Paris (Entangle Me Book 4) Page 6

  And the food, oh my goodness. A five course meal fit for a King and Queen: with a menu that included fig and goat cheese tarts, seared scallops, sweet-tart duck breasts with fresh cherry sauce, red snapper and cepes in a port reduction, and a pear almond tart it was absolutely divine. This wedding has been classy all the way. I’m stoked that this was another successful job, and I’m excited to move onto the next one.

  I check the time on my watch. 9pm. Marie winks at me, signifying that she is happy to let me commence preparations to pack up and have the restaurant staff provide drinks the rest of the evening. After giving out the necessary orders to Claudio I duck down to the bathroom.

  Flushing the toilet, I step out into the beautiful black marble laden room and lather my hands with a divine creamy lemon scented hand wash. The toilet behind me flushes and the door opens, and I widen my eyes when I see who it is. Victoria. Someone I have seen way too many times on this trip, someone I won’t miss.

  As she was a guest at the wedding, she was mostly confined to her seat at the table for the dinner but that didn’t mean she wasn’t watching Tristan like a hawk. Very odd behaviour, and I must say it’s all coming from her.

  Victoria sees me standing outside the large mirror and adjusts her strapless purple dress. Walking up to the mirror to stand beside me, she huffs loudly as she looks straight at the mirror to pucker her lips. Admiring her reflection, I can feel her eyes darting to look at me.

  “So, that little party wasn’t too bad? I mean, it was a bit dull but it was cute I suppose,” she starts off.

  Great ice breaker! She really should consider being a lecturer on Teaching Manners 101.

  “I’m glad you liked it,” I say with false politeness.

  “But seriously how ugly is the bride’s dress? And the botox on her face? Umm hello, can she look any more waxed?”

  I push down the tap to wash my hands, thinking of a short and civil way to answer her insipidly rude questions. Thank god it’s just the two of us in here.

  “I think she looks beautiful, and it was definitely not a little party.”

  “Well anyhow that dress is vomitrocious, ew!”

  Did I say she was fifteen? No she’s nine, surely she is nine.

  “So you and Tristan, hey?” I try and hide the bitterness in my tone when all I want to do is yank her perfect blonde hair.

  “Well, we go a long way back. Sure he is being all honorable now but I know he wants me, I just know it.” She scratches behind her ear.

  “How long were you together for?”

  Victoria’s pretty little mouth pops open and she looks startled at my question. “Well, I mean...we weren’t official or anything but we were definitely lovers,” she giggles hoarsely, scratching her ear again. Does she have a rash behind there or what? What’s the go?

  “I have to go back—”

  My eyes widen when she steps in front of me and grabs my forearm, staring down at me. Her grip is tight. “So what’s the deal with you and him, huh?”

  “What do you mean? We work together.”

  “You guys looked real chummy the other day, I saw the way he was looking at you.”

  “That was just—”

  “How did you sink your claws into him? Did you cast some sort of spell on him?” There’s something not right in those pretty eyes of her, they look wired or something. Slightly deranged too. I think somebody needs to lay off the white wine spritzers.

  “Look, he is just a friend.” A friend I have kissed a few times, a friend who puts his arm around me in Paris, a friend who stays with me in shitty motels. A friend that I want more with.

  She narrows her eyes and tightens her grip on my skin, squeezing it. “If I can’t have him, no else can. You got that?” Her voice is quiet, but I can hear all the serious rage in it. The colour is draining from her pretty face, what is up with her? This girl is a bit intense, a bit nuts if you ask me. Staring right back at her with a steely resolve I grab her wrist to take it off mine.

  “Don’t touch me like that, ever again. Tristan can do—”

  She cackles derisively suddenly and I have to struggle to remain calm. “I know that he might be still angry at me for what happened but I know he is totally over it now. I just know it.”

  Angry about what? What did she do? My curiosity is coming out flaring but I just want to get away from this girl. Something is not right with her, I can’t put my finger on it yet.

  “So, you will do well to not get in my way,” she adds, a sinister tone underlying in her voice.

