A Nightingale in Parkleigh Square

Chapter Fourteen

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O n the day of the unveiling , the countdown calendar and final elf, who had been watching a large pocket watch recycled from Santa's London look, were removed by afternoon. At five o' clock, a small crowd had already gathered before the automated curtains lifted theatrically, revealing the lighted winter wonderland on the other side.

On a carpet of fleece snow, the revolving tree, adorned with the beautiful folk ornaments, had pride of place in the left window — some of the elves which had been staged for the countdown were now climbing it like a ladder, hanging ornaments on the branches, and posed as if adjusting the tree topper, a punched metal star instead of the original modern finial.

Santa was positioned to the side. His robes, sewn of red and white, were like a traditional Old European Father Christmas now, complete with a hood, and his hand now lifted and lowered a quill pen above a long scroll-like list, held in the same hand with the vintage stocking containing miniature toys and sprigs of greenery.

His vintage valise sat open with garments being nested inside, the patterned sweaters and socks, one of the scarves, all being packed by more of the little elves in the act of folding and tucking.

The mannequins were spread throughout the scene in the background, a patterned knit coat with leggings and faux fur boots, a man's pullover with simple scarf and woolen trousers, and the beautiful embroidered dress. Those three highlighted outfits from the new line, which appeared in the video loop.

The loop was projected on a full-coverage screen from top to bottom behind the window, hiding the view of the store on the other side. Perfectly-synced images, the winter fashion show's model footage wrapped in footage of woodland paths in the snow, a rustic barn and farmhouse, and twinkling white lights in a snowy grey day. The same comprised the background for the opposite window, synced to the same pattern — its scene contained the original sculpture, now dusted with snow and surrounded by miniature snow-covered trees among white fairy lights — where two other elves opened the wooden storage boxes, unpacking the garments, more beautiful pullovers and a peasant blouse of soft watered silk with a red floral belt.

The journey of old to new, from Europe's traditions to modern London, completed.

People applauded as the scene was unveiled. Among them, Nina felt her cheeks flush. Her heart had been in her throat until that moment. Now pride was swelling in her chest. The scene glowed, from Santa's motion to the beautiful garments modeled in the snow and had come together even better than she had hoped.

Beside her, Bradley was making a video — scanning the people in the crowd with as much focus as the scene in the window. Molly stood grinning, hands clasped. Between them, Ki gazed at the window, trying not to look too impressed to seem less than cool, but his eyes were already filled with awe.

"You did that," said Nina, softly. "Pretty cool, isn't it?"

"Yeah," he admitted, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets. "It's not bad."

"You have tough standards, kid," said Molly, nudging him. "Admit it, this is your first time to go public, and it's exciting."

"I can't believe this is happening," said Bradley, excitedly. "Hey, pose together in front of the left window, both of you and Ki. One more photo for the album." He closed in with them, phone at arm's length for a selfie.

***

M ore people stopped by the next day, Saturday, after the buzz on social media that Van Stewart's had unveiled its first glimpse of next year's exclusive line.

Natalia was watching the crowd drift by from the upstairs window, her arms crossed, as Vincent paused there with a portfolio in hand.

"Not quite the chic London scene they pitched," she remarked, dryly. "I would have preferred the original. Something about Santa's little helpers packing the Van Stewart collection seems so ... mainstream."

"The word online is favorable," said Vincent. "Everyone's impressed. Simone's impressed, according to her assistant."

"Fortunately." Natalia's tone cut like a knife.

Downstairs, Nina scanned the interior with her phone, making a digital record of the space. Ambient lighting, she thought. Here's where the snowflakes they removed from the original window scene would come into play.

"I think we're going to need to change the order for the trees if it isn't too late," she said, making a note on the latest photo. "I'm having completely new thoughts now that we've changed the ornaments."

"I'll make a note of it, but you'd probably be better off if someone else does it for you instead," said Vincent, who was standing on the last staircase step when she turned around.

