26
But that evening as she dressed Nate came up behind her to clip a diamond pendant to accompany the Emilio Pucci kaleidoscope, a white turtleneck, and a white jacket that she wore. She really had splurged on her trip to Lacy’s. It pleased Nate.
Her hair was coiled on her head into a pile of falling curls.
Nate looked at her through the mirror, his eyes watching her face. “Vera needed money for her business and I helped.”
She frowned.
"I am telling you because you asked and I don't want you to have any wrong impressions."
She smiled and nodded. “But she got a quarter of your billions after the divorce didn’t she?”
“Failed ventures. Anyways I didn’t want you to think otherwise tonight.” He withdrew and turned her around. “You look beautiful.”
On impulse, she moved forward but he withdrew. He was back to his no-kissing rule.
With his hand on her face, he said, “I wish you good luck with your freelancing tonight. Larry will be with us tonight.”
She missed the ‘us’ in his comment so she gave him a droll stare. “Will we be relegated to the back of the venue again?”
“No. Yesterday came as a surprise to me too when Vera insisted I appear on the stage with her.” What had happened was Vera had trapped him after the golf session with Felix Houston and had announced in front of everyone that he was the power responsible for her break out in the fashion industry. Then she proceeded to tell him, still in the presence of everyone there that they had to appear on stage together. It was a trap but he couldn’t deny her wish especially since she had made public his business association with her even after he told her he preferred to keep it secret.
By the time he had arrived in Mainland hours before the fashion show, he couldn’t escape her trap which was why he had ordered James to find a back seat for Rachel but of course, she had seen him on the stage with Vera holding him tightly. He should talk with Vera tonight and clear her delusion that his assistance with her business meant he wanted to get back together with her.
He was dressed in the bold prints of a new designer whose designs would be displayed later that evening.
He guided Rachel to the limo with his arm around her waist. The venue for tonight’s show was the Eastern Mainland Center for Arts. The promenade was already crowded with camera crews when they arrived. On screens and on a great number of celebrities were displays of bold, symmetric, asymmetric and very often ridiculous styles.
James once again flashed into view every once in a while. Rachel got the impression that there were other members on Nate’s security team but it was hard to tell when they were like ninjas moving in the shadows, unlike the security team of other wealthy or fake living celebrities around. They were directed to a front seat, a reserved one – but not before almost a thousand pictures of them were taken.
The designer of the print Nate wore was someone who had needed financial assistance from him. The man, a lanky early-thirties man named Francis Giuliano came around to exchange pleasantries with Nate before the show began.
He had taken one look at Rachel’s Emilio Pucci pants and gushed about the man’s influence on his designs then asked if she would like to model a few of his clothes the next morning. Before she could decline the offer Larry was by her side accepting the opportunity. He winked at her and they agreed on the time and venue for the shoot.
“Where were you yesterday?” Rachel demanded once Francis was gone.
“You will not believe it!” he exclaimed. He leaned over to glance at Nate who was involved in a heated business conversation with a stern-looking woman dressed in a tight silver gown. Her diamond jewelry was almost blinding. Larry reclined in his seat and dug out three front pages of different magazines. On them was Rachel’s face and her outfit plastered over them accompanied by write-ups in subsequent pages commenting on her outfit and pointing out the juicy detail that she had arrived at the Plaza de la Magnifique on Nate’s arm.
“That’s good right?” she asked him.
“Nate Madden provides good publicity so yes it is good.” He moved in close so that his next words were only for her ears. “I don’t care to know what you and Nate have going on but you should use this to your biggest advantage.” When he moved back he raised a brow to make sure he was understood. She nodded. “Of course, there was bad publicity because some jealous reporters wish they were in your place. I did my best to quench the bad reports though. Also, have you seen this?” he brought out another clipping from his never-ending supply of those. On it was a picture of Dana and Jacob and surprisingly there was nothing hateful about them on it. “Break out Lifestyle, Celebrity and Everything In-between star appears with small-time business owner Jacob Henderson. Has Jacob finally moved on after the crazy wife drama?”
Rachel rolled her eyes. Of course, to the media, she was still the villain.
Larry saw the drop in her excitement and squeezed her hand. “Don’t worry, I’m sure karma would catch those two soon.”
When Nate’s hand fell on her knee to squeeze and remain there Larry’s eyes sparkled with curiosity.
Before he could poke his nose in her business though Rachel gave him a warning glare.
Soon the event started and it was a series of ridiculous outfits after another, amazing designs after another, and rather questionable designs after another but the audience clapped and cheered as they were expected to, male and female models cat walked the stone floor of the promenade. The cameras flashed, the music boomed and on Rachel’s lap – with Nate’s strong warm hand still on her thigh – she scribbled hurriedly into her notepad. Tomorrow she would send the draft of her article to Larry and he would edit and send it to the right publishing houses.
There weren’t many refreshments but for men like Nate and other power-moving men, champagne and whiskey were served.
Halfway through the event, Rachel got the urge to pee and she leaned over to tell Nate.
“Don’t be long,” he said.
She transferred her notepad to Larry who gave her a questioning glance. She hurried and left their row to look for a toilet. There was a popular seafood restaurant away from the ocean bay that was well lit and as she approached she realized some of the guests from the event were also using the bathroom for relief and a smoke break. The bathroom was detached from the restaurant itself and was neat and quite large given that Mainland was not just known for fashion but also got its gothic 18th-century buildings and culture. A small passage with a mirrored wall led her to the female bathroom with 3 different stalls. She opened one and went in.
When she came out to wash her hands with a sigh of relief, one look in the mirror told her she wasn’t alone.
Vera was standing behind her.
