“Please, call me Virginia,” Virginia said. She nodded to let him know that she was making a mental note of his request. With everything she needed to do, she was going to have to break down those designs and work at them slowly.
“I don’t want anything that looks cheap. I want bold and sexy for all of them. A high fashion look…but for a good price,” Mr. Grantspen winked at her. Virginia tried not to look disgusted.
“Bold and sexy is what I know best,” said Virginia. She was definitely kissing ass now. It occurred to her that she left her tablet downstairs. “Would you excuse me a moment? I have to text my assistant to ask her to bring my tablet up here so I can show you some ideas I have in mind.” Mr. Grantspen nodded, and sat back into a comfortable position.
Virginia whipped out her phone.
‘Hey Nanc, can you bring my tablet? I left it downstairs, and I need to show Mr. Grantspen some design ideas. –groan-.’
Virginia had barely put her phone down when Nancy came into the boardroom. She must have realized that Virginia would need her tablet, and she wasn’t too far away. Good old Nancy. Virginia flashed her a smile. Nancy responded with a knowing look. She could already sense that Virginia didn’t like this guy. She squeezed Virginia’s shoulder for reassurance, and placed the tablet on the table in front of her.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, V,” Nancy said. She turned and walked out of the boardroom without a backward glance. “I’ll be right outside if you need me.”
“You let your assistant call you by a nickname?” Mr. Grantspen scoffed.
Virginia didn’t hide the annoyance behind her eyes when she answered. “We’re very close, Mr. Grantspen.”
“Call me Albert. And…just how close?” he smirked again and leaned forward to be closer to Virginia. He scooted the chair he was in just a tad.
“Mr. Gra-…I’m sorry, Albert. What designs did you have in mind?” Virginia kept it at a professional level. There were men hitting on her daily, but she never entertained them. Besides, she had a boyfriend, and she wouldn’t be interested in a man like Albert Grantspen anyway. Not even on her darkest day.
“I notice you want at least 12 completely separate designs for almost 50 dresses, to be broken into different parts. And some ballroom gowns that have the option to become a fishtail. Those are really interesting, but I normally do that with wedding dresses…or when I’m showcasing something at a show or…”
“Well doll…” he started.
“Virginia,” she corrected him immediately. She needed him to know that she was not beneath him. She was curt, but she said nothing more and allowed him to continue.
“V,” he started again. That wasn’t any better, but at least there was no sexist or condescending title to refer to her by. “I’m a very busy man with a lot of rich clientele. I know prom dresses aren’t your thing, but I know you’re the best, and a man like me deserves the best.”
“I understand Albert. I can go through some quick ideas so I have a little idea of what you’re looking for, and then we can talk remuneration, deadlines, sizes, etcetera,” Virginia said without skipping a beat.
“Look, I’ve gotta be honest with you V,” Albert said. Virginia noticed out of the corner of her eye that his assistant just rolled her eyes. She was less than impressed by her employer. Virginia kind of felt sorry for her. How often was she subjected to his faux bravado and “time makes money and money makes the man” attitude? With the way the assistant was completely quiet and relatively still, Virginia was going to guess it was a lot of the time. “I have a lot of things to do today that don’t require staring at a bunch of dresses. That’s why I have Rebecca here. She’s young and spunky, she knows what the kids want, and it means I can get out of your hair and play some golf to win over a new investor.”
Albert laughed, but no one else did. Was he really trying to dump his assistant on Virginia for her to babysit? Was he even going to pay her for her time with said assistant?
“I do charge by the hour, Albert. It may be better if you stay a while so that you can be aware of the process,” Virginia was calm as an untouched lake, and just as cool. She didn’t skip a beat. She needed this man to stop giving her the runaround.
“Charge me to sit and look at a bunch of dresses?”
“What exactly is your business, Mr. Grantspen? And where do I fall in when it comes to that?” Virginia put both elbows on the table and clasped her hands together. She didn’t take her eyes off of Albert Grantspen, who was beginning to look a little uncomfortable that a woman wasn’t backing down or giving into his petty demands.
