by C. L. Stone
He held a champagne glass in one hand and no expression on his face. He actually seemed bored.
“Mr. Courteau,” said the man I had followed as he walked up to him. He reached a hand out to him in offering. “Had to see you once before I got lost on your amazing property.”
Loïc offered a handshake and the smallest of smiles that was on the border of politeness and teasing. “Easy to do here,” he said, his tone suave.
The man nodded, opened his mouth to say something and then spotted someone next to him. “Say, Carlson.” He approached the man and clapped him on the shoulder. “Someone is eager to get into my retail space. Are you sure you want to wait on it?”
Loïc turned from the group, focus turning to the house and started to walk away.
I hesitated, not wanting to go too far to lose the man Mrs. Harvey had spoken to and yet not wanting to miss the opportunity to get Loïc’s attention.
I angled myself so that Loïc had to pass me to get to the house. I sidestepped into his path, forcing him to look at me.
His light eyes drifted up behind his glasses, meeting my gaze.
I held some air in my lungs, not wanting to let it out. His stare shook me through, threatening to knock me down where I stood.
“Mr. Courteau,” I said. I tried to remain cool and confident. I held a hand out to him, offering. “Thank you for allowing me to come. You’ve a lovely home.”
There was short dip in the corner of his mouth. Displeasure?
“Welcome,” he said simply. He took my hand, and bent and kissed my knuckles briefly, but in an air kiss, not touching my hand. He rose again, and then proceeded to turn his body, relaxing his hand in ready to let go.
Say something. Do something.
I held his hand tighter, forcing him to wait and I drummed up what I thought was a charming smile.
“The weather is so comfortable,” I said, trying to be a bit more eloquent with my small talk. “Perfect for something like this, isn’t it? It’s like it was custom made for today.”
He squinted at my face, his hand wrapped around mine a little tighter.
He pulled me in, and he pressed his cheek to mine, and to anyone else, it may have looked like he was simply giving me an air kiss. As he was French, it’d be unsurprising.
Instead, his lips met my ear, and he whispered, “Why do you torture me with small talk? A smart sophisticate like you should never be reduced to a moment pretending to be baffled by weather patterns.”
My heart raced—at his words, at him being close.
He released my hand before he pulled away, not giving me another chance to hang on to him.
Before I could think of something else, he was heading toward another collection of guests nearby. Going after him would appear desperate.
The flat dismissal and refusal to talk settled into me, and I found myself staring off, blinking repeatedly, and forcing the smile to remain on my face. Meanwhile, I was repeating what he said in my brain.
I held a breath, longer than I should have, letting it out in a burst. I pushed my fingertips to my lips, hovering for a moment. Why was I so nervous around him? Why did I feel needy for his attention? That wasn’t like me.
Maybe he simply wasn’t interested. Oliver had asked him a favor on my behalf, but he had suspected me to be a gold digger before. Maybe he still felt that way. Or perhaps he thought I was dating Ace seriously and he was giving me a respectable distance, since Ace was his friend.
At any rate, he didn’t know much about me, even if Oliver had told him everything. I was a stranger at his party.
How was it my heart still burned in some sort of odd...jealousy? Some deep part of me wanted something. Anything. A little bit of attention and a flicker of desire or interest.
It wasn’t just Ace wanting me to distract him. It felt like he didn’t even consider me good enough for even a short conversation.
What if he didn’t even want me here? Whether he thought me a gold digger or just a troublemaker with my past that he was well aware of, I started to doubt my ability to do much of anything with him. He simply wasn’t interested in me.
Well, one failure. I might try again, but I wasn’t holding my breath for this one. Maybe Ace would have another plan. Besides, according to their game, this was just helping Ace get ahead.
And I wasn’t so sure I wanted to help him, as much as I wanted to get on the scorecard.
My eyes drifted to the man with the caterpillar eyebrows. I was already here, and I needed to do this next part before I lost the opportunity.
I stood behind him and tried to get Loïc out of my brain. I forced myself to focus on the conversation.
Eventually, the man said, “Yes, Mrs. Harvey was interested in that space. You know the woman with the lingerie company...”
I stepped up beside him, placing a soft hand on his elbow. “Excuse me,” I said, smiling softly and trying to avoid being too amused by his crawling eyebrows. “Did you say Mrs. Harvey?”
He nodded and laughed. “A friend, I take it?”
“Oh, not really. I was surprised to hear the name. Gretta from Tissu Deax and I were just discussing her.”
He turned to me, broadening his smile. “What’s your name?”
“Emily,” I said and offered him my hand. “I’m new here. I came with Ace Waris.” He wasn’t here yet, but with the immense grounds, he wouldn’t notice him not having arrived.
“Emily,” he said and he nodded, shaking my hand vigorously. “Right, I heard he had someone new.”
“Word gets around?”
“Always,” he said. “I didn’t realize Gretta was here.”
“Actually, she got me in for a fitting today,” I said, and I brushed my hand over the lace of the cherry blossom dress. “Exquisite work, don’t you think?”
He laughed and those caterpillar eyebrows seemed to dance. “She always does interesting work, although I don’t really know a lot about women’s fashion. What did she have to say about Mrs. Harvey?”
