Chapter 9. “reva won’t get away with this! ”

“REVA WON’T GET AWAY
WITH THIS!”

N ow I know what it means to feel your heart sink, Pam thought. Mine is down around my knees right now. “You mean—he didn’t like the scarves?” she asked, trying to keep her voice from shaking with disappointment.

“Well...” Reva paused and bit her lip. “No. He didn’t like them.”

Willow groaned.

Pam sighed.

Reva laughed. “He loved them!” she cried.

Pam stared at her, confused. “What? But you said...”

Pam felt a flash of anger at Reva’s cruel joke. But it quickly disappeared. “Yes!” she cried, turning to Willow. “He liked them, I knew he would! Oh, this is so incredible!”

Willow grinned and pumped her fist in the air.

“How fast can you start making more?” Reva asked. “He wants to stock them in five of his stores—immediately.”

“I don’t believe it! Did you hear that, Willow?” Pam shrieked, hugging her friend. “Five stores! We did it!”

“Congratulations,” Grace told her.

“Thanks! Oh, this is so great!” Pam laughed excitedly. Five stores! she thought. If they sold well—and she was sure they would—she and Willow would make a bundle. She’d have enough money for college. Maybe even a car!

“So what are we waiting for?” Willow asked, still grinning from ear to ear. “Let’s get out of here and get to work. We’ve got orders to fill!”

“Right!” Pam agreed breathlessly. “Tell Uncle Robert thanks, Reva. And tell him we can get him all the scarves he wants—no problem!”

“Good.” Reva smiled. “Just think—in only a few days, the Reva Wear Scarves will be everywhere!”

Pam’s smile froze on her face.

The room went silent.

I must have heard wrong, Pam told herself. She licked her lips. “What did you say?” she asked Reva.

“Yeah, I’d like to hear that again, too,” Willow said.

“I said that the Reva Wear Scarves will be everywhere,” Reva told them.

“Reva Wear?” Pam gasped. “I don’t get it.”

“Well, I couldn’t tell Daddy you designed them.”

“Why not?”

Reva clicked her tongue impatiently. “Because he wouldn’t have been interested.” You moron, her tone of voice said. “And I really wanted to help you two. You know. Get you started. So I told him they were my designs. That’s all it took. He was so excited!”

Pam glanced at Willow, who looked as if she’d been punched in the stomach. Exactly the way I feel, Pam thought. How could Reva have done this?

“And get this,” Reva continued, her blue eyes gleaming. “Daddy’s going to let me do a fashion show at the store. It’s going to be a major promotion—just to show off the scarves! This is the first time he’s ever done anything like that. I mean, there have been fashion shows before, but not for just one item.”

“That’s nice,” Grace murmured. Grace sounded shocked, Pam noticed. She was obviously seeing a new side of Reva.

“It’s more than nice, it’s fabulous!” Reva declared. “And here’s the best part—I get to run the shows. Hire some new models, pick the music—everything! We’re going to put on the show three times a day during the whole Christmas season. We’ll sell hundreds of scarves!”

“Yeah—hundreds of our scarves,” Willow muttered, glancing at Pam. “Our scarves and our designs. You kind of forgot that, didn’t you, Reva?”

Reva rolled her eyes. “Didn’t I just explain why it has to be this way? What’s the big deal, anyway? You and Pam will get a nice percent of the profit. You’re going to make some real money!”

“Sure, but...” Willow started to say.

“Listen, we don’t exactly have all the time in the world, you know,” Reva interrupted. “I mean, it’s already early December, and I want to get those scarves into the stores as soon as possible.”

Pam shot a glance at Willow. Don’t argue anymore, her eyes said. Willow didn’t know Reva the way Pam did. Cross her, and they could kiss this deal good-bye.

And Pam desperately wanted this deal, no matter what.

“We’d better get going,” she told Willow. “We can work at my house. But we’ll have to clear off the dining room table. Or maybe we could use the garage. We’ll get in a few hours before we have to go to the office and—”

“Don’t think so small!” Reva scoffed. “Daddy knows your boss. He’ll get you some time off. And Daddy said I could set up a workroom at the store for you. I’ll call Maintenance now and get them to put in a couple of big tables.”

“Fine.” Pam gestured toward the door. “Come on, Willow. Let’s go home and make sure we have all the supplies we need.” She picked up the shopping bags. “See you in the morning, Reva.”

“Right. Eight-thirty sharp,” Reva ordered. “And bring your lunches, okay? You’ll be too busy to go out.”

Pam nudged Willow through the door. As they slipped on their coats, they could hear Reva boasting to Grace about Reva Wear.

“‘Eight-thirty sharp,’” Willow said, mimicking Reva’s bossy tone of voice. “ ‘Bring your lunch. You won’t have time to go out.’ ” She tossed her head. “I won’t be surprised if she chains us to the sewing tables.”

“Sssh, she’ll hear you,” Pam warned. She pulled open the heavy front door and followed Willow outside.

“That cousin of yours is bad news,” Willow declared. Her pale eyes were icy with anger. “Real bad news.”

“I know. But at least people will be buying our scarves. And we’ll be making some money,” Pam reminded her. “That’s what we really care about—right?”

Willow turned back and glared at the house. “Reva won’t get away with this,” she muttered, almost to herself. “Don’t worry, Pam. I won’t let her get away with this!”

Дата добавления: 2015-07-20