B004183M70 EBOK (8 page)

"Lola's done it to herself,"
Bradley said. "Her drinking is out of control. I don't know how many
assignments I can give her. Advertisers are clamoring for Suzie."

"I feel bad for Lola," I said,
then turned and marched back to my desk.

I looked up Lola's phone number in the
company's talent directory, wrote it down, and slipped it into my purse. I'd
call her tonight and try to encourage her, though she probably wouldn't
remember me, or take any advice from me.

While I finished my work, I tried to
concentrate on what I would wear for my date with Louis. But my mind kept
wandering to Suzie and the part she'd played in Lola's career slide.

And Suzie's date with Bradley tomorrow
night.

My enthusiasm for going to the World's Fair
dimmed.

CHAPTER SIX

Standing in front of the Unisphere while the Waldwick High
School band marched by, I realized there was too much to see, more than I could
ever fit into one day.

The Unisphere, sponsored by U.S. Steel, was
twelve stories tall and 120 feet around. I gaped at the steel representation of
Earth, which I read in my fair guide was the size of the Earth if you viewed it
from space, six thousand miles away.

The Unisphere alone was worth the long
subway and bus ride I'd taken into Queens, and the dollar-and-eighty-cents
admission.

I'd dressed comfortably but—since I knew I
would see Bradley—fashionably. My dress was a sleeveless sheath, one side black
with white polka dots, and the other white with black polka dots. I had on
low-heeled T-straps in black to save my feet.

Last night when I got home from work,
Darlene wasn't there. I'd tried calling Lola to offer comfort, but got no
answer. Going to bed early seemed like a good idea, so by nine I'd turned back
my black-and-white daisy bedspread and fallen fast asleep. Darlene hadn't
returned this morning. I had to talk to her.

Past lunchtime, I felt my stomach grumble.
I stopped at a booth selling pizza for twenty-five cents a slice. With pizza in
hand, I saw a vendor for Fizzies. Delighted, I ordered the root-beer flavor. I
watched as the man dropped the tablet into a cup of cold water, causing the water to fizz, bubble, and turn brown.
Yummy.

I sat down for a moment with my lunch and
map and, while eating, planned what I would do next. I wanted most to see the
Pieta
, Michelangelo's 469-year-old masterpiece carved in marble, on loan from
the Vatican. Pope John XXIII himself had granted permission for the precious
piece of art to be displayed. It had never been taken from the Vatican before,
and was said to have been created by Michelangelo when he was only twenty-four
years old.

Once I found where the
Pieta
was located on
the map, I looked for the Ford Pavilion, where I'd see Bradley, Suzie, and
maybe Gloria, and then the Skyway exhibit, where I'd see Darlene. They were
right around the corner from each other.

Throwing away my trash, I decided to walk
to the
Pieta
at RIO. On the way, I stopped at the New York State display, where
they were having a fashion show, and also a display of paintings of the Hudson
River. Then it was on to the Vatican Pavilion.

The pavilion was an oval-shaped building
topped by a cross, with a curving wall extending from the entrance. You had
the option of being carried past it on three moving platforms at different
heights, or staying on a walkway and visiting at your own pace. I chose the
latter and stood in awe of the expression on Mary's face as she held a dying
Jesus. It touched me deeply.

Reluctantly I moved on, turning right
around one corner, then left to an avenue that would take me to the Ford and
Skyway pavilions.

Ford was first, so I took a deep breath and
entered.

There she was: Suzie lovingly stroking the
Mustang's white hood while a male voice over the speaker system proclaimed the
advantages of owning the car.

People gathered around the Mustang and
Suzie. A burly man stood near her, obviously to protect her from overzealous
males. She wore an extremely tight strapless cocktail dress—which showed off
the ivory column of her neck. The black and white sequins
formed a harlequin pattern, and Suzie had topped the dress with a light, airy
piece of white fluff that covered her shoulders. Naturally, it kept slipping.
She wore her blond hair in an upsweep, with a band that ended in front with a
black velvet X topped by four white feathers. A rhinestone—or maybe
diamond—clip held the black X in place. Even I had to admit she was stunning.
Reporters thought so too, as flashbulbs went off again and again.

While Suzie smiled and elegantly pointed
out the car's features being announced over the speaker system, I looked
around for Bradley. When I navigated my way to the area behind Suzie, I spotted
Gloria standing on high heels away from the crowd, arms crossed in front of her
chest.

I hurried over. "Gloria! It's me,
Bebe."

She gave me one of her half smiles.
"Hi, Bebe, nice to see you."

"What's going on? You look bent."

"You don't want to hear about
it."

"Don't be silly! Of course I do."

Gloria drew in a deep breath. "I swear
I'm going to kill Suzie Wexford."

I tried for a playful tone. "Gloria,
we already decided we had to stand in line to kill her, remember?"

Gloria's expression radiated anger. "I
mean it. I've been trying to fly low around her, but I'm about to explode.
Between last night and today, man, I can't handle it."

"Can we sit down and talk?"

"No. In case you haven't noticed,
there is no place to sit down back here. Suzie said it wouldn't look good for
me to be sitting around. So I'm stuck here for four hours, standing on these
heels—because she insisted I look fashionable—with only my big makeup case for
company. This is all for her convenience, her image. She doesn't give a snap of
her fingers for anyone else."

Wow, Gloria was really worked up.
"What is Suzie doing? Coming back here for touchups?" I asked.

"You got it. I wouldn't mind that at
all; it's my job. But Suzie is just plain cruel making me stand here. Other
models I work with still have some human decency and make sure I have
something to drink, a place to sit until I'm needed on a photo shoot. Suzie's
got some flunky bringing her water every fifteen minutes."

"Can I go get you a drink? It's hot in
here with all the crowds. You might dehydrate." She looked pale.

