Ryan went to get them drinks, and Eliza turned to look out the window. It was still raining hard outside, like it had yesterday, but that didn't stop people from waiting outside the club as usual. Then she saw Mara at the door, underneath an umbrella, being turned away by one of Mitzi Goober's minions.
Eliza saw Mitzi Goober pretend not to see Mara. Mara was one of the few people who actually cared about the plovers, and Eliza knew it had taken courage for her to even show her face to this crowd. J.Lo had attended the MTV Music Awards wearing Harry Winston, and Mara had been blacklisted.
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Mitzi's assistants asked Mara to step aside, and, against Eliza's better judgment, her heart went out to her. Mara slowly turned away, but not before peering through the plate glass window and seeing Ryan kiss Eliza on the forehead and hand her a drink.
It's not what you think, Eliza thought. But even if Eliza had wanted to run out of the club to call her name, Mara was already walking away.
251
something's about to blow
The next morning, Jacqui and Mara woke up to the sound of an explosive crack.
"Merda!" Jacqui said, throwing off the covers and looking out the window.
"What's going on?" Mara asked.
It had been raining for several days now, but nothing like this. The wind howled and raged against the windowpanes, and the two of them had gotten dressed in silence, since Jacqui still wasn't talking to Mara. They ran into the main house, where Laurie had already turned on the television to the news channel. Hurricane Tiffany was coming in from North Carolina, but instead of moving over land and weakening, as had been predicted, it was moving over water and picking up speed.
"It's going to hit tonight," Laurie said grimly. "We're going to have to get the house ready. Where are the kids?"
Philippe helped Laurie find the storm windows in the basement and started hammering them on the sills.
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A quick reconnaissance of the pantry revealed a lack of fresh water and other supplies, so Laurie called Ryan on his cell phone and told him to go to the nearest Home Depot and stock up on bottled water, flashlights, batteries, candles, towels, canned goods, and other sundries.
Zoe ran up to Mara. "I'm scared," she said.
"It's going to be all right, sweetie," Mara said, hugging the little girl. "Just let me go a minute."
Even as the rest of Long Island was battening down for a major hurricane, the relentless business of publicity marched on. Now that Mara had been knocked off her pedestal and was rumored to have been dumped by Garrett Reynolds, all the designers wanted their clothes back. Pronto. Which meant Mara spent half the day tracking down flashlights and towels and the other half running back to her room and handing back all the shopping bags to the messengers. It was all so humbling and shameful, especially when one of Mitzi's assistants had arrived to tally up the total, just to make sure everything was there and accounted for.
"This Chloe blouse hasn't been cleaned," the assistant said rudely, checking it off of a list. "Okay, so we're just missing the Sally Hershberger jeans, the rhinestone Blahniks, and the Pucci scarf." She sighed.
"I don't, um, have them," Mara stammered, hating the way it sounded coming out of her mouth, especially after the earring scandal. The brown-uniformed man from the delivery company gave her a sympathetic look.
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"Fine, I'll just tell Mitzi you stole those, too," the assistant said snidely as she opened her umbrella and stepped outside.
Jacqui couldn't help but notice the parade out of the cottage. She held an armful of four-by-fours to help reinforce the front door and nodded to Mara as Mara led the assistant to the garage to pick up the BMW.
Poppy drove up in the car, and when she and Sugar heard that Mitzi had asked for it back, their matching faces contorted into a grimace. "What do you mean she wants it baaaaack?" Sugar whined at the publicist before giving back the keys. "We're the ones using it now!"
"You really are an idiot, Plum," Poppy complained, as they stood in the open garage, watching the BMW disappear down the driveway.
You have no idea, Mara thought.
254
eliza is an over-it girl
AT NOON THE SKY WAS PITCH BLACK, AND THE STREETS were deserted. Everyone had battened down the hatches to prepare for the worst storm of the year. Eliza stood on the deck of her rented house, in a yellow parka with the Spence crest on its front pocket, watching for Ryan in the Cayenne. Her family had asked her to get supplies, and Ryan had offered to pick her up.
Ryan threw open the passenger door. He too was wearing a yellow windbreaker with his school crest, jeans, and his usual flip-flops. He told her it was a mess back at the house--none of the flashlights were working, and they were short several storm windows. Plus the water had begun to trickle in the front door, and they were already out of towels.