Ambition 2: A Dark Billionaire Romance (Driven) (12 page)

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T
he flashes
from the photographers' cameras were blinding, and the noise from the applause was deafening as Erica made her way down the runway. She knew that eventually her shows would be much larger, with crowds of hundreds and coverage from almost all of the major fashion magazines. But for her, at the age of twenty six, the small hall that held maybe a few dozen guests felt very gratifying. Her eyes filled with tears, partly from the blinding lights, partly from the emotions as the models all clapped respectfully for her along with the crowd.

She clasped hands with a few of them, men who had been with her since the beginning, those that were willing to accept partial and delayed payments just so she could get off the ground. Reaching the end of the runway, she gave a huge hug to Brian, who had been with her the longest and had told her he was retiring from the runway to start a family with his boyfriend after the next show. She would miss him dearly. He'd stuck with EW even when the paychecks had been measly or delayed, confident that the girl he'd known starting out walking the runways would be able to make something of herself as a designer as well.

Waving to the small crowd, Erica turned and made her way to the back of the stage area, slipping through the small side curtain and making her way to the back. Her assistant, a young redhead originally from Des Moines named Tina, was there to greet her and give her a congratulatory hug.

"Great show, boss."

"Thanks, Tina. You were so helpful in getting this show ready to go. Now we only have one more to get through."

It had been a tough month for Erica. For four years she had busted her butt cultivating connections, designing new collections, and playing the often cut-throat political games that was the fashion industry. She had refused to let herself get hemmed into a corner due to her background coming from the bad side of Miami or being a former model, and finally found reward as her spring collection received showings in Tokyo, London, and Milan for their fashion weeks.

Tokyo had gone amazingly well, with orders from numerous Asian department stores and boutiques to keep her main office in Miami busy for weeks with orders. So far, this London show looked just as promising, with representatives from Harrod's and other UK men's wear stores in attendance. If she could wow them in Milan as well, then EW Men's Wear was going to become a strong player in the fashion world going forward.

The end result of the month though, was that Erica felt exhausted. So far, in three weeks she had circled the globe twice, set up runway shows in two different continents, dealing with cultural and language issues everywhere she turned. It was nothing she wasn't expecting, but she was flat out ready to drop. However at the same time, she knew that if she was busy with Tokyo and London, the next show was going to be massive. That was the show that was going to get her noticed by the fashion press, and the one that would get her world-wide attention from it if it went well. Among the fashion capitals of the world, Milan, Paris and New York always stood head and shoulders above the rest. She had her foothold in with Milan; if it went well, she'd be in Paris and New York for the fall shows.

"The people from Harvey Nichols and John Lewis already sent me messages during the show," Tina continued, interrupting Erica's reverie. "I'm just waiting to see if Harrod's is going to put in an order as well, but I'm pretty sure they will. You should probably make a personal greeting to them to put that little extra touch on it. You know how these Brits enjoy having their egos stroked a bit."

Erica couldn't imagine surviving without Tina there to help her. Her assistant was that valuable on the business side of things. Erica was the idea woman, whose visual sense and subtle use of patterns allowed her to create dramatic men's clothing that still didn't look overly contrived. As she liked to say, the men still looked like men, just even more-so. Tina was the assistant who made sure she kept the business end of things running, making sure that EW stayed at least somewhat in the black. Sometimes that had been a very fine line, especially just starting out.

"Thanks, I will. Can you point me in the right direction? If you leave me on my own I'm going to end up walking into a Tube Station."

With a laugh, Tina guided her out front, and Erica found herself for the next half hour shaking hands and trading compliments and small talk with representatives from three of the largest department store chains in the United Kingdom. While she had hoped that the House of Fraser stores would be there as well, it was still quite a coup. By the end, she had to beg her retreat, as the hall staff had come to clean up the space and get it ready for the next clients, a lingerie line from Italy that was using the space tomorrow. Fashion Week must roll on, after all.

Making her way to the back once again, Erica found Tina waiting patiently. Most of the models had already packed up their things and left, moving on to their next show in Fashion Week. They made their money by the number of shows they worked, not by the hours they put in afterwards. The clothes were being packed up by hall staff, and Erica collapsed in her chair, exhausted.

"Tina, remind me that after this, I'm going on vacation for at least two weeks. I figure in two weeks I might just be able to get over my jet lag and travel exhaustion. The fall collection designs can wait that long, at least I hope. And if it can't, sign me up with the cheapest mental health professional in Miami, I'm going to need the assistance."

"I'm sure they can," Tina replied, looking at her ever-present tablet computer. "The designs can wait, I meant. By the way, while you were out there with our soon to be new clients, I was approached by a guy backstage."

"Was he cute?" Erica joked, knowing how man-crazy Tina was. She had hit on almost every single heterosexual male model at Fashion Week, and probably even a few of the homosexual ones too. Erica didn't even want to know her assistant's success rate. Tina wasn't a fashion world style beauty, but she had long red hair, a good figure, but most of all a bubbly, sexy demeanor that Erica was sure turned men on.

"No dice," Tina replied, "But he was so damn good looking, I mistook him for one of the models at first, except he was way too big in the chest. The guy was a serious stud. Kind of had that super-hero vibe going for him."

