by Ian Hamilton
“Ava, I’ve just heard from Suen,” Xu said.
“I’m talking to Sonny on the other line. Can I call you in a few minutes?”
“Sure.”
“Sonny, I’m back,” she said. “You were telling me that you finalized agreements.”
“Yeah. It took all fucking day,” he said.
Ava started moving back into the hotel. “Why so long?”
“We had to go to three factories. They’re owned by different people, but they’d talked to each other and put up a common front.”
“How did they know what we wanted them to do?”
“Lop told the guys in Fanling what the game was, and I guess they gave the factories a heads-up. In a way it wasn’t a bad thing, because it saved explaining things and gave us more time to negotiate.”
“How did the negotiations end?” Ava asked as she stepped inside the Peninsula.
“They won’t take any more orders for now —” he said.
She lost the next few words as her phone sounded again. Ava saw it was an incoming Chinese number. This is crazy, she thought. “This is Ava Lee.”
“Hello, Ava. This is Ban Lam in Guangzhou.”
She hesitated, surprised by his call. Had something gone wrong in Huidong or Huadu? “Ban, I’ll be right with you. I need to end another call. Don’t hang up,” she said, and then switched back to Sonny. “I have a call from Lam that I have to take. Stay by your phone.”
“Okay, boss.”
“Hi, Ban. I didn’t expect to hear from you again quite so soon,” she said.
“You sound worried,” he said. “Don’t be. I just thought you should know something. The VLG agent who supervises production and shipments from our factories in Huadu and Huidong was at the facilities today, to check on the progress of some orders. He didn’t react very well when he was told there wasn’t any progress, and that there wouldn’t be until further notice.”
“So he knows production has been halted?”
“He does.”
“And how about the products in inventory and in transit?”
“He was told that they’re not leaving China.”
“That’s great.”
“The agent demanded to know who had made those decisions,” Lam said. “He was told it was the people who owned the factories. He found that a bit confusing, since he had no idea the factories were connected in any way, let alone owned by the same group. He then asked who the owners were, and of course he wasn’t given a direct answer.”
“He must have asked why this was happening.”
“He did. Our managers said they didn’t know and didn’t care. The order had come from upstairs and that was it.”
“Did that end it?”
“No. He made some threats about lawyers and said they could expect to hear from Italy.”
“I have to say that it sounds like it all went rather well.”
“I thought so too.”
“Thank you so much. Your support means a lot to me and my partners.”
“You don’t have to thank me again. Twice in two days is enough,” Lam said. “If I hear anything else, I’ll let you know.”
Ava had been standing by the elevator while she spoke to Lam. Now she got in and rode to her floor. She hit Sonny’s number as soon as she got off.
“Sorry, Sonny, I didn’t mean to cut you off earlier, but it was Lam on the other line and I was worried that he might have some bad news for me.”
“Did he?”
“No, it was all good. Now, how about you?”
“Pretty good, I think.”
“What do you mean by ‘you think,’ and what does ‘pretty good’ mean?” she said as she entered her room.
“They won’t take any more orders from that VLG outfit until we tell them they can,” Sonny said, and then paused.
“What aren’t you telling me?” Ava said.
“We had to buy the inventory they had on hand and commit to buying whatever they could recall.”
“Who is ‘we’?”
“Me and Lop.”
“You mean Xu and I.”
“The same thing, no?”
“Yes, the same thing,” Ava said without hesitating. “And how much is it going to cost us?”
“About a million U.S.”
“About?”
“Lop is sending one of his accountants to Shenzhen to finalize the amount.”
“Sonny, if you don’t mind my saying it, this doesn’t sound like the kind of arrangement you and Lop would make on your own.”
“We had problems with the Fanling gang,” he said. “Shenzhen is their turf, and they weren’t happy that we were messing around in it. It was only because it was me and Lop that they co-operated at all. Truthfully, if the factory owners had been left to us, there would have been a lot less talking and a lot more physical persuasion. But the Fanling guys wanted a peaceful solution, and we decided that the final outcome was more important than how we got there.”
That might be the longest speech I’ve ever heard Sonny make, Ava thought. “You’re absolutely correct about the outcome,” she said.
“And don’t worry about the inventory. One of the factories said they could help us peddle it.”
“So they make a commission on top of their sales profit?”
“Lop thought it was the best way to go, since we have no idea how to sell the stuff.”
“That’s a good point,” she said. “I think you did a great job. Please pass along my thanks to Lop as well.”
“Is there anything else you need done right now?”
“No. Just stay on top of the accountant and make sure we don’t get screwed on the inventory. When you know how much money is involved, call me,” Ava said.
She’d been sitting on the bed as she spoke to Sonny. Now she moved to the desk to get her notebook and the names and addresses of the silk companies in Chongqing before she called Xu.
“What’s going on? You sound harassed,” he said.
“What hasn’t been going on?” she said, taking a deep breath. “Two containers of VLG products were destroyed this afternoon by Customs. I sent the video to the guys in Milan. Lam phoned to say his factories were contacted by the VLG agent and they told him they weren’t shipping any more of their product. I’m sure Milan knows that by now. And Sonny just called to brief me on Shenzhen.”
