The Couturier of Milan

by Ian Hamilton

  The hotel phone rang. Xu? Ava thought as she went to answer it.

  “Hi, it’s Amanda.”

  “Are you at the hotel?”

  “I just arrived.”

  “Are you joining us for dinner?”

  “No, I’m exhausted.”

  “I spoke to Gillian a little while ago and she filled me in on what you came up with. It’s terrific stuff.”

  “It’s crazy stuff. It’s shaken my belief in brands. Who knew you couldn’t trust the Italians?”

  “Or the French, apparently.”

  “Any of them,” Amanda said. “Will you be able to make good use of the information?”

  “I sure hope so,” Ava said, thoughts about Lam moderating her response.

  “And how was your day? Did we make any progress?”

  “We’re rolling. Do you want details?”

  “No, I believe you, and there’s only so much my head can absorb in one day. I can’t remember the last time I did an all-nighter.”

  “Then go to bed.”

  “I’m going to. Give May a hug for me and I’ll see the two of you in the morning.”

  Ava went into the bathroom, put on some lipstick and mascara, and headed downstairs to meet May. The lobby was crowded and Ava didn’t see her until she was almost at the door.

  “Hey,” she said.

  May looked at her almost in surprise, then grinned and held her phone out towards Ava. “I’ve just spoken to Suki,” she said. “Wait till you hear what her husband’s cousin has in mind for VLG.”

  ( 26 )

  Ava was excited to hear about Suki’s plan, but the combination of dinner’s Pinot Grigio, jet lag, and emotional drain had done a number on her. She and May had eaten a quick meal at Mercato by Jean-Georges, one of the chef’s three Michelin-starred restaurants at No. 3 The Bund.

  “Are you okay?” May asked as they were walking back to the hotel. “We’ve had a terrific day and you don’t seem particularly enthused.”

  “I’m tired and my mind is barely functioning,” Ava said. “When I get like this, negative thoughts tend to push their way into my head. For example, I was just thinking that none of what we’ve done will matter if VLG is willing to absorb the losses until they find other factories.”

  “You do need to sleep,” May said.

  They were quiet as they strolled along the promenade. After a while, Ava began to sense tension coming from May. She wondered if it was about Xu.

  “What’s wrong?” she finally asked.

  May hesitated, then took a deep breath. “I got a phone call from Pang Fai.”

  “She usually communicates through me,” Ava said.

  “I know. I wasn’t sure how to handle it at first. I didn’t want to put her off by telling her she should talk to you, so I thought I should at least listen to her.”

  “That was the right approach.”

  “She began by telling me that her agent was contacted by Raffi Pandolfo. He wanted to know if she was available to do some work for VLG. Raffi said they’d seen her in London and thought she deserved a much larger showcase than the one PÖ could provide. And when the agent didn’t dispute that, Pandolfo told him that VLG has been looking for someone to be their face in Asia. He said it’s a role that could eventually be expanded to other parts of the world.”

  “Fai is committed to us.”

  “And that hasn’t changed,” May said. “She told the agent that PÖ is the only design company she wants to work with and instructed him to say no to VLG.”

  “Does she or the agent know the kind of trouble VLG is causing us?”

  “It wasn’t mentioned.”

  Ava shook her head. “You had me worried there for a minute.”

  “It was upsetting to me as well, until Fai made her commitment clear,” May said. “But that wasn’t what was strange about the call. I think she contacted me for other reasons.”

  “Such as?”

  “You.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “She asked me if you were safely back in Toronto. When I told her you’re in Shanghai, her manner became less casual,” May said. “She told me that when she first met you, it was in Shanghai at a dinner with Xu and Tsai Men. She wondered if you and Xu have a relationship. I told her that you do, but it’s strictly business.”

  “I told her that myself at the time.”

  “Well, she didn’t remember, or more likely used Xu as an excuse, because then she asked if you have a boyfriend in Canada or in China,” May said. “Ava, I didn’t want to lie to her, so I told her that you don’t.”

  “There’s no harm in that.”

  “Yes, but then, after stumbling around a bit, she asked me if you’re gay. She said some of the models at the London show were gossiping about you and she didn’t know what to believe.” May reached for Ava’s hand. “I was caught off guard. All I could think to say was that I don’t feel comfortable discussing your private life.”

  “Which probably led her to conclude that I am gay.”

  “Does that matter? I don’t think it will bother her,” May said. “In fact, I think the opposite may be true.”

  “What are you trying to say?”

  “It’s obvious she’s attracted to you. When we were in London, she hardly left your side, and both Amanda and Chi-Tze caught her staring at you when you weren’t looking.”

  “She likes men.”

  As they walked into the lobby of the hotel, May said, “Maybe that’s what she wants everyone to think. But for the record, she stopped asking questions when I told her I was uncomfortable. And before she hung up, she reiterated her loyalty to PÖ.” She reached down into her bag. “So, back to business. Here are the container numbers and copies of the air waybills for the goods that have gone missing.”

  “Thanks, and I’m sorry if I’m being overly sensitive,” Ava said as she looked over the documents.

