Stories from New York #3 (5 page)

“Anyway,” Dakota continued, “whatever color it was, Helvetica decided it belonged in the Umbrian Sepia family. So she just stood there, glaring at this
girl who thought she was wearing orange and had no idea what the problem was.”

Whit was laughing, too. “And apparently the girl thought Helvetica was waiting for someone to take her coat,” Whit added. “So she gets up and tries to sort of help her out of this billion-dollar Italian-leather thing that’s the perfect shade of Umbrian Sepia, and Helvetica shouts…what was it again, Dakota?”

“‘Unhand that jacket!’” Dakota said, in what I realized was an extremely good imitation of the editor’s voice.

“Yeah, that’s it!” Whit agreed. “And the girl, who’s already totally terrified of Helvetica—because everyone is, because she’s
Helvetica
—just burst into tears, and finally one of the design guys pulled her outside and explained what the problem was.”

“He sent her home to change, and she never came back,” Dakota added. “Nobody ever saw her again.”

“She died?” Tally asked a little breathlessly.

Dakota shot her an impatient look. “Um, no. She quit.”

“Well, I would have died,” Tally declared. “Right then and there. Helvetica Grenier sounds terrifying.”

“Oh, she can be,” Whit said. “Rumor is if you do something to make her really angry, she picks up the phone and makes one call.”

There was a pause.

“And…?” I finally asked.

Whit leaned toward me and lowered his voice. “And you’ll never work in publishing again. Or fashion. Or movies or TV. Or music. If she decides you’re out, then you are all the way out.”

I looked at Ivy, who nodded. “I’ve heard that, too,” she said. “But I don’t personally know of anybody it’s happened to. The reality is, Helvetica Grenier runs one of the most successful magazines in the country, and she takes her job very seriously. So you stay on your best behavior around her, and you hope you don’t mess anything up or do anything stupid.”

Somehow, all three of us ended up looking at Tally at the same time.

“What?” Tally asked.

“Just don’t ever get in the elevator if Helvetica’s in it, Tal,” I said.

“Which elevator?” Tally asked.

“
Any
elevator,” Ivy and Miko said simultaneously.

“I don’t know what the four of you are getting so stressed about,” Dakota said. “Helvetica Grenier deals with top-level stuff. You’re four kids from upstate nobody’s ever heard of who print some little girls’ newsletter for their friends. It’s not like you’re going to be running into Helvetica. She’s got more important things to do than deal with you four
girls. And you wouldn’t be here at all if Ivy’s mother didn’t work here.”

“And you would still be here if your dad didn’t pull strings to get you an internship?” Ivy retorted. “You know nobody’s going to turn down the head of business operations when he wants a favor—”

“Knock, knock,” came a voice from the doorway.

Whit suddenly slid his feet off the desk and stood up, looking at the door.

A slim, dark-haired man was standing in the doorway, dressed in all black from head to toe. He was so small I might have mistaken him for a child, except for the little mustache and goatee he was sporting.

“Am I interrupting something?” he asked, his tone indicating that the answer had better be no.

“We were just going over some of the rules for our guests, Garamond,” Dakota said. “And making sure they know to stay out of Helvetica’s way.”

“Well, that’s not going to be possible,” Garamond said. “Because I’m supposed to bring them up to Helvetica’s office right now. Oh, Ivy Scanlon, there you are,” he said. “Don’t you look adorable. How’s the country treating you, darling?”

Ivy stood up. “It’s great. It’s so good to see you again, Garamond. It’s been a while.”

“You were just a fifth-grader the last time I saw you.
But you still have that perfect peaches-and-cream complexion, just like your mother. Who I just spoke to, by the way. She wanted to make sure I escorted you to Helvetica’s office myself.”

“What does she want to see them for?” asked Dakota, putting her hands on her hips.

I was curious, too, since Helvetica had already introduced herself to us, but I wasn’t going to wait around asking about it. I followed Ivy to the door, with Miko and Tally right behind me.