Gloria's gaze darted to Suzie, then back to
me. "Maybe if you pretended the drink was yours . . ."

"I'll be right back."

"Take your time. I'm not going
anywhere."

I darted in and around the crowd until I
found a vendor selling Coke. I bought the largest one he had, then rushed back
to Gloria.

Positioning my body in front of her, where
Suzie couldn't see what was going on, I handed Gloria the drink. She sipped
from the straw, took a breath, and sipped some more, then passed me the cup.

"Bebe, you're a lifesaver. I can't
tell you how thirsty I was."

"We'll hang together back here, talk,
and you can drink some more," I assured her. "Now, start with
yesterday. What happened?"

Gloria narrowed her eyes at Suzie. "I
hate her."

"Don't look at her. Look at me.
Remember, like you told me the other night," I said.

"First thing yesterday morning, I had
to go to her place and do her makeup so she could go down to the Breck offices
looking perfect and sign the contract she stole from Lola. Then she told me to
be back at her apartment no later than five, because she had a dinner date with
Pierre and needed to change from daytime makeup to evening makeup."

A dinner date with Pierre! Suzie had told
me—and probably Bradley—that she felt "the sniffles" coming on and needed to rest. Liar! But why would she want to get
out of a date with Bradley?

These thoughts flew through my mind, but I
said nothing to Gloria. "So she and Pierre were together last night?"
I asked.

"Yeah. When he summons, she obeys. I
think he knows all her dirty secrets."

"What dirty secrets?"

Gloria shrugged. "I don't know the
specifics, but I'm sure she's got even more of a lurid past than I told you
about at Pierre's showing. Can I have another sip?"

I passed her the cup. "It must bother
Suzie that Pierre has this hold on her."

Gloria handed the cup back to me.
"I've been thinking about that. Now, with the Breck Girl contract under
her belt, this Mustang assignment, and an offer to appear on the cover of
Redbook, Suzie is chafing at Pierre's control. She had a tantrum while getting
dressed for her date with him."

"Suzie is going to be on the cover of
Redbook"

"Yeah, Pierre told her at dinner last
night. He got her the assignment. You'll probably be getting the paperwork at
Ryan soon. But here's the big news," Gloria said, and glanced around to
make sure no one was listening. "Pierre asked Suzie to marry him, and she
said no."

I gasped. "But I thought they were
lovers, and he made her what she is today with his photography and—"

Gloria held up a hand. "Bebe, you've
forgotten what I told you about Suzie sleeping around to further her career.
The last thing on her mind is being tied down to Pierre for the rest of her
life. She wants to be known as a swinging model and play around as much as she
desires without answering to anyone. She told me she might even reel in a
bigger fish."

Not Bradley! "Pierre must have been
furious."

"Oh, yeah, you got it. While I was
doing Suzie's makeup this morning, she gabbed on and on about

how the poor man was broken. I swear, she was bragging. She
said that Pierre threatened to reveal all regarding her sleeping around—even
with your boss."

"What else did she say?" I asked,
blotting out the part about Bradley.

"Suzie thinks nothing can touch her
now. She laughed in Pierre's face. The way she acted this morning, she thought
the whole thing was one big joke, regretting only having to pass up the
four-carat diamond engagement ring Pierre had bought her."

"Maybe she thinks that Bradley—I mean
Mr. Williams—will take care of her career."

"I didn't want to mention it, Bebe,
but that thought crossed my mind."

"It's okay, Gloria. I know how things
stand between them."

"Remember, she's only with him because
he's the head of Ryan."

"Right, I know." But the
realization didn't ease the pain. Besides, who could resist beautiful Bradley?
"Did she say whether or not Pierre was still going to photograph her? I
mean, he's so brilliant with a camera, what will she do if he refuses to work
with her now that she's turned down his marriage proposal?"

"He's still going to photograph her.
Suzie thinks he won't give up on getting her to marry him. Suzie always has
her bases covered. Oh, here she comes," Gloria said, and opened up her big
white makeup case in preparation.

"I'll come back later, Gloria," I
said. "I have news. You'll be so proud of me."

"I'm done at five."

I tossed the empty Coke cup in the trash,
and walked briskly away into the crush of the crowd. I actually wanted to see
the new Mustang, so I forged my way through until I was at the front.

"Hello, Miss Bennett," Bradley
said.

I turned to find him squeezed next to me.
We were so close, I had to turn slightly and raise my head to speak to him.
"Mr. Williams. What a surprise to see

you here," I said in a tone laced with sarcasm. Oops!
That just slipped out.

I tried a recovery. "Are you thinking
of purchasing a Mustang?"

"I believe I will. I already have a
Triumph Spitfire garaged, but I like the look of the Mustang," he said.
"Variety is my thing, so it would be nice to have a choice in cars when I
decide to leave the city."

Smelling his lime aftershave, being in a
position to reach up and stroke his cheek—Stop! I told myself. Hadn't he just
said "variety is my thing"?

"It'll be groovy if you get a Mustang.
They'll probably be popular for years to come," I said casually.

He looked down at me. "I like that
dress and the other outfits you've been wearing lately."

"Thank you. They're just a few things
Darlene brought back from London."

He raised his right eyebrow. "London
fashions? I approve. I have an order in for three suits from London."

We were ruthlessly cut off from further
conversation by the reappearance of Suzie. She flashed me a scornful look
before taking Bradley's hand and giving it a squeeze.

"I should be finished here soon,
darling," she cooed. "I'm looking forward to our dinner date."
She gave him a sultry smile, one that promised things I could only imagine.

The wretch grinned at her.

I turned on my T-straps and marched out of
the Ford Pavilion without saying good-bye. Bradley's eyes were on Suzie anyway,
so what did it matter?