by Olivia Besse
“C’est des conneries!” he swore aloud as he fanned his flustered face. A call came in on his phone and he answered it eagerly, stomping off towards the van containing the photography equipment as he blubbered in nervous French.
Eventually, multiple vans arrived and dozens of boxes of fake flower stems came with them. The interns and production assistants got to work, creating a makeshift lavender field that was wide enough for the camera to capture. Elodie fought the urge to scoff at the ridiculous production that lay before her, wondering about the likely astronomical cost of commissioning the fake set.
They could have very well constructed something similar in a photo studio in New York or Paris for a fraction of the cost, but she knew that Margot and Clément would never have agreed to that. People in fashion loved to brag about the exotic locales in which they had shot their campaigns and editorials, even if the trips were completely unnecessary. There seemed to be a universal agreement that the higher the production costs, the chicer the campaign. In fact, Margot would probably boast that they had arranged for the lavender to be delivered since it wasn't blooming season when they had shot the ad, as if this had all been intentional. Elodie really did not understand the industry at times like this.
Daishiro emerged from the van with his camera after his assistants finished with setting up the light meters and flash umbrellas. Didier ushered Elodie to a spot in the middle of the lavender “field”, and ordered her to disrobe. She did as she was told, only slightly bothered by the fact that she was sitting on a patch of dirt, practically naked, in front of roughly twenty people in the midst of fake flower bushes. Hélène handed her the perfume bottle, a heavy glass cube with a smaller cube as the lid, with “Ero Petit Lavande” etched on the front.
“Okay, Elodie,” Didier began. “Tilt the bottle towards your face and go.”
Elodie did as she was told, giving them a variety of her signature expressions, from bewildered to frightened to emotionless.
“Just darling,” Daishiro commented as he positioned the bottle at more of an angle. “Please, keep going.”
After a few more shots, Didier told her to lay down into one of the bushes. The spiky plastic stems poked angrily at her neck and the backs of her arms, but she followed his instructions without so much as a peep.
“That one's great,” Estella murmured to Margot, who nodded in agreement.
In less than an hour, they were back in the vans and heading towards the villa to pick up their luggage. As she stared out the window, she could barely wrap her head around the fact that she had made more money in the past three hours than she had in the past three years. A small smile played on her lips as she thought of Tyler. If it wasn't for him, she wouldn't have even had the opportunity.
Picturing his face brought butterflies to her stomach. Last night had been magical, and Elodie had awoken to his warm kisses that following morning as he bid farewell to her before leaving for the airport. She wasn't sure of what their situation was, but she would surely find out tomorrow when she landed in New York.
The jet ride back to Charles de Gaulle was uneventful, and Elodie hugged the two interns and Didier when they landed. “I will see you soon, love!” he told her as Hélène gave her best attempt at a smile. After exchanging air-kisses with Margot and Estella, Elodie grabbed her luggage from one of the jet assistants and made her way to her terminal.
A three-hour wait in the La Première lounge, a complimentary massage and two glasses of champagne later, Elodie boarded the plane and settled into the seat in First Class that Didier had arranged for her to take back. She bit her lip in excitement as she looked around at the leg space and leather table that lay before her, trying her best not to squeal with glee as she aired out the complimentary in-flight pyjamas.
But flying was flying, no matter in what class, and Elodie soon tossed back a glass of champagne and an Ambien. As a familiar sinking feeling greeted her, she reclined her buttery leather seat into the bed position and dozed off until it was time to land. After she groggily awoke, she walked into the changing cabin to freshen up, spraying her face with toner and fixing her hair, which was, surprisingly, still looking good from the shoot the previous day.
After slipping out of the airline-provided pyjamas, she wriggled on her black Rag & Bone Jean leggings and a simple Breton top before slipping her feet into her Lanvin flats. Checking her reflection in the mirror, she applied a light pink lip and some mascara. Very model off duty, she thought to herself with an approving nod. She was, after all, the face for Ero Beauty now, so she couldn't possibly stroll through JFK with cowlicks and pillow creases on her cheek. Didier would likely pass out from mortification.
Right after the plane reached the terminal, she was one of the first passengers to get off. Am I really living the glamorous life of a successful model? she asked herself excitedly as she thanked the stewardess. Did she really not have to wait until everyone else in front of her had grabbed their carry-ons and walked down the aisle?
After a frustrating journey through customs and security, Elodie finally made her way into the Arrival Hall. While absentmindedly listening to the overhead announcements and walking towards the exit, she heard a voice call out her name.
She spun around with a curious expression, unsure of which direction the faraway voice had come from. When she heard her name called again, she felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as she recognized the owner of the husky voice.
“Hey,” James called out as he jogged up to her, dressed casually in a white tee shirt, dark grey trousers and brown leather derby shoes. “You sure don't look like you just spent half a day in airports and planes. How come you're not picking up your phone?”