  Did she just threaten me? Oh hell no, I don’t think so! Nobody scares me, especially some whiny, spoilt, rich brat. Clearing my throat, I straighten my posture, eager to show her I am not to be messed around with.

  “Whatever is going on between you two, I’m not going to get involved. Even if it’s obvious somebody is a whiny, clingy bitch,” I mutter under my breath, unable to help myself.

  Her pretty little mouth flies open. “How dare you—?”

  “Don’t you ever threaten me like that again.” I snap, making it clear that no one intimidates me. A look of surprise emerges on her face, and for a split second she looks nervous. Then, she laughs, that nasty scoff echoing in the room. “Ha! As if a girl like you could ever get a guy like him.”

  I swallow hard at her tawdry comment. I get it, she wants him. And she thinks there’s something going on between us, she thinks of me as competition. Even though I can’t deny my feelings for Tristan, I’m not going to resort to her level.

  So instead I turn around and walk out of the bathroom, feeling immensely better the further away from her I get.

  CHAPTER NINE

  “Merci beaucoup, Mademoiselle Lacey, you were very helpful,” Claudio smiles at me as he releases the firm handshake we just shared. I think the chef and I finally came to a mutual understanding – we put our differences and language barriers aside and worked together to create two perfect food-filled days for the couple. He may have been bossy and arrogant but he came through in the end and the food was phenomenal, I can’t fault anything that came out of the kitchen.

  “Likewise, your food was absolutely amazing. I still can’t eat escargot though!”

  He laughs heartily, keeping a close distance to me. We’re standing in the kitchen, overseeing the last of the cleaning up as the event is all but wrapped up.

  “So, are you staying in Paris a few more days?” He asks, a cheeky grin suddenly emerging on those full lips.

  “Umm I think I have another two days. I can’t wait to just sleep in and eat more croissants. Do you have another event to cater for?”

  “Perhaps I can show you the town, show you the parts of Paris that are really beautiful,” he raises an eyebrow, the way he is looking at me makes me want to giggle. A handsome French chef is asking to show me around Paris? I never thought I would see the day!

  “Well…”

  “Come on, let me take you out—”

  “There you are!” That bubbly voice emerges from the other end of the kitchen and I know who it is. We turn around to the sight of Gabe waving at me. But I quickly ignore the sight of Gabe, because he is standing next to Tristan who has his arms crossed, scowling at us.

  “Hey guys!” I wave, expecting them to walk up to us but they both stand there.

  “Come on, hun, let’s go, work is over!” Gabe scoops his hand at me and I know they want me to say good bye.

  I turn to Claudio. “Thanks for everything—”

  Without warning, he leans forward to wrap his hands around my arms to kiss me on the cheek. “Enchanté de t’avoir rencontré, nice knowing you.” He quickly turns his head to kiss me on the other cheek, stroking my shoulders wistfully with his fingers.

  “Ahem,” Tristan clears his throat loudly, scowling even further. “Are you done, mon amie?”

  Claudio scoffs to himself and lets me go, before exiting the kitchen through the other door. I walk up to Gabe and Tristan, both clearly waiting for me.

  “He
y, what’s up? Does something need to be fixed?”

  Gabe rolls his eyes. “No, we’re here to fetch you to go out. Let’s go to Moulin Rouge. Well, let’s line up and see if tickets are still available, I want to see it!”

  I raise an eyebrow at Gabe. “Why would you want to see gorgeous scantily clad women in jewels?” I turn to Tristan and smile at him. “I bet you put him up to this!”

  Tristan uncrosses his arms, smirking back at me. “Guilty as charged. Come on let’s go, we’ve hardly seen each other all week I think we can stop using work as an excuse now.”

  The way he is looking at me suggests that his words were directed at just me. Of course I still want to hang out with Tristan, even if it’s in just a friendly capacity.

  “Of course, let’s let our hair down.”

  “Speak for yourself, darl, my hair is still perfectly moussed up!” Gabe laughs and we make our way out of the kitchen and into the restaurant. The wedding party is over, except for a few odd guests still sitting outside enjoying a wine on this beautiful warm night. I can’t wait to enjoy a night out in Paris, without any worries or concerns. Pushing open the door, I walk down the stairs into the long light filled street. Tristan follows closely behind me and I can feel him walk up right next to me when I see her again. Victoria, waiting for him.

