She was still one of the best photographic models around and continued to remain under contract to me as the face of Silk Wrappings. More recently I relented a little over her contract conditions, allowing her to do the couture collections in London and Paris, for which she was always in great demand. I knew it gave her a boost to still be wanted on the circuit. Sometimes though, I wondered whether I had been right?
I questioned that, if I had decided not to renew her contract, would she have fought harder for work elsewhere? Or would she have gone further downhill instead? Might it have shocked her into taking her life more seriously without drugs? But I would never know, because in the end I did nothing about it. Being totally selfish, I knew I still had one of the most beautiful models around under contract. And I could keep a closer eye on her this way.
About a month after our stay in Holland, one of Kate's model friends, who I was aware also used coke, was found dead from a combined massive overdose of cocaine and alcohol, causing respiratory failure. It received a huge amount of newspaper coverage and shocked everyone who'd known her, Kate especially. Even so, it still didn't influence her.
'I can handle it better than she could!' she retorted, when I tried to discuss it again with her.
'But that could have been you, Kate!' I felt so frustrated at her obstinacy. Attitude was becoming a huge problem for her. I was seriously beginning to fear for her future.
Oliver, however, had been mildly appeased at the slight improvement in her health and eating habits since Holland. His own success working for the prestigious Stendahl Packaging Company had resulted in his recent promotion to Sales Director. Despite pressure of work, necessitating long working hours and trips away, they still seemed reasonably happy together.
He had begun to have his small son, Luke, to stay occasionally for weekends. However, Kate avoided being there for the child. She would conjure up modelling jobs all over the place to escape involvement. Child minding was not her bag and she was also, I suspected, jealous of Oliver's love for the boy.
On the other hand, now feeling much fitter, I had developed a need for closer contact with my Goddaughter, Lucy. If I couldn't have children of my own then I wanted to make the most of my special relationship with her. Vanessa's last baby, a sweet little boy called Matthew, was also quite an attraction. I began to visit them more and more at weekends. Luigi would come too, if he were in the country.
I always checked, of course, that there was no risk of running into Alex first. I'd heard he was currently spending most of his time wining and dining all the most eligible women in Europe and so, nowadays, Vanessa saw little of him.
Two weeks before Christmas there was to be another party at Daniel's flat.
'Coming?' Daniel had perched himself on the edge of my desk. He wasn't looking any healthier. His hair wanted cutting and he needed a damned good wash. A greasy tendril flopped over his brow.
'Sorry Daniel, Luigi's due home tonight.' I was relieved I could excuse myself.
'Shame. It'll be a good bash. Should have some great stuff too. Not to worry. I'll ring Kate and some of the other girls.' He leaned across to pick up my phone.
I instantly saw red.
'Hey, not on my time! Arrange your social life out of work hours, if you don't mind!'
What made me speak to him that way I don't know, but it stopped him in his tracks. Flicking back his hair he gave me a halting glare, slid of the desk and walked off.
I called after him. 'By the way, Kate left for Ceylon with Jake today on a shoot, so no point in ringing her. Here, don't forget these!' I held up three sketches from the new collection for which patterns needed cutting. He came back, took the sketches, and left.
That night Daniel's party was raided. Everyone was caught in the act and hauled off by the police drug squad. It was in all the newspapers the following day.
As Luigi and I sat enjoying a leisurely Saturday breakfast in bed the headlines glared out at me. The lead singer from a well-known rock group had also been found ‘in possession’ at the party, otherwise it may not have made such a huge spread. My throat went dry and my heart pounded away as I read the report. When I came to Daniel's name I pretended to be genuinely shocked at his involvement.
'Oh, my God! Look at this! Daniel's in real trouble!' I handing the paper to Luigi.
He read through the report and then, looking at me, gave a wry smile. 'So! You wanted to lose him. Now he has played into your hands, my darling. You cannot employ a criminal. Possessing drugs is a serious offence.'
