Chapter 23

Because of their very different course schedules, Tanya, Tasha and their lovers really didn't know many of their classmates. Although officially they were still freshmen at Memorial High School, in second semester they were already taking two courses each at the University of Kentucky. Harry Davenport's prediction at the prom had come true: The four were on track to complete their high school work by June. Starting in the fall, all their classes would be at the university.

The result was that, although they were classmates, none of them knew Sueann Washington. But beginning almost as soon as Jill Barnes returned from New York, the Washington girls — and then their mother — began to spend increasing amounts of time at the Farm. Its workout and exercise facilities were the very best in the state since it was equipped with the same gear as The Body Shop. Deann's BMW became a semi-permanent fixture on the Farm's driveway, and most often Deann was accompanied by her 15-year-old sister Sueann.

As February gave way to March, the four girls were finishing their workouts with laps in the 50-meter pool. The day was bright and sunny, and there was a corner of the pool deck that was in bright sunlight and sheltered from the wind making it ideal for sunbathing. The four were soaking up rays when Sueann complained about a modeling assignment. It seemed that Kurt Rohmer had a final assignment in the States before returning to Germany. The assignment required the model to be able to do gymnastics. Tanya and Tasha immediately began to work with her on the requisite skills.

It was another sunny day when Rohmer appeared. That day the four girls were working out with Seana Dunphy coaching. Rohmer set up in the gym and just watched as the Corcoran girls were concentrating on Sueann. By that time the girl would have been a top high-school gymnast but was still a long way from being world class.

Rohmer watched in awe as Tanya went through a routine on the uneven parallel bars with Sueann watching her intently. His eyes widened as he realized how incredibly beautiful Tanya was. He started snapping pictures while talking with Seana.

"Good heavens!" he exclaimed. "That girl is really good!"

"She ought to be," Seana remarked blandly. "Last summer she and her sister were one-two when it came to selecting members of the United States Women's Olympic Gymnastics team."

"My lord! You mean ... They are truly world class?"

"I mean!" Seana emphasized. "Later this year they'll be going out to the Olympic qualifiers. I'm virtually certain they'll both be on the team."

The girls finished up and went over to Rohmer. "Mr. Rohmer," Sueann began, "I'm afraid this just isn't going to work. According to Miss Dunphy, I'm very good ... for a high-school gymnast. But that's not what you want or need. You need someone who's really good."

Although they had been talking and had been introduced by name, Kurt had no idea who Seana Dunphy was and he said so.

Sueann grinned and said, "Seana Dunphy was asked to be the coach of the national gymnastics team, is who she is. You can take her opinion to be that of an expert of the highest order."

Turning to Tanya and Tasha, Rohmer asked if they would care to model. While their initial reaction was to demur, he persuaded them to give it a try. The pair then did exactly what the Washington women had done earlier: They asked him to explain what he wanted in his photos and then proceeded to give him exactly that.

The result was that Tanya and Tasha became international models right out of the box, and Kris Harris, to her professed disgust, had two new modeling clients.

Meanwhile, work on Styles of Lexington had been going forward, and the salon was one of the very finest in the nation. The grand opening was set for the school vacation week in March and models were invited to appear.

Adrienne's prediction came true: The week the models appeared at the Farm, spring flowers and flowering trees and shrubs were in bloom and the air was filled with their scent. Publicity for the opening was confined to sending email announcements to the Lexington Herald-Leader and TV stations WKYT, WLEX, and WTVQ. Total cost of publicity: zero.

All of the models were excited and Jill Barnes was thrilled. The very first show was set for Monday at noon. To kick it off, that morning full-color blowups of two Vogue covers were placed in windows flanking the store's main entrance. One was perhaps Adrienne's most famous cover, while the other was the cover of the April issue about to hit the newsstands. That cover featured Lexington's own Deann Washington.

By noon, a small crowd had gathered, and as more people headed for lunch there was a crowd on the sidewalk. On the hour, an announcer said, "Welcome to Styles! It is my great pleasure to welcome to Lexington perhaps the most famous model in the world... Adrienne!" At that instant, Adrienne stepped out from behind a temporary curtain that shielded the interior of the store from the street and took the identical pose wearing the identical outfit she had worn for the cover. The only difference was that she was far more beautiful then than she had been when the cover was shot. The cover was one from her anorexic period.

There was enthusiastic applause from the onlookers and more people stopped to look. At that point the announcer said, "And now it's my great pleasure to introduce the model gracing the cover of the latest issue of Vogue ... Lexington's own... Deann Washington!" Deann stepped out into her own window and emulated Adrienne: She adopted the identical cover pose. But unlike Adrienne, Deann in person was identical to Deann, the cover girl. The applause was even louder — there were more people present — than for Adrienne.

Two other former Vogue cover models appeared replicating their covers. Then the real fashion show began. By that time, there was a mob in front of the store and police officers appeared to try to control the crowd while still providing some room for cars to move in the street. They didn't even try to provide space for pedestrians to move in front of the store; pedestrians were told to cross the street and walk on the other side. After the cover replications, there was a one-hour fashion show using the same four models but now wearing fashions that would be on sale at Styles when it opened.

Nita Lucas's prediction about the subsequent days also proved to be accurate. On Tuesday the police barricaded the street at both ends of the block and detoured traffic. On Tuesday and throughout the rest of the week the noontime crowds just kept getting bigger.

On Monday, the Herald-Leader had a reporter and photographer on the scene, albeit their most junior staffers. The photographer discovered something the TV stations discovered the following day: The windows of Styles were made of polarized glass that was transparent to their cameras' lenses. It was as if there was no glass there at all.

In addition to Adrienne and Deann, there were a total of eight models visiting at the Farm. All were top-tier and all had appeared on fashion magazine covers. Adrienne appeared each day matched to a different fashion magazine's — and even a general interest magazine's — cover. Because she was local and because the Vogue issue with her on the cover was now on the newsstands, Deann appeared every day, too.

On Tuesday, the mobile unit of WLEX, the NBC outlet in Lexington, appeared. On Wednesday and for the rest of the week WKYT and WTVQ had their mobile units on the scene as well. To try to keep its news lead, on Wednesday WLEX had a local fashion authority along with a staff newswoman on the scene and they broadcast the entire hour live. When the other stations realized they had been wiped out in the ratings for the time period, they did the same thing on the last two days.