As we left the office, Ivy shot a look over her shoulder at Dakota.

“Guess maybe we four girls are a little bit important after all!” she said to me, but from the look on Dakota’s face, I was pretty sure she’d overheard.

Garamond kept looking back at us as we followed him, like he was afraid he’d lose one of us. His shoes squeaked with each step he took down the hall. There was no losing him.

I took Ivy’s arm and pulled her toward me. “So who’s Whit?” I whispered.

She shot me a look, and to my surprise I saw her face had gone pink. I had never seen Ivy blush before.

“Later,” she mouthed, and I nodded. So there WAS a story to go with the adorable Whit! I couldn’t wait to hear it.

“What a day, and it isn’t even over yet,” Garamond said. “I had to come in two hours early to conference call with Paris. Not that they ended up being on time.”

“Oh, do you speak French?” Miko asked.

Garamond stopped at an elevator and pushed
UP
,
then gave Miko an appraising look.

“Mais bien sûr,”
he said.
“Et vous?”

“
Oui, je parle un peu
,” Miko said. “I’ve wanted to go to Paris since I was three years old.”

“Oh, you must go,” Garamond said. “There is no place quite like Paris the first time you see it. Are you interested in fashion?”

The elevator arrived with a quiet
ping
, and the doors slid smoothly open.

Miko looked pleased and embarrassed at the same time. “I am, actually,” she said.

“I knew it,” Garamond said with satisfaction as we stepped into the elevator. “You’ve got a good eye. I can tell just by looking at a person. We need to make sure you get to see the sample room while you’re visiting. You’ll lose your mind over some of the things in there!”

“Oh, do you think I’d be able to take a picture of it for our magazine?” Miko asked.

“I’m not in charge of the sample room, but I could put in a good word for you,” Garamond told her as the elevator came to a stop. “Let me see what I can work out.”

This was great for Miko; I could tell she wanted to jump up and down with excitement. And if we got a shot of the famous sample room for the magazine, it would be great for
4 Girls,
too!

There was another
ping
, and the elevator opened to reveal a gleaming white lobby. The walls were lined with magazine covers, framed and dating back to the very first issue of
City Nation
. There was a sitting area of snow-white upholstered chairs near gleaming glass doors.
Who would ever sit there?
I wondered. I’d be afraid I’d leave a bit of ink or dirt or something if I even touched one.

Garamond took us through the doors, where twin desks flanked a short corridor, at the end of which was a closed door. One of the desks was empty. At the other sat a young woman with huge, green eyes and shiny, honey-colored hair pulled up in a French twist. The phone was ringing as we walked toward the desk. The woman pointed at Garamond, then pointed at a row of silver and leather chairs along one wall. A small plaque on her desk read C
ONSTANTIA
D
AVID
, A
SSISTANT TO
M
S.
G
RENIER
.

Constantia, Garamond, Helvetica. Where did
City Nation
people get these names?

“Have a seat,” Garamond whispered while we waited for Constantia to be ready for us.

“Helvetica Grenier’s office,” she said in a voice that was both calming and authoritative at the same time. “No, you’ll have to push that back. No, that’s simply not possible. She’s in with the camera crew right now.”

“Camera crew?” asked Tally a little louder than she probably meant to.

Garamond actually jumped at the sound. Her voice echoed in the silent office. I hissed Tally’s name, and Ivy actually stuck her hand over Tally’s mouth.

Our friend stared at us, her cornflower-blue eyes huge. Ivy finally took her hand away and whispered,
“Shhhhh.”

Tally looked like she’d accidentally launched a missile. “Sorry,” she whispered, still louder than the rest of us. “I didn’t mean to.”

“You’ll be fine,” Miko told her. “Just calm down. You’re about to see Helvetica Grenier’s office! Quiet excitement is key.” She gave Tally an encouraging smile, but I could tell Tally was still nervous.

