She entered the now abandoned lobby for the second time that day, with only a man in a black tuxedo and bow tie standing at a podium beside the elevator to greet her. He politely asked her name then crossed it off the list before authorising her to proceed. Inside the elevator she pressed the button for the rooftop on the thirty-third floor. The elevator lifted and she inhaled deeply and tried to push Frederich out of her mind. She had no choice. The party was too important. How she handled this moment could impact the rest of her life. She started by checking her reflection in the mirror, paying close attention to her black dress. The sleek design accentuated her body, and the v-neck revealed the top of her breasts covered in black lace that ran over her shoulders and down her arms. It would not have been Ida’s first choice. Claire, the lady at the shop, had insisted that it was the dress for her, and that she would feel more comfortable in it by the minute. Ida had no idea how much the dress was worth, but she knew it was a lot, judging by the store’s location on Avenue Montaigne. Making her more nervous still was having to return the outfit the following day undamaged. If only she could have worn the dress she had brought from Berlin.
The elevator door opened and in came the sound of chatter and music. Ida turned around and put on her best smile, walking directly into the open-air party. The group closest to her stopped their conversation and began looking her up and down before smiling and resuming their conversation while taking sips of their champagne. Ida continued moving through the crowd, getting stares from almost everyone. Immediately she felt out of place. Everybody was stunningly dressed. The men had their hair trimmed and styled, and their tuxedos were a perfect fit. The attractiveness level of the women was off the scale. Many of them were almost certainly models; gorgeous with flawless, glowing skin, long legs and impeccable posture. Most faces which looked critically at Ida were either beautiful or had been made beautiful by a surgeon. Their expressions asked the question loud and clear: ‘Who is this strange girl, and what is she doing here?’
Tiny Christmas lights hung above in a criss-cross fashion. There were randomly spread cocktail tables draped in white sheets, and at the far end was a band playing classical music on a small stage beside the bar. A waiter approached and offered Ida champagne, which she accepted. Standing in the middle, she realised, made her a target for attention. Everywhere she looked, eyes were pointed her way. Her body was preparing to scramble to a less exposed location but she held herself firm, even though her fingers were jittering from nervousness.
“Ida!” came a voice from the side.
Tina emerged from the crowd holding a champagne glass while walking confidently toward Ida. She had on a sparkling grey dress which continued up over her chest and wrapped around her shoulders, revealing the side of her breasts. Splits ran along both sides and made visible her fit body. As always she was wearing stilettos, which added to her already impressive height and gave her a majestic walk. With her long diamond earrings and pink lipstick she could have been straight from a movie.
“Ida, nice to see you,” said Tina, smiling and reaching forward to hug her with one arm.
“You look amazing,” said Ida, blinking multiple times and looking Tina up and down.
“Me?” said Tina, shaking her head. “Look at you!” she added, her face lighting up. “I knew Claire could do it. You look unbelievable!”
A smile found its way to Ida’s face.
“Thanks,” she said.
Tina paid close attention to Ida’s mouth with a concerned look.
“What?” said Ida, raising her hand to her face.
“Oh, you’ve got a bit of extra lipstick there,” said Tina, taking Ida by the hand and leading her to the side.
Tina leaned forward and inspected Ida’s mouth before rubbing the side of Ida’s lip with her knuckle.
“There, that’s better,” she said, smiling and nodding with satisfaction.
“Oh, that was silly of me. I didn’t check it before I left,” said Ida, remembering the moment she had been distracted by the news story.
“Don’t worry. Come, I’ll introduce you to some people.”
Tina took Ida’s hand and led her through the party crowd, drawing stares like magnets passing through shards of metal.
“Ladies, meet Ida,” said Tina upon approaching two young women standing side by side, both holding their champagne glasses.
“Hi, Ida,” said one young woman without any expression while waving her hand across her body. She had dark makeup, long, shiny straight blonde hair that ran down her back and a tall, skinny body.
“Hello, Ida,” said the other woman with a smile, a brunette version of the first woman.
“This is Sophie,” said Tina, pointing to the blonde woman who now had her attention somewhere else. “And this is Claudia,” she said, pointing to the brunette. “They’re both represented by an agency here in Paris.”
“Nice to meet you,” said Ida, unsurprised that they were models.
“Remember this face,” said Tina, signalling toward Ida. “She might be designing your outfits in the future.”
“Really?” said Claudia with her French accent. “That is so wonderful. We need more young designers, especially women.”
“Ida brings something new to the table. She designs specifically for the empowered woman.”
“Wonderful! Then she is with good company,” said Claudia, signalling toward Tina.
“That’s right,” said Tina, grabbing Ida’s hand and dragging her away. “We’ll be right back, ladies.”
As the two of them walked along, still drawing ample attention, Tina leaned in close to Ida.
“You see all these wandering eyes?” said Tina. “Most women have no
