Lani and Natasha

The sledgehammer broke through the final panel of drywall sending bits of plaster and concrete flying. Lani removed her safety goggles to take a break before finishing for the evening. She gingerly picked her way across the hardwood floor trying to avoid debris. Picking up her silver water canister she took a deep drink of the still chilled water. Demolition was a tough process but she was used to it. Renovations were a part of her interior design business in New York. This, however, was a daunting project. Revamping a two hundred and twenty year old apartment was by far her biggest challenge to date. She knew that she was fortunate to have inherited this astonishing place from her grandmother. The location of the apartment in the Marais was perfect. She and her grandmother had always shared a special bond and much of the same taste. The apartment had been redone in nineteen ninety eight. It was overdue for an update and renovations. Lani felt obligated to preserve her grandmother's legacy.

Lani sat down on an overturned bucket that she had been using as a makeshift stool. She lifted her canister for another drink just as something caught the corner of her eye. Sticking out of the wall that she had just smashed into pieces, she saw something black lodged into the newly exposed plaster. She placed the canister on the floor making her way back to the object. Picking up a small pickaxe, Lani chipped away at the remaining drywall holding it in place. Finally she was able to wiggle free a smallish black book. Brushing off bits of cement and drywall, Lani delicately opened it. Written on the yellowing pages in both French and English the words seemed to form some kind of plan. Lani moved closer to the window to get a better look at the exotic cursive and to decipher the directions that she felt the book was giving to her. Her phone began vibrating in her overall pocket. Lani glanced at the caller id. She closed the black book and shoved it into her back left pocket. It was Zoe one of her friends from her university days when she had studied in Paris. She was meeting her, Anais and Nia for dinner later that evening. It had been 12 years since the four of them had all been together. Of course she was excited to see her friends and catch up on gossip. Lani had arrived in Paris on Wednesday but was too busy with the apartment and paperwork at the mairie to have time to meet them any sooner. Already it was Friday and it was definitely time to have some fun! Lani changed her mind about doing anymore work. She packed up her things and locked the door. At Saint Paul she decided to walk to the BHV department store that was only a bit further down rue Rivoli instead of taking the metro. She was going to treat herself to a new pair of shoes. After all it was on the way to her hotel at Place Vendôme. She works hard. She deserves a treat. Non?!

Lani let herself into her suite at the W with her electronic keycard. Immediately she kicked off her heels. She debated taking a bath before climbing into bed. She needed to soak her achy feet and wash off the fog of cigarette smoke from the bar. She bent over and picked up the overalls she had discarded earlier. The little black book slipped out of the back pocket hitting her on her tinder pinky toe of her right foot. Lani winced as she picked it up. She limped her way to the king sized bed. Perching on the edge she examined the book more closely. She turned it over to have a look at the back. Something was taped inside on the back cover. Lani picked at the corner of the sticky tape until she was able to pull it free. A small key tumbled into her lap. She held it up to the light. Etched into the metal was a number along with the letters BP. She began to read the pages of the book again but exhaustion over took her curiosity. Further research would need to wait until tomorrow. Sleep was eminent and more important than her desire to know anything more right now. That bath was going to have to wait as well.

Paris has a cafe on almost every corner. Lani had found herself a favorite after just 2 days back in the city. Already she had familiarized herself with the barista. She ordered her second cafe creme and polished off the last bite of her pain au chocolate. Brushing the crumbs from the black book she pushed it out of the reflection of the sun on her tiny table. She was still deciphering the plan when her barista placed a cup and saucer on the table. Jana could see the look of confusion on Lani’s face. She asked her in French if every thing was okay? Lani quickly explained what was happening involving the little black book. Jana took a look at what was printed on the pages and examined the small key. Together they decided the instructions in the book were guiding her to go to a bank near her grandmother’s apartment. Lani finished her coffee, grabbed her backpack and scooped up the little black book. She ran across the street to the metro entrance. If she was going to make it to the bank she would need to hurry.

