Page 35 of Palazzo
“I have such happy memories of it,” she said warmly to Cosima.
“So do I. Sometimes I still forget that we don’t own it anymore. The last I heard, the new owner was repairing the fire damage, but he wasn’t doing anything else.”
Sally was impressed that Saverio was doing a collaboration with Bayard, and had already told her buyers that she wanted them to buy the entire line. It made an exclusive, elite brand available at a price point they could carry in their stores. She was as thrilled about it as Cosima was herself.
Once Fashion Week got started, it was a whirlwind of parties, dinners, extravagant displays, presentations, and fashion shows. Cosimawent to see the shows of all the designers she loved, while Allegra ran their concept store very efficiently, with two young women to help her.
Fashion Week in Paris was a star-studded event, even more than in Milan. Movie stars and celebrities of all kinds attended from every country. Allegra was elated when Cosima went to the store to check on her. Her three favorite rock stars had showed up in the last hour and bought nine of her bags and two Saverios. They were doing a booming business at the pop-up, the fashion press had discovered Allegra’s bags and gave them rave reviews, and the bloggers loved them. They were all over Instagram, and the talk of the fashion world. Olivier had taken several very large orders for their collaboration. Cosima was excited to hear it.
On the second day of Fashion Week, Olivier, Cosima, and Allegra went to the opening of Basile’s gallery show. The work he had chosen to exhibit was perfect for the audience with his bold artistic taste, and he had done a few pieces that were fashion-oriented, which already had red dots on them, indicating that they were sold, when Cosima and the group arrived half an hour after the show opened. Basile was the hot young star of the art world, and his dealer was thrilled.
It was a whirlwind week and a huge success for all four of them. Olivier said he hadn’t had as many orders as he had for their collaboration since he opened the business.
He took Cosima to Alain Ducasse for dinner to celebrate, and she looked nervous when she told him her decision.
“I’m going to do it,” she said, and he wasn’t sure what she meant. “I’m going to open a store in Paris, in the location you showed me onthe Faubourg. My father and my grandfather would have killed me for it, but I think it’s the right decision in today’s world. These are modern times, the world is bigger and broader than in their day, and I have to be modern with it. I’d like to be open by Fashion Week at the end of September or early October, whenever it is. That gives me seven months to do it. I should be able to pull it off. The store looked in good shape when we saw it. So here we go. I hope it’s the right decision. And I made another one. Before I start expanding, I want to buy Luca’s share of the business. I don’t know if he’ll be willing, but he’d probably like to have the money to add to what he made on the sale of the palazzo. He’ll have plenty of money when he comes out of prison.” He had another year and a half to serve on his sentence, and for Cosima at least, the time was moving quickly. Olivier’s son was due out in six months, and his father was exploring opportunities for him in the States. Olivier thought Max needed a fresh start, where everyone wouldn’t know he’d spent a year in prison. People would find out eventually in the States too when they checked him out, but he would be the object of constant gossip in France from now on. Just as Luca would be in Italy when he got out. As far as Olivier knew, from what Max told him, the two men hadn’t seen each other in prison. The prison authorities kept them apart so they couldn’t get up to mischief again together.
Cosima was excited about her decisions. Allegra had already decided to rent the store from Olivier that they were using for their concept store. Basile was going to decorate it with his art, which was perfect with her ultramodern, trendy designs and bright colors. He was already doing sketches for the murals he was going to paint, and Allegra had told Cosima and Olivier she wanted to open in June.Cosima would open Saverio on the Faubourg Saint-Honoré at the beginning of October. They all had plans.
Olivier loved the fact that Cosima would be spending a lot more time in Paris now, getting the store ready, and that she’d come regularly once it was open. She would be moving at jet speed from now on, even more so than she had been.
“Do we have time for a vacation this summer in the midst of all that?” he asked her as they ate the delicious dinner at Ducasse.
“Probably not. I’ll be spending it with painters and lighting people at the store in Paris.”
“No one works here in August, so I’m taking you away,” he said firmly, and she laughed. “How does the South of France sound?”
“Delightful for a lady of leisure.” She grinned. “I have three stores to run now, and you can’t complain because you talked me into the third one.” They both looked happy at what lay ahead, although they knew it would be an enormous challenge for her, and she liked keeping her hand in everything they did at Saverio. She couldn’t rely on Allegra anymore to keep an eye on things for her, now that she was in Paris and would have a store of her own. Allegra planned to hire a woman to run it, and she would spend time there herself at first. She was going to put a design studio in the store, so she could work there and be close at hand for special orders or questions. She wanted to develop a strong sense of who her customers were, and the Bayard staff would be handling her wholesale orders.
All during Fashion Week, Allegra had gotten requests for press interviews and meetings with bloggers.Voguewanted to do a photo shoot of her with Basile once it became known they were together.
“Our children are stars, or my son and your sister,” Olivier said,looking pleased. “Do you suppose they’ll get married soon?” he asked her over coffee and dessert, with a tray of delicious chocolates.
“They don’t have time to get married,” Cosima said practically. “We’re all workaholics, and in love with what we do.” She didn’t want Allegra to wind up like her, opting for her work instead of marriage and a family, but it wasn’t likely to happen to Allegra and Basile. “They’re young. They don’t need to think about that yet. There’s no hurry.” She wasn’t ready to see her baby sister get married yet.
“I was too young, and blew it,” Olivier said.
“And I chose a different path and missed the boat,” Cosima said matter-of-factly, but she had no regrets.
“You didn’t miss the boat,” he said gently.
“Yes, I did. Can you see me opening a store in Paris now, with a baby carrier in my hand, or a two-year-old?” He grinned at the image. “Work has always excited me more than kids,” she said, although she had wanted to have Gian Battista’s children, even if illegitimate, and he wouldn’t let her. Olivier smiled.
“You could probably manage it, if you wanted to.” She didn’t answer, thinking about it, and didn’t look convinced. She didn’t want a different life than she had now.
“Allegra is all the child I ever needed. I might have felt differently if my parents had lived and I hadn’t been responsible for her.” But destiny had given her Allegra to mother and Gian Battista to love, in lieu of a child and husband of her own, and she was satisfied with that.
“You did a fabulous job with her. She’s oblivious to her disability.Nothing stops her and she has a positive outlook about life.” Olivier was in awe of both sisters, more so each day.
“That’s just who she is. I didn’t create her. And I was just as present in Luca’s life, and look what a mess he is. They’re like black and white. I wonder what he’ll say when I try to buy him out of the business.”
“I hope he’s decent about it and doesn’t try to hold you up for a fortune.” They both knew he was capable of it. But she didn’t want to share the profits of a third store with him, particularly if the Paris store became a great success. He didn’t deserve it.
“I’m not sure if I should try to see him in person, to reason with him, or just do it all through attorneys.”
“I don’t know. You know him better than I do,” Olivier said.
“It’s hard to guess with him. It’s all about money.” Olivier did know that about him. Max was the same way, but not as daring as Luca, who was three years older, and more skilled at coming up with some terrible plans and luring people into following him. He’d been a rotten influence on Max, but Olivier didn’t blame him for it. Max was bad enough on his own and could have refused to follow Luca, but didn’t.