“I know about Shenzhen because I spoke to Lop a few minutes ago.”
“Did he tell you that we’re on the hook for a few dollars?”
“Yes, but don’t worry about it.”
“We’ll pay.”
“I said don’t worry about it. By the time Lop is finished with the factories I’ll be surprised if we owe anything.”
“Pass along my thanks to him. He and Sonny did a great job,” Ava said. “But right this instant, I’m more interested in how Suen did in Chongqing.”
“He did quite well. We had to buy some silk, but nothing excessive. Our own factories will use it up over the next few months. He persuaded everyone who’s been shipping to VLG not to take any new orders and to hold off on production. There are a couple of shipments in transit that they’re trying to sidetrack. We won’t know how successful that is for a day or two. So, overall, I think it’s safe to say we’ve put a crimp in VLG’s supply.”
“Do I want to know how he persuaded them?”
“No, I don’t think you do.”
“Then I won’t ask.”
“And I told our perfumers and the glass manufacturer to speed things up. Maybe by tomorrow I’ll have an improved deadline for those two scents you want them to make.”
“Oh, that’s fantastic,” Ava said, and then she was alerted to yet another incoming call.
This time it wasn’t from China and it wasn’t from an unfamiliar number. It was from Canada, and the number was all too familiar.
“Hey,” Maria said softly. “Can you talk?”
( 31 )
Ava had no idea when she finally fell asleep.
After her conversation with Maria, she had tried to work but found that her mind kept returning to Toronto. She turned on the television, but when that didn’t prove a distraction, she pushed the green leather chair to the window overlooking the gardens and sat there staring out into the night. She wasn’t sure how long it had been before she started to cry. The first tears sneaked out and she wasn’t aware of them until she felt them trickling down her cheek. She wiped them away, but they were quickly replaced by others and soon became a steady stream.
She went to the bathroom to get tissues. As she pulled a handful from the box she saw herself in the mirror. Her face was streaked with black mascara and her eyes were red and puffy. She hardly recognized herself, and the pain in the pit of her stomach was something equally strange. What choice did I have? she thought. Then she sobbed, her head lowered, her shoulders collapsing around her chest, her hands pressing down on the edge of the sink.
The intensity of her reaction caught her by surprise, but so had Maria. She had figured that Maria would state her case again and then back down when she saw that Ava wouldn’t bend. Instead of backing down, Maria had issued an ultimatum. And Ava had responded the only way she could.
Ava walked into the sitting room with the box of tissues. She opened the bar, took out a bottle of white wine, and filled a glass. She went back to the window, where she reassumed her place in the chair. Maybe I should have tried to meet her halfway, she thought. Except, what is halfway? And the truth was, Maria hadn’t seemed the least bit interested in having that kind of discussion. There was no compromise in her words or in her tone. Her mind was set —it was either live together or separate. It’s better to end this now rather than later, when it would be harder to untangle our lives and our emotions, Ava told herself. Except she wasn’t the one ending the relationship. It was being ended for her. She drank deeply from the glass. She looked out onto the gardens through a film of tears.
Ava finished the wine, went back to the bar, and took out a bottle of cognac. Her cellphone rang. She let it go to voicemail and then turned it off. The outside world was of no interest to her.
At one point she started to nod off, but the force of her head slumping forward startled her awake. She sipped more cognac and felt her head start to spin. I should sleep, she thought, struggling to rise from the chair. She collapsed onto the bed, still dressed in the clothes she’d worn all day and not bothering to wash her mascara-streaked face. She reached down and pulled up the duvet until it covered her like a cocoon.
She didn’t dream and she didn’t remember waking up anytime during the night. When she finally opened her eyes, the sun was streaming through the window. Her mouth was dry; she felt dehydrated and her eyes burned. She groaned. Why did I do this to myself? she thought. It was a lament she’d made before, and nearly always after she’d tried to cleanse herself of emotional pain. She sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed.
She rushed to the bathroom, drank three full glasses of water, washed her face, brushed her teeth, and stepped into the shower. Fifteen minutes later, she emerged wrapped in a thick terrycloth robe. She made a coffee and sat at the desk. She turned on her computer. Maybe Maria sent me an email, she thought. The idea filled her with as much dread as hope.
There was no email from Maria.
Ava reached for her phone. She had a dim memory of it ringing and her turning it off. Before she could activate it, the room phone rang.
“It’s May. I’ve been trying to reach you on your cell since last night. I was getting worried.”
“You could have tried the room.”
“I did around midnight and there was no answer.”
“I was sleeping,” Ava said. “There’s nothing to worry about.”
“When I saw you make mention of a hard night in your email, I thought there might be more problems with VLG.”
“No, it’s the opposite. Sonny and Xu both called me last night to say things went well in Shenzhen and Chongqing.”
“That’s good to hear. So what was this hard night about?”
