Nancy’s Theory of Style, page 26
“Mom, why don’t you visit Aunt Frilly for a few weeks? You know how much you like staying with her.”
“Maybe, Nanny.
“Speaking of Aunt Frilly, have you talked to her recently? I need to ask Birdie about Eugenia’s preschool.”
“You have her in pre-school? That’s nice.”
“Didn’t Dad tell you? There’s a spot opening up and I don’t know what Birdie wants to do.” Nancy thought of how happy Eugenia was at Three Bridges. Birdie would pull her out and drag her around, leaving her with slatternly hotel maids and hippie communes.
“I’ll call Frilly later. Good luck at your party.”
“Thanks, Mom. Love you.”
“Love you, Nanny.”
Nancy tried her cousin, Sissy, who laughed and said, “I’m not taking her because then I’ll be stuck with her.”
“Sissy, you should be so lucky as to have Eugenia’s company. She’s got amazing artistic vision. I have no intention of letting her with someone who can’t appreciate that. Good day,” Nancy said and hung up and chewed at a rough edge of her fingernail.
She called Milagro, who was away on a trip, but Sloane came through with a suggestion. “The boys are having a sleepover at a friend’s on Friday, but I can watch Eugenia for the rest of the weekend if Mrs. Kanbar can help you find a sitter for Friday.”
“I’ll do that. Thanks.” Nancy said. She felt the need to confide in someone sympathetic. “I’m going away with Bailey. He keeps talking about marriage and I think he’s going to ask me to make a commitment.”
Nancy heard the front door open and Derek came in alone and sat at his writing table.
“A proposal?” Sloane said. “That’s so sudden. Bailey always talked about not wanting to marry too soon.”
Nancy had nothing to hide, except, of course, from Todd, so she said, “I think Bailey’s ready now with the right person. He wants someone who shares his priorities.” Somehow that didn’t sound very romantic.
Sloane said, “Lloyd, stop hitting Dobler with his Elmo! Sorry about that, Nancy. I wish you the best if you believe he’s right for you.”
“We’re really well matched. I know my father thinks Bailey has a great future and my mother will fall in love with his renovation project, just like I did. But I’m not telling anyone anything until my divorce papers are filed.”
When Nancy ended the call, she looked at Derek. His eyes were fixed on his laptop screen. “Derek, I’m going to tell Miss Winkles that she should call the building manager to help her with chores. It’s part of his duties.”
“I don’t mind helping her, Madame.”
“But I need you here helping me. Since you’ll be working on Friday evening, you may have Monday off.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Carrington-Chambers,” he said coldly.
There was a strand of cobweb in his dark hair and Nancy wanted to brush it away. “As you already overheard, I may start divorce proceedings very soon. In which case, Todd will not want to pay your salary. What is the usual procedure – do I contact your agency and have them bill me for your services, or do I deal directly with you?”
“You cannot afford me, Madame.”
“I’ll work it out with my financial advisor,” she said peeved. She wondered exactly how much Derek was paid and knew that her father would recommend that she hire someone right out of college for less. “I’m going to get Eugenia and you have cobwebs in your hair.”
Chapter 21: Construct Your Milieu
Friday morning arrived too soon. Nancy dressed in jeans and her superhero t-shirt and began going over her Froth hemp totes, making sure each contained the supplies itemized on the tags attached to the handles.
She made scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast. Sloane’s suggestion had been useful and one of Eugenia’s favorite teacher’s aides, Eve, was going to babysit her.
“You get to stay the whole day at school and Eve will bring you home,” Nancy told Eugenia. “I’m leaving the key with Miss Winkles, so show Eve her apartment. Eve said she wants to meet Blackbeard. I’ll be home after you’re asleep. You can sleep in my bed tonight.”
“Why can’t I come to the pirate party?”
“It’s a grown up party.”
“I want to see the pirate ship.”
“Let’s ask Derek if he can arrange a visit for us some other time. Maybe we can invite Sloane, Lloyd and Dobler.”
“And Miss Winkles and Blackbeard.”