“Oh she was just reading up about her sources,” I said. I pushed my fingers to my lips, trying to appear embarrassed. “That horrible scandal about child workers. She was hoping Mrs. Harvey corrected it...” I trailed off, looking sad. “It’s a shame. Her designs are excellent. If she’d only get better sources or correct the supplier in their practices.”
It was a tricky southern way of complimenting and scolding at the same time. Just like Loïc had just done to me, in a gentle way. But the point was very clear.
The man sucked at his teeth, making a couple of clicking sounds. “That doesn’t sound good.”
“Yes, the kind shop owner who had found out from someone returning garments when they heard of the fiasco...I hope she’s not too embarrassed a customer had to let her know.” I had been the one to return the clothes, but no one needed to know.
The man laughed and shook his head. “Well, it can take time for information to come up. I’m sure no one will think little of her. That sort of thing isn’t expected. You get discovered very quickly by society today.”
“I thought other people may have heard the news when I heard you mention her. I heard another article was being prepared with an update soon. Have you seen it?”
“Not yet,” he said and then he clapped me on the elbow, holding it firm. “But if what you say is true, you may be saving people a lot of problems in the future.”
I sighed and nodded, trying to appear somber. “For the best, perhaps. Maybe she’ll change sources.”
“Maybe she shouldn’t be doing business here,” he said.
I nodded solemnly, silently agreeing. I tried not to smile at all. Was this working? Since I was new, I was sure he’d double check, but at least it was one person to spread word.
We did a bit of small talk about the weather and the art auction. He wandered away, back to the man he had been talking to before.
Was that good enough? Was that a point? Or was it only when something happened?
I wasn
’t sure, but I turned around, wanting to find Loïc again. Since this had gone so well, I was feeling confident. Maybe I’d try again.
Elusive
I drifted around the property after that, keeping mostly to myself, with a small buzz, proud of myself.
At some point, I returned to collect a champagne glass and scoured the gardens. There were more people attending than I expected, so it was easy to float past groups. The property was so immense, I shortly became distracted by its beauty.
When would I get another chance?
I wandered out to the edge of the backyard grounds, past a large mirror pool overlooking a hill to a forest beyond it. There was a small lake, with a floating Japanese style building I wanted to explore. An attendant told me there was a rose garden, an apiary, a greenhouse, another cottage, and a large hedge sculpture garden as well.
I heard whispers that there was even a garden maze. Several groups of people went to look for it.
With so much ground to cover, people were everywhere. There were attendants all over, giving directions, encouraging people to walk the maze or visit the Japanese house or any of the gardens. The whole property was open to exploration. Art pieces had been included at every point of interest.
I thought I’d get lucky and run into Loïc along the way. It made sense he’d be among the guests somewhere. The land was immense. If he was around, I hadn’t spotted him.
However, I did hear more than once about Mrs. Harvey and her sweatshop and her tanking business. What was new to me was that there was word that she doubled the order without a word about working conditions. It made sense if she intended to do her own boutique and was looking to rent space. Anyone who bothered could look up the details; apparently, the author posted the information on her blog as a follow-up. Word was out and spreading.
If I were her, I’d be embarrassed to be here.
I hoped Mrs. Harvey would try to make a change, maybe cancel her order or impose upon the manufacturers to fix themselves before buying any more from them. I wasn’t even aware if it was illegal to do what she was doing in the country she was dealing in, only severely unethical and highly frowned upon by Americans.
If she struck out here, wouldn’t she move on to another city?
I returned to the house, but only a few guests lingered in a formal living room near the central staircase. It was a lavish room, and the house seemed to go on beyond it. The other side of the house appeared to be closed off, as it contained the kitchens where the attendants were working from.
Loïc wasn’t among the guests in the living room area, either. I wasn’t sure about exploring beyond it.
Attendants were still standing by the front door. I readied myself and went to the woman who had greeted me earlier.
“Excuse me,” I said. I paused and then smiled big. “The whole event seems to be going very well. You must be proud.”
She lit up at my comment. “One of the best ones I’ve worked. Thank you.”
“Can I nip upstairs and find a powder room? The one on the first floor is occupied. I know there’s a second one, but I can’t remember where...” I waved to the second floor. “But is there one up there somewhere not too far?”
The attendant smiled. “No problem. Top of the stairs, two doors on your right.”
I thanked her and ambled up the stairs.
At the top of the staircase, I paused. The marble floor at the bottom had a maze-like pattern in the dark and light tiles. I studied it. I wondered if it matched the maze out in the gardens.
The hallway beyond the stairwell was grand, with the ceiling arched overhead, and pillars built into the walls, showing up occasionally between each doorway. The carpet was elaborate, with a carpet runner design woven into the material. There were wood tables along the hallway, polished to a gleam with large vases and with gold etching, all much grander than what Ace had at his home.
No sign of Loïc up here, either.
Too curious for my own good, I took my own tour. I meant no harm and hoped Loïc wouldn’t mind. I peeked into open doors, not touching the closed ones.
I was sure I found the master suite at the end of the hallway. The double doors were open wide, as if inviting anyone to come in.
