think she wants to go back
to Paris, she’s looking for a job. I’ve only met her twice.”
When the show ended, Patrick wanted to congratulate Eugenia and tell her how great
the show was. He stood up and told Quinn he was going backstage.
“I’ll go with you,” Quinn said, and his father smiled.
“What a good son you are,” he teased him.
“Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m all heart.” As father and son they got along well, and Quinn
had long since forgiven his father for the times he wasn’t around when he was young.
They had had some great times together in recent years on the boat and had taken
several trips together.
Father and son pressed through the crowd to get to Eugenia. She was wearing white
jeans, a plain white T-shirt, and sneakers, and Quinn could see she had a great body and
a youthful face, and then he saw the girl in black standing right behind her. While
Patrick was telling Eugenia how fabulous the show had been, Quinn said hello to the
girl in the black T-shirt.
“Hi,” he said to her amidst the din and the chaos, with people pressing to get on the
stage to reach Eugenia. Quinn had been backstage at fashion shows before, but he
somehow felt tongue-tied, talking to the tall beautiful blonde in the black shirt and jeans.
“Do you work here?” he asked her.
“I’m just helping out,” she said with a breathtaking smile.
“The show was great.”
“It’s a whole new direction for the designer,” she said, which made him think she
wasn’t Eugenia’s daughter after all. But whoever she was, she was gorgeous, and she
seemed interesting and pleasant. He couldn’t think of what to say to her, which was
unusual for him. Normally, he had no trouble thinking up clever lines to pick up women,
but his mind was suddenly a blank. There was no way he could ask her for her number
with nothing else to say to her, it would seem so crass. And he turned and saw his father
standing next to him. Quinn was taller and broader, but Patrick was a handsome man
too. The beautiful woman’s face broke into a warm smile when she saw Quinn’s father.
“Hi, Patrick,” she said to him, “how did you like the show?”
“Loved it! It was worth all the hard work you and your mother put into it. It was
terrific. Have you met my son?” he said innocently, and suddenly Quinn came to life.
She was the designer’s daughter, and just trying to be professional and discreet. “You
and your mother will have to have dinner with us sometime. Things ought to slow down
a little now that the show is over.” Eloise laughed at the suggestion.
“Yeah, for about five minutes. She’s busy on Cotton Candy now, and we’re taking
that and this collection to Paris to take orders there during Paris Fashion Week. We
leave in two weeks. She never stops for long.”
“I’m getting to know that. Maybe we’ll see you there,” Patrick said. They were
being jostled by the crowd, and she looked at them both with a friendly expression.
“I’d better rescue my mother. She looks like she’s being eaten alive by the crowd. It
was nice to see you,” she said to Patrick and glanced at his son, “and nice to meet you,”
and then, clutching her clipboard, she disappeared into the crowd. The two men found
their way off the stage, and Patrick smiled at Quinn on the way out.
“You looked like you needed a helping hand.” He grinned at him, and Quinn looked
sheepish.
“I didn’t know what to say to her, I couldn’t figure out if she was the designer’s
daughter or not. Let’s take them both to dinner sometime.”
“Ah, so we’re now a father and son act,” Patrick teased him.
“Maybe I will come to Paris with you. That might really be fun.” Quinn had dated
several French models, and had been to Paris Fashion Week before, and gone to some
of the shows when his dates were in them.
“You’d better be nice to me if you expect me to introduce you to my women friends’
daughters.” That had never happened before.
“Not women, or daughters, just that one. She’s got a nice real look, not all the phony
crap that goes with models. And most of them are teenagers, too young for me.”
“I suspect you’re in a much better position to know about models than I am. I haven’t
dated a model in about twenty years.”
“You’ve moved up in the world, Dad. You’re dating designers. Maybe I’m ready for
the next step too.” They left each other outside the venue, and they both went back to
their offices smiling. They’d had a good time.
—
Patrick spent the night with Eugenia that night at his house, since Eloise was still staying
with her.
It was the first relaxed evening they’d had in weeks. Now that the show was over
she could breathe again, and she hadn’t fallen asleep at dinner.
“Guess who I introduced my son to today,” he said, and she couldn’t guess. “Eloise.
We saw her when I was looking for you backstage. He was very taken with her. He
thinks we should go to dinner together sometime. What do you think?”
“I’d love to meet him, and have dinner with him. But Eloise is unpredictable and not
very social. She works so hard, she rarely goes out, though now that she’s working for
me for a little while, she’s not working quite as hard. She’s very shy and she gets
anxious. Daphne tried to introduce her to people for years and finally gave up. Eloise
just turned thirty, and I think she’s perfectly happy staying single forever.”
