36
Grace, always so confident, appeared tentative as she walked over to her usual spot on the white leather sofa. She carried a spiral notebook in one hand, a pen in the other. Laurie joined her by the windows, sitting in the adjacent chair and looking to Grace expectantly. Grace cleared her throat, as if steeling her nerves.
Laurie smiled, hoping to calm her. “I’ve actually been meaning to speak to you, Grace. I think I know what this might be about.”
“You do?”
She nodded. “I just hope I’m not too late. You aren’t giving me your notice, are you?”
Grace’s eyes widened. “Of course not. Are you kidding? I love my job here.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” Laurie said, letting out a sigh of relief.
“How could you even think I’d leave?”
Laurie shook her head. “You just seemed so serious when you walked in. And I’ve noticed recently that you’ve been dressing differently—more staid and reserved. I was only half-joking when I said I was worried you might be going out on job interviews.”
“No, the thought never even crossed my mind.”
“I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear that. I really don’t know what I’d do without you, Grace. So what did you want to talk to me about?”
“Remember how yesterday morning, Jerry said he wished we had access to some of the dresses from the first ladies exhibit at the museum?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I couldn’t stop thinking about how excited he was about the idea, so I started looking up information about where the dresses came from.”
“According to the head of security at the Metropolitan Museum, the dresses weren’t a part of their permanent collection. Most came from presidential libraries and other museums.”
“I know, but that’s not all of them. A few came from private collectors, so I started researching what I could find out about those people. One of them is a guy named Gerard Bennington.”
The name did not ring a bell to Laurie. “And who is Gerard Bennington?”
“Quite the character from what I can tell. He’s a renowned fashion photographer. He is a regular in the front row at Fashion Week and is friends with all the snazzy tastemakers. He also fancies himself a talented vocalist. He even auditioned two years ago for Find a Star.”
Find a Star was a talent show produced by Fisher Blake Studios. After launching the careers of three Grammy Award–winning pop artists, the show’s popularity had waned in the last few years. Laurie’s understanding from Blake was that the show was still a money-earner for the studio because of all of the product placements.
“I wonder if he still owns the dresses.”
“That’s why I wanted to talk to you. I hope you don’t mind, but I took the initiative. I got his number from one of the production assistants on Find a Star and called him. He has two dresses that he lent to the museum for the exhibit—one was Jacqueline Kennedy’s; the other belonged to Betty Ford.”
“Is there any chance he’d allow us to use them for our production? Jerry would be thrilled!”
“I already asked him. And I’m really sorry, Laurie, but he had seen the Page Six piece. When I told him I was calling from our show, he immediately realized that I was calling about the Virginia Wakeling case. He says we can use the dresses as long as he gets his name in the credits and at least one minute of airtime. He attended the party that night so he could either talk about the dresses themselves or the atmosphere at the museum after Virginia’s body was found.”
“That should be doable. A few words from an objective guest who was there that night would add some color, actually.”
Grace held up her pen to indicate they weren’t quite finished yet. “He had one more condition,” she added sheepishly.
“Should I be scared?”
Grace let out a chuckle. “No, but the producers of Find a Star might be. Gerard would like a second shot at stardom.”
“Another audition?”
Grace nodded.
Laurie was friendly with the show’s executive producer and was confident she could gain his cooperation. “I’ll make a call right now and let you know when we can make it official.”
“Do you want to be the one to contact Gerard?”
Laurie noticed that this was the second time Grace had used the man’s first name. She had a way with people, that much was certain. “Eventually, when it’s time to begin interviews. But why don’t you remain his contact person for all the details? You’re obviously doing a great job so far.”
Grace’s smile lit up her heart-shaped face. “Thank you, Laurie.”
“No, thank you, Grace. Those dresses will elevate the production quality of the show.”
Grace was about to stand but Laurie wanted to say one more thing. “You know how much we value you here, don’t you, Grace?”
“I think so.”
“You said something last week about your sister suggesting you’d be perceived differently if you changed your wardrobe. Is that why you’ve been dressing differently? You don’t think you’re taken seriously?”
Grace shrugged, and Laurie felt a pang of guilt for making Grace uncomfortable.
“Well, for what it’s worth,” Laurie said, “you could wear a pink tutu and bunny slippers, for all I care. You are all kinds of serious, and anyone paying attention can see that.”
Grace walked out of her office with an extra bounce in her step. Laurie made a mental note to look at her budget to make room for a much-deserved pay raise.