Page 28 of At Your Service
“Yes, it is. I know Major wanted to make sure we were in a nice place for the fitting and photo shoot, but this might be a little above and beyond.” She’d been thinking that ever since last night when Claude had carried her bags from the hotel to the car and driven her over here.
Riley leaned on the island. The eight-foot-long, gray-and-white-marble waterfall island had a stainless steel sink in its center and five clear-backed stools along one side. Nina slid onto one and set her water bottle on the marble top before peeling back the layers of her banana.
“You think he rented this apartment just for the photo shoot?” Riley asked.
“Of course he did. Why else would he rent it?” She took a bite of the fruit and chewed it slowly.
Riley watched her and slipped a grape from the fruit bowl into her mouth.
“I suggested we do the fitting at the office, where we normally have our sample showings. There’s a runway there and space to do anything else we wanted.”
“That would’ve been a good option, too,” Nina said and seconds later realized the point Riley was trying to make.
“The office is only ten minutes from here and, just like the rest of us, Major spends most of his time there. So this apartment was kinda extra effort.”
Nina chewed on another piece of her banana, knowing the woman watched and waited for her next comment to refute the assumption that there was a personal reason Major had gotten this place specifically for her.
“Well, your brother is smart, I can tell you that. The light in this place is amazing. Pictures are going to come out great. How soon do you think they’ll show up in a newspaper or tabloid?” Nina took her last bite of the banana before throwing the peel in the garbage.
Riley was still moving with deliberate slowness, putting one grape at a time into her mouth while watching Nina as if she thought some different words were about to spout out of her mouth. If Major’s sister thought she was about to tell her that they were lovers, she was mistaken. While Nina enjoyed Riley’s company and had secretly wished her own sisters were as mature and business-minded, there was no way she was telling Riley that there were aspects of this fake engagement that she and Major had decided to make come true.
“We only hire the most reputable photographers in the industry and they’ve each signed a privacy agreement. We’ll get first look and final approval of any pictures to be published and have already sold them toInfinitymagazine. It’s not a fashion-only magazine, but it’s Black-owned and respectable. My father is good friends with the owners, Reginald and Bruce Donovan. They’re doing a complete spread on the engagement.”
It made sense that they would contact a reputable magazine for a story about this engagement. Calling that magazine respectable, however, flew rudely in the face of the fact that the Golds knew this engagement was a sham. So they were asking this great Black-owned magazine to lie. Nina twisted the top off her water and took a gulp to get the bad taste of that idea out of her mouth.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Riley said. “And remember the argument and breakup that’s planned for the end of this campaign. Nobody will know that it wasn’t ever real to start with.”
“Morgana McCloud doesn’t think it’s real.” Nina couldn’t believe she was still thinking about that reporter after Major had explained the woman’s fixation with him.
Morgana had written two stories since the one after that show that featured her, Major, the engagement and the mention of the At Your Service/RGF business venture. In each she’d placed a lot of emphasis on where Nina had come from and how she was apparently “marrying up.” The words stung because Nina knew she wasn’t getting married at all. The only consolation was that other tabloids had run with Morgana’s lead but were actually highlighting the innovative idea that the two businesses connect. Still, Nina couldn’t shake the feeling that Morgana was specifically feeling some type of way about her.
“She’s fishing and has no source that will tell her any different,” Riley stated.
It had been suggested that Nina bring her sisters to the fitting since Morgana had mentioned her quote about who was going to be in the bridal party, but Nina had been vehemently against that. She wished she’d thought about what she was saying when she’d said it, but there was no way she would bring Daisy and Angie into this farce. As much as she wanted this to seem believable, she hadn’t considered that it would put her family in the spotlight. Now, with Morgana hot on her trail, she wasn’t sure how long she’d be able to stop that from happening.
The doorbell rang again and Nina quickly slid off the stool to go answer it. She usually liked talking to Riley but she couldn’t shake the feeling that their conversation was about to shift in a direction Nina didn’t want to go. When she opened the door this time she fully expected to see Lila and her crew, but instead Marva Gold smiled at her.
“Mrs. Gold. Ah, hello. I wasn’t expecting you to attend the fitting.” And now she was a little more uncomfortable, not just because of the conversation with Riley, but because there were two Gold women in the room with her.
“Hello, Nina. When Riley told me about today’s events, I thought it only right that I be here. Do you mind?”
The woman was Black royalty with her tawny-brown complexion and thick silver-streaked hair that was curled and pulled back from her face with a thin black band. She wore a white pantsuit with a pale pink blouse beneath it. Diamond studs dotted her ears and a thin bracelet cuffed her left arm. On her left ring finger was a massive diamond. Nina instantly balled her hands into fists, hoping nobody would see that she still wasn’t wearing an engagement ring. Major hadn’t mentioned it since Morgana’s comment about it—or the lack of it—at the fashion show, and there was no way Nina was asking him to get her a ring. Her pride just wouldn’t allow it, not even to make this fake engagement look good.
“No, of course not, I don’t mind at all. Come on in,” she said and stepped out of the way to let the woman in. She was about to close the door but heard someone clearing their throat.
Nina pulled the door open again and Lila came in with the crew, clothing racks, bags, boxes and her normal flair. By the time Nina closed the door this time she was breathing a sigh of relief that a buffer—or rather a whole group of buffers—had arrived. This should definitely take the pressure off.
It didn’t.
Two hours later and the fitting was in full swing. Three photographers fromInfinityhad arrived. Anya and Cheree were pulling the gowns and matching them with shoes and veils while Riley and her mother sat on the couch giving their opinions as Nina walked out into the living room. Garen would quickly give her hair a new look each time she tried on a gown, talking her to death while he worked. And Lila was announcing each gown as if she were the emcee of her own fashion show.
“Now this long-sleeved nude gown includes a pleated tulle overlay and a dusting of shimmering gold Chantilly lace,” Lila stated the moment Nina entered the living room.
The photographers immediately moved in, each capturing a picture from a different angle.
“I’m not sure about this one,” Nina said as she moved closer. “It might be a little too nude. My father would have a conniption if he saw this.”
Growing up, her father had been extremely strict about his daughters’ clothes—how much showed through sheer or tight-fitted items. Although Nina believed she possessed her own style and appreciated clothes that made her feel sexy, some of Jacoby’s teachings had stayed with her into adulthood.