  “Momentai.”

  They were about to enter the elevator when Ava’s phone rang. She glanced at the incoming number and didn’t recognize it. “Ava Lee,” she said, motioning for May to go ahead.

  “This is Ban Lam in Guangzhou.”

  “How are you?” she said, feeling slightly unsettled that he’d called her directly.

  “I’m okay, or as okay as you can be in this business,” he said. “Xu called me a while ago to discuss that problem you have and to ask for a favour.”

  “Yes?” Ava said, her uneasiness growing.

  “I told him it might be better if I was the one to give you the news.”

  Oh shit, Ava thought, her stomach knotting.

  “I told him it’s just too fucking funny for me not to tell you myself.”

  “I beg your pardon?” Ava said, raising her eyebrows at May, who was waiting for her.

  “We own those factories in Huidong and Huadu —or at least we have enough shares to control them.”

  “Are you joking?”

  “You know I’m not a man for jokes,” he said. “Li helped finance the factories about five years ago. They’ve been making knockoffs for us ever since.”

  Ava was surprised at how casually Lam had dropped Li’s name into the conversation. Li Kai had been the Mountain Master in Guangzhou until about a year ago, when he was running against Xu for the triad chairmanship. Things had soured between Xu and Li to the point where Li tried to have Xu killed. He obviously hadn’t succeeded, and in the aftermath Xu —with Ava’s active assistance —had struck a deal with Lam, Li’s deputy. It was Lam who put the bullet into Li’s head at their final meeting.

  “So he had foresight in some things,” Ava said.

  “He wasn’t always inflexible.”

  “Do you know that the factories are making real designer goods now?” Ava said.

  “Yeah, but things haven’t changed that much. In fact, it’s probably improved our knockoff business.”

  “How?”

  “Instead of copying originals, which involves some guesswork, we can work of
f the specifications that the designer brands provide.”

  “But Ban, how can you possibly be competitive in the knockoff market if you’re using designer specs? I mean, it must cost you way more to manufacture to that level of quality.”

  “How much do you think it costs to make one of those designer bags or a pair of designer shoes?” he said.

  “I have no idea.”

  “The factory is making two different bags for Plouffe. Do you know what they sell for?”

  “Five to six hundred dollars.”

  “So take a guess what it costs to make one.”

  “One hundred dollars,” she said.

  “Between ten and fifty dollars, depending on the specifications,” he replied.

  “C’mon. That can’t be true.”

  “Shoes are different,” he said. “A five-hundred-dollar pair of shoes costs about one hundred to make. That’s why we don’t sell our knockoff shoes in street markets.”

  “How about your profit margins?”

  “They’re about the same whether we’re making a knockoff or filling a designer-brand order. In fact, the way it works now, when the factory gets an order for, say, five thousand designer bags, it makes the same number of knockoffs. It’s improved our efficiency.”

  “What a business.”

  “It’s all bullshit, isn’t it. People are paying hundreds of dollars for a name. They think it improves their image when all it does is identify them as suckers.”

  Ava, like May, was very brand-conscious. Under normal circumstances she would have protested vehemently about being called a sucker, but part of her knew that Lam wasn’t entirely wrong. “Thanks for all that information,” she said.

  “Anyway, the reason I called is that I want to tell you personally that VLG won’t be getting anything from Huidong or Huadu unless you tell me otherwise. I’ve already phoned the plant managers and told them to stop any production we have underway, to put all the other orders on hold, and to recall three shipments that haven’t left China yet.”

  “I don’t know how to begin thanking you,” Ava said.

  “You just did, and don’t make too much of it. The factories will just switch over to other brands. Business won’t be declining.”

  “Still, I’m going to owe you.”

  “No, you’re not. This makes us almost square.”

  “Hardly, but I’m not going to argue with you,” she said. “Now, will someone from your factories call VLG to tell them the manufacturing of their products has been suspended, or will the factory wait until VLG calls them?”

  “How do you want us to handle it, and what do you want us to say?”

  Ava thought about it for a minute and then said, “Don’t call them and don’t take their calls. Let them guess why they’ve been cut off. When they do find out, I’d like it to come from us.”

  “Consider it done.”

  ( 27 )

  Ava stripped as soon as she walked into the room, tossing her clothes onto the sofa. She put on a black Giordano T-shirt and went to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. Then she climbed into bed with her phone. No matter how tired she was, she owed Xu a call.

  His mobile rang three times and she was about to hang up when he answered. “Ava, how was your evening?”

  “I spoke to Lam, so I imagine you have some idea how it was.”

  “He was very happy to help.”

  “He did more than help. I’m going to owe him a favour now.”

  “He doesn’t see it that way, and neither do I. What you did for him isn’t so easy to repay.”

  “We can debate that some other time,” Ava said.

  “Suen left for Chongqing earlier tonight,” Xu said. “He took three men with him. The local gang has arranged a number of meetings. They claim to have laid the groundwork, but that could just be them currying favour and getting ready to take the credit if Suen is successful.”

  “I can’t imagine him not being successful,” she said.

