The Cherry Blossoms

by Denise Irwin

  Shocked that he wasn’t worried, she sat forward in her chair and earnestly told him, “Grant, what we have is plenty of time for things to go wrong. Let’s go over the list together and you can hand out the tasks. I want you to schedule twenty models for you to interview. I’ll interview your top ten picks. Michele will purchase the fabric. Here’s the list of what I need. Make sure she orders at least four times what we need for the show. Annette is responsible for shoes and accessories, so she will require a copy of the designs and the cloth requirement. Give a copy of the designs to Charlene so that she can start tracing the patterns.”

  “Daniella, is there anything else I can do for you?”

  “Nope, just make sure everyone gets started today.”

  Once Grant had left her office, she sat back in her chair wondering if Grant weren’t right, and asked herself if she was just being impatient. Daniella trusted Grant’s opinion of her work. On more than one occasion, he spoke his mind when he didn’t agree with her decisions. Daniella liked that. There were too many employees in the fashion industry that did as the designer told them without questioning the task, causing a designer to put together a poor collection.

  Daniella’s next task was the hardest for her. She needed to let her staff alone and not hover over them. Daniella was a control freak and knew it. Her appetite to control her environment had bitten her in the ass more than once, causing her to lose several valuable employees. She asked herself what she should do while they worked. She picked up the phone and called Michal to see if he could meet for lunch. When she saw that it was only 8:00 in the morning, she grabbed her purse, told Grant she was leaving for the day. As she walked into his office, she told him, “I see that astonished look on your face,” and giggled.

  “I’ve never known you to take a day off in the middle of the week, before a show.”

  “If I stick around, I’m afraid I’ll meddle. I hired good people who I expect to get the job done. I’ll be in around 10:00 tomorrow morning. You’re in charge. Call my cell phone if you need me.”

  Grant shook his head as she walked out the door.

  Daniella walked into the house to find Michal dressed and ready to leave for his office. He looked at her. “Daniella, are you not well?”

  “I am perfectly well. We’re ahead of schedule, so I left Grant in charge and took the rest of the day off. Michal, get that dumbfounded look off your face. You’re the one who told me I was too stressed. You were correct. I pay my staff very well since I expect them to perform exemplary. Can you stay home and play hooky with me?”

  Michal laughed, “What does this play hooky mean?”

  “When I was a child in the States, when I didn’t want to go to school, I didn’t go. That’s called playing hooky.”

  “Please tell me what you did when you did this thing called ‘playing hooky’?”

  “Sometimes I’d go swimming in the ranch’s pond and sometimes I’d curl up under a tree and read a book.”

  “Are you proposing that we find a pond and go swimming?”

  “Maybe, does Paris have a pond?”

  “Yes, my love it does. We have a naturally created pond it is called Lac de Saint-Mandé.”

  “Then I suggest that we pack a lunch and go swimming for the day.”

  “What shall we pack for lunch for this day of playing hooky?”

  Daniella thought for a moment, “I think we should take some goose pâté, a good cheese, with some fresh baked bread and fruit. I also think we need at least two bottles of red wine.”

  “Shall we include dessert for this playing hooky day?”

  “Of course we shall include dessert. I vote for chocolate éclairs.”

  “Well then, amour de ma vie. We shall go play hooky for the day.”

  They found a quiet spot on the edge of the pond where they spread a blanket in the grass. Michal opened a bottle of wine and poured the wine into the glasses they had packed in the picnic basket. After drinking her wine, Daniella shimmied out of her clothes and walked into the pond.

  “Daniella, does playing hooky mean that you swim naked?”

  “Of course it does, Mon amour.”

  She’d never seen Michal undress as quickly as he did that afternoon to join her in the pond naked.

  “Now, in the States we call this ‘skinny dipping’, which means swimming naked.”

  “So that means you went skinny dipping when you played hooky from school.”

  “That’s right. I never brought a swimsuit, so I swam in the buff.”

  Michal swam to her and reached his arms around her buxom frame. “I like this skinny dipping.”

  “Michal, are you saying you have never gone skinny dipping?”

  “As a young child I did, but never with a lovely woman.”

  Neither bothered to dress when they exited the pond; Michal poured wine as Daniella plated the food. She put the pâté in the center of a dish and then cut the bread into chunks, which she placed around the pâté. She sliced the fruit and cheese and placed them on a separate dish.

  They stretched across the blanket facing one another. “Michal, are you enjoying playing hooky?”

  “Yes my American girl, I am. We should plan to do this more often.”

  They spent the day, eating, drinking wine, skinny-dipping and making love. Taking a break from making love all afternoon, Daniella lay on her back and watched the clouds pass overhead.

  “Look Michal that cloud looks like Mickey Mouse.”

  “So I see. Look over there to the left, there is a space ship floating through the air.”

  As the sun slid low in the sky, it was time to dress, pack their belongings in the basket and head home.

  “Daniella thank you for inviting me to spend the day with you.”

  “Thank you for saying yes.”