“We’ll see.”
When she took Eugenia to Three Bridges, Nancy stopped on the sidewalk outside the preschool and said, “Be on your best behavior tonight.”
Eugenia’s brows knit together. “You’ll come get me?”
“I’ll always come back for you, Eugenia. I love you very much.” She put her arms around the girl and kissed her cheek. She didn’t want to let her go. Maybe Birdie would never return.
“I love you, Auntie,” Eugenia said and gave her a loud smacking kiss on her nose that made Nancy laugh.
Nancy returned to Chateau Winkles to meet up with Derek before they went to the warehouse. He’d loaded her totes in the Mini and was fielding calls.
Bailey phoned mid-morning and said, “Hey, Nance.”
“Bailey!” She glanced at Derek who was talking to the florist. “I’m absolutely overwhelmed with work. I’m über-whelmed, supernova-whelmed.”
She expected Bailey to laugh, but he said, “I’m sure you’re calm and in control. That’s what I admire about you. I know I’ll see you tonight, but I wanted to tell you how much I’m looking forward to this weekend. Should I bring anything?”
“Just your board shorts and sunscreen. The house is stocked, and we can pick up anything we need in town.”
“You know how much I care about you, don’t you?”
“I feel the same way about you.” She was sure she cared for him. Oh, yes, she certainly cared for Bailey.
“Bye, Nancy.”
“Bye.” She put down the phone and saw Derek’s twilight blue eyes staring at her and she flushed hot.
“You’re going with Whiteside?”
“We’re going to the beach house and I think he’s going to ask me to marry him.”
“Okay, that’s it,” Derek said and stood up.
His voice was different and he looked different -- like the man who’d made love to her.
“What’s it?” she asked.
“I’ve had it with this stupid farce. Your douche husband paid an agency to place me here.”
She was baffled by his American accent and his anger. “Yes, I know Todd hired you, but what are you talking about and why are you talking like that?”
“Because this is how I talk.”
“Todd may be a douche – okay, he is a douche, but you shouldn’t be calling him that and… Why don’t you calm down and have a glass of water?” she said, confused. “I’ll get it for you. Sparkling with lime.”
“I don’t need water,” he snapped. “Todd hired me to get proof that you’re cheating on him so he could break your pre-nup, and now you’re going off with that asshole, Whiteside. What the hell are you thinking? Are you even thinking?”
Nancy felt as if she’d stuck her finger in a light socket. “Do you mean you’ve been spying on me, Derek?”
“Rick. My name’s Rick.”
She couldn’t breathe for a minute. Of course, Todd had given in too easily to the separation. Of course, he’d volunteered too readily to hire an assistant. Of course, Derek had been too perfect. Nancy had never felt more stupid and foolish and angry and hurt in her life.
“Did you tell him that I slept with Anthony Harper?” she said. Then an even more painful possibility came to her. “And that’s why you had sex with me, isn’t it? It was a performance. You forced yourself to do it because you were paid to.” She clenched her hands until her nails cut into her palms. “Oh, god, oh, god.”
“That’s how you think, isn’t it? It’s all about money. That’s why you go from one rich jerk to another. That’s why you’d never consider someone like me.”
“How could I? You’re gay. You and Prescott…”
“Eugenia’s sharper than you. She figured it out. I’m not gay. I’m not English. Prescott Bottomsly? Are you kidding me? His name is Gregory, he’s my friend, and he owns an investigation agency. He hired me because I needed the money.”
Nancy was trying to absorb everything he was saying. “Then why did you…when we…”
“Because I fell for your poor little rich girl act. Yeah, you made me think you were someone else for a while. You made me think I was someone else, too, which shows what an idiot I am. I even broke up with a hot babe for you,” he said. “What kind of soulless woman marries a man just to take his money?”
“I didn’t marry Todd for money!”
“I don’t care if you clean him out and I don’t care if you clean out Whiteside, too. I don’t want to have anything to do with either you or your scumbag husband,” he said. “Tell Eugenia that I love her and I wish I could have said goodbye. She’s a great kid and she sure as hell deserves better than being a member of your family.”
