Lauren Weisberger 3-Book Collection: Everyone Worth Knowing, Chasing Harry Winston, Last Night at Chateau Marmont. Lauren Weisberger

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СКАЧАТЬ and pleasure when she left with Philip Weston and an unidentified model. Their final destination? We have our ideas.’ …’ Kelly let the last words trail off and turned to grin at me.

      I felt myself turn crimson.

      ‘What, exactly, is it implying? Because so far I haven’t heard one remotely true statement. And who the hell wrote that?’

      ‘Ellie Insider, of course. There’s a picture of you climbing into the cab with Philip and this absolutely gorgeous girl, so I guess it’s not hard to figure out what she’s suggesting. …’ Kelly continued smiling. She looked like she couldn’t be any happier.

      Was it utterly bizarre to be discussing this in our weekly staff meeting, called today supposedly to discuss work events?

      ‘Kelly, I’m really sorry for any impact any of this stuff has had on you or the company. Honestly, I don’t know why anyone would care, but in all seriousness, it’s just not happening like—’

      ‘‘The newest It Girl, an associate at Kelly & Company.’ Do you realize how huge that is? Hopefully next time they’ll use your name. They probably just couldn’t confirm it in time since you’re not on the industry roster yet.’

      I noticed Elisa was having trouble smiling.

      ‘Not only that, but it says the rest of us are hard-partying,’ Leo chimed in proudly.

      ‘And it plugs the Playboy party!’ Skye added.

      ‘I just don’t know who would give them that information,’ I muttered. ‘It’s not even true.’

      ‘Bette, honey, I don’t care if it’s true, I just care that it’s being covered. You’ve done wonderful things for the team in the short amount of time you’ve been with us. Plus, Danny will be thrilled about the plug for the club. Keep up the good work.’ And with that, we moved on to one of Kelly’s specialty brainstorming sessions.

      ‘Okay, everyone, start talking. We’ve got the premiere for Shrek 3 next month. Invites need to be out within two weeks. Skye’s in charge of this one. What’s the enticement?’

      ‘I still don’t understand why we agreed to do a premiere for a kids’ movie,’ Skye whined, which I noticed she did a lot at meetings. ‘Why can’t the studio handle their own premiere for that one?’

      ‘That was a rhetorical question, right? We do premieres because they’re easy and pay well. You know DreamWorks has their own internal PR, but as you also know, they’re tied up with all the awards shows and bigger pictures’ publicity, and besides, virtually all of the important press is in New York. We have relationships with people they don’t.’

      ‘I know, I know.’ Skye sighed in a very unteamlike way. I saw Elisa shoot her a look, and she sat up a little bit straighter. ‘It’s just that kids’ movies are so boring.’

      ‘Well, Skye, if you’re not interested in overseeing this, I’m sure Elisa or Leo or Bette or even Brandon wouldn’t mind stepping in. I don’t think I need to point out just how many celebs are having kids these days … Liv, Courteney, Gwyneth, Sarah Jessica, just to name a few. I hope you’re not saying that their children are boring.’

      ‘No, of course not. You can count on me – I’m up for it. We’ve done a dozen of these. Okay. Does anyone have the report on the Harry Potter premiere we did over the summer?’

      ‘Yep, right here,’ Leo said, pulling a stapled packet from a folder. ‘Sunday afternoon in August, at Christie Brinkley’s estate in Bridgehampton. Party started at eleven A.M., with the screening from twelve to one-thirty to allow everyone enough time to get back to the city. Children’s entertainment included wading pools filled with ice and juice packs, horseback riding, a small petting zoo, a cotton-candy machine, a sno-cone maker, a few roving clowns. Adults were kept amused by highly attentive and attractive cocktail waitresses serving socially acceptable day drinks from a hidden bar inside – mostly mimosas, Bloody Marys, screwdrivers, champagne, margaritas, sangria, and the occasional frozen daiquiri or piña colada if requested. Matt Lauer, Susan Sarandon, Katie Couric, Aerin Lauder, Kate Hudson, Russell Simmons, and Courteney Cox all had children in attendance, in addition to hundreds of others who were slightly less recognizable but just as photogenic. Pics appeared in People, US Weekly, Star, Sunday Styles, Gotham, W, and a dozen online social pages, including but not limited to the New York Social Diary and Patrick McMullen’s website. Warner Brothers was thrilled.’

      ‘Okay, kids, so we’ve got the template, and we obviously know what works. Clearly we won’t be in the Hamptons, but we should stick with the same format. I like the Clearview in Chelsea because they’re pretty relaxed about having lots of action in their lobby,’ Kelly said, efficiently checking things off a list. ‘What else?’

      ‘Well, for food, the usual kid favorites,’ Elisa said. ‘Pigs in blankets, quarter-sized burgers, candy hunts.’

      ‘Make your own sundae,’ Leo added without pause.

      ‘Balloons, magicians, design your own cupcake, bubble machines,’ Skye said without the least bit of enthusiasm.

      ‘Guy in a monster Shrek outfit.’

      ‘Face-painting the kids green.’

      ‘Parents hate face-painting. Plenty of other stuff you can do. Maybe those mini-trampolines?’

      ‘Are you kidding? Total liability. Might as well just have “Sue Me” in lights. Speaking of which, how about “Shrek” spelled out in a massive wall of green lightbulbs?’

      Everyone nodded. I started to get slightly self-conscious about not having contributed anything, but I’d never been to a movie premiere and didn’t know anything about them besides stars walking down the red carpet.

      ‘What if we have a green carpet instead of a red one?’ I offered before considering how stupid it sounded. I braced myself, but the faces at the table looked fairly happy.

      ‘Fab idea, Bette! We’ll have a green carpet and a giant green walk-and-repeat at the end where everyone can get photographed. Green carpet should definitely mean more pictures. Things sound like they’re going smoothly there, so let’s move on to what really matters. Where are we with the Playboy party?’

      The color had returned to Elisa’s face, and she appeared more composed. She stood with perfect posture in her Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress and pointed to the bulletin board with her Mason Pearson brush.

      ‘As you can all see, we are just a few months away. After much scouting and debating, we have selected Sanctuary as our location. Leo, can you update us on the logistics?’

      Leo looked at Elisa as if to say ‘Since when am I answering to you?’ but then cleared his throat and told the room he was interviewing production companies (who would handle everything from furniture to lighting) and should have the shortlist by the end of the week. ‘I’m sure we’ll end up with Bureau Betak,’ he said. ‘We always do.’

      The meeting continued for another hour and a half (we covered gift bags, potential sponsors, and invitations) before we were released for lunch with the encouragement to go somewhere we’d ‘see or be seen.’ I begged out of going to Pastis with the group and roamed a few blocks east to a divey pizza joint where I surely wouldn’t run into anyone from the office. As soon as I had wedged my body СКАЧАТЬ