He carried on reading. 'See, it says that his brother, a notorious drug dealer, was there. The police must have known it was a good night to hit them.'
My heart lurched. Thank God, Kate was away! Whilst I still wouldn't have attended, feeling the way I did now about drugs, I knew Kate probably would have gone. Two other models were also charged with possession that night. What a lucky escape, she and I had had!
I hoped this development would at last make Kate see sense over the risks she was taking.
CHAPTER 24
A couple of month’s later reports appeared in the newspapers of an avalanche at Klosters. Alex was one of those missing, believed dead. The news hit me as if I'd been knifed in the stomach.
Luigi was in Italy at the time and thankfully did not witness my devastation. Although I was sure I no longer loved Alex the way I once had, the news disturbed me deeply. When I finally managed to telephone Vanessa next day to offer my condolences, I had difficulty holding back the tears.
'But, darling, didn't you know? He's alive!' she exclaimed. 'He's been found! They'd given him up for dead and then a rescue team with tracker dogs found him yesterday! He’s been pretty badly hurt though'
'Oh, thank God!' Tears of relief streamed from my eyes.
She was obviously more in control than I, but then, she and Alex had never been all that close. Whereas I had loved the guy to bits! As I battled with my emotions, Vanessa calmly gave me the story of what she knew had happened.
'Apparently a wall of snow broke off the mountainside right above him,' she said. 'You know yourself, darling, Alex was an excellent skier, but this time he was off-piste on the Gotchna. Pretty perilous stuff, I believe. Anyway, other people on the mountain saw the avalanche hit Alex and the others and sweep them away. There was another fall straight after.'
I shuddered. She was right; Alex was a fine skier, but why did he take such a risk like that … almost costing him his life?
Vanessa continued. 'It must have been dreadful for his two friends, Franz and Markus, skiing nearby. I suppose they felt powerless to help, and terrified that the slightest movement might trigger off yet another fall.'
Listening to her, I could visualise the terror of it.
'Eventually, mountain rescuers, who'd seen it all from the valley, were able to search in the wake of the fall to find them. Amazingly they found his friends almost unhurt, apart from bruises and being deeply shocked.'
'What about Alex; do you know how badly hurt he is?'
She sighed deeply. 'Well, they’d had to abandon searching for him overnight but eventually he was found yesterday morning by a sniffer dog, under about six feet of snow. Oh Annabel ... it must have been awful for him... but, from where he lay, he'd somehow managed to clear away enough snow to breathe. Both his legs have been crushed badly and he's suffered horrendous frostbite. His fingers and toes being worst hit I gather. I can't tell you any more at this stage, darling. Of course, the important thing is that he's alive...'
Vanessa's voice trailed off in my ear. I gulped back my tears of relief, whist also visualising the horror of being buried in heavy snow like that for so many hours. Somehow I made my excuses to Vanessa, managing to ask her to let me know when there was any more news of his condition, and to give the two children big hugs from me. I also promised to visit again soon.
Having known Alex so intimately, the shock of hearing about the accident manifested itself in a weird sense of longing, deep within my subco
nscious and impossible to explain. I felt utterly confused and depressed by it. I suppose I must have still continued to love him, deep down all this time without knowing it. Again, intense remorse plagued me for destroying his unborn child. Damn, would I always punish myself over that?
As the days passed, the sadness within me gradually faded and I began to muster up renewed enthusiasm for my business. Daniel’s court hearing came up, but for some reason I couldn’t even take much interest in it. To my mind, he fully deserved whatever kind of sentence he was given.
Then to trouble me again, I learned through Vanessa, that Alex was recovering reasonably well, although there was gathering concern whether he would ever have full use of his legs again. They’d been badly broken in several places and were now held together by metal plates and pins. Also the frostbite had been more serious than originally thought. Apparently several toes had been amputated. It sounded dreadful and for a while I became quite depressed again.
But I somehow forced myself to think less emotionally about it. He was sure to have some adoring woman doting on his every need anyway. What good would I be to him? I must face it; Alex was in my past. At least he'd survived. I had to put him out of my mind. After all, I had my life with Luigi and the business to think about.