  “Not her again,” Gabe mutters to himself. “Maybe if we quickly turn around she won’t see us.”

  “Herculeeees!” Victoria wails as she stomps over in her stilettos, and she looks like an angry supermodel charging towards us. I look up at Tristan who narrows his eyes at her, he doesn’t look happy to see her. Victoria walks up to Tristan and grabs his arm but he pulls away. This is definitely not the civilised behaviour I saw whenever I saw them together.

  “What the hell are you doing here? I told you I never wanted to see you again,” he growls, making his contempt for her perfectly clear.

  Victoria’s mouth pops open, and she looks embarrassed at his outburst. “Hey, I thought you were kidding. Come on let’s—”

  “No, you’ve caused enough trouble in my life. I tried to play nice but now you are bothering my team, and I know what you did to Lacey in the bathroom,” his eyes widen, seething with rage.

  How does he know about the bathroom situation? I only told Gabe....wait, hold on a minute. Victoria looks at me, her eyes twitching erratically. How drunk is she?

  “You. How dare you—?”

  “She has done nothing wrong here. How dare you threaten my staff like that? I’m sick of your childish antics.” Tristan looks at us. “Come on guys, let’s catch a cab.”

  He rushes us forward but Victoria blocks us, she looks positively frightened at this point. “Noooo! Please, hear me out.”

  “Enough. I am going to spend some quality time with my staff, and Lacey—”

  “Okay, I’m sorry for what happened back there.” She turns to look at me, giving me a forced and fake smile. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get carried away. Is there any chance I can make amends for my behaviour? How about we all go for drinks in my hotel suite. It’s in the 19th arrondissement and has the best views of Paris anywhere.”

  Gabe and I look at each other, confused as heck. Does she know my secret weakness or something?

  “You know who will be there? Peter and Yvonne, remember them?” She emphasises their names loudly, making it sound like they are important people.

  Tristan widens his eyes. “What are they doing here?”

  “You don’t want to see one of the most powerful couples in New York? They miss you, perhaps they would want to hire you again?”

  “I don’t know...” Tristan murmurs, looking unconvinced. “I don’t see any point of—”

  He stops when I tap his arm. “It’s okay, go. Gabe and I will meet you at Moulin Rouge later alright?” I smile at him warmly. I’m not going to stop him from networking, even if his hesitation is clear.

  Tristan sighs loudly, turning to Victoria.

  “How long do I have to be there? I am not in the mood.”

  “Just one drink okay? I pinky promise!” Victoria nods eagerly, like some love sick puppy. God just take him already, I want to get out of here and never see the back of her again.

  I link arms with Gabe and fake a smile at them both. “Have fun guys!”

  “Lacey wait—!”

  Tristan’s cries go ignored as I rush Gabe down the street, making sure I don’t turn my head around.

  ♦

  “Cheers!” Gabe tinkles his glass with mine, his raspberry-cognac sparkler clinking with my French Blonde cocktail. We are sitting in a quiet dimly lit bar on Rue Lepic, each of us on our second respective drinks for the evening. Sexy French music blares through the speakers and the crowd is a mix of young students, older businessmen and waif leggy blondes with big hair.

  Opting to quickly get changed at the hotel, I feel incredibly relaxed in a loose tank top, jeans and blazer, my hair down. Gabe scans the room, clearly enjoying the view of the handsome French men in their relaxed and effortless attire.

  “I swear the men are so much friendlier here, they actually want to talk to you instead of trying to get in your pants. And don’t even get me started on their accent. Swoon!” He takes a sip of his drink.

  “Gosh, they are so charming, and complete gentlemen. And yes, the accents help big time on the charm factor. Even the chef, he pissed me off big time, but he was great to work with by the end.” I start to sip my drink.

  “Yeah, that’s because he wanted to get in your pants.”

  I almost choke on my drink, forcing myself to swallow a mouthful of grapefruit juice, gin, and Lillet Blanc. Damn these cocktails are strong. “As if!”