Inside, Nina felt a wave of heat. "Sorry," she said. "I thought you were Molly. She was taking photos for the effects — lights and tech, those kind of installations." Like he cares, she thought. Stop talking so he doesn't think you're flirting.

"She was waylaid by one of our interns who's asking everyone's opinion about her fabric combination," said Vincent. "I saw them by the open workshop. She could be busy for a few minutes."

"And Molly's not even a fashion maven," said Nina, joking, as the blush under the surface tried to break through. "I mean — she has a great eye, obviously, she's just not into clothes as a general rule."

"It's not everybody's thing," said Vincent, sounding as if clothes were just a hobby some people adopted, and it wasn't an insult to his passion and profession if people didn't adopt it, unlike the designer Nina met at one of their client's boutiques, who thought most of the public dressed like slobs.

"You might be the first designer I've heard admit it," she said. "Your job depends on people caring what they wear, like mine depends on businesses caring whether they can get people to stop and look."

"Sometimes you don't want anybody to stop and look," he pointed out. "Some businesses meet their customers another way — the internet, word of mouth, and so on — so it's not like they need people to pay attention to the brick and mortar side of things."

"Nice comparison," she said.

She expected him to walk away, but he was still here. The feeling of heat inside her was intensifying, trying to turn her cheeks into roses, and it was hard for her to fight it. He was charming and good-looking, who cared if he wasn't interested — she was still human, right?

"Nice work on the windows," he said. "They look even better than some of the ones belonging to famed department stores, in my opinion."

"I wouldn't say that's true, but I thought it was better than if we completely failed," she answered. "If I was going to make an honest confession ... I'd say I actually like them better than our original idea, but that feels like a business saving face."

"I'd still agree with that perspective," he answered, "not that there was anything wrong with the original idea. But even Simone Van Stewart agrees, so that's a sign."

"Simone likes it?" Nina couldn't stop the blush from blooming.

"Look at her social media page," he said. "She approves everything her assistant posts, and, occasionally, she actually makes the post herself. This could be one of those times."

She laughed. "Don't you mean she gave it a thumbs up on the store's page?" she clarified.

"No, I'm serious, it's a real post on her formerly-known-as-Twitter page," he said. "Look it up."

She swiped to her social media app, and found the page for the designer. He was telling her the truth. "Wow," she said, feeling amazed. "I can't believe it. I mean, it's probably an assistant, but still —"

"Still, it validates your decision," he said.

"I'll bet Natalia sees it that way," she said, trying not to be sarcastic about it.

"She will ... eventually," he said. "You have to give her time. She's a challenge, but don't think of her as a bad challenge."

"Easier for you than for me," said Nina, taking another photo for reference of the newly-finished group of mannequins wearing the designer's winter fashions. "You don't actually work for her, unlike me."

"That's a good point," he said, laughing. "But since I'm one of Simone's representatives who has to give a thumbs up or a thumbs down to all of the new store's decisions, it's still not easy. Telling Natalia 'no' is almost as challenging as being told 'no' by her, I'd be willing to bet."

"Take that wager to the bookies for me, will you? We'll make it an even twenty," she joked. "You can pay up with one bill that way."

"How about I skip the outcome's wait and buy your half of dinner instead?" he said. "London has some great restaurants, and I'm guessing you haven't had the time to try any of them. It would be nice, a chance to talk away from this place — you know, in case we want to talk about this place." He smiled, and Nina felt as if her body had frozen.

No reply came into her head, as if language had run away from her. Was that — a date ? She tried to hide her reaction, which must have painted itself on her face seconds before, but she still had to try. "Uh, sure, I guess," she said. "But you don't have to do that."

"I know, but I'd like to," he said. "Let's say The Brantley, Thursday at seven? I can usually get a reservation there ... without using Simone's name."

He was making a joke — Nina laughed, although she was having a hard time reacting to things the way she usually would, so it sounded weird to her. "I guess I'll see you there," she said. "I'll see you around before, obviously."

Her face was turning red again, like a blush of Pasadena roses on parade day. Did he notice, she thought, trying to look anywhere but at him, as naturally as possible.

"We work in the same building, so that's pretty likely," he answered, laughing again. "Just a heads up — Simone hated the tree last year in the Paris store, she thought it was too tall and too thin. Just in case that's what you're deciding on right now."

"Thanks for the tip." She made a note, but it might be total gibberish for all she knew. Act naturally , she told herself. He gave her another smile and glance as he passed by. Nina's chest feeling a cocoon of butterflies released inside.

Trying to concentrate, she took another photo of the room — this one contained a frowning figure at the opposite end, near the display for winter accessories. Natalia shook her head with a touch of disdain as she watched the scene dresser at work, before giving her attention to the display of winter boots being arranged nearby.

***

"I think changing the trees is going to be the right decision," said Nina. "Fortunately, it wasn't too late to modify the store's original order, so I think we'll be fine." She had already spoken with a couple of representatives from the tree lot, both of whom assured her the changes wouldn't be a problem.

"How about the fake snow? Will they charge extra?" said Molly. "The last of the budget will be getting thin after we finalize the new ornaments — whenever we finalize them."

She was untangling some of the leftover twinkle lights, which would now be used with decorations for the new winter wonderland look. Some of the strings had become attached to the leftover greenery from the window scene.

"It's a small charge compared to some of what we've paid, and if we can make the ornament budget stretch to the max, we should be fine," said Nina. "The special effects rental equipment is going to cost us the most."

"True that. But we're not in our lucky phase, are we?" Molly pulled the lights tangle free. She scowled as it coiled back on itself. "This thing is like an evil jack in the box spring."

"Try winding it around an old cardboard spool," suggested Nina. "That works for me most of the time." She tossed her an empty ribbon spool from the box of castoff decor.

Molly coiled the free end of the lights around it. The door opened as Bradley returned with a takeout box and a bag from the party supplies store. "I found these cool little battery operated orb lights that you both have to see," he said. "They even have a remote and a timer system built in."

"Cool," said Molly. "Let me see." She dug through the sack of purchases, underneath boxes of invisible wire and snowflake-style crystal glitter. "Oh, these are perfect, Bradley, we can definitely use these in the decorations. How cute is this?" She held the box up for Nina to admire. "Maybe we can experiment with them at night. We could stay late the next couple of nights and play around with some stuff."

"I'm game," said Bradley. "Wait, we have that invite to the pub for the Christmas party on Thursday, don't we?"

"Right, so we'll have to work afterwards," said Molly.

Thursday. Nina decided not to say anything about Vincent's dinner invitation. Would they think it was weird that he only asked her? Was this a date? Was he — interested , or was she misreading the situation?

"Hey, Val's calling," said Molly, as her phone's screen flashed and buzzed on the table. "She must have a line for us on some ornament deals."

Nina swiped its screen. "Tell us you have good news, Val," she said.

"Okay, so — I spent the last day shopping around, looking at the photos you sent me and doing some comparisons, and I think I've done pretty good," said Val. "I'm sending the links right now to everybody, so have a look."

Nina opened the instant message on her phone and the links popped up to different ornament sets from wholesalers. All of the ornaments were in shades of metallic silver, tarnished, or in crystal and frosted transparent themes. Some were beveled or had diamond and swirl patterns on the outside, and old-fashioned hook caps.

"I got more dazzle for you, too. There's a company, they specialize in novelty-shaped lights — snowflake, icicles. Can you say 'impressed'?" asked Val. "I think it would wow."

"I'm impressed, definitely," said Nina. "And these can ship in time?"

"As promised, I looked for vendors which had warehouses in England or France, and these are the importers I found through the retail sites," said Val. "At least it's on your side of the ocean, so how long could it take?"