Erica laughed. "Okay, so did Mr. Serious Stud have anything you want to pass on to me, or are you just bragging about what you're going to be doing while I'm relaxing at the hotel tonight?"

"Unfortunately for me, he wasn't noticing my cleavage as much as I could've hoped. That's what I get for not wearing a push-up bra for the actual show, thinking I should be professional or something. Back to the guy though, he said he wanted to talk to you about collaborating for the uniforms for a hotel chain in the Caribbean. I don't know the chain, but then again I figure since we live in Miami, why pay money to go see an ocean I already know?"

Erica thought about it for a moment. While a hotel chain could be a good steady source of income for her design house, it also meant a pretty static situation. She'd design the uniforms one time, the design would be set in stone for years, and then she'd collect a royalty check if the business negotiations went correctly. It sounded like a pretty good opportunity. All in all a very easy job, but one she didn't feel the need to handle personally. The designs for that could even be done by her interns for the most part.

"Tina, I'm just too damned tired to talk to anyone right now. I can't even think straight. You think you could just handle it yourself? Tell the guy I'm just not available right now."

"Okay.... but we both know you are," Tina replied and winked, the double meaning making both of them chuckle. Devoting so much time to her design business, Erica hadn't had a boyfriend in years, and couldn't even say she had been on a real date in months.

"This guy, he's worth your time, if at least for the eye candy alone."

Erica smiled and shook her head. "I'm sure he is, but you get to have the candy all to yourself tonight. The only thing I'm looking forward to is a hot shower, some food, and the soft bed of my suite at the hotel. Call me in the morning if the world is going to end. Actually, if the world is going to end, don't call me. Let me sleep in and die blissfully unaware but well rested."

"Will do. Good show, Erica. Get some rest." Tina disappeared, and Erica closed her eyes for a moment before gathering her things and making her way into the blustery London early spring.

"
I
'm sorry sir
, but unfortunately Miss Williams isn't available to talk right now. We just finished a show and she's having to deal with some last minute pressing matters before we pack up for departure soon. I explained your request to her, and she said it sounded interesting, and she authorized me to fully handle the situation."

Dwayne Forrester felt a little taken aback. It wasn't often that he had been passed off to an assistant whenever he made an inquiry into a business. After all, he was the CEO and primary owner of his own hotel chain. He was about to say something heated when he remembered what he had seen out there on the runway. The bold, dramatic designs that he had seen were just the sort of eye he wanted to design the new uniforms for his male staff. He hadn't even intended to stop by, he was just wasting some time before another business meeting, but he'd heard of EW in a local trade magazine and wanted to check out what the hubub was about. He wasn't disappointed. EW was a star on the rise.

It was something he himself could relate to. Since purchasing his hotels, he had done everything he could to break them from the stolid, boring traditions his father and grandfather had run them in. The Forrester Caribbean chain was still making that turn around, but they were making progress. Also, he hadn't told the woman who he was, after all. He could have been anyone off the street. Although he doubted few people off the street wore handmade suits for street wear.

"Well, I understand," he said, putting on his best business smile as he reached into the jacket of his H. Huntsman suit and pulled out a slim card case.

"However, I would really appreciate the opportunity to discuss this with Miss Williams herself. Here's my card with my cell phone number on it. If she wishes, she can also get a hold of me at the Grange City Hotel."

Tina looked up, surprised. "Grange City? That's where Miss Williams is staying as well. I will pass along the information Mr..... Forrester?"

Dwayne could see the recognition dawn in the assistant's eyes, and prepared himself for the onslaught of questions. Being the youngest child of the Forrester family and only male, he had grown up most of his life with people knowing who he was even before he knew their names. It tired him out. The assumptions people made because of his last name and the fact that he had spent quite a few years in his early twenties making the gossip columns in various magazines were petty and often a pain in the ass to deal with.

Even today, at thirty one, people still saw the drunken partying bad boy who had once been caught nude in the back of a limo with the famous daughter of another hotel family. He was honestly tired of it.

"Yes, my name is Dwayne Forrester. Now, if you will excuse me, I must be off to meet with the tourism board. If you could please have Miss Williams contact me, I'd appreciate it. I'll be in London for the next five days."

"Oh, of course," Tina replied, shutting her mouth. She may have been flirtatious, and she was definitely too loose with her mouth when she was around Erica. That said, she had sense enough to know when to keep her mouth shut outside of those areas, and she could tell Dwayne didn't want her to ask any of the questions that were running through her mind right now, including
Can you please take me with you and ravish me like you did to that Chinese ambassador's daughter?
And, c
an I cruise the Caribbean with you like Julian Castelbon? I'll be your cabin girl any time.
She could feel a blush rise to her cheeks, and she coughed to cover herself.

"Right, Mr. Forrester. I will pass this along to Erica right away. I'm sure that once I explain the situation again, she'll be happy to meet with you to discuss your ideas."

"Thank you. Now, I really must be going," Dwayne said, turning and heading out of the hall. While it was true he had a meeting with the tourism board to promote his hotel in the British Virgin Islands, the meetings wasn't for another two hours. However, he wasn't in the mood to answer questions from silly sycophants who alternatively fawned over him and gossiped about him at every turn. He'd spent the past five years doing everything he could to fight his way out of that shadow, and the thumb his father kept trying to keep him under, both to only limited success. But he was in command of his life now, and he was going to keep it that way.