Her eyes widened as he enveloped her in hug. A mixed feeling of guilt and anxiety filled her as the scent of Burberry Touch hit her nose. When he leaned in to kiss her, Elodie found that her head instinctively pulled back.
“Come on,” he said as he broke into an adorable smile. “I was worried about this. I'm sorry. Please don't be mad at me. I feel really bad about how I acted towards you.”
“I... I, um,” Elodie attempted as she broke away from his hold. “I did not think you would come,” she finally managed to come up with. Truth be told, she honestly hadn't thought that she would see him again.
“What do you mean?” he told her with a laugh as he grabbed for her luggage handle. She numbly let him take it as she began to walk alongside him. What are you doing, legs? she demanded inwardly. Why are you two following him?
“I told you I'd be waiting for you, didn't I?” he asked as he continued to smile, occasionally glancing over at her as they walked towards the parking garage. Elodie gave him a tight smile as she attempted to sort out her thoughts.
Had she been too rash? She tried to remember how their phone conversation had gone, but found that she couldn't recall the details clearly. Had she, yet again, blown everything out of proportion? Didn't she know that normal people fought and made up? Mentally kicking herself for being an over-analytical drama queen, she bit her lip and considered her options.
The loud voices of the noisy Midwestern visitors behind them allowed for a few precious moments of not having to make conversation, but she could feel his eyes on her as she stared straight ahead. Would it be terribly awkward if she grabbed her suitcase and sprinted in the opposite direction to grab a taxi? Maybe she didn't even need her suitcase. Everything in there could be easily replaced, right?
“You're not even looking at me,” James teased as they stopped at a payment machine. Elodie turned to him as he said that, her cheeks turning pink as she watched him retrieve his parking ticket.
“Sorry,” she told him as he turned to face her with a sheepish grin. That week apart from him had caused her to forget how irresistibly cute he was. An uneasiness filled her as she sensed the all-too-familiar feeling of an imminent bad decision. Don't even think about it, she told her brain as it short-circuited at his smile.
“Forgive me?” h
e asked with a fake pout and big brown eyes. Elodie thought that she might melt right then and there. Apparently, her head gave a nod without her permission, as James was soon smiling brightly and leading her to the car by her hand.
Did her hand normally get this sweaty before? Why were all of her body parts being so defiant? Didn't they know who was boss? Frantic thoughts raced through her mind as she strolled next to him, staring at his hand clasping her own. What was she even doing?
James eventually granted her hand freedom as he reached into his pocket to pull out his keys, disabling the alarm for a shiny black Range Rover. He motioned for her to go ahead of him, opening the door for her before placing her luggage in the backseat. “I had to borrow one of my dad's cars to get over here,” he told her as she climbed in. “You can tell me all about your trip on the ride back into the city.”
Elodie wondered if he could hear her nerve-wrecked gulp as he shut the door with a click.
Thirty
“This past week killed me,” James told her as he inched the car forward. They had made it back to Manhattan just in time to get stuck in prime evening gridlock traffic. “It felt so good to call in sick this morning. I think this was my first time calling in sick in the past two years.”
“You did not need to lie to come get me,” she said quietly, fidgeting with her hands in her lap. “I could have just taken a taxi.”
James turned to her briefly with a big smile. “No way,” he replied. “A promise is a promise.”
She felt her stomach drop at his sincerity. Why had she doubted him before?
“Besides, I needed it,” he continued as he switched over into the next lane. “Being stuck in the office was driving me crazy. I only got two hours of sleep on Wednesday and Thursday, and one of the Associates was just hounding me. The bags under my eyes literally had their own bags. Then I was stuck there until at least two in the morning on Friday night trying to fix a mistake that one of the interns made. We had to have last-minute meetings on Saturday because one of our clients was passing through town, too, which was why I was acting like a jerk. I guess that the stress finally got to me, but it's still no excuse for the way I acted.”
With that, James turned to look at her with his perfect smile. She didn't know if it was the car ride or the guilt that was making her nauseous, but she cracked open the window and took a deep breath.
“Are you okay?” he asked worriedly as his eyes darted back and forth between her and the road. “No wonder you're being so quiet. Should I pull over?”
“No, no,” she managed as she gulped in a lungful of fresh air. The pathetic excuse for a breeze that wafted in helped to calm her down as she turned to him with an embarrassed smile. “I think I must not feel well from all of the travelling,” she fibbed.
James let go of the steering wheel with his right hand, reaching over and grabbing her left one. “Should I take you straight home? I wanted to take you to dinner, but if you're sick, then...”
“Yes, I think that would be for the better,” she said before he could continue. Elodie knew that she was being slightly rude, but she didn't think she could handle sitting through an entire dinner with him. She plastered a pained expression onto her face, furrowed brow and all, for dramatic effect. When she looked over at him with her faux grimace, James gave her a skeptical stare.
