“I had no idea it was so bad. Why wouldn’t she tell me?”
Francine put a hand over his. “I can appreciate you’re upset for a variety of reasons, but you need to remember none of this is about you, not really. Rebecca’s the victim here. I—we—appreciate you reaching out to us about this, but you really should be speaking to and supporting her right now.”
“You’re right. Of course you are.”
It was time both he and Rebecca were honest with each other.
REBECCA
Rebecca finished reviewingher updated schedule and leaned forward in her desk chair as she handed Mara back the tablet. This chair in her ‘home’ office was less comfortable than the one in her main office, but hopefully they didn’t have much more to go over.
“Thank you, Mara. This should work for now.”
“Shall I mark the remainder of your events as tentative for next week?”
“No, let’s leave them as is. That could draw too much attention and I’d rather not deal with those questions.”
Mara dutifully nodded. “Yes, Ma’am. Next up is preparing your clothing for the tour.”
Rebecca sighed. “I need a new stylist, or dresser would be the more ‘royal’ term, I suppose. With the coronation coming up as well, it will serve me best to hire someone on full-time from this point onward.”
“I’ll develop a short-list, shall I?”
“Yes, thank you. They should be Vallerian, of course, but if they have experience in other countries, that would be fine as well. Especially America, since that trip has much more significance now. We’ll use the tour as a sort of probationary period for whomever we select, to make sure it’s a good fit.”
“I can think of several women offhand that may be a good fit.”
Hmmm. “Let’s not limit ourselves to one gender.”
“Oh. Yes, of course. I’m so sorry, Ma’am. I just thought a woman may be best. If the public hears of a man dressing you, for example, rumours could start.”
Fucking tabloids and public perception. “I understand that point of view, but I don’t agree with it. I won’t discriminate foranyjob position, and I’ll make that clear to the public if need be. They’re helping me select outfits, they won’t be in the dressing room with me in that sense. In fact, let’s not use the term ‘dresser’. Let’s stick with ‘stylist’ as it’s more modern and works better for what I truly need.”
“Of course, Ma’am,” Mara murmured, then cleared her throat. “Any other requirements?”
“Well, they’ll need to pass a background check and be able to obtain a security clearance. They should not just understand what works best for me, they should have some understanding of royal protocol, and understand how to pair jewelry with outfits as well.”
“Yes, Ma’am. I’ll put a list together, and do an initial background check on them. If those come back clear, you can let me know who to reach out to and we can put together a test—they select outfits for a few specific events, for example—and we’ll also get their portfolios for you to review. Then we can proceed to interviews from there.”
“Sounds perfect. Timeline-wise…”
“I should be able to put together a list and request the background checks this week. So, next week, after you’ve recovered from your procedure, we can review the list.”
“Excellent.”
“Next on the list is?—”
A knock on her home office door interrupted them. The door was open but Alex had knocked all the same. “Do you have some time, or shall I come back?”
Mara stood and curtsied, then remained standing.
Rebecca’s eyes remained locked on Alex for a few more moments, then she turned to Mara with a small smile. “Is there anything else pressing on the list?”
“Nothing that can’t wait until tomorrow, Ma’am.”
“Let’s meet early then, perhaps seven, in my main office. We’ll have breakfast and work through the rest.”
“Of course, Ma’am. I’ll have everything ready for us.” She gathered her things, curtsied to them both, and left.