Following the sensational collection, that Daniel, now in prison on a 2 year sentence, had helped create for me, I had two rather mediocre collections, both of which were fairly well received. However, I knew I still had to come up with a uniquely different collection again. My customers expected it from me, and I had to keep their interest and loyalty.
Finally I returned to my earlier idea of themed collections. The next one was completely in winter white, fawn and black, and I based most of the daywear on softer variations of the safari look, using soft wools, Italian jerseys, and my old favourite, oriental raw silk. Accessories were all in tiger or leopard-skin effect. My ‘After Six’, Silk Wrappings range also kept to this basic theme.
To my joy, it was all a massive success. Vogue devoted a whole spread to it ... six pages of Kate looking sensational, if still rather thin and gaunt, wearing my sensational designs.
It was a relief to know that I'd retained my flair for style and could still produce a magnificent collection on my own. Above all it restored my credibility as one of Britain's top Ready-to-Wear designers. The previous business with Daniel had jolted me in a number of ways. Whilst I would always encourage a good assistant, I must never allow anyone to take over again the way he had done.
Although my poor health at the time had greatly contributed in allowing it to happen, thank God he hadn't stolen my glory for too long, or I may never have recovered. He'd been a bad influence on the models though who, to my annoyance, continued to talk about him in fond, glowing terms.
Business continued to thrive however. After two abortive trials with a couple of aspiring young designing assistants, who simply could not measure up to my exacting requirements, I eventually found Jules.
Jules Clarke was an outrageous homosexual with a shock of honey coloured curls. A talented designer as well as an efficient pattern cutter, he also possessed the sweetest nature. His enthusiasm to please and co-operate was always evident, but never overbearing. Everything flowed well from the day he joined me. Straightaway, the atmosphere between us was the most relaxed and agreeable I'd known for a long time.
Lynda also returned during this period, on a part-time basis, leaving her toddler son, Simon, in the care of her mother on the days she worked for me. No one, not even Jules, could pattern cut and grade with quite the speed she could and thankfully, during her time off, she'd lost none of her ability. I'd been delighted that she felt the need to contact me.
'Oh Annabel, it's great to be back!' she enthused, hugging me tightly. 'Motherhood's fine, but I must get away from bottles, nappies and baby sick occasionally or I'd go mad! Thanks God for my Mum, who copes so well with Simon.'
'It's great to have you back! I'll bet your mother loves helping out anyway.' I handed her a bunch of fabric swatches, selecting some new silk taffeta samples to show her. 'Now, tell me, which one do you think for the halter gown? This shade of blue or the off beat green?'
'Definitely the blue.'
I should have known. Lynda had always loathed any shade of green. 'Green's an unlucky colour,' she always insisted. It was so good to have her familiar presence back again.
Shocked to hear about Daniel, she admitted however that she had always suspected he took drugs. Also, she'd been appalled to read about Alex's skiing accident in the papers but tactfully said very little to me about it, knowing that it must have hit me badly.
He still often entered my thoughts and I was tempted to ask Vanessa how to get in touch with him. But I knew it would be fatal, so did nothing about it.
I had by now begun to flit frequently back and forth to Italy at weekends, having developed a true love for the place. This delighted Luigi because nowadays he hardly ever visited England. Being able to leave things in the capable hands of Jules and Lynda helped to make the trips easier for me. These therapy weekends, as I called them, recharged my batteries, giving me renewed enthusiasm each time I returned to work. Luigi would arrange a private jet for me whenever I requested it, allowing me to go at almost a moment's notice anytime I wished.
So, most Friday afternoons I would fly from Stanstead Airport to join him, returning Monday lunchtimes. The only exceptions being if either Jules or Lynda were away, as well as leading up to and during collection shows, then I would hardly leave Beauchamp Place. Since I often worked well into the evenings, I still kept a sofa bed in my upstairs studio, as well as some relaxing clothes, underwear and toiletries.
There were all sorts of new design ideas that I wanted to put into action. One I was currently mulling over was a range of exclusive cruise wear. A customer had put the idea into my head one day. Apparently she'd hunted all over London for a well fitting bikini and accompanying holiday wear to take on a Caribbean cruise at Christmas.
'No one in England seems to cater for women who go on winter cruise holidays to the sunshine,' she complained.
She was absolutely right. Designer holiday swim and beachwear was especially difficult to buy throughout the autumn and winter months. A Winter Cruise collection was certainly worth thinking about.
Meanwhile, during my frequent visits to Italy, I learned that Luigi had been in touch with Vanessa's father on a number of occasions over a couple of business deals. There had of course, been mention of Alex's dreadful injuries and it had become apparent that, because of his physical incapacity and current poor health, Alex no longer ran any of the Karos businesses. This shocked me because I couldn't believe his father would disregard his son in such a way. On the other hand, I realised that Alex, since he was in and out of hospital having operations on his legs, would not now be in a fit state to jet about the world in the way he had once done. It also sounded as if things had become more serious and his health had deteriorated somewhat since his accident. So one weekend I decided to visit Vanessa and try to find out all I could.
She wasn't in when I rang to ask if she was going to be busy, but I was told by Rosie, her daily help, that it should be fine. Vanessa would certainly be returning later and, yes, she would be at home all weekend. So I left a message with her to the effect that I was on my way down.
*
As I drove up, Vanessa's estate car was parked at the main entrance to the house. Usually it was left standing on the far side, near the garages. Then, as my taxi neared the house, I saw why. A wheelchair was parked alongside the passenger door and seated in it was Alex. My heart almost leapt from my chest.
Vanessa, at this point, came dashing out of the house and was about to assist him onto a ramp that had been erected when she saw me alight. She gawped for a moment. Hell, I could hardly do an about turn now!
After stilted greetings, when my heart turned several more summersaults, we all went inside. It turned out that Alex had recently been mov
ed to a private nursing home in Surrey to recuperate and he was visiting her for the weekend. She'd been on her way to pick him up when I'd rung.
'I couldn't let you know in time, since you were on your way,' she whispered, just inside the door.
'It's OK. My fault really, I should have given you more notice. Obviously I had no idea Alex might be here. How is he?' I'd already been shattered by his thin face and body, now wrapped from the waist down in a blanket. He looked so frail, only half the man he'd once been.
'Not good,' she mouthed mutely. Then, 'But he's getting there, aren't you, darling?'
'I sure am,’ Alex said, with a strained grin at me. 'I'll be just fine. See you two later.' With that, he wheeled himself on through to the conservatory. Vanessa turned to me, a sorrowful look clouding her face.
'He's not too good today actually. A bit depressed, the doctor said. It’s to be expected, I suppose, under the circumstances. You knew of course he had to have his right leg amputated?'
'No!' I gasped. 'I knew there were problems, that's all.' This was shattering news! Poor Alex. Suddenly I felt sick.
Vanessa gestured for me to follow her through to the kitchen, calling out to Alex. 'I'll bring you a cuppa through in a minute, darling!'
'The frostbite was to blame. The infection spread even after his toes were amputated. In the end they could only save one leg.' Vanessa filled the kettle and put in on the Aga. Turning to me she said, 'He's not the man you knew, Annabel.'
'I can see that.' I sat down, as my legs felt weak. Then I became cross. 'Why did no one tell me? Luigi never said anything about it either, and he's been in touch with your father quite recently.'
'Don't be angry. It was Alex's wish that you never knew. Anyway, now you do, so we can't do anything about that. He'll have a false leg of course, once things have healed properly. But it's all such an ordeal for him. Poor darling.' Vanessa's face suddenly crumbled into tears. 'I know he and I were never all that close but I can't bear him having to go through all this agony. Someone has to be there for him,' she sniffed.
A Face To Die For Page 23