The doors to the lobby opened, and Mrs. Scanlon came in.

“Oh, good,” she said. “You’re all here. Something came up, and Helvetica thought it might work to include you four in it. She wants to tell you herself, though. Tally, my goodness, you look like you’ve just seen a ghost. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Tally whispered so low that Ivy’s mother actually had to lean in closer to hear her.

“Karen, they’re adorable,” Garamond said, gesturing toward us. “Did you know this one is a fashionista? And Miko is a great name for a designer.
And Ivy looks gorgeous! Who’s styling her?”

Mrs. Scanlon laughed. “She styles herself, and you know it, Gare,” she said.

“No!” Garamond said, sounding scandalized. He lifted his eyebrows dramatically, then winked at Ivy.

The intercom on Constantia’s desk buzzed. She pushed a button, murmured something, and then gestured to Garamond, who leaped to his feet.

“She wants you now,” Garamond told us, smoothing back his jet-black hair. In the bright overhead lights, I could see it had been dyed, and a tiny bead of sweat had appeared at the very top of his forehead.

“Go right in, please,” said Constantia.

Tally pressed her lips together tightly, apparently in an attempt to stifle any loud noises she might accidentally make. I tugged one of her curls lightly, and when she turned around, I stuck my tongue out at her. That seemed to relax her a little.

Garamond walked in ahead of us, his shoes squeaking to announce his arrival.

Helvetica’s office was a huge room in the corner of the building, and two walls were nothing but glass. Sunlight streamed in, and New York City was displayed in all its glory outside—skyscrapers on one side and a huge expanse of a green park on the other. Her desk was a massive ocean liner of wood and shiny metal in front of the center of one window. Lit
from behind, Helvetica looked like a purple-clad celestial superbeing.

We were not the only people in her office. There was a man standing in the corner of the room. Most of his head was obscured by a large video camera with a red light blinking at us. As I tried to figure out what was going on, he pointed the camera at us. I could see a tiny woman who had been standing behind him staring at us with her hands on her hips.

“Just pretend like you’re not on camera,” the man said.

“They’re not on camera yet,” Helvetica said. “And they won’t be unless I have specifically said so.” The man instantly turned the camera off and took a step backward.

“What I wanted to explain to you girls is that we are being filmed for an episode of a documentary television show called
One Week
. This episode will follow the staff at
City Nation
for one week as we go about our business. Naturally, we have the right of approval over any sequences used. Since you girls are here this week representing your magazine, I’d like the camera crew to film you occasionally
if
you happen to cross paths. We’d like to show that there are opportunities here for young people as well as experienced professionals, and since your visit
coincides with filming, I think it would be nice to include you. What do we think?”

“We’d be honored,” I blurted out. Then I looked at my friends, hoping they felt the same way.

“Yes, thank you,” Miko agreed as Ivy and Tally both nodded.

“Excellent,” Helvetica said. “Now you can start, Bob. Vicky, you’ll have the paperwork.”

The cameraman had the camera focused on us by the time I turned back to look at him.
This is unexpected
, I thought. If only we could show ourselves being filmed for our readers.

Well, why not?
I thought. Though my heart had already started pounding with nervousness, I decided to speak up.

“Ms. Grenier, is there any way we could take a little video right now, too? It would be incredible for our
4 Girls
readers to be able to share this moment with us. Here we are standing in your office, and there’s a film crew here…”

Helvetica gave me an approving smile. “I like the way you think, Paulina. That’s a great idea. And, yes, of course you can. You can start recording right now, if you’d like.”

I shot a look in Miko’s direction. She was already pulling her little video camera out of her bag. First she pointed it at Tally, but Tally was staring
at Bob and didn’t seem to notice the rest of us. So Miko pointed it at me and mouthed, “Say something.”

This was not exactly what I had in mind. I didn’t really want to be on camera performing by myself! But the moment was too good to miss, so I took a deep breath and began talking.