A Rainy Night in Paris Ch. 14-15

Rachel looked like she had just stepped out of a spa, rather than out of a cab into a thunderous downpour, despite the water dripping from her rain coat. Her image of perfection would have been maintained except for the thoroughly drenched state of her shoes. Alex turned towards the coffee table to cover the burst of laughter that escaped his mouth, a cough replacing it. He could just imaging what her mood was, having to walk from the taxi to the salon door, the water running like a small river out in front. Michelle had come up to him in the interval of his thoughts.

"Are you alright?" she asked him quietly in French, patting his back. Even Monique looked at him with concern as he continued to cough.

"Oh, I am fine, thank you Michelle," he said in English. "Monique, your staff is falling down on the job."

"Oh?" she replied, looking slightly lost.

"Oui, ce n'est pas la champagne ici," he said.

Michelle looked at him and started laughing, followed by Greg and then Monique herself.

"Alexander, darling, you are quite right, but I thought it a little premature for that just yet. Can you settle for coffee and forgive an old lady?"

"Oh, I suppose I will have to Monique, as soon as you tell me which old lady I am supposed to forgive first?"

"You, sir, are rude," Rachel said into the room.

"Your forgot rude, crude, and socially unacceptable, but I am available for weddings and bar mitzvahs and I am simply a gas at Guy Fawkes parties," Alex retorted, his voice playful and slightly taunting, picking up his coffee and a pastry and walking over to join Greg, who was sitting against the wall trying very hard not to choke on his own coffee. "While you, madam, are everything I have come to expect from an American abroad, or perhaps I should say a broad American?" His voice had gone hard and cold now with all sense of playfulness gone. Samantha noticed some of the tone reminded her of how he had talked to Josephine.

Alex did not see Monique's reaction to this but Michelle's eyes had widened at his remarks. Even Samantha seemed shocked by his words, but Rachel was livid.

"Just what is it you do? Besides seduce women?"

"You mean there are other things in life?" Alex asked, not quite with a straight face, the slight lilt back in his voice, and winked at Michelle who giggled in response. It was exactly the wrong thing to do and Rachel's anger went up another notch which bothered him not at all.

"I would suggest you leave, now, you have no business here and we," she indicated herself and Monique with her hand, "have things to discuss."

Alex smiled like the Cheshire cat, put his satchel on the floor and sat down, all the while looking at Rachel. She wore too much make up and her clothes were too perfect, while he was wearing jeans, a t-shirt and leather jacket. She looked right at home in the salon, while he looked like he had just tumbled out of a back alley somewhere, dark circles of fatigue under his eyes and his face unshaved. Clearly Rachel felt she was in control. Alex knew better.

"Alexander, could you behave yourself for two minutes please?" Monique asked politely, with no hint of emotion.

"Oui, madam. Je m'excuse." He nodded once in her direction, smirked and sipped his coffee. "But you, of all people, know how I am after being rudely awakened, especially early in the morning."

This made Monique look at him again and then look at Samantha. She was better turned out than Alex was, but there was no question she was running on short sleep too.

"Sorry darling, why didn't you say something?"

"We were already awake Monique," he said with a slight shrug and taking a sip of his coffee. "Samantha had a six thirty wakeup call followed by a 7 o'clock firing. I was there for the first, I heard about the second. Oh, which reminds me, I talked to Sebastian and he will put things in motion. I will sign the papers when I am in London. I am sure we can come to a mutually satisfactory arrangement when I come back next week."

"Bien sur, chérie that is wonderful news, all the way around. You are a marvel, you know that?" Monique seemed positively giddy.

"I try. Oh, and Rachel, in answer to your question, I also find things. Little things, big things. Sometimes I even find things that I didn't know needed finding until after I have found them, but you would be amazed what I do with them once I find them." The look he gave her was predatory, almost feral and Rachel paled slightly under her makeup.

"Yes, and it would seem Alexander that you have found a number of wonderful things this week," Monique said, looking at Samantha, before patting her hand. "Well, I guess our business here is done then. Rachel, I am sure I am keeping you from your work. Michelle, if you would see she finds her way out please?" Monique's tone left no doubt that Rachel was no longer welcome and Alex wondered if Rachel would ever have much success in France ever again.