He walked to the doorway and said, “Have a fabulous life, Nancy Fancy.”
Nancy stood where she was and watched him leave.
Everything she’d thought about him was a lie. She’d had sex with a complete stranger. She’d let him into her home and shared everything with him. Nancy Fancy. That was the name the burlesque dancer had mentioned. What was her name? Melanie. She was Derek’s Mel.
Five minutes later, Froth’s lines started ringing. Nancy let them ring and called her attorney. Her hand shook as she held the phone and said, “Renee, I need to speak with you as soon as possible, but not today. Tomorrow. Todd hired someone to spy on me.”
She felt as if she was walking through a bog; everything was dark and murky and awful. If Nancy could only hold herself together through the fundraiser, she would deal with everything tomorrow.
She went upstairs to give Miss Winkles the extra key for the babysitter.
Miss Winkles opened the door a smidgen, not enough for Nancy to see into the apartment, and scrutinized her. “Why didn’t you send up Derek, Girl Carrington?”
“He’s no longer in my employ. Here’s the key to give Eugenia’s babysitter, Eve, who’ll bring her from school. Eve has my phone number if there’s an emergency.”
“Did you fire Derek?”
“He chose to leave.”
Miss Winkles rolled her eyes. “I suppose I shouldn’t have expected a man like that to want to stay with a silly thing like you, but he seemed to like you anyway.”
Nancy nodded and felt tears running down her face. “Thank you for your help, Miss Winkles. Thank you for spending so much time with Eugenia.”
“Girl Carrington, are you all right?”
Nancy nodded again and then said, “No, I’m not. Bye,” and went down to her apartment. She gathered her clothes for the evening. She was going to wear an aubergine dress that Sissy had designed for her. She saw the large purple handbag she’d taken from her mother’s closet and upended the contents of her purse into it.
It was just after one when Nancy found herself sitting in her car at the parking lot of the warehouse, but she didn’t remember driving. The gala started at seven and would be over at midnight. She only had to get through eleven more hours and then she could fall apart.
Aldo stood in front of the coffee shack and waved at her. She waved back and remembered coming here for the first time with Derek and how it had felt to lie against his body with the cold, salty wind whipping around them.
Nancy crossed the asphalt lot and went into the warehouse. It had been transformed like the back lot of a movie studio. Windows of false storefronts were lighted from behind to give the illusion of entire buildings. Wooden walkways crossed the length of the warehouse. Signs hung from doorways announcing bars, dancehalls, whorehouses, flophouses, and gambling parlors
GP came rushing to Nancy, more excited than she’d ever seen him before. “Come check out the music hall!” The crew was adding the final touches to a room set up as the bar, with stairs that led up to a non-existent second floor.
“It’s wonderful,” Nancy told her friend.
“Wait until you see the actors. I got a coach to work with them on dialect and to do a few scenes that I scripted from old newspaper reports and diaries. Do you think it looks authentic?”
“Yes, it’s perfectly authentic! You’ve done something amazing here.”
He looked away shyly. “Thank you for trusting me.”
“I always know when something is true and good…” she began and she couldn’t say anything else. She put her hand on GP’s arm and squeezed it, then turned away so he wouldn’t see her eyes.
Nancy got the managers together and distributed headsets to key personnel. She talked to the waitstaff manager and the lighting designer. She inspected the luxury mobile restroom trailers and confirmed that the pirate ship would pull up to the pier on schedule.
Sloane arrived with her team and looked at the scene with astonishment. “It’s like Disneyland,” Sloane said. “It’s fantastic.”
“Thanks to GP. He pulled out all the stops.” Nancy handed Sloane a folder and said, “Derek couldn’t make it, so you’ll have to help with his assignments.”
“Is he all right? He’s not sick is he?”
Nancy wanted to tell Sloane that his name wasn’t Derek and that he was gone and that her heart was broken. “He’s fine. Would you check on the music hall and make sure they’ve decanted the drinks into the old bottles?”