“Jet lag and a bit too much to drink.”
“Still, it isn’t like you. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine, May,” Ava said, more sharply than she intended.
May hesitated. “I didn’t mean to pry.”
“I know you care about me, and I’m sorry if I was abrupt,” Ava said.
“If you had a problem —”
“— I’d tell you,” Ava said, reminded again how finely honed May’s instincts were.
“Okay. So why don’t you tell me about Sonny and Xu.”
“VLG won’t be getting any leather or silk from their suppliers in Shenzhen and Chongqing in the immediate future. It may cost us in terms of buying some inventory, but we should be able to turn most of it.”
“Have you told Ventola or Pandolfo yet?”
“No, but I’m reasonably sure they know or are about to find out.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Lam called me from Guangzhou last night. The VLG agent has been told they’re cut off in Huidong and Huadu. He demanded to know who’d made that decision. Lam’s people wouldn’t tell him.”
“But you’re assuming that Ventola and Pandolfo will put two and two together.”
“I am, and that they’ll start calling around to their other Chinese suppliers to get status reports on the orders they have. And when they do, they’ll get the same story. Even a thick-witted businessman would finger us as the prime candidate, and as we know, Ventola and Pandolfo are about the furthest thing from thick.”
“That’s not so bad, is it?”
“It’s what we wanted. It’s just happening a bit faster than we anticipated. I would have liked to have a few more jolts lined up and ready to go.”
“How much more of their attention do we need?”
“Probably not much, if any.”
“What do you expect to happen?”
“Like I said yesterday, after we destroyed the supposed counterfeits, they’re going to be angry and they’ll want to lash out,” Ava said. “But the problems they’re facing now are far bigger than just a couple of container loads of product. And what makes it harder is that they’ll have no idea how extensive our reach is and how long we can carry on doing what we’re doing. They must have factories waiting for raw material. They must have orders on hand for shoes and bags and luggage. How long before their customers get pissed off and cancel their orders and word gets out to the fashion insiders and media? So while I think they’re going to be furious, I hope they’re going to be even more practical and realize it’s wiser to cut some kind of deal with us.”
“And if they don’t want to negotiate a deal?”
“We keep up the pressure. We lose more containers. We help customs offices in Hong Kong and Guangzhou find and destroy more ‘counterfeits.’ We unleash Xu’s knockoff perfumes,” Ava said. “We will cost them so much money and give them so much aggravation that they’ll beg us to settle with them.”
“I told Changxing a little about what’s going on,” May said. “He found some of it funny, especially destroying those real goods as counterfeit. He said Ventola has obviously underestimated how nasty and powerful we bitches are.”
“And he meant that as a compliment?”
“He did. I know it’s a back-handed compliment, but he was laughing when he said it.”
“It’s nice to know he has confidence in us. Maybe when this is over and we’ve won, we can invite him to join us for a celebration in Shanghai.”
“Let me mull that one over,” May said.
“While you do, let me get dressed. See you downstairs at eleven. I’ll leave it to you to find a place for lunch.”
Ava put down the phone and went back to the desk. She turned on her cell and saw she had a message. She assumed it was May from the previous night, but found herself listening to the low, slow monotone of Raffaello Pandolfo.
“This is Raffi,”
he said. “I know you think you’ve been clever with Customs and your video, and now we hear we have problems with some of our suppliers that we believe you are most likely responsible for.” His voice still a monotone but increasingly edged with menace. “I told you not to provoke us. You did, and then you went beyond that. Dominic is furious. He’s been compelled to tell some of our partners about your interference in our business. I wanted to keep them out of it, but when he’s that angry, he doesn’t listen to anyone. So now the partners are involved and that is not a good thing for you. I don’t owe you or anyone else associated with PÖ a warning, but you are in many ways lovely women and I don’t want to see any unnecessary harm come to you. So I have to tell you —stop while you still have time and call Dominic and apologize. It’s time you started listening to me.”
Ava stared at her phone and then listened to the message again.
Is he talking about physical harm? Ava thought. And partners. What kind of partners do they have that can deliver on that kind of threat?
She thought about calling Pandolfo but immediately discarded the idea. Reaching out to him would only make her look weak, and she knew that if Ventola and Pandolfo sensed any weakness, she’d never be able to get them to negotiate.
Should I tell May and Amanda about the call? she thought, and then quickly answered her own question. No.
( 32 )
Ava saw Amanda and May standing near the hotel entrance and was taken aback by how similar they looked. If she hadn’t known better, she would have mistaken them for mother and daughter —a comparison May would have found highly insulting. She had seen them together many times, but May was usually wearing a designer suit or dress, while Amanda was most comfortable in slacks and a sweater or blouse. Today they both wore jeans with a blouse and looked at the world through almost matching large, round sunglasses.
“You look like sisters,” Ava said as she joined them.
“I’ll thank you for that comment, though Amanda may not,” May said. She lowered her sunglasses and looked at Ava with concern. “Are you feeling okay? Your eyes are puffy and a bit bloodshot.”