Elodie, 1993
Two days after the extravagant launch of the Electric Rose, the family decamped for East Hampton. Elodie invited Liam along for the weekend.
Celeste had already rushed back to Philadelphia, and Elodie assumed that Paulina would jet back to Italy or France or wherever their parents had summoned her from. But Paulina decided to stay.
“I’ve missed you guys!” she said in that deep-throated purr of hers.
Their first morning at the house, Elodie and her father and Liam gathered around the poolside table, the ocean rumbling at high tide just a few yards away. It was late October but unseasonably warm. Liam sat across from her, so handsome it took her breath away. It was an effort not to break into a smile every time he spoke, but she maintained a professional neutrality while her father brought up plans for spring advertising.
At first, she’d protested the shoptalk, reminding her father that Liam had joined them for the trip as her boyfriend, not as the Pavlin & Co advertising account executive. But Liam was more than happy to toss around some ideas.
Paulina climbed out of the heated pool wearing a skimpy black bikini and a solitaire diamond on a platinum chain dangling between her breasts. Uninvited, she joined them at the table, water beading across her glistening skin. Her eyes were so blue-green they matched the sea, her face as obscenely perfect as the film star Bo Derek.
Elodie felt like she was holding her breath, resisting the urge to glance at Liam to see if he was looking at her sister.
“I’m heading to the beach,” Paulina said, leaning over and kissing their father on the cheek. She reached for a piece of watermelon. She wore a canary diamond the size of her knuckle on her middle finger.
“You look like a walking jewelry advertisement, my dear,” their father said.
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Paulina said.
“Actually, that’s not a bad idea,” Liam said.
Elodie shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “What do you mean?”
He smiled at her, then turned to Alan. “The other night at the launch, you emphasized the family nature of the business—that Pavlin & Co had real people behind the brand name. I think it was brilliant to give the Electric Rose emotional weight by evoking engagement. You could lean into this strategy even further by putting your family into your ad campaign. If you think Paulina is a walking ad for your brand, make it official. Make her the face of Pavlin & Co.”
Elodie drew in her breath, silently willing her father to call this idea what it was: absurd. And couldn’t Liam see how appalled she was at his suggestion? But no, how would he? She’d never admitted to him how competitive she felt with her younger sister. It would seem weak. Nothing good could come from such a conversation. And nothing good could come from letting her true feelings show now. All she could do was wait for the moment to pass, a temporary squall in the midst of an otherwise flawless day.
“Brilliant,” Alan said, bringing the palm of his hand down flat on the table with such force it rattled the bottles of Perrier. “Let’s do it.”
“Wait—what?” Elodie said.
“Hello, don’t I have a say in this?” Paulina feigned irritation but her eyes were bright with excitement.
Liam turned to Elodie.
“What do you think?” he said, reaching for her hand.
“I think . . . I think it’s interesting in theory but maybe a little too on the nose. Too much of a good thing. Separation of church and state and all that . . .”
“Nonsense. I like it,” said Alan. “How soon could we shoot?”
Liam launched into a potential timeline, talking about storyboards and media buys. Elodie faded out. It was as if a green mist of envy separated her from the rest of the table.
Fine—let Paulina be the face of Pavlin & Co. Elodie would still be the brains of the operation. And she would be at her father’s side long after Paulina tired of playing cover girl and flew off to the next place that offered her amusement.
Besides, work wasn’t the only thing she had going for her anymore. She had something far more important in her life.
She had Liam.