Page 12 of Destino

Fabiana sat in the small booth seat. She couldn’t help but smile. “You say that to all the girls.”

“You look amazing in that dress.Bellissima!”

Immediately her gaze flashed upward. “What?”

“Bellissima? It means very pretty…”

“I know what it means.” She exhaled a nervous chuckle. She hustled out of the booth seat and pulled the phone cord over to the window. She drew it back and scanned the people bustling about. “Mira and I wanted to thank you and your family for having the doors to our boutique reopened. You saved us a lot of grief. I called and… well you didn’t call me back.”

“Forgive me. There’s been a lot of business to tend to recently. It couldn’t be helped.”

“You’re here?”

“Yes, I’m here. You’ve been working, so I decided to wait.”

How was that possible? Security was gridiron tight. She should know, she paid a fortune to keep Mira’s designs under lock and key. No one was allowed in or out without her approval. And he was there, watching her? “Where are you?”

“The phones outside your tent. I want to take you to dinner tonight, afterwards.”

Fabiana looked over to where she could hear Mira dressing. “I can’t. I have this press-op to oversee and the after party. Why don’t you come?”

“An invitation, to another man’s club?”

“It’s a party I’m throwing. Surely you can make an exception this time?”

“I think I can.”

“You’ll need VIP passes to get in. I can get them to you.”

Lorenzo chuckled. “That won’t be necessary,a presto.”

“Bye,” she said, and the phone clicked off.

“Who was that?”

Mira held out for the small chance Kei would call to wish her good luck. She peeked out at Fabiana. Her friend’s face was red as a tomato. Fabiana looked like she’d explode into a rainbow of happiness. She jumped up and stomped her feet shaking her head in triumph. “What the hell is going on with you?”

“He called. That’s what! Wait a second, what are you wearing?” Fabiana frowned.

“Who called?” Mira tucked the blouse into her slacks. She’d chosen a neutral color of bone for her business suit.

“Never mind that. I left a dress in there for you to put on.”

Mira looked down. “What’s wrong with this?”

“Stop with the games, and put the dress on.”

“For Christ’s sake, Fabiana, I can’t walk around in that thing!”

“You designed it!”

“It’s a party dress! I can’t –”

“You can’t work in it? Exactly my point.” Fabiana dropped her hands to her hips. “The work is done. Now I need you to shine like the designing superstar you are. Please with sugar on top. Put it on.”

Mira threw her hands up in defeat. She marched to the back of the trailer to change. “Who was that on the phone?” she called out.

“Lorenzo. He’s coming to the after party.”

---