The overhead lights were shut off and the party lighting came on. Gas street posts flickered amber light and the taped recording of waterfront sounds melded with the real sound and smell of the bay beside them. The warehouse was so drafty that the wooden signs swung and creaked in the breeze.
No matter what else was happening in her life, Nancy had been responsible for this dark wonderland. She moved away from everyone else and stood just looking at the scene. Sun Tzu had said that many calculations lead to victory. Nancy’s feverish attention to detail would bring her success tonight.
She wished that Derek could see it, the Derek who’d never existed. Nancy squished down her emotions like an eiderdown for summer storage.
She was speaking with the catering director when the costumed actors stroll in, looking as wonderfully grimy and unsavory as GP had promised. Nancy’s phone rang. She looked at the number. It was her mother. She excused herself and went outside to answer the call.
“Hi, Mom, how’s everything?”
“Nancy, I wanted to wish you luck,” her mother slurred.
“You already did. Thanks.”
“Your father is on one of his business trips with the new one, Caroline. She’s thirty-one. Business.”
“Mom, please…”
“I’m sorry, honey. He works so hard to give me everything I could want. I should be more understanding.”
“Go to bed, Mom, and please don’t drink anymore. Don’t drive, promise me, and don’t call anyone else.”
“Yes, Nanny.”
I’ll deal with it tomorrow, she told herself. She collected her clothes for the evening and went to the trailer reserved for event staff. She changed into the aubergine dress and put on makeup for the evening. She left her clothes with the handbag. She set her phone in a case that attached to her clipboard and tried to fluff her hair over her headset.
When Nancy returned to the warehouse, the white-jacketed waiters were carrying out food and arranging the old-fashioned saucer-shaped champagne glasses.
The slouching, rough looking actors conveyed a sense of danger, and the women, falling out of their scandalous period dresses screamed cheap and dirty. They also screamed, and Nancy was going to ask them to modulate their voices when the first group of guests, including Gigi Barton, arrived.
Gigi was wearing a tea-stained, gathered shirt, mustard frock-coat, and ruby-red taffeta skirt, and she looked so spectacular that Nancy was momentarily distracted from her misery.
“Gigi, welcome!” she said, going forward to exchange air kisses. She gazed at her friend and said, “Is that—”
“Yes, it’s from the Pirate Collection,” Gigi said. “I heard this was a pirate party, so I dug this out of the vault. Let me introduce my friends.”
The guests were checked in and Nancy walked them to the music hall, which was halfway down the warehouse, between the poker parlor and the hotel, where dinner would be served. A pianist and a girl, who pretended convincingly to be drunk, performed “My Darling Clementine.”
The bartender plonked down glasses as soon as they walked in and sloshed amber liquor into them. “Our finest whisky. On the house,” he said and winked at Gigi.
“Goodness,” one of her friends said. “I feel as if I’m really in the Barbary Coast.”
Nancy took one of the glasses, wanting something to calm her nerves. “Down the hatch,” she said and took a sip. It took a second for the taste of raw alcohol to scorch her throat.
“Where Derek, Nancy?” Gigi asked. “Send him over to say hello.”
“Derek couldn’t make it tonight.” Her voice caught as she spoke and she blinked back tears.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, sweetie,” Gigi said and patted Nancy’s hand. “You were such a darling couple, and I liked him so much more than Todd. I’m sure you can lure him back.”
“We weren’t…” Nancy began. “I’ve got to check on things, but be sure to visit the poker parlor. All proceeds go to the society and are tax deductible.”
She was able to escape from Gigi’s next question when one of the guests began coughing violently after taking too large a gulp of his drink. Nancy moved to the end of the bar and signaled the bartender. “What is that stuff?” she whispered.
“GP had it made specially from an old formula. It’s grain alcohol sweetened up with cooked sugar, a kick of cayenne and some chewing tobacco. It’s the genuine thing.” The bartender picked up a shot glass from the back of the bar and tossed it back. “It goes down easier if you shoot it, not sip.”
“You’re not supposed to be drinking on the job.”