“She’s so beautiful, that’s a terrible waste. She looks just like you. He even said he
might come to Paris with me, if I go to see you.” She smiled at the idea of introducing
their children to each other. Usually those attempts were never successful, and children
usually hated their parents’ friends. She’d tried when they were younger, unsuccessfully.
“You’re welcome to try. It would be fun if they like each other, and it might be a nice
introduction for Quinn to meet the others.” She’d been thinking about it lately and
Patrick liked the idea. He liked her children, and Eloise might be a nice friend for
Quinn, if nothing else.
They had a good time talking to each other that night, since they’d had so few
opportunities to see each other for the past two weeks, between the wedding and the
show. He was getting to know her. She was going to take her two new lines to Paris and
take orders there, and be busy again. She was a moving target.
“I like the idea of coming to Paris, by the way,” Patrick said to her, but he didn’t
want to crowd her when she was working. “Would you have time to see me?” He didn’t
want to bother her if she was too busy. He knew what that was like, and wanted to be
respectful of her commitments.
“It won’t be as crazy there, since I’m not doing a show, just a presentation in our
sales office. It would be fun to see you,” she said, and kissed him.
“Then maybe I’ll come,” he said, pensive. They held each other close when they fell
asleep that night after they made love. He had missed her while she was so busy, but
now he had Paris to look forward to.
—
They had breakfast together the next day, after making love again in the morning. They
were well suited and had a great time in bed. At breakfast, Patrick was reading The
Wall Street Journal and Eugenia was reading The New York Times on her iPad when
she stopped and stared at a photograph and read the headline above it. She looked up at
Patrick in astonishment.
“You’re not going to believe this.”
“Try me.” She handed him her iPad and he stared too, and then he whistled, read the
article, looked up at her, and said, “Wow!”
“Holy shit, Patrick. Now what do I do?”
“You exercise your morals clause,” he said simply. Austin Wylie had been indicted
on federal charges for selling missiles, automatic weapons, and other comparable
weapons of destruction to three countries in the Middle East, and two in Africa, all of
whom were hostile to the United States. “You know, I always had a feeling about him. I
thought there was something smoky about his oil business. He was too rich just for oil. I
figured he was doing something illegal. This is exactly what I thought. I’m shocked but
not surprised.”
“Do I have to give him back his money?” Eugenia looked suddenly disappointed. “I
need that money, Patrick. Things are going well, but I’m not back where I was yet. I’m
trying to rebuild my business, and I can do it with the twenty million he gave me.
Without that, I’m going to be broke again. What do I do?”
“You can’t keep tainted money to run your business,” he said wisely. “That will
come back to haunt you at just the wrong time, and you could lose everything. They
could accuse you of knowing where it came from, laundering money, or being part of the
deal.”
“Shit. When do I have to give it back?”
“Soon. Now. You have to register your displeasure with him, and publicly refuse to
do business with a dangerous criminal. He’ll go to prison for this. The faster you give
him his money back, the better for you.” Patrick thought for a moment and looked at her.
He trusted her completely and he dealt in much bigger amounts than what Wylie had
loaned her. “I can loan you twenty million for a while, until you find new investors.”
“I’ll have money after Paris, but not twenty million. I don’t want to take money from
you, and I don’t know when I could pay you back.”
“You need to find investors to replace him. Just know that if you need me to cover
you for a while, I can.”
“Thank you.” She was genuinely touched. It was a very generous offer.
She thought about it on her way to work, and called Stefano when she got to the
office, telling him her dilemma. “Patrick’s right,” he said to her. “That’s liable to turn
into a really dangerous mess, Mom. Who knows what else he was selling? Military
secrets, whatever he can get his hands on.”
“I thought he was harmless,” she said.
“Well, clearly he’s not.”
“Patrick was uncomfortable about him all along.”
“He’s a smart guy,” Stef said. “And he’s right, you need to give Wylie his money
back. He’s going to need it for lawyers. But unfortunately, I don’t know anyone I think
would invest in the fashion industry. No one’s ever asked me for that.” Eugenia had
taken out two loans during the pandemic, and she didn’t want to add more debt to her
books. Another investor was the only way. But who? “You know, Mom, you should talk
to Liz. I know you were uncomfortable about her at first, but she’s really smart, and she
likes you, and she knows all kinds of investors. She’s much better at networking than I
am,” he said.
Eugenia hated to call Liz after all the things she and the girls had said about her. She
felt like such a hypocrite. But without Austin’s money, she was still at risk of losing her
business, and things were going so well, heading in the right direction. And if she got
big orders in Paris for her new lines, she wouldn’t be able to produce them without
more money, if she had to give Wylie back his.
With some trepidation, she called Liz, who listened to what she had to say. She
expected Liz to tell her to get lost. Instead, she stunned her mother-in-law, and leapt into
action. She was more than willing to help her.