The bank’s officer escorted her to the huge golden vault located in the back of the bank. She put her key in the slot of the corresponding box then waited for Lani to do the same. The officer directed her to a table and chair slowly glancing at her watch to indicate that Lani would need to be brief. Carefully Lani opened the box. Inside was a parchment scroll rolled up and tied with a red silk ribbon along with a hand written letter from her grandmother Natasha. Lani immediately recognized the exquisite handwriting from years of birthday cards and hand written checks. It was the same handwriting that was in the black book that had led her this far. She smiled to herself thinking fondly of grandmother. She held her breath as she started to read the letter. It turned out to be more instructions for the bearer to take the scroll to the Palais Galleria. It was a document of authenticity to a dress that had been on loan to the museum. The letter instructed the bearer to retrieve the dress for whatever reason. Lani thought back to all the extravagant stories that grandmother used to tell them at every family gathering. She often regaled them with tales of her younger days as a designer for a famous fashion house in Paris. Natasha had told them about having created a dress for a famous performer that was worn to an international gala. She had told them about one of her many suitors having been an agent for MI6 and working with the French Resistance to smuggle art, money, and jewels in support of their cause. Over copious glasses of champagne and red wine, grandmother often told of her many adventures traveling throughout Europe and of her days and especially her nights in Paris and Milan. All of us thought that grandmother was embellishing most of it but everyone loved the tales none the less. Lani tentatively closed the box and left the bank.

Sitting in front of the grand mahogany desk in the curators office of the Palais Galleria the next day, Lani waited patiently for Madame de Mornay to return. She was a stern woman starkly dressed in a black skirt and black sweater with black sensible heels. Her tight bun and oversized glasses made her appear a bit intimidating. It seemed to be an eternity since she had walked out of the office gripping the certificate. It had taken some persuasion and a lot of perseverance to convince Madame de Mornay to release the dress to her. Finally the curator returned to her office carrying a large box along with the certificate. She handed both to Lani. There was a bit of sadness behind her horn-rimmed glasses as she turned over the dress. By this time it was starting to get late so a taxi back to the apartment made sense. She spent her entire day here. But now she had the precious box in her possession. She also wanted to get back before the sun set although she wasn’t sure she’d be able to get anything done. So many thoughts were swirling around in her mind.

Lani opened the heavy metal door to the apartment juggling the box under her left arm. As she closed the door her phone began to vibrate in her backpack. Lani stepped into the entrance of the apartment trying to hurry to retrieve the phone from the snapped pocket before the vibrations stopped. She was awkward with her treasure and with trying to rush. She tripped over the sledgehammer she had left lying on the floor the day before. The box flew airborne. Lani landed in the dust on her knees. Stunned she gathered herself from the floor. She clambered to her feet, dusting of the crumbs of drywall and looking around for the contents of the box. The gorgeous red silk dress was dangling precariously from a jagged piece of debris by its hem. Lani sucked in her breath and tenderly removed it as carefully as possible from its landing spot. Luckily there was only a tiny tear near the hand stitched hemline. She held the dress closer to get a better look at the place where the stitches had pulled loose. In the waning sunlight Lani could make out a tiny patch of green. She carefully pushed her index finger into the hole and felt what seemed to feel like paper. Curious, she picked out a few more stitches. She grabbed her cellphone and switched on the flashlight to get a better look. Lani managed to pull out one of the stiff pieces of paper. It was a one thousand dollar bill! A pristine American blue seal banknote from nineteen eighteen with Alexander Hamilton on the front and a soaring eagle on the back. Lani started squeezing the voluminous A-line skirt of the red silk dress. She could feel the crinkle of more of the notes inside. Unbeknownst to her, Natasha had sewn 20 of the bills into the dress as a lining in place of the usual crinoline. The precious bills had been out of circulation since nineteen sixty nine so they were worth much more than the face value. Lani was holding an infamous red silk dress that Josephine Baker had worn some seventy five years ago and twenty thousand dollars in cash. Grandmother had been telling them the truth all of those years. What Lani held in her hands was priceless in more ways than one. She could see the sun setting through the apartment window while she sat on the bucket, clutching the dress.