“Here are my terms. I expect half up front, and I would like the other half in escrow upon completion of the job.” I had learned a lot about negotiation from Julian. There were too many stories out there where good and talented designers had great vision but not so much finesse with money. I had seen many crash. I had only seen Julian lose money on one job the entire time I worked for him. While I didn’t always concur with his vision, for example in my beloved restaurant VERT, I couldn’t fault him on the way he handled financial transactions. He was the gold standard. No pun intended.

“Done. Here are my expectations. I want your exclusivity. I don’t want you off on another job. I want you here, handling the situation so I can do what I do best, and that is plan the menu. I want us to be a team.”

We shook hands, and he handed me a check, making our partnership official. To celebrate, Elliott put on a fresh pot of tea and brought in some scones. “Aren’t you the least bit interested in what the card on the flowers says?”

I nodded and took the card. It read:

Love of beauty is taste;

The creation of beauty is art. —Ralph Waldo Emerson

You create beauty and art, E.

He understood me. What I wanted to accomplish. We settled into comfortable small talk.

“You knew you were going to hire me all along?”

He nodded and grinned.

“Can I just ask you a personal question?” I asked.

“Go ahead. I have no secrets.”

“What’s your backstory, Elliott?”

He laughed out loud. “The short version is I’ve got some family support. My father was a chef. He was Queen Elizabeth’s chef. Now he is a member of the House of Lords.”

I had been rendered speechless. “So, Daddy is funding your little dream.”

The expression on his face changed immediately. I could tell I had hit a nerve. A preemptive warning shot. “Don’t make me sorry I hired you, Bailey. I thought you were different. I came to the United States because I wanted to make a name for myself. My name. My reputation. I thought you got that.”

I did. After all, as I had often told Henry, what we become is the only thing we can truly take credit for. I was instantly sorry. “I do understand, Elliott. That’s the reason I came to New York City too. I wanted to make my own reputation. Maybe we can help the other achieve our dreams.” The tension evaporated into the late-night air. When I looked at my watch, I was astonished that it was two in the morning. And this became our nightly ritual. We could talk about anything. And everything. He would join my small and precious company of men. Without preamble, we unceremoniously crossed the threshold where business partners were becoming something much more.

The next morning, the girls ambushed me. “What’s he like, Elliott the Englishman?”