“Give me a few days,” she said to Eugenia. “I’m going to shake the trees and see
what I can come up with. I have some ideas.” She didn’t hesitate for a minute. She dove
right into the deep end of the pool to save Eugenia and her business. Stef was right. And
Eugenia was grateful for her efforts, even if she didn’t find any investors. Liz promised
to call her by the end of the week, which sounded too fast and unrealistic to Eugenia.
She called her banker and lawyer after that, and arranged to return Austin’s twenty
million by the next day, without penalty, just as their contract said, thanks to Patrick’s
good advice.
She sent out an email blast informing everyone she dealt with that Austin Wylie was
no longer an investor in Eugenia Ward, Princess Eugenie, or Cotton Candy, and that his
money had been returned. The press talked about it and commented on it the next day.
She was worried about her business again, and distracted, but as promised, she got a
call from Liz on Friday afternoon.
“Two down and one to go,” she reported in a voice of victory.
“Two what?” Eugenia thought Liz was talking about her Cotton Candy dress order,
which was large and had just been sent to her.
“Two investors, of course. One is a really sweet guy in the garment district who
owns four factories in New Jersey and loves what you do, and one is a shut-in who was
a designer in her youth and loves fashion. She married a wealthy man and retired early,
and now she’s a widow. The first one gave us ten million, the second one gave us five.
I’ve made some good investments for them and made them a lot of money. I can get you
another five million easily. It’s a small amount of money and you’re a big, important
brand. They’re really excited to invest in your business, and want to help you out.”
Eugenia couldn’t believe that her rhinestone-studded not-so-genteel little daughter-inlaw
had gotten her fifteen million dollars in two days. And the third investor was sure
to come. Five million was not a big investment for anyone to make and Liz would find
it.
“Liz, I can’t tell you how grateful I am,” Eugenia said to her.
“It was fun. I loved it. I’ll get you the other five within a week.”
Eugenia was floating on a cloud at the store that afternoon, thinking about the money
and how efficient Liz was. And then suddenly she looked up and Natasha was there. She
seemed tired and worried, and Eugenia realized how unpleasant this was for her. She
probably had had no idea what Austin was up to, and certainly not the scale to which he
was implicated. Her whole life must be upside down now too.
“So we are not partners anymore?” Natasha said sadly. And even if she was vulgar
and badly dressed, she was harmless and smart, and she loved Eugenia’s brands, and
was so proud to be part of the business.
“I gave the money back,” Eugenia told her. “It’s already on its way to Austin’s
account. My daughter-in-law just found two investors for me. I still need another one,”
Eugenia said candidly.
“For five million, how much partnership do I get?” Natasha looked mischievous as
she said it. She didn’t appear to be too sympathetic about Austin’s fate. Eugenia
wondered if she even liked him. Maybe not. Maybe she’d even turned state’s evidence
against him. They were a tough crowd.
“For five million, you get five percent ownership. Don’t waste your money, Natasha,
it’s not worth it.” She might need the money now with Austin in prison, where he was
sure to end up.
“Five percent is good. I’ll give you five million. I can afford it. And I can work in
the store whenever you want me,” Natasha said, smiling. Eugenia wanted to hug her.
And then she thought of something.
“Did Austin give you the money? Originally?” If he had, it would still be dangerous
for her if they traced it. Natasha smiled mysteriously.
“No, this is my money. Not Austin’s. I get it from selling the jewelry he gives me.
It’s all expensive and I don’t like it.” It struck Eugenia as funny, but the money was
clean. The jewelry belonged to Natasha, according to their prenup, and she had a right
to sell it if she wished.
“What’s going to happen to you now if Austin goes to jail?” Eugenia asked her.
“My lawyer says he will. I’m going to divorce him,” Natasha said matter-of-factly,
with no look of regret. And then she lowered her voice so no one could hear her, except
Eugenia. “I have a boyfriend. He’s much richer than Austin. He’s Russian like me. And
very smart.” Eugenia couldn’t help wondering how girls like Natasha managed to
always land on their feet. It was a business to them, and they were good at it. She
smiled at Natasha.
“I’m happy for you,” and she meant it.
“I’ll transfer the five million to you on Monday. And we’re partners five percent.
My lawyer will draw up contract. Everything is good now. And Austin is gone.”
Natasha shook Eugenia’s hand, hugged her and kissed her, and left a few minutes later.
Eugenia called Liz to tell her that she had found the last five million herself. And
Natasha seemed like an honest woman. With magic powers to use on wealthy men.
Eugenia was back in business, and by next week should have twenty million in her bank
account again for her brands. Patrick had saved her with the morals clause he had
insisted on in her contract with Austin Wylie. And Natasha had turned out to be an
unexpected blessing. She was a very smart woman, and not the mindless trophy wife she
appeared to be. Eugenia actually liked her and they were “partners five percent.”