  “The trick is to make sure the local gang follows up after Suen leaves. That’s almost more important than getting the factories and exporters to agree to co-operate for a few weeks. We’ll have to make sure the gangs keep leaning on the factories after Suen has left.”

  “Coercion works best when there are immediate consequences.” Then Ava laughed. “I’m sorry, I don’t know where that came from. I’m not thinking clearly.”

  “It sounds clear enough to me.”

  “Anyway, I’m sure Suen is more than capable of ensuring co-operation without my advice.”

  Xu went silent, and for a second Ava wondered if she’d lost the connection. Then he said, “I’m going over the list of things you want me to do. It seems the only one left is the perfume.”

  “Any luck with that?”

  “Partially. Our people don’t think there’ll be any problem copying the scents you mentioned, but our glass man will need at least two weeks to perfect the bottles,” Xu said. “And I imagine that you do want the bottles to be perfect.”

  “Of course.”

  “Then it’s two weeks minimum.”

  “I understand. Can you ask them to start on the bottles tomorrow?”

  “I will.”

  “You mentioned before that you’re already making Rêves Blancs,” Ava said. “Is it possible you could jack up the production?”

  “I imagine it is, but why would you want us to do that?”

  “If we flood the market and sell it at a big enough discount, we can downgrade the brand,” Ava said. “We would find a way to cover any loss of profit you incur.”

  “There’s no reason why we couldn’t keep selling at the same price. But production can’t be ramped up overnight.”

  “I know, and I’m not sure yet that I even want you to start,” she said. “I’m thinking that Rêves Blancs and those other two VLG brands are weapons we can use down the road if the need arises.”

  “Okay,” Xu said. “We’ll keep it open as an option.”

  “That’s more than fair, and much appreciated.”

  “Ava, how long do you think this will go on?”

  “It will go on until one of us capitulates,” Ava said. “But I know we can’t expect you and Lam and all those factories to carry on indefinitely. I don’t want to abuse friendships or over-extend favours. In the next week or two we’ll get to a point where we’ll know if VLG is going to bend. If it’s not, then we’ll have to revisit our strategy . . . and maybe even revisit our dreams of making PÖ an international brand.”

  “I certainly hope you don’t have to do that,” Xu said.

  “It would be a worst-case scenario,” Ava said, and then yawned so deeply that her upper body shook. “Xu, you need to excuse me. I have to sleep.”

  “I’ll talk to you tomorrow. I’m sure there will be lots to discuss.”

  Ava put the cell on the bedside table, turned off the main light switch, and slid under the duvet. As a way of inducing sleep, she often imagined doing bak mei exercises. She drifted off at just the thought of it.

  For many years her father had dominated her dreams. He would tease her with his presence at airports and hotels and office buildings —always neutral sites. But when she came too close, he would disappear, leaving her searching for him in vain. She never found him, though there were times when she thought she saw him in the distance or among a large crowd. But he was never there for long.

  After his death, Uncle had replaced her father in her nighttime wanderings. Unlike her father, he eased her stress rather than being the cause of it. During times of emotional crisis and physical danger he would always appear in his black suit and white shirt buttoned to the collar, a cigarette dangling between his fingers. He would speak softly, the words measured and full of concern and love. He calmed her, and his presence had made dreams something she welcomed rather than feared.

  Now she found herself in another dream with Uncle. He was sitting across from her in a crowded restaurant that looked familiar.
He had a beer in front of him, Ava a glass of white wine. Several waiters were buzzing around a table on the other side of the restaurant. She was trying to get the attention of a server but was being ignored.

  “We can’t even get a menu,” Ava said. “We should leave.”

  “Be patient. They will get to us eventually,” Uncle said. “I am told this is the best Chinese restaurant in London.”

  “There are three servers at that table over there. What makes those people so special?”

  “I believe the actress Pang Fai is sitting there,” Uncle said. “Can you see her? She is the slim woman at the far end, with the sharply cut hair and the long, elegant neck.”

  “She is beautiful.”

  “And famous,” he said. “But she is sad.”

  “How do you know that?”

  Uncle shrugged. A slight smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “There are many things we never had a chance to talk about.”

  “Then tell me what you know about Pang Fai.”

  “She has a secret, one so dark that she has barely admitted it to herself.”

  “Why are you telling me this?”

  “She is desperate to find someone she can trust,” Uncle said. “She needs someone like you.”

  Ava looked across the restaurant and felt her heart skip a beat. Even in profile, Pang Fai was exquisite.

  “I have her phone number if you want to call her,” Uncle said, offering a pack of matches with a number written on the cover.

  Ava took the matches, hesitated, and then picked up her phone. As she did, she saw that Fai was doing the same. Before she could enter the number Uncle had given her, her phone rang. She answered, certain it was Fai.

  “I thought I would update you,” a man’s voice said.

  Ava opened her eyes. She was in her bed at the Peninsula. Her cellphone was in her hand and Raffi Pandolfo was talking to her. She looked at the clock. It was just past midnight.

  “Where are you? What time is it there?”

  “I’m in Milan and it’s five o’clock on a beautiful late winter evening.”