"These look as good as some of the lots we priced on our own," said Molly. "This is a great start, but we're going to need a contact or something at one of these places to buy wholesale — I mean, they import this stuff for online vendors usually."

"We have one already," said Nina. "Remember? You met him when you and Bradley were scouting out the competition."

She reached into the compartment of Molly's shoulder bag where receipts, business cards, and other paraphernalia was always stuffed until Molly dumped it out and gave it a sort once a month. Between receipts for coffees and tickets for takeout at the pub, she found a tear away postcard with a business logo on it.

"This one — I remember, you pointed it out when we were looking at trade magazines one night at the B&B," she said. "You said you gave a cab ride to one of the sales reps who worked for them."

"I totally forgot about that," said Bradley. "What was his name? Tristan? Something like that."

"Maybe he could help us, we should get in contact with him," said Molly. "I mean, he's in imports, his company probably has a list of wholesale vendors who might work with us, if nothing else."

"We're going to need more than these ornaments ... when it was about the exclusivity in taste, less was more, but not with these," said Nina. "More is more in this case — we have to drape that place in a winter wonderland if we want it to look truly impressive."

It was the unwritten rule of staging and dressing that certain excesses were preferable — in the case of Christmas ornaments, for example. Having lots of simple ornaments paired with more elaborate ones, like repetitive fillers abounding to compliment feature pieces, had magical powers when it came to the human eye's perception. Even people with discriminating taste could still be awed by the complete picture, because the sum of all the parts trumped the fact that not all of them were hand selected art.

"I'll round up more options — you know, wrangle some snowflake lots, some bulk plastic icicles. You get the glitter and glue and do the rest," said Val.

"What's with the cowboy language?" asked Nina.

"Yeah, I saw that new western drama with my cousin the other night. Spoiler alert, way too many dead bodies," said Val. "How are you fixed for supplies? Do you have bulk stuff already?"

"Actually, we're going to need a bigger stash," said Bradley.

"We need anything we can get — crystals, diamond rhinestones, tarnished metal beading, pearlized beads — basically anything we can get, and a lot of it," said Nina. "Do we have a couple of bulk suppliers who might have a store overseas?"

"I can do you overnight shipping from a company — probably two-day international if they have a warehouse overseas," said Val. "All the stuff you need and maybe some things you haven't thought of."

"How do you know that already?" said Molly.

"I know my bling. I do my jeans all the time, I do my cousin's clothes. I'm a glitter girl," said Val. "I always know the best deals. Plus, I'm literally looking at their catalog as we speak. It's like a sign."

"You're amazing, Val," said Nina. "Send us the link. We need more supplies, definitely." They were going to have to finish some of these ornaments in the bulk lots with a little more bling for certain, and definitely mock up some pieces here and there as filler. At this point, anything and everything was on the table for decor — like the Wild West of Christmas decorating, she thought.

"So we'll need everything here in the next two to three days, just after the trees arrive at the latest," said Molly. "And that leaves us only a few days to come up with the remaining decor, the extra ornaments, garlands, centerpieces — basically the whole shebang."

Put like that, nobody would feel optimistic. Bradley hesitated. "I think we can do it," he said. What his voice lacked in confidence, he tried to express with a tilted-up chin.

"Now maybe the time to look at our upcycling portfolio," said Nina.

"Upcycling? For this event?" echoed Molly. "Natalia will put out a hit on us if she sees secondhand decor at a party of this scale. You remember the original theme? Everything top of the line, that was emphasized when we took the job, because we weren't top of the line kind of people."

"We'll do it with style," said Nina. "What choice do we have? We need more decor than we can afford until the original deposit is refunded. This is our best plan to fill the gaps, because we can't possibly find enough matching things online that can be shipped in time, or find enough affordable antiques, either. We don't have time to visit every shop in London, do we?"

Molly sighed. "All right, your point makes sense. I don't have a better idea, either."

"Then I guess we need to come up with our plan of action," said Bradley.