thoughtful of you!â
How do you say fucking bastard in French!
âListenâ¦â Nicolas tries to sound consoling. âWhy donât you go back to your hotel, and Iâll come as soon as Iâm finished. Weâll talk.â
âNo, donât bother. Iâm coming to see you. Right now.â
âLynn, wait.â
âIâll see you in a minute.â
âLynn!â
I hang up. âGosh, I forgot,â I say to the receptionist. âThey were waiting for me at the Carouzal Louvres.â
âLe Carrousel du Louvres,â she corrects and gives me the Iâm-so-sorry-for-you look.
âCan you get me a taxi?â
Â
The Carrousel stuff is like a shopping mall right under Le Louvres. And Le Louvres isâ¦oh, you know what Le Louvres is. Isnât that crazy? They have so many castles over here that they have shopping malls under them. Imagine that. Upstairs, their kings used to carry on their despotic businesses, while now, downstairs, there are gift shops, tourists and the mixed smells of French fries and cinnamon buns.
Iâm sure Iâm in the right place, itâs like Fashionworld down here. They have dresses and fashion displays hanging all over the place. Dior. Chanel. Gucci. Gaultier. Christian Lacroix.
I take a closer look at the Christian Lacroix dress. It looks like something from the distant past, but at the same time, it feels real. Not like a theater costume, but like a real thing. I love it!
I walk faster to the showrooms. I want to keep this feeling. Cinnamon buns and Christian Lacroix. It will give me some strength to confront Nicolas. I walk to the two men guarding the entrance to the showrooms.
âHi, Iâm with the Muriel B group.â
âSure.â
They donât need any other form of credential. They open the red velvet rope and let me in.
I walk into the first showroom. It smells of wood dust and glue. All kinds of technicians are playing around with wires. Carpenters are building wooden structures. Everybody looks very busy and Iâm walking in the middle of it all, unwelcome and purposeless.
Iâ¦I canât do it. I just saw Nicolas, and I immediately stopped breathing.
I have no defense mechanism against a guy like him.
He stands among a group of Muriel Bâs finest Asian punks, talking with a little man with short gray hair and a beard. Oh, and heâs dressed like a catholic priest.
Murielâs with him and whatever happened before I arrived, it took the jam out of her doughnut.
âMuriel, dear, there are no two ways about it,â the priest says with a strong British accent. âYou wonât get the afternoon spot. Itâs already booked for Dior! You canât compete with Dior, darling.â
âHi,â I whisper, but nobody notices me.
âThe nine oâclock spot is very nice anyway. People are fresh at nine oâclock.â
âSo why donât you give it to Galliano, huh?â
I clear my throat. âHi,â I try again.
Muriel turns to me. âLynnâ¦I thought we were not supposed to see you again,â she snaps sharply. She turns to Nicolas. âWasnât she supposed to be on a plane or something?â
âIâ¦â
Nicolas puts his hand on my arm. âLetâs go somewhere quiet.â He doesnât seem upset to see me. Worse, he doesnât seem guilty!
Instead, Iâm the one about to have a cardiac arrest while he looks calm and in control. Canât he stop being perfect for one single second?
He pushes aside a black drape, walks me through and we find ourselves alone under a grandstand. I normally love to go under a grandstand. It always reminds me of high school and first kisses.
Only, Iâm quite sure Nicolas didnât drag me here to give me a French kiss.
âI am really sorry, Lynn,â he kicks off. âI didnât want to call you. I wanted to do this face-to-face.â
Oh, God! My back
Kat Richardson
Celine Conway
K. J. Parker
Leigh Redhead
Mia Sheridan
D Jordan Redhawk
Kelley Armstrong
Jim Eldridge
Robin Owens
Keith Ablow