No, that wasn’t the way he wanted to express it. What he really wanted was for the pair of them to make the chateau into something beautiful, and for the both of them to make the wine-tasting holiday idea into a viable business, too. And the idea of Fran then running upholstery workshops alongsidehis wine tasting seemed a perfect long-term combination. He wanted Fran to be front and centre in bringing the whole plan to fruition, and to have a long-term reason to stay, too.
Together, it felt as though they would make an unbeatable team, would propel the business from cautious beginnings, into something special.
All those reasons were held within the words of his plan, though, if she chose to look closely enough. What wasn’t written into the words was just how pointless the entire thing seemed to him if she wasn’t a part of it. If she didn’t want to make a go of Chateau des Rêves, then he would walk away from the idea.
At least, that was how hehadbeen feeling about the whole idea, until he’d discovered Fran’s less-than-transparent approach to her reasons for being at the hotel. And with her tycoon of a father emerging from the shadows, Johnny’s confidence and his ability to tell truth from falsehood had taken yet another pummelling.
Unable to sum his thoughts up in coherent form, Johnny shrