Fashionista (9 page)

The first floor of Prince
’
s Department Store was crowded and there was a line leading to the entry kiosk. As Hugo and Bailey looked down from the mezzanine at the controlled chaos, she was almost giddy. It was the last week that entries would be accepted for the Cinderella contest and the response had outpaced her wildest expectations. John Monroe had already culled bout 200 possibles from the entries and would be winnowing the pile down to 94 that weekend. Hugo had to admit that he hadn
’
t seen his father so engaged in years.

He could see him walking up and down the line of hopefuls now, stopping to chat every so often.

“
Oh my God,
”
Bailey said.
“
It
’
s Allegra Zangari. Did you know she was going to enter the contest?
”

“
No idea,
”
Hugo said,
“
I saw her earlier today and she never mentioned it.
”

“
You saw her today?
”
Bailey asked, but she had noticed John Morgan making a beeline for Allegra and her companion.

As Allegra and Severine took their place in the long line, she found herself getting nervous. She kept fiddling with her portfolio, arranging and rearranging the pages there.

“
Don
’
t be nervous,
”
Severine said.

Allegra gave her a tremulous smile.
“
Who me?
”
she said.

To take her mind off her own jitters, Allegra studied the others in line with her. There was a young guy in front of her who had a jar of some dark substance she couldn
’
t identify.

She tapped him on the shoulder.
“
Is that jam?
”
she asked.

“
No, it
’
s cranberry chutney made with red onion, brown sugar, and red wine vinegar,
”
he said, automatically in pitch mode.

“
What do you call it?
”
a man standing behind Severine asked.

“
Cranberry chutney?
”
the guy said, sounding a bit confused.

“
No man, that
’
s not a name, that
’
s an explanation. You need something that sounds
…
something like
‘
Cran-chut.
”

“
That sounds like a sound you make when you
’
re clearing your throat,
”
said a woman who was carrying a diaper bag big enough to hold triplets.
“
But cranberry chutney sounds delicious,
”
she said.

“
You
’
ll never eat regular cranberry sauce again,
”
he promised.

“
Where do you sell it now?
”
Allegra asked.

“
It
’
s my sister
’
s recipe,
”
he said.
“
I mostly just make it for family.
”

“
I bet it
’
s good with crackers,
”
said someone behind Allegra, a pixie-ish black girl holding out a box of crackers.

“
Homemade cheese crackers,
”
she said.
“
Try one.
”

Chutney Guy took a cracker and crunched it.
“
Good,
”
he said.

“
May I try one?
”
Severine asked.

“
Sure,
”
the girl said and held out the box.

“
I
’
d like to try that chutney,
”
said a guy in front of Chutney Guy.

“
Um, I don
’
t have a spoon,
”
he said.

“
Will this do?
”
asked the woman with the humongous diaper bag. She dug around and came up with a plastic spoon still in its cellophane wrapping.

“
Perfect,
”
Chutney Guy said.
“
Thanks.
”

“
What are you pitching?
”
Cracker Girl asked the woman.

“
I do crewel work,
”
she said.

“
Cruel work?
”
Chutney Guy said.
“
You mean like doing mean things?
”

“
I mean like this,
”
she said and pulled out a pillow decorated with a fanciful stitched design of a bird.

“
It
’
s a firebird,
”
the woman explained.
“
Russian.
”

“
Cool,
”
said Chutney Guy.

“
My grandmother used to do crewel work,
”
another woman said.
“
It
’
s a lost art.
”

“
Oh my God, this stuff is orgasmic,
”
Cracker Girl said to Chutney Guy.

“
I know, right?
”
he said, smiling at her.

“
May I try some?
”
John Morgan Prince said as he approached the line.

“
Sure,
”
Chutney Guy said.
“
May I?
”
he asked Cracker Girl as he took one of her crackers to serve as a delivery system for the chutney.

“
Delicious,
”
John Morgan Prince said as he tasted the chutney cracker, but he was looking at Severine like she was a package he
’
d like to unwrap, seemingly oblivious to the whispering that had started.

“
Are you John Morgan Prince?
”
Cracker Girl asked.