“You're not still mad at me, are you?” he asked quietly, running his thumb over her fingers.
“I was not mad,” she finally told him with a long sigh. “I honestly thought you were sick of me.”
His hand tightened on her own as he shot her an incredulous smile. “What?” he asked with a laugh. “Why in the world would you think that?”
Yes, Marais, why in the world had you thought that? she asked herself bitterly. “I do not know,” she squeaked out. “I just...”
“Kind of the opposite, actually,” he said as he squeezed her hand again.
Elodie wanted to curl up into a tiny little ball and disappear. Here was this perfect guy, holding her hand and telling her everything a girl would want to hear, but she couldn't wait to run away. Not because she wanted to, of course, but because she felt like a terrible human being every time that he smiled at her. She didn't deserve those smiles, and she definitely didn't deserve him.
“Sorry, I've been talking about work this entire time. Tell me more about Paris before we get to your place. I'm sure it was more than just 'fine,'” he teased as he finally turned onto Bowery. Every time he had mentioned it so far, she had changed the topic or brushed it off with one-worded answers.
“It was good,” she finally admitted with a meek smile. “They actually decided to sign me for a beauty contract too.”
James shot her a big grin. “See?” he told her happily. “I told you they'd love you. Congratulations. That's great news.”
“Thank you,” she replied in a tiny voice, trying not to turn red as he continued to gush over her.
“Beauty, huh? They definitely made the best possible choice then.”
“Hardly,” she muttered uncomfortably.
James finally let go of her hand as he turned the steering wheel to get onto her street. “Of course they did. Anyway, you obviously weren't working the entire time, since you had the chance to grace my phone with all of those calls,” he joked as he looked over at her with a teasing smile. “Did you get to do anything fun while you were there?”
“No,” Elodie replied a little too quickly. Shit, she thought to herself as she took a small breath. Play it cool, Marais. “Not really,” she tried to add nonchalantly.
He didn't seem to notice her awkwardness as he gave a small shrug. “That's too bad,” he said as the car pulled up to her apartment. “At least one of us should have had a good time this week.”
Elodie gave him a small smile before turning to look longingly at her building. “Well, thank you very much for picking me up,” she began as she unbuckled her seatbelt. “You really did not have to, but thank you. Sorry that I am rushing off like this, but...”
“Hey,” he said quietly as he turned off the ignition and grabbed her hand. He placed his hand on her cheek, causing her to freeze in the midst of her clumsy escape. “I missed you.”
Her heart beat violently in her chest as the blood pounded in her ears. The warmth of his hand on her face was too much to handle, and she quickly pulled away while she still could.
“I... I really do not feel too well,” she hurriedly told him, grabbing her purse off of the floor and jumping from the car. “I can just grab my bag. You do not need to get out!” she yelped, frantically retrieving her luggage from the backseat as James looked on with a dumbfounded expression.
And with that, Elodie Marais sprinted like a madwoman towards her building's front doors, reassuring herself that she was making the right decision as she ran away from the boy of her dreams.
Thirty-one
“I knew it,” Heddi said triumphantly as she blew out a thick cloud of smoke. “I could tell from the moment I got there.”
Elodie groaned as she rolled over on the futon and buried her face into the musty fabric. Tatiana patted her on the head as she extinguished her cigarette in a half-eaten tub of Fage yogurt. “Lo, is okay. You did not know,” she told her miserable friend.
“I am just confused,” Elodie whimpered as she turned her head back towards where her two friends sat on the floor.
“So you not talk to Tyler since?” Tatiana asked as she observed her hangnails.
“He texted me when he got back to New York and told me to call him when I landed,” Elodie began with a pensive look on her face. “But I do not know. I felt so guilty that James gave me a ride that I did not contact him yet.”
Heddi nudged Elodie's foot with her own. “Who cares! Call him!” she urged. “Trust me.”
Tatiana turned to look at her suspiciously. “Why you so Team Tyler?”
“Why are you Team James?” Heddi countered as she let out tiny smoke rings and raised her eyebrows.
“You know I like banker boys,” Tatiana told her matter-of-factly with a sneaky smile.
“Ugh. Anyway, boys like him are never what they seem. Trust me on that,” Heddi grumbled. Yup, still bitter.
Elodie rubbed at her tired eyes. “I do not know what to do about anything. I am so stupid,” she whined as she stared blankly at her friends. “What is wrong with me?”
“You are just young,” Heddi began. “Trust me. I am twenty now, so I have one year on you. Just call Tyler. He obviously really likes you.”
“Do not listen to old lady,” Tatiana added obnoxiously, batting away Heddi's foot as it approached her face. “Who you like?”