“I’m an entrepreneur. I do all kinds of things. I got a client that needs designer dresses, and I’m getting them designer dresses.”
That answer wasn’t good enough for Virginia. She shot a quick look at Rebecca. Her eyes were down. She looked like she was silently praying for the tension to disappear. It felt like it was filling up the entire boardroom.
“Ok, Mr. Grantspen. I work with my clients, not for them. There is either mutual respect, or we can’t do business. If you’re so turned off at the prospect of learning a thing or two about an industry that could be extremely beneficial to you, then I suspect you’ve gotten into the wrong business. And it would…”
“I’m paying you a lot of money for these designs,” Albert said, raising his voice a bit.
“Please don’t interrupt me. I can yell just as loud as you, but it doesn’t mean that I’ll be getting my way. I agreed to have this meeting because you know some people in my life who swear that you’re a good businessman…”
“You don’t need to get sassy with me, lady.”
That made Virginia stop dead in the middle of her tirade. When she got angry, she would get extremely quiet, an eyebrow would go up, and either a slew of obscenities would be unleashed, or she wouldn’t bother to say anything at all. She was still processing which direction she was going to take when her right eyebrow raised.
Virginia held her breath and counted to three. She was going to call him out. That he didn’t have a right to belittle her, especially not in her own space. It wasn’t his place to make his demands when he didn’t even know what it was he wanted. She wasn’t going to do his job for him. And if he didn’t seem like a sexist cad, she would have maybe entertained Rebecca so that she could send him some ideas later in the day. He didn’t even ask how much it was going to cost him; he decided whatever he thought of spending was worth treating people this way. Virginia didn’t feel comfortable doing business with him.
Virginia stood up from her chair. She turned around and started making her way to the door.
“Where are you going? You can’t just walk out on a meeting. That’s unprofessional!” Albert Grantspen wailed.
“Well Mr. Grantspen, I’m a very busy woman with a lot of rich clientele. I know prom dresses aren’t your thing either. Now, I know you want the best, but I’m better than the best.”
Virginia didn’t even turn around to face him when she spoke. She just kept right on walking. Just before she got to the door she stopped.
“One more thing,” Virginia actually turned to face Albert, who was already getting up to leave with his assistant. “That…is my seat.”
Virginia strut out of the office and didn’t look back until she heard a faint voice behind her. It was Rebecca. She wasn’t with her boss, but Virginia could see him muttering to himself [but still loud enough for anyone within earshot to hear] as he walked down the stairs. He probably wanted to make a scene instead of just taking the elevator. He had about four more flights of stairs to have a long tirade about the sassy “Virginia Maxwell”. He didn’t even notice that Rebecca wasn’t with him.
“What can I help you with, sugar?” Virginia said. She saw that Rebecca was really nervous to talk to her.
“I’d like to apologize for my boss,” Rebecca said. Her gaze was mostly on the floor, or maybe Virginia’s shoes. Virginia stopped her and let her know she didn’t need t
o apologize for a man who obviously wasn’t sorry. “Thanks…and I was wondering…if it’s not too much trouble. Could I take a picture with you, and get your autograph maybe?”
Virginia obliged, and then she walked Rebecca to the elevator. Her head was still spinning from her otherwise useless meeting. She could have been doing something else with her time. She headed for her office. When she spotted Nancy, she beckoned for her to follow.
“Nanc, is there any way I can bump up my trip to Russia?”
“Why? What happened?” Nancy was concerned, but she already had her phone out to make a call to Virginia’s pilot. She of course had her own plane.
“I don’t wanna talk about it. But I guess I lost a client. I need to get away. I figure I can enjoy Russia for 2 weeks before I get back to work.”
“What about Julian?” Nancy asked. Virginia’s boyfriend Julian was a model, at least an aspiring one. They hadn’t been together for more than 2 months, but after Virginia’s history with dull, controlling, or sycophantic partners, she was doing her best to have this be a relationship that meant something.
