by Julia Kent
Paris was more beautiful than I ever imagined. I wondered if I would get time to tour some spots or if Hargrove’s would send me back immediately. Will certainly wasn’t saying anything, but he didn’t know I couldn’t show my collection.
As we pulled up in front of the hotel, I marveled at how pretty a building could look. With cascading flowers tumbling from window boxes and red awnings, the exterior was lovely enough. Noticing the curved stone of the balconies, the intricately carved window accents, and the scalloped awning above the entrance simply took my breath away.
“Follow me,” Will growled in my direction as we exited the limo.
Stewart directed the bellhop with our luggage while I followed Will like a puppy through revolving doors into the lobby. So in awe of everything around me it never occurred to me to question anything.
The marble Art Deco lobby was framed by columns and large crystal chandeliers. Each of the columns had a vase with an arrangement of white orchid sprays. We walked through the lobby and directly to a small elevator without stopping.
“You two go up. I’ll ride with the bellhop and your bags,” Stewart said.
Will and I got onto the elevator and stood apart. I couldn’t take it any longer. I had to say something.
“Are you going to say something?”
“You’ve made your feelings known. What more is there to say?” He said callously.
“There’s plenty to say!” I said angrily. “Like how about sorry? Did you ever think of that?”
“I have nothing to apologize for.”
“You know how hard I worked for that competition. No one else will realize that or care. All they’re going to see is that I was your girlfriend.”
“Was?” He roared as he finally looked at me.
Shaking his head, he stepped out of the elevator as soon as it opened and began walking down the hall. I quickly followed him, trying to keep up with his long stride, not knowing what else to say but wanting to fight more. Opening the door to a room, he stepped back and handed the key to me.
“Your suite now,” he growled then walked down the hall and disappeared into another room.
Squeezing the key in my hand I shook it pretending it was a mini-Will. Why was he being such a jerk?! How did he think I’d react when I found out my designs didn’t win on their own? I should’ve known better than to think I was talented enough to show a collection at Fashion Week.
Entering the room I was taken aback by the view out of the huge windows of the Eiffel Tower. Like the rest of the hotel, the suite was also styled in the Art Deco style. The main room was decorated in cool light blues and tans. I had never been in a hotel room that was more than a couple of beds covered in polyester crammed into the room.
Out of the corner of my eye I spotted something red on the floor leading to one of the doors. The red stood out and seemed out of place on the dark wood floor. Will must have paid a lot of money for this place, no reason it shouldn’t be perfect. As I picked up the phone to call room service and let them know they left a mess in my suite, it slowly dawned on me those were rose petals.
“Oh crap! I really did it this time,” I said realizing everything Will had done for me.
I followed them into the bedroom where they ended in a large heart on the cream colored bedding of the king size bed. At the other end of the bedroom I noticed the largest bouquet of red roses on a table and just beyond it the view of the Eiffel Tower again.
Tears rolled down my cheeks as I realized what a jerk I had been, not him. Sure, I was still hurt and upset but I definitely overreacted.
The phone made a double-ring sound that startled me out of my pity party. Running to grab it, I hoped it was Will.
“Hello?”
“I have a message for Miss Deborah Hansen,” said the hotel operator.
“Yes?” Please be from Will, please be from Will.
“Miss Dianna Brubaker said to tell you she was catching a red eye and should be here this afternoon.”
“Oh, thank you.” I couldn’t help but feel disappointed. “Wait, are you still there?”
“Yes, Miss.”
“Can you tell me what room Mr. William King is staying?”
“No, I’m sorry I don’t have the specifics but I can tell you that your room is connected to both another suite and a deluxe guestroom.”
Realizing there was a locked door in the bedroom, I wondered if Will was on the other end. “Thank you for your help,” I said into the phone.
“My pleasure, Miss.”
Chewing my lip I walked up to the door. Could he be in there? I pressed my ear up against the door and thought I heard something and my heart almost leapt out of my chest. It has to be him!
I knocked softly and waited but nothing happened. Knocking a little louder, I held my breath as I heard shuffling on the other side of the door. The handle turned and I stepped back as the door slowly opened. Dianna peeked around from behind the door.
“Dammit Dianna!” I said annoyed then immediately felt bad. “I mean hi, sorry.”
“Well hello to you too,” she said as she stepped into my room. “I just got in, how did you know I was here? My plane was early.”
“I didn’t. I was hoping you were Will.”
“Will? You mean Mr. Sexy came with you? What did the big boss man have to say about that?”
“They’re the same person.” I said then sighed realizing how much happened in the past day.
“You mean Will owns Hargrove’s? But I thought it was a family owned store. That’s not his last name. That explains why he looked familiar though.”
“Hargrove is a family name. What do you mean that explains why he looked familiar?”
“His portrait is probably up on the top floor. You know, where they interviewed you for the contest,” she said as she stared out at the view.
“Are you kidding me? Am I that blind?”
I thought back and remembered Will telling me to call him by his name and how surprised he seemed that I didn’t recognize him. How could I not notice his picture?
“You should see my room! Its gorgeous,” she said as she looked around my suite. “Ok, its a little smaller than yours but still, isn’t this place amazing?”
