“Agreement?” Her voice skirled upwards. “I can’t even show my face at the wedding. All the contacts and the VIPs coming. Ambassadors, celebrities, famous people. You were supposed to photograph me with them so I can put them in my website. All my plans…gone. Like a car crash. I dare not even venture out of my room or he’ll ruin me.”
Suddenly Nicole was in the room, her face pale in the dark. Pierre almost shrieked. Then she realised it was just her reflection in the full-length mirror. Nicole must have moved a few steps. The wardrobe door was slightly ajar, which angled the mirror slightly, so it reflected the balcony.
Heart thudding, Pierre breathed slowly and quietly through her nose. She shouldn’t be here, but nothing could drag her away. She was frozen in place, helplessly watching, and listening.
Nicole stood against the balcony railing and wiped her face on her sleeve. “You know—” She hiccupped. “—how far out on a limb I’ve gone to set up my new business, to make a new life. Now I have to pack and be gone on the first ferry the morning after.”
“Think about damage limitation. Toe the line and make sure you finish this job to the best of your ability. Then go peacefully.”
“I go?” she asked in a small, incredulous voice.
“Yes, Nic. You put this behind you and make a new start.”
“Are you not coming with me? Darling, no.” Her voice broke. “We have a commission in LA; I booked you with me as a team. It’s in two weeks. If you don’t show up, ‘hashtag liar Nicole’ will become a reality. It’ll be the last nail in the coffin. No one will believe me after that. Are you really going to turn your back on me like everyone else? Are you’re going to kick me when I’m down?”
Pierre couldn’t listen anymore; she turned to open her bedroom door. But not before she saw Gabriel’s reflection in mirror.
She froze long enough to see Nicole throw herself at him, crying on his shoulder. “Are you really going to leave me now?”
After a small hesitation, his arms went around her. “Of course not. Of course, I won’t abandon you.”
The rule with mirrors is: if you can see them, they can see you. And there was enough moonlight flooding into the room.
Gabriel, with Nicole crying against his chest, with his arms around her, lifted his head and saw Pierre.
Their eyes met.
And his face was full of pain.
Nothing could have been clearer. Nicole was between them, always would be, and he had just made his choice.
Pierre opened her door and ran out of her room.
Thirty-One
The next day was busy, which was a blessing. It kept Pierre too occupied to even think. Most of the guests arrived, and with Nicole out of the picture, Pierre was rushed off her feet coordinating with the two other assistants to implement all the arrangements for accommodation, transport, and everything else. Not all the guests were coming early. Many would arrive the morning of the wedding and carriages would be ready to transport them directly to the church. Pierre reviewed the lists again and again to make sure she hadn’t missed anything.
When she had a little time, she did the one thing that might make her feel better.
No, not better.
Just a little less miserable.
She changed her hair colour. She couldn’t bear to keep the green. Every time she saw herself in a mirror, she remembered Gabriel calling her the ‘spirit of the forest.’
Instead, she went for a complete change. An ombre of icy blue and crystal white.Ice is for endings, she remembered reading somewhere.
Laura had given her a blue and silver shawl which matched her hair perfectly. She would wear it over the grey dress Nicole had forced on her for the wedding. She didn’t mind it now. Grey to match her spirits. Grey with ice blue and snow white. And this time there would be no Gabriel to photograph her, to call her Snow White and take fairy tale pictures of her. Ice was for endings.
The next morning, the morning of the wedding itself, went by in a blur of activity. If there was one bright light, it was Lord M. He was transformed, grinning widely as he was helped into his suit, his medals, and a beautiful navy-blue silk tie to match La Canette’s coat of arms. His playlist of golden oldies love songs played throughout the house. Guests ate breakfast in the formal dining room to Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly. People rushed up and down the stairs as Tammy Wynette sang “Stand by Your Man.”
It was all her fault.
She dressed in front of her mirror, “Music to Watch Girls By” echoing all around. Yeah, her fault. She should have made Lord M a playlist of opera or perhaps chamber music. But who knew a week ago that she’d be tying a beautiful blue silver shawl around her hips, letting the long ends drape down to her knees and all the time her heart would be breaking…
Was it her fault? If only she’d been here when Gabriel went looking for her the other night…the night of the day when Nicole had shown her true self. Hadn’t he been just on the brink of breaking up with her? If Pierre had been here, if she hadn’t been pushing him away for days,days,he might have made the decision to be with her. Then it would have been impossible for him to break his word to her, no matter what emotional blackmail Nicole had employed on him.
But as always, Pierre had not acted in time. She had let the dream fly past her and not moved a finger to catch it. Thank God she wasn’t a kingfisher, or she would starve waiting for a fish to jump out of the river and force its way into her mouth.