“I’ll tell him tonight when we have dinner. But in 2 days, I want to be far away from New York City…”
Chapter 2
“Why do you need to go early?” Julian whined in a whisper. They hadn’t sat at their table for 15 minutes before he started complaining. He complained quite a bit, Virginia noticed. She let him know on the way to the restaurant that there was something she wanted to talk to him about.
“I’ll only be gone for a month,” she hissed in a hushed tone. There were tables within earshot, and Virginia didn’t want to draw any attention to them.
“Yeah, but before it was like two weeks,” Julian pouted. He looked younger than he was when he did that, and he was only 22. Virginia let out a long sigh. Julian was such a beautiful man. Chiseled jaw, flowing blonde hair, and striking gray eyes; his career could have skyrocketed by now with the right agent.
“I know…look, there are just some things that I need to take care of,” Virginia lied. She wasn’t prepared to tell him that she just needed an escape for the sake of her sanity.
“I get that…how do we not have our drinks yet? Waiter?!” Julian yelled at the gentleman who had taken their orders not too long ago. He was two tables away, but Virginia could sense his embarrassment from where she was sitting. She was embarrassed herself. Virginia quieted Julian down with a shush and wave of her hand. A few heads had turned. Seeing Julian when he didn’t have his way was like watching a child have a passive aggressive tantrum. Anger didn’t suit him. This was all too silly. “You’d think they’d be giving you better service based on who you are.”
The waiter, of course, had recognized Virginia right away. He even offered them a bottle of wine on the house. Virginia did quite a bit of charity work, and she had worked with the owner of Del Posto, Joe Bastianich, for a number of charity banquets. She could have anything and everything she wanted on the menu without having to bat an eyelash at the bill. If she asked nicely enough, she even had the finances and the pull to buy Del Posto out; as well as several other restaurants in the city. But restaurants were never her thing. Virginia was building a fashion empire. She had more than enough money to do it. But she was bored with America. She was setting her sights on Europe, and Russia was the perfect place for her to start.
“Our drinks will come in a sec. Can’t you see that he’s busy?”
“Yeah, I guess. I’m just a little antsy babe, I’m sorry. I didn’t get that Ralph Lauren campaign like I wanted. They didn’t want to go with an unknown,” Julian made air quotes when he said ‘unknown’ and scoffed. “Can you believe that? I had all of Macy’s and Ross last season, and they didn’t even recognize my face. They went with that American Horror Story asshole.”
“Evan Peters?”
“Yeah. He’s a total tool.”
“I met him. He’s sweet. A very humble guy,” Virginia said, hoping that Julian would take the hint. “But I’m sorry you didn’t get it. I know how much it meant to you.”
Julian swished his blonde bangs out of his face. He wasn’t even looking at her now. He eyed the waiter’s every move, but continued to lament about how the fashion industry wasn’t fair. How does one go from being an unknown to a known if they didn’t get the opportunity? And other boring questions. Virginia tuned him out mostly, but she didn’t mind staring at his face. Julian was absolutely gorgeous…and he was even better looking without his clothes.
“Couldn’t you maybe…make a few calls,” all of a sudden Julian was staring at Virginia. He was turning on his charm with a smile. He took her by the hand and gently brushed her slender fingers with his own. “If you pull some strings I could get that campaign.”
Julian’s gaze went from perturbed to adoration without much effort. His gray eyes flashed in the dim light of the restaurant. Virginia melted when he looked at her. This was the face she had been wanting to see all night; this was the face of the man she knew that she had to have just over 2 months ago.
“I can’t do that sweetie, you know that. There are so many other options and campaigns for you. What you really need to do is get an agent who doesn’t swindle you. Talk to Leonard Bozeman, make a few calls and a few friends at your next parties. You need to also maybe get a little haircut. You could have a new edge about yourself. You also need…”
“You talk about what I need to do a lot,” Julian replied rudely. “Pretty sure I already have my mom to boss me around.”
“Excuse me?” Virginia’s angry glare wrapped its claws around Julian’s face. She raised her left eyebrow in a way that she often had to do when someone was bugging her. It was her ‘don’t mess with me’ face.
