DESIGN FOR LOVE by Bryan Murray

naked in Roger’s arms?
    ‘ My God! ’ she mused. ‘No, no, it couldn’t be, get real , girl! ’
    She climbed silently out of bed, quickly dressed and returned to her hotel room.

CHAPTER 19
    After an early morning phone call to the concierge, when breakfast was finally delivered to her room, it came with all the New York newspapers. Francine was too nervous to eat until she had scoured every page for any news of the show.
    Of greatest interest was the New York Times after her almost friendly brush with Chris Matlin. With feverish hands she searched the fashion page and finally found the section under Matlin’s bi-line covering the show.
    He was quite kind to the big fashion names, in fact, Verucci must have been ecstatic at the review he received. Her eyes roamed the column and with baited breath she finally found a brief segment covering ‘Classique’. It seemed at first as though her eyes didn’t want to absorb the words until her vision came into focus and she started to read:
    ‘Among the interesting newcomers to the New York scene, ‘Classique’ of Dallas made a promising first showing. Although somewhat over-shadowed by the seasoned professionals, owner/designer Francine Dubois had an interesting combination of color and style in a smooth presentation.’
    Francine threw the newspaper up in the air as all the pages parachuted in different directions. ‘Wow!’ was all she could manage, such was her exultation. Chris Matlin had been kind and encouraging in person and had not deviated in his written comments.
    She made a mental note to thank him in Monte Carlo and proceeded forthwith to ignore all other papers scattered on the floor. The words of her Professor at the design college still echoed in her ears. ‘All you need is one good crit, that’s enough to keep you going’!
    Francine then finished packing ready to check out, only to be interrupted by a knock on the door. She opened it to see a smiling, if somewhat bleary-eyed Vince standing there, clutching a copy of the New York Times in his hand.
    She grinned like a schoolgirl. “I know, I read it! Isn’t it great? ”
    He hugged her affectionately. “It’s better than great, Princess, it’s the ultimate !”
    * * * *
    Later that day, after a relaxing flight back to Texas, the taxi had hardly pulled up outside Francine’s elegant house in a northern suburb of Dallas, before the door of the house opened and Alison came skipping excitedly down the drive.
    “Hi, Mommy! You’re back! You’re back!” she cried.
    Francine gave her a big hug. “Yes, my darling. Have you been a good girl?”
    Alison grinned sheepishly. “I guess.”
    “Good!” Francine was overjoyed to be back and quickly paid the cab driver who had by this time unloaded her bags on the sidewalk. She was glad that Vince had taken the fashions back to the workshop in the limo.
    As Francine and Alison started to pick up the bags, Mrs.‘T’ came out to give them a hand.
    “Hello, Mrs.‘T’,” Francine gave her a knowing look. “Everything okay?”
    The older lady managed a fake smile. “Yes, just fine, Francine,” she began, giving her a knowing wink of concern. “Just put on a pot of coffee, let’s get you inside.”
    Francine froze momentarily, realizing that something else had happened, but she decided to wait until they were alone and could talk in private.
    They went indoors and Francine gave Alison the small gift she had brought her. It was one of the kid’s cyber toys, a ‘Furbee’.
    “Wow! A Furbee! ” Alison squealed in excitement. “Can I go and show it to Dawn?”
    Francine hugged her. “Of course you can, sweetheart, but come right back, okay?”
    “Okay, Mommy, wow, this is cool!” she whispered in awe as she headed out of the door.
    The second the child had disappeared Francine turned to Mrs.‘T’, almost too afraid to ask. “So, what happened?”
    Mrs.‘T’ picked up her cup of coffee. “Well, I had another phone call this morning, first