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“Alex was kind enough to fly me out by helicopter.”
He and Alex began exchanging some chit-chat about the local news for the past few days when a familiar voice yelled “Yoohoo!” from behind me.
I turned. It was Krista. She ran into me and wrapped her arms around me.
“Hey beautiful!” she said. “So, we have a lot to talk about.”
“We sure do!” I said, embarrassed, unobtrusively offering her my glass of champagne. I hadn’t told Krista anything about my relationship with Alex. Not because I didn’t want to, but because I didn’t think it was right.
“This has gotta be the fanciest engagement party I’ve ever been to. And that includes Kendall Jenner.”
“Engagement party,” I said to myself.Engagement party.This whole thing, this enormous, expensive, and extravagant party, was just part of the show that Alex and I were putting on. I was amazed, and shocked, and didn’t know what to think about it. Surely this was illegal somehow: surely it constituted fraud. But as much as I racked my brains about it, stunned in thought while Krista talked, I couldn’t think of how it was against the law. Wrong maybe—surely, on so many levels—but also kind of wonderful.
Alex led me around, and it was only then that I began to realize just what an important and well-known guy he was. I guess if you weren’t paying close attention to the news you wouldn’t think about him too much. I mean, how many billionaire entrepreneurs can you name off the top of your head?
But in the crowd, I began to see faces I recognized, important people. Business leaders and dignitaries, movie stars, and TV producers. The kind of people who I knew more by face than by name, having seen them on the front covers of magazines. Alex had flown them in from LA on just a few hours notice.
At one point I wandered under the covered spaces by the pool and the bar. I was trying to remember the name of the famous singer-songwriter who was talking in hushed tones to his female companion.On the blue sofa where Alex had made love to me only a couple of days ago.
My cheeks reddened, and it wasn’t just from the champagne!
I picked my way through the crowds, as well-wishers and admirers flocked. There were so many people—at least two hundred—and if I’d seen them on the streets of LA last year, or around Honolulu a month ago, they wouldn’t have batted an eye at me.
But I was someone important now. I was the fianceé of Alex Alson.
And even if it wasn’t real, it felt good. Like the fairytale had come to life.
And then, out of the woodwork, I saw a tall, slim man in a particularly striking tuxedo. He had red lapels, and when he saw me, he stepped toward me.
“Giovanni,” he said and took my hand and kissed it. “Giovanni De Rima.”
“Mr. De Rima,” I said, breathlessly. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Is no trouble,” he said. “I want to talk. You uh, you give me a call, no?”
He handed me a plain white card, on which was embossed in an elegant font,Giovanni De Rima.Direttore. Settimana della moda di Milano.
I didn’t speak a word of Italian, but anyone working in the fashion industry knew what those words meant. I’d just been offered a job by the director of Milan Fashion Week.
Then, a few minutes later, as Krista and I took in the sounds of the band, a woman came up to me dressed in a smart business suit.
“Miss Chambers. It’s really a pleasure. Hi. Katherine Vogler.”
“Hi,” I said. “Have we met before?”
“Uh, I’m afraid not. I’ve been asked to give you a private number for my boss. I hope you’ll call back when you next can.
I looked down at the card she’d just given me. This one was thicker and had nothing but a cellphone number and the words “Jared Ford” written on it.
I looked up, but Katherine had already disappeared into the crowd.
“Surely not,” I said to myself.
“Give me that,” said Krista, and looked at it. “Holy cow, Lena. You’ve made it. You’re gonna be famous!”
“I think I already am,” I said.
I never wanted to be famous when I became a model. I know that sounds crazy, but I mean it. Sure, I loved famous fashion designers, and their models were my idols. But I wasn’t in the business for mere fame alone. What attracted me to the business was the glamor, its secrecy, and the way you got to be part of a special group of people. Ever since I was a little girl looking forlornly through theSears Catalogat things I couldn’t have ever hoped to afford, I’d wanted to be the first person to try it on.