  Out of habit, Daniella woke at 5:30 the next morning. She went to the kitchen where she put on a pot of coffee. Waiting until 9:00 to go to the office, she grabbed a fashion magazine she’d bought last week. She told herself that her staff was competent, meaning that she needed to leave them alone to do their job. She needed them to know that she trusted them.

  Daniella laughed when Michal came into the kitchen, “You look as though you were in a wrestling match all night. Your hair’s all askew.”

  “Bonjour Mon amour, I was in a wrestling match all night. You were quite the tigress.”

  “Am I to assume that you did not like it?”

  “Pas mon amour, j'ai beaucoup aimé. You are quite skilled in making love, how could I not like it? Most American women are not as enthusiastic about making love to a man as you are.”

  While Michal, poured a cup of coffee, Daniella encouraged him, “Oh do go on and tell me about your extensive experience with American women.”

  “Mon chéri, you are well aware that I went to school in the states. I was a young man who loved American women. I was certainly not a virgin when we met. You were schooled in France, so I am certain that you have made love to one or two Frenchmen.”

  She looked at him slyly and in a soft sexy voice told him, “A lady doesn’t kiss and tell.”

  Michal laughed, “Why are you not at the office?”

  “I’m working hard to let my staff do its job without my hovering over them. I thought I’d go to work when you left for work this morning.”

  “Ah, I see. I need to leave soon since I have a staff meeting. It is a shame, since I would like to take you back to bed.”

  When Daniella entered her shop, she found Grant pacing the lobby floor. “Grant, is there something wrong?”

  “No, I did not know when you would arrive. I have ten models scheduled for you to interview this morning.”

  Daniella chortled, “It sounds as though you were a very busy man yesterday. Let me grab a cup of coffee then I’ll join you in the conference room.”

  Grant sent the models into the conference room one at a time. Daniella asked a number of the standard questions such as, how long have you modeled?
Do you have runway experience? Which modeling agency has you under contract? Daniella took notes from each model. At the conclusion of the interview, she asked the young women to walk alongside the conference table as if that space were the runway.

  When the ten models left the conference room, Daniella went to her office where she waited for Grant. When he entered her office Daniella stood, “Where in the fuck did you find those models? Out of ten models, I saw only three as possibilities. I thought I was quite clear that I needed eight.”

  Sheepishly he spoke, “Daniella, all the good models have been hired by the other designers.”

  She knew he was telling her the truth. Most designers used the same agencies for their models, but Daniella wasn’t about to let him off the hook She paid Grant very well and expected nothing less than perfection from him. “If you knew that, did you have a contingency plan in place?”

  “Non je ne l'ai pas.”

  “Then you’ll have to develop one now.”

  “Daniella, I beg you to forgive me. What do I do to find models? If you were in my shoes, what would you do?”

  Daniella adored her loyal office manager. She could not justify one good reason to drag him across the rug as if he were a dead raccoon. Her Irish temper had gotten the best of her. “Give me a minute to think.”

  “Daniella shall I leave and return when you have completed your thinking?”

  She giggled. The French could mangle the English language as well as she mangled French. “Get us both fresh cups of coffee while I complete my thinking.” That one statement about fresh cups of coffee solidified the direction her design house would take. When Grant returned to her office, she wrapped her arms around him nearly spilling hot coffee across the two of them.

  Grant held the cups tightly and was certain his boss had just gone over the edge. “Mademoiselle, êtes-vous d’accord ?”

  “I haven’t a clue what you just said, but listen to this and then tell me what you think. Grant, our spring show designs are new and fresh. It’s likely mine will present differently than the competition. I think we could consider a new and fresh look to our models as well. Instead of contacting agencies looking for models, why can’t we advertise for them?”

  Grant gave her a pensive look, “We’ll end up with all the models that no one else wants. They will be inexperienced and we will end up being laughed at.”

  “Listen to me for a moment. Women come in all shapes and sizes. Paris tends to use tall, skinny models. What if we broke away from that standard and chose models that the average woman could identify with?”

  “Daniella, I think I see where you are going with this thought. You would be the only designer creating outfits that flattered any woman. I think that is a brilliant idea Mon ami.”

  Daniella’s outlook changed dramatically, she was no longer angry; but excited about her spring line up. “Grant, before you go can you please send Annette and Charlene in.”

  When they entered Daniella’s office, they both looked as though they were ready for a likely thrashing from her for something they weren’t aware of. “Come and sit. I think I will need to re-sketch the show designs, so throw away what Grant gave you.”

  Charlene flashed a motherly look at Daniella, “Enfant vous êtes d'accord ? The designs Grant gave me are spectacular.”

  “Thank you for the compliment. We’ll use those designs; however, I plan to make some changes to them. The other houses have contracted with the best modeling agencies, so Grant is going to advertise for models. So, until I know what we have to work with, I’m going to ask that everyone put their work on hold.”

  Michele, who was shyer than her colleague, didn’t say a word. There wasn’t a shy bone in Charlene’s short, trim body, so she asked her boss without hesitation, “Daniella, are you saying that there was not one professional model available?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying. I interviewed three very inadequate candidates yesterday, so I told Grant to advertise for some.”

