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Principality on Monday morning was refreshing. Monaco was crowded—that hadn’t changed, but the city was itself again. No barriers. No fear I might bump into someone I didn’t want to meet, although, deep down, I longed to.
    I had done great work during the night and, although I hadn’t slept much, I managed to finish two out of three. I’d packed them in two separate boxes and had them with me. The third one I knew needed more time to grow in my nose. It was so different from almost everything I had ever done up to this point. The only exception was Demain. I had never tried to sell that scent to the big companies, and had never let Dame do so either.
    Marcel was already there when I arrived.
    “Lovely morning,” he greeted me, with a smile on his face. I smiled back.
    “Lovely and peaceful.”
    “You can say that again. Every year I work harder when the circus is in town. I always say I’ll take days off, but I always work. But then again, the tips are fantastic,” he admitted.
    “I believe you.” All the tips that were left by the customers in the perfumery I gave to Lucille and Michelle.
    “Were you satisfied with the race result?” he asked me. I shrugged my shoulders.
    “It was a shame Shore didn’t win, wasn’t it?” he continued when I didn’t reply to his first question.
    I smiled a little.
    “Perhaps this might teach him a little humility.”
    Marcel’s eyes widened.
    “I didn’t take him for someone who is arrogant. Don’t believe everything that you read in magazines.” He looked very serious. I was surprised by his words.
    “I don’t read magazines,” I half-lied to him and went into the hotel. I didn’t read ‘paper’ magazines, but I read everything about him in on-line versions and any article that was talking about his personal life described him as a person who did everything to get what he wanted, even if that meant walking all over other people. Of course I didn’t believe everything was true, but even if half of it was .
    I had a feeling Marcel wanted to continue our conversation, but I was not ready to talk to anyone about Lorcan Shore and my so-called ‘close meetings’ with him. That was strictly private … well, almost.
    Unlocking the door, Lucille and Michelle arrived. I had stopped, as always, to take in the fresh smell of the place. Neither Lucille nor Michelle was accustomed to my daily routine, so Lucille bumped into me, and then Michelle bumped into her. The second bump almost knocked the parcels from my hands. Lucille managed to catch one and I the other.
    “Oops, sorry,” they both said.
    I smiled.
    “No, I’m sorry.’
    They exchanged looks but didn’t say a word.
    “Give me that other box, I’ll take them to the office,” said Lucille and I handed her the second parcel.
    “Can you please call DHL? I need to post these two things to Paris.”
    She nodded.
    “Yes, of course. I’ll do it right away.”
    She left and Michelle took up her place behind the counter. From the back office we heard Lucille scream. We exchanged a quick look and then ran in after her; she stood at the door, deathly pale.
    “Someone broke in.”
    “What?” Michelle and I said in the same voice.
    “Look,” Lucille said and stepped aside for us to enter. It was a mess … the mess I created on Friday.
    Michelle went into action. She started giving orders.
    “Oh, my goodness. Lucille, call the police and I’ll go and find someone from hotel security.”
    Hearing the front door open, I turned around.
    “No! No one broke in.”
    “What?!” they asked.
    “Close the door.” I needed to do some explaining.
    “I did this on Friday. I thought I’d clean it this morning but, instead, I completely forgot about it. My intention was to come in early, but then I worked all night and … I’m sorry. I’ll clean it up right now.”
    They looked at one another.
    “The hell you will,’ Lucille said. “We’ll clean it. You’ll stay in the perfumery all day—as