“You’re always telling me what to do like I’m some child. You own your own company, but you don’t own me.”
Virginia slowly recoiled. Her raised eyebrow twitched a bit.
“I’m giving you advice on ways to maybe break into this industry the right way and not only are you shutting me down, but you’re insulting me?” Virginia’s voice was low, but the tone of it raised several octaves. “Anyway, I’m not making any calls to get you any campaigns that people don’t think you deserve. You want it bad enough…then work for it.”
It went against her principles to give any of her boyfriends any unfair advantage when it came to this industry. So many had used her for just that, and she wasn’t going to give in to any of their demands. She needed to know that the men she dated were in this for her, and not the benefits of dating her.
“Your drinks,” Virginia and Julian didn’t even notice the waiter back with their drink orders. He also had a bucket of ice, and a complimentary bottle of Dindarello Moscato. “Compliments from Mr. Bastianich. He hopes you enjoy your favorite wine.”
“Joe knows me well,” Virginia said. She had calmed down significantly now that the waiter was here, but nobody…nobody called her bossy without her saying something about it. Like Beyoncé she wasn’t bossy, she was the boss.
She flashed the waiter a dazzling smile, and she watched as he blinked rapidly and his movements became less sure. Her smile usually did that to people. It was one thing that she was a billionaire designer, but it was another thing to be stunning as well. She had a look about her that no Hollywood actress could match. She had a classic beauty about her heart shaped face, hazel eyes, and kissable lips. “Thank you so much. What’s your name?”
“My name’s Lorenzo,” the waiter said. He gave a slight bow of his head when he finished putting their drinks down.
“Well thank you so much Lorenzo. You’ve been very kind,” Virginia smiled again. She was apologizing, in her way, for the way Julian had acted earlier. Julian hadn’t said a word. He was already pouring himself a glass of wine. He didn’t make eye contact with Lorenzo at all.
“Thank you, Ms. Maxwell.”
“Please, call me Virginia.”
That made Lorenzo nervous. He cleared his throat, and stood still for a moment.
“I…well, I’ll be right back with your orecchiette, and sir, with your pork and veal agnolotti.”
Julian smiled weakly as Lorenzo walked away.
“How are you liking my favorite wine?” Virginia asked. She ran a hand along Julian’s arm. He was now leaning back in his seat, taking intermittent swigs like one would with a beer.
“It’s a bit too sweet.”
“Well, that’s because you’re supposed to be having it with dessert,” Virginia said. She just realized that she sounded like she was a mother trying to teach her son something new. That made her frown. Julian didn’t seem to be much more than just a beautiful face right now. They had been having so much fun over the last several weeks, but maybe that was all this was.
Julian wasn’t someone Virginia could take out and dine with. He wasn’t someone who she felt was her equal. She had to constantly scold him and tell him to keep his temper in check. He was arm candy; a beautiful painting she had the luxury of being able to taste and touch. The emptiness she now felt was adding to how empty she was feeling from not have having eaten anything substantial all day. Her food couldn’t come soon enough. She didn’t think she would bother with ordering dessert tonight; she would just have the Moscato with her meal.
“Have you thought at all about what I asked, pet?” Julian asked. They had been sitting in silence for a while, not looking at each other. Julian kept having glasses of wine intermittently between sips of his scotch. Virginia stuck to her cocktail. Their food had arrived when Julian was on his third glass of the Moscato, but it wasn’t Lorenzo serving. Virginia suspected that he was waiting at another table.
“I have, and the answer is still no. You’re more than capable. You’re so good looking, Julian. You don’t need my help with this.”
Julian’s face turned angry once again, but he took a glance on the other side of the room and forced a plastic smile. He took Virginia’s hand and looked lovingly into her eyes. Bemused by his sudden reaction, Virginia looked around in the general direction of where his eyes had wandered to. There was a man a few tables away with a camera pointing right at them. Julian leaned in closer and brushed some of her curls out of her face. His face was conveniently turned in the direction of the paparazzo.
Carry My Baby Page 14