  Charlene looked dumbfounded, “I do not believe I know where you are going with this advertising for models, but I will throw your designs into the trash.”

  “Great, so we’ll get started once Grant finds models. Take the rest of the day off and go enjoy the afternoon.”

  Annette and Charlene looked at one another. Annette in her low shy voice asked, “Daniella, you are saying we should take the afternoon off with the show so close?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying. Let me share something with you. Michal tells me my stress passes to those around me. He suggested that I chill out. We have a great deal of hard work ahead of us, so I don’t want you tired and stressed before that work begins.”

  Charlene asked, “Are you saying the entire staff may take the remainder of the day off?”

  “Yes, everyone gets the rest of the day off, except for Grant, who needs to find new models.”

  As they left her office, Daniella knew Charlene and Annette thought she’d lost her mind. If the out of the box plan worked, she’d reach her goal. If it didn’t work, she’d be considered a failure. If Daniella stayed in the office, she knew she would start the sketches too early, so she called Michal to see if he could meet for lunch.

  His secretary answered the phone, “IL s'agit de Lisette, comment puis-je aider vous ?”

  “Lisette, this is Daniella, is Michal available?”

  Lisette sounded shocked when Daniella asked to speak to Michal. “Daniella il est disponible pour vous. Veuillez tenir un instant ce que je peux lui.”

  Daniella had no idea what Michal’s secretary just said, so she responded with, “Merci”. If the line went dead, it meant he wasn’t available.

  Lisette must have said he was available since he laughed as he answered. “What a wonderful delight to speak with you in the middle of the day.”

  “I was calling to see if you are available to have lunch with me?”

  “It would be my pleasure. I have one more meeting for the magazine’s layout team, and then I can be all yours. What did you have in mind?”

  “I didn’t have anything in mind.”

  “Then we’ll meet at the café around the corner from your office. Go now and order a drink. I will be there shortly.”

  It was amazing that Daniella found an outside table on such a beautiful day. It was still chilly, but the sun warmed the air along with the outside heaters. She had just taken her first sip of wine when Michal joined her. After giving her a kiss hello, he took the chair beside her. “Tell me have I corrupted my hard working girl?”

  “You have not, but I gave the staff the afternoon off.”

  “Then, surely I have corrupted you.”

  “I’d asked Grant to interview twenty models and bring his top ten choices. I found that three of them might work, but the rest would never do.” She took another sip of her wine, “Grant told me that the other design houses have entered into contracts with all the available modeling agencies.”

  Michal looked into her blue eyes searching them to see how disappointed she may be. “Are you going to drop out of the show?”

  Daniella laughed, “Not on your life. Grant and I talked about the design industry at length. Michal, we designers pay high prices for the best models we can find, yet our real target isn’t the model, it’s the average everyday women who buy our clothes. Everyday women who come in all shapes and sizes, and that’s what our designs should be promoting. Grant is running an advertisement for models. Once we have selected the eight I require, I will re-sketch my current designs to make the clothes flatter the model.”

  “My darling that is an ingenious idea and I assume that I cannot see the new designs until the show?”

  “You absolutely cannot. I also would prefer that you speak to no one about what we’re planning to do.”

  “I will tell no one. I promise, Mon amour. Do you have a plan if this idea does not work?”

  “No, which means this has to work or I’m done in Paris. I’ll end up designing
clothes for the Dollar Stores.”

  “What are dollar stores?”

  “In the States, there are stores that sell items for one dollar. I think that they buy overstocked or out of circulation items.”

  Michal howled, “Then it is essential that you do well in the show.”

  Daniella was in the office by 6:30 the following morning. She put on the coffee and waited anxiously for Grant to arrive. When he finally showed up in the kitchen, he casually poured a cup of coffee, and sat across the kitchen table from her.

  “Grant, I’m hoping that smug look on your face means you found models.”

  “Mon chéri, I did not find the twenty models you requested.” Grant watched as Daniella’s face transformed from hopeful to despair. “Daniella, eighty women applied.”

  The look of pure shock on his boss’ face made Grant laugh aloud, “You should see your face.”

  “Grant, did you just say eighty, like eight, zero?”

  “Oui Mademoiselle j'ai fait.”

  “Oh my God, let me think. When are they coming in?”

  “Today around 10:00 this morning.”

  “There will be eighty women in the shop today?”

  “Oui Mademoiselle, there will be eighty women arriving this morning. Is that bad?”

  “No it is not. It’s marvelous. It’s actually beyond marvelous. When Charlene, Michele, and Annette arrive, please bring them to my office. We need to develop a plan to evaluate these women.”

  “Oui, Mademoiselle, je vais.”

  When Grant left her office, Daniella jumped for joy. Eighty models to choose from couldn’t be better. When she finally drifted back to earth, she went to her desk to write up some criteria for her staff to follow as they helped with the interview process. To get through eighty interviews, the staff needed to work in teams. She and Grant typically interviewed models, so she paired herself with Michele and Grant with Charlene. If they needed to bring in the seamstresses, she’d work something out. Daniella wrote a note that she was looking for happy women. She wanted women who enjoyed their lives and were comfortable in their own skin.