The Knockoff by Lucy Sykes & Jo Piazza

Author:Lucy Sykes & Jo Piazza [Sykes, Lucy & Piazza, Jo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fashion & Style, Fiction, Humorous, Retail
ISBN: 9780385539586
Google: RBbLoQEACAAJ
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Knopf
Published: 2015-05-01T04:00:00+00:00

<<< CHAPTER THIRTEEN >>>

Was it possible the entire scene with Lucia van Arpels hadn’t happened, that Imogen had imagined the entire thing? She kept replaying it over and over in her head as she popped into the chemist to fill her prescription and then again on the way to the office—Eve’s hand moving in slow motion across the table. The whites of Lucia’s eyes expanding as she tried to comprehend what was being done to her. It couldn’t have been real. It was too much like a scene out of a movie. But when Imogen glanced down at her phone, there was Lucia’s text to her.

Eve was perched on a table in the kitchen regaling the staff about her meeting with Lucia when Imogen walked in to make an espresso.

“And then I just told her, ‘I know what is good for your brand.’ You should have seen her face.”

“Yes, you should have.” Imogen wished she weren’t still surprised at Eve’s nerve, but it managed to blindside her at least twice a day.

“Eve, let’s have a chat about this in my office.”

Eve popped off the table and did a small dance, biting her bottom lip and shaking her ass.

Imogen had no choice but to show Eve the text. “She won’t work with you again, Eve. What you did just made you a techbitch in Lucia van Arpels’s world.”

The word “bitch” didn’t faze her in the least. If anything it energized her. The girl twirled a piece of hair around her finger. “It’s not my fault she can’t see that we’re the future. She needs us.”

“No, Eve, right now we need her more than she needs us. We need people like Lucia to want their designs sold with us. Lucia’s dresses are the kinds of things our readers will really want to buy.”

Eve shrugged. “So call her back. We’ll have another meeting.”

“She won’t take another meeting with you, Eve. That’s the point I am trying to make.”

“Fine. What do we do?”

Imogen sighed. “Money talks, Eve. We offer to buy two million dollars at wholesale to prove how serious we are about moving her inventory.”

Eve scoffed. “Two million dollars is crazy. That’s like thirty percent of our new round of investment.”

“It’s the only way to save this situation with Lucia. And I can tell you another thing, Eve. Lucia doesn’t have a big mouth, but her staff does, and unless you want to get us blackballed in this town, we need to find a way to mend this situation.”

Eve lifted her eyes and fixed Imogen with a look of utter bewilderment.

This was the part of the job that was making Imogen feel ill. When she described what she was doing to Massimo, he referred to it as being paid to open your kimono. Imogen was opening up her network to Eve. No, she was opening up her network to Glossy.com. That was how she had to think of it. She was doing what was best for the company. But at what price? How long could she protect Glossy’s reputation from Eve’s antics?

“Pay the bitch then.

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