  “He asked you out, Tristan and I saw remember?”

  Shaking my head, I giggle. “He was being friendly.”

  “Umm yeah, friendly to get you into bed with him. Were you interested?

  I shrug my shoulders. “I could barely understand him, the only words that came out of his mouth during the wedding that he spoke in English was ‘Stop!’, ‘Now!’ and ‘Hurry!’. So, I can’t say, either way I’m leaving in two days, I just want to rest. By the way, thanks for leaving me to fly back alone…again.”

  Gabe grins at me. “Sorry, hun, I’m not going to fly for a day and not take advantage of where I am! I can’t wait to see Berlin and Netherlands, are you sure you won’t want to join me?”

  “No, I’m good. Next time give me some notice so I can afford to say yes to your whimsical last minute holiday plans!” I narrow my eyes at him playfully. “Seriously, have an amazing time. You deserve it after how hard we’ve been working lately. No doubt you will brush up on your German? Eat lots of sausages and sauerkraut?”

  “Well, I’d like to taste some German sausages and not just the meat kind.” He giggles. “Maybe I can meet some cute Germans for us. Ja ja! But you’re not going alone, you’re flying with Tristan.”

  I roll my eyes again. “Actually no, he’s flying to London for work. So no, you suck for making me fly alone,” I tease. “It’s okay though. I think I’m getting the hang of flying now, just getting there. Lots of wine and flicking my wrists. If there’s a cute flight attendant I can always ask him to talk to me, right?”

  Gabe takes another sip and taps my forearm gently. “Are you and Tristan going to get together or what? I hope so!”

  I purse my lips, unsure of how to answer that. My stomach sinks at the thought that he is with Victoria, in her apartment suite. I decided to ignore the fact that he messaged me twenty minutes ago, giving me the room number and address of the hotel in case I changed my mind. No thanks. She’s staying on the 30th floor of Résidence Jupiter, one of the tallest residential buildings in Paris. I’ll pass.

  “I’m not getting my hopes up, having Victoria in the picture has just put me off altogether.”

  “Jeez, she is not in the picture, she’s just some deluded woman who almost got Tristan fired,” he blurts out.

  Whoa. What did he say? G
ot Tristan fired?

  I raise my hand at him. “Back it up. She what?”

  Gabe clamps a hand over his mouth. “Shit, I blame the drink. Tristan is going to kill me but…you might as well know. I overheard them talking in one of the private rooms before the food was coming out, they were full yelling at each when I was going up to grab some extra glasses from the storage room.”

  I take another sip, dying to hear more. Why does the idea of them arguing make me secretly happy? “Yeah?”

  Gabe sighs, knowing that he has to spill the beans. “She kept apologising for ‘getting carried away’. He was saying ‘you made up so much shit about me’, umm and then something like ‘you ruined my reputation’.” Gabe takes a sip, stroking his chin in deep thought. “He said he was never interested in her, he always thought of her as a friend. And okay, this is where it gets juicy. So Victoria said she didn’t mean to threaten him with a lawsuit. She said it would was only so Tristan would agree to go out with her. Her exact words to him were ‘I didn’t expect you to leave the company, I just wanted you to be mine.’ Yeah, juicy shit right?”

  My jaw drops, completely speechless at his revelation. Through that incredibly long-winded and tipsy retelling of a conversation, I am starting to get the picture.

  “So she…was the reason why…?” I can’t finish my words, still stunned from this revelation. “You’re absolutely sure this happened?”

  Gabe stares at me in disbelief. “Come on, do you think I could make this up? Don’t you think it all makes sense? Like, why he came back half way across the world instead of working for another company. He probably wanted to get away from all that crap, run his own show.”

  I take another sip, the only thing that feels appropriate. “Wow. I…just—”

  Out of the blue, my clutch vibrates on my lap and I put my drink down to get my phone out of the bag. My eyes widen in pleasure at seeing Tristan’s name. He’s probably finished with his party, he’s here!

  I swipe the screen to the right to pick up the call. “Hey! What’s up?”