“Yeah, fabulous,” I said unenthused.
“What’s wrong? You’re in the City of Love with a gorgeous billionaire. If you have a problem with that I’d be more than willing to fill in for you. Just look at those roses! And the petals on the bed are a nice touch. He is getting lucky tonight!”
“No, he’s not. We broke up.”
“What are you talking about? You couldn’t have done more than fly together. What happened?”
“Dianna, he owns Hargrove’s. I just won the Designer Challenge. I can’t show at Fashion Week now. It was rigged. I’ll just be nothing more than the owner’s girlfriend.”
“Did he say that? Because last I knew you didn’t even know he was the owner so why would anyone even know he had a girlfriend? Or even care?”
“He’s the owner, of course it was rigged. And it does matter! I’m not good enough to have my own collection on display and this proves it.”
“No Deb, he’s the owner. Do you think he even has time to bother with something as insignificant as a contest? And I saw your collection. Its gorgeous! Look at it yourself if you don’t want to believe me.”
Dianna looked around the bedroom and when she didn’t see what she searched for, she went into the main room of my suite. Not knowing what to expect, I followed her and was surprised to see my bags sat beside the door. Placing my old hard-sided suitcase on the couch, she opened it up and one-by-one pulled out the pieces of my collection ending with the ocean blue gown.
“Look at these! How can you say these aren’t worthy of winning?”
“You’re right, they’re good, but are they good enough? We’re not just talking about Hargrove’s, but Fashion Week in Paris!”
“Then make something new. Add something to the collection to prove to yourself how g
ood you really are.”
“Are you crazy? There’s no time!”
“Give me a break Deborah, I know you. I’ve seen how you sketch whenever you get a new idea. I bet you have new sketches already and I bet if we go out right now something will spark your imagination.”
“You’re right. And you can’t go to Paris and not visit the Eiffel Tower. I mean look at it out there.” I looked out the window again and noticed the sun began its descent. “Let’s go for a walk. Plus, if we don’t go tonight I’m not sure if we’ll get the time to before we go.”
Dianna and I grabbed our handbags and left the hotel. With the sun almost set, a deep orange haze glowed just above the skyline as the Eiffel Tower beckoned us with its lights. We walked quietly at first, just taking in the scenery, until I spotted her slyly looking over at me a couple of times.
“Ok, what is it?” I asked.
“I have to know. Are you going to show your collection?”
“I think I am. I mean, my collection is really strong and I’m proud of it. I did win the contest after all. You’re right, Will’s got better things to do than to rig a contest. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“I’m glad. You really do deserve it. I’ve been working at Hargrove’s for a few years now and I’ve never seen a collection as good as yours. I even tried one year, but my designs just…well they sucked,” she said laughing. “I made it to the interview before they promptly laughed me back onto the sales floor.”
“That’s terrible, Dianna!”
“No, its really fine. I have no regrets. It was just something I really wanted to try, but I’m really not creative enough. Not like you.”
As we walked past the squared trees lining the Champs de Mars, I began to lose myself to our surroundings. The Eiffel Tower made me think of modern mesh fabric. As I looked at its shape, I suddenly thought of an A-line dress. Just simple and elegant like the building in front of us.
“Oh wait, wait!” I said to Dianna.
Moving aside for the other walkers to pass, I pulled a notepad and pencil out of my bag. Frantically I began sketching a sleeveless, formfitting dress that easily went from day to night. As the dress followed the A shape, a softly ruffled hem finished the dress at mid-thigh.
“That’s gorgeous! See what I mean, Deb? That’s talent right there. I can even see how the Eiffel Tower inspired that dress.”
“Thanks! We have to head back. I think I have some ivory crepe that will be perfect for this dress. I want to make the pattern tonight. Maybe they’ll even let me send it down the runway!”
Excited didn’t begin to explain how I felt. I loved this new dress and I had to make it a reality. I felt my confidence coming back and wondered how I let it slip away so easily. Briefly I thought I should apologize to Will for overreacting, but the thought zipped out of my mind as quickly as it entered. All I could think about was creating that dress.
Chapter Fourteen
Deborah
I spent most of the night creating a pattern for the new dress and then cutting the fabric. It was the quickest I ever designed anything and I couldn’t believe how much I loved it.
Out of the corner of my eye, the sun began to rise. I kept the curtains open so I could look out at my inspiration as I worked on the dress. I couldn’t have made the progress I did without seeing it right there. The view from the suite was perfect.
I couldn’t wait to tell Will about the new dress and how inspired I got. That was until I realized he thought we were broken up. How could I forget that? What if he didn’t want to talk to me. Or worse, what if he flew back home. He didn’t even know how I really felt about him.
A soft knock on the door pulled me out of my funk. I knew it was Dianna. That meant it was time for us to head over to the Carrousel du Louvre where all Fashion Week activities would take place.
“Have you been working all night?” Dianna asked.
“Yes, and I really think its perfect,” I said as I pulled the dress onto a dress form. “I just need to do some minor adjustments but most of those will come during the fitting anyway. Are you ready to go?”