"Oui, madam." Michelle said. Rachel looked like someone had just told her that she had been fired. Samantha, too, looked a little shocked but there was no mistaking the iron grip that Michelle had on Rachel's arm as she helped her from her chair and out of the room.

"Such a lovely girl," Monique said as the door closed, but her toneless voice left Alex wondering if she was talking about Michelle or sarcastically referring to Rachel. "Now, Amanda, come take a seat and we will wait for Michelle to come back. Alexander darling, come up and join us please, you too Greg, I will need your help as well. Did she really fire you darling?" Monique asked Samantha sympathetically.

"Yes ma'am. She said 'you will clean out your desk and find yourself another job.' Which sounds pretty much like 'you're fired' to me."

"Did you have any possessions in your desk that you cannot live without?"

"A couple ma'am."

"Well, then we will make sure you are on the next flight back to New York, but that can wait a few moments. Michelle, would you please join us? Sit next to Alexander, he doesn't bite. Normally."

The room laughed at that comment and Alex made to nip at a finger that she was waving close to his mouth, teasing him.

"Now, to business," Monique said. "First, I have finally decided to open a shop in Nice. I have been thinking about this for a while and I think now is the time. Michelle, I want you to run it please. You can pick two or three people from here to go with you or you can hire locally in Nice, it is your choice. Please don't take too many of the key people that Amanda relies on though. Amanda, you will continue running this salon of course. Alexander, do you have the plans of the property in Nice?"

"Not with me, no, but I will get a new set from Seb when I see him tomorrow and bring them back. Do you want me to put Michelle in contact with a construction team? The last time I was in the building it needed a fair amount of work before it would be suitable, and I cannot imagine it has improved any."

"Yes please, and work with Remy as well. I would like him to consider operating the bistro."

"I will do that when I come back," Alex said, pulling out his black book and making a note.

"Now, Samantha, darling, would you be open to a job offer? It would seem that I have need of someone with your skills."

Samantha was stunned speechless. A job? Working for Monique? "I would be open to any offer you cared to make ma'am," she said, her voice shaking with pleasure and excitement.

"Excellent. You will come out to the house then with us and we will talk. Alexander, would you work with Amanda and Michelle? You are so much better at project planning than I am."

"Yes, of course."

"Not to worry, I promise I will have her back by dinner and then you can have your champagne," Monique said with a smile as Greg got up to help her out of the conference room, Samantha following them out, smiling from ear-to-ear.

Chapter 15

"Alex," she began tentatively, taking his hand in hers, "what happens next?"

Monique had been true to her word. Samantha had been back by 4 and they had made love until the sun went down and both of them were too hungry to continue. Rather than try to get to somewhere in the rain, they had used the back door from the building to Martin's bistro.

Samantha's seriousness killed his glib response before he had even uttered it. What happens next? It was not a simple question, nor was it one that had a simple answer. Beginnings were always so difficult, especially with the loose threads that still remained. Josephine was by no means finished mucking around and it could only complicate things going forward. He decided that was a problem for another day and pushed the though from his mind.

"I don't know, Samantha. I would like to hope there is a next," he smiled slightly. "There is a lot we have to learn about each other. And, it looks like we will be seeing a lot more of each other, certainly professionally." This got him a slight nod. "And I would certainly like to know more about you personally." Her smile echoed his in intensity now. "I guess we should let things progress. I have to come to the States in a couple of weeks. Originally, it was just supposed to be an in-and-out trip to present a paper, but now it looks like I will have to prolong the visit, given Monique's new desires to set up a shop in Manhattan too. And I think you might enjoy my help getting that started. Unless we somehow kill each other first arguing over the details," he said smiling at her.

Samantha was smiling now, the great hand that had been threatening to crush her heart had loosened its grip and the evening seemed more brilliant despite the subdued lighting.

"I can think of nothing I would like more Alex than working with you and getting to know you. I want to show you New York like you have shown me Paris."

"I think we would have a marvelous time," he said, as he took her hand and they went upstairs, a slightly sly smile on his face. He would wait until later, he decided, before he told her about the years he had spent living in New York. He also made a mental note to call his cousin in Brooklyn but that would wait until he got to London.

--- // Fin // ---