“
I am,
”
he said.
“
And what is your name?
”

“
Tasha,
”
she said, and then turned to the Crewel Work Lady.
“
It
’
s short for Natasha. My grandmother was Russian.
”

“
All the best people are,
”
the woman said smiling.

“
My name is Sam,
”
Chutney Guy said.
“
My grandmother wasn
’
t Russian.
”
Tasha laughed as if that was the funniest joke she
’
d heard all year.

Young love
, Allegra thought, fully aware that Tasha and Sam were probably the same age she was.

Up on the balcony Hugo and Bailey were watching everything unfold as well.

“
Look at her,
”
Hugo said, gesturing toward Allegra.
“
Twenty minutes ago they were all total strangers and she gets here and now it
’
s a block party.
”

“
This is how the humans interact,
”
Bailey said.
“
Look at your father. He
’
s looking at Ms. Belloc like he could eat her up.
”

“
Who is she?
”

“
Allegra
’
s executive assistant.
”

And how do you know that?
Hugo wondered, but didn
’
t bother to ask.

He could see his father was being his most charming self.
“
He always did have an eye for a beautiful woman,
”
he said.

“
She
’
s available,
”
Bailey said.
“
Her husband left her for his receptionist.
”

“
What did he do for a living?
”
Hugo asked.

“
Define irony,
”
Bailey said.
“
He was a psychologist specializing in marriage counseling.
”

Hugo looked at her.
“
You
’
re making that up.
”

“
Yeah,
”
she said.
“
I think he
’
s a money manager. Word is he left Severine with almost nothing.
”

“
So much for equitable distribution,
”
Hugo said. He had to give his father credit. John Morgan
’
s shark of a divorce attorney had pressured him to punish his wife in the settlement but John Morgan wouldn
’
t let him.

“
It was my fault this marriage imploded,
”
he told the shark,
“
and I
’
m not going to make it worse by throwing her under the bus.
”

“
Come on,
”
Bailey said.
“
Your father
’
s got this and we
’
ve got work to do.
”

As planned, the 94 finalists in the Chicago Cinderella Contest were announced on February first. Each was assigned a time period for their five-minute audience with Hugo Prince and Bailey Wilkinson. They would be choosing ten items to add to the Chicago store, with a promise to expand throughout the entire Prince network of stores if they proved popular.

Allegra had signed up under the brand name AZ, so at first Mariella had no idea that Allegra had won a place in the finals even though the names of all the finalists had been publicized. But Leander Spinks had found Allegra working after hours on the prototype shoe she intended to bring with her as a prop for her presentation. And he had told Mariella.

Everyone in Chicago knew what day the final judging was taking place, so Mariella had bided her time and made her plans. On the day the final judging was to take occur, she had Julia lure Allegra into the sample closet on a pretext she needed a present for a buyer, and then lock her in. Then she
’
d searched her stepdaughter
’
s office until she found the prototype shoe. She wasn
’
t too worried about Allegra interfering with her plans. The sample closet was in the basement, near the door that connected to the factory and the noise level was high. Unless someone was right outside the closet, no one could hear Allegra
’
s angry pounding on the door.

“
In the sample closet no one can hear you scream,
”
Ginevra said as Allegra finally collapsed to the floor in the dark alcove, so furious she wanted to spit.

“
I don
’
t suppose you can unlock it,
”
Allegra said.

“
I cannot,
”
Ginevra said.
“
Are you still afraid of the dark?
”

“
Not since I was little,
”
Allegra said.

“
That
’
s good,
”
Ginevra said.
“
That Mariella is a snake. And Julia? She is a little snake. And the little ones are the most poisonous.
”

“
What is the Italian word for snake?
”
Allegra asked, more to distract herself than anything else.

“
Serpente
,
”
Ginevra said.

“
Same word then,
”
Allegra said.

“
Spelled differently,
”
Ginevra said.

Despite herself, Allegra felt tears coming to her eyes.

“
Don
’
t cry
cara
,
”
Ginevra said.
“
It will be all right.
”

I don
’
t see how
, Allegra thought.
I really don
’
t see an
“
all right
”
here.

Ginevra didn
’
t say anything else and Allegra lapsed into silence too. She tried not to think about what might happen if no one came to let her out. Freezing in the dark was not an appealing prospect.