“You have no idea how much I’m looking forward to this. How many people can say they worked on a collection at Fashion Week? Don’t answer that, you’ll ruin it for me.”
“I packed up everything else already. I know you need your morning coffee so we can ask the concierge for a place to stop at on our way.”
“Sounds good. I’m ready to have some café au lait, just saying it sounds special. Have you spoken to Will?”
I didn’t want to answer her. Feeling foolish, I tried to think of a quick change of topic but drew a blank. Instead as I packed up the new dress, I shook my head hoping she’d drop it.
“You said the front desk told you there are three rooms attached together. Why didn’t you knock on the last door?”
“I got so wrapped up in designing this and having it ready on time, I completely forgot they said that. Plus its not like I’m going to knock on the door in the middle of the night. What if its not even him?”
She rolled her eyes making it clear she wasn’t falling for my bullshit. Ignoring her, I finished packing up the things I needed for the fittings.
“Why are you doing this?” She asked. “I mean there’s a gorgeous man who came all the way out here with you and you’re ignoring him! Sure, you’re busy and all, but the last thing he probably remembers is you yelling at him. I know how upset you were when I got here. I can only imagine how you acted towards him when you found out.”
“Ok! You’re right, happy? I’m an idiot and honestly I’m too embarrassed by how I acted to see him. Do you have any idea how I felt when I saw that heart made of rose petals on the bed? I mean seriously, who does that? I don’t deserve him.”
“You are an idiot, Deborah. And if you really think fate didn’t bring you two together then you’re a bigger moron than I thought. I saw how he looks at you. Its like nothing in the world even exists but you. You can manage a few minutes to make sure things are ok between the two of you.”
I sighed knowing she was right. I needed to talk to Will and I’d might as well do it now before things got too crazy with Fashion Week. Who knew what Will thought of me now, or if he even thought of me at all. He seemed really angry when he left me in the hall but I didn’t want to lose him because of my own stupidity.
Putting my ear up to the other hotel room door in the main living space of my suite, I listened like I did at Deborah’s door but didn’t hear anything. Did he leave? Is he staying somewhere else? It was early so maybe he was still asleep. I shouldn’t bother him.
As I stepped away from the door, Dianna entered the room with her arms folded tightly over her chest. She didn’t need to say anything for me to know what she thought. I was chickening out.
Taking a deep breath I gathered my courage then softly knocked on the door and waited a second before giving up. Dianna let out an annoyed sigh, reached around me and knocked loudly before walking away. I was just about to run after her when the door opened.
“I’m busy,” Will said as he let go of the door and re-entered his room.
Entering his room I immediately felt bad. Will chose to stay in an ordinary guest room while Dianna and I had spacious, luxurious suites. Even in his anger towards me he let me enjoy the posh finery and the view.
Wearing a black suit, Will walked back and forth through the room as he packed things into his suitcase. Slowly it dawned on me what was going on.
“What are you doing?” I asked him as I looked into his suitcase. “Where are you going?”
“I’m going home,” he said between clenched teeth.
“No, you can’t leave.”
“I have no interest in fashion and unless you’ve changed your mind, Hargrove’s doesn’t have a collection to present. I have no reason to stay.” He was quiet while he continued packing then looked at me, the green flecks in his eyes flashed angrily then softened. “I’m sorry. I should have told you e
xactly who I was. I liked that you weren’t into me because of Hargrove’s and I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want risk things changing.”
“I was wrong,” I whispered.
“What?”
“I was wrong,” I said quietly.
“Speak up, I can’t hear you.”
I cleared my throat and finally spoke at normal volume. “I was wrong.”
“What was that?” He said as he turned away with his crooked grin.
“You jerk! You heard me.”
“And?”
“And I’m sorry I made such a big deal over something stupid. But you have to see it from my side.”
“I do understand, Deborah. I know your concerns are valid, but I really have nothing to do with the Designer Challenge. I was just as surprised when I found out you won and immediately wanted to surprise you with the trip.”
“Dianna helped talk some sense into me. I even designed an amazing new dress I added to the collection.”
“I’m glad. You really do deserve this opportunity. And since we’re out a little early, why don’t we go for a drive today. Just you and me.”
“Just the two of us?”
“Yes. It’s morning so there’s plenty of time. Lets drive out to the countryside. I hear its beautiful.”
“I don’t know, Will. I’m supposed to do measurements today. The next time I see the models I’ll be dressing them for the runway. Let me meet the models and see what I can do. In the meantime bring your bags to my room.”
Standing on tip toes I reached up, pulled him down to me and kissed him. All was right in the world again.
Chapter Fifteen
Deborah
As the taxi arrived at the Louvre, the first thing I noticed was the glass pyramid which looked even more impressive than in photos. Dianna and I peeled ourselves off the car windows as we soaked in as much of Paris as we could during the ride. Expecting a long day on my feet, I dressed comfortably in a pair of tan linen cropped pants with an black floral print empire waist top.
Apparently all this time there were cocoons in my stomach just waiting for me to arrive at Carrousel du Louvre, because as soon as I got out of the car hundreds of butterflies filled my stomach.