The ceiling was a soaring dome overhead. The bed was in the center of the room, four poster, with heavy drapery at each post. There were two sitting areas, one in front of the bed and one behind it. Beyond all of that was a wall that had archway openings on either side, and I imagined those led to the en-suite bathroom. There was a set of French doors that led out onto a terrace. The terrace overlooked a private garden, cut off from the main grounds so no guests were down there.
I was being nosy, but it didn’t appear Loïc was anywhere. Not that I wanted to run into him up here in his private rooms. That wouldn’t go over well with his current idea of me. I meant no harm, and it wouldn’t surprise me if a few guests had found their way to poke around as well, a common thing when invited to a home party.
I turned away from the bed and bumped into another person. I had a heart attack where I stood, jumping a little back, my heels threatening to give way under my feet with how I wobbled.
Ace caught me by the elbows, holding me up. “Eva,” he said, a little breathless. “What are you doing up here?”
I caught myself and laughed. “Sorry. I was...doing what you asked me to. Mostly. I started out looking for Loïc, and then I got nosy.”
Ace beamed at me. He wore the elegant Vanquish suit, the gray material lavish on his form. Despite his hesitation to wear it, it looked exquisite on him. His blond-kissed hair was a little haphazard but in a stylish way. His light blue eyes lit up. “What I asked?”
I shrugged, giving up for now since I had run out of time. “I wanted to get Loïc distracted, although I keep failing at it. Soma says he’s interested but he keeps walking away when I try to talk to him.”
Ace sliced is hand through the air, dismissive. The fine suit seemed fluid on his body as he moved. “Don’t worry about it. Listen, you don’t have to do that. I work kind of impulsively, and I should have thought this out more. He’s a tricky bastard.”
I reached for his hand and held it between mine to get his attention. I wanted him to know how sincere I was. “I wanted to. Soma told me you went to Atlanta for me. I’m a little afraid to ask about that. Did it go okay?”
He nodded and tugged gently at my hands to get me to follow him toward the doors to the terrace. He opened one of them. “Let me tell you about it.”
“Out there?” I asked. “Won’t people see us? Are we not supposed to be in here?”
His smile lifted and he shrugged. “Loïc won’t mind.”
I went with him. There was a small collection of potted plants and flowers along the rail, and below, the little private garden was filled with angel statues and stone paths. We were only half secluded being so high up, but to see us, one would have to be a distance out in the property, too far away perhaps to see details.
I breathed in the fresh, breezy air again and admired the view of the private garden below and the grounds around us that we could see. “He’s got a nice house.”
Ace tugged my wrist, getting my attention. “Listen, Eva. You should know, Loïc did a lot of the bargaining for you in Atlanta. I just walked in at the end.”
I blinked at him. “Loïc?”
“I didn’t want to keep it from you,” he said. “I didn’t want to take all the credit when he earned a good part of it. And also, when you hear the terms, just know I was too late to actually put in anything else. I would have done the same thing, I think. I was just last man there. Although I did get the evidence we needed to make the deal...”
My lips moved on their own, forming the start of syllables for a minute. What he was saying didn’t add up to me. “He... I saw him earlier. He didn’t say anything about it.”
Ace cocked an eyebrow. “What did he say?”
“I said something about the weather, and he said...something abou
t it being boring to him. And then he walked away.”
Ace’s mouth twitched and then he laughed, low and rich. “He’s playing too hard to get.”
“Pardon?”
There was a more throaty chuckle emanating from him as he spoke and stepped closer to me. “Never mind him. Listen, I wanted to tell you.” He reached up, cupping my cheeks in his palms, beaming. “You’re in the clear, Eva. Your boyfriend was the only one who knew where the pills had come from. He admitted it on record. And he had to make a full confession as a result, freeing you in the process. He’s getting off too light, but it stopped you from having to go back. Although, you’ll need to write out a statement and sign it. We can do that tonight if you want.”
I lifted myself until I was floating on my toes, too excited to stand properly. I bit my lower lip to stop myself from bursting into a ridiculous smile or giggling. “That’s great,” I said. “I can’t believe that’s it. I...I didn’t think it’d be so fast... if it was going to happen at all.”
“It isn’t always like that. Usually people are too late and the police have to untangle a bunch of lies. This isn’t exactly over. He’s got time to screw it up, and the media will still follow him for a while. We got lucky with the circumstances.” Ace brightened more, sliding his hands from my face to my shoulders. “You’re just lucky you ran into me.”
“I was lucky,” I said. I settled on my heels again, the elation fading out of me. “I...am still a little homeless. And after that fiasco, I can’t imagine I’ll be able to do much work in any sense. Gretta was able to recognize me. Anyone else in the same industry might, too.” That’s what was haunting me since meeting Gretta. Anyone in the industry I worked in probably was curious about the news.
“Then maybe you should stay,” Ace said, the amusement fading from his eyes to something more sincere, more concern easing it, like the first time I saw him. “Here. I mean.”
“I am starting to like Charleston,” I said. “I’d have to find an apartment.” My mind buzzed with everything I’d need. And it might take a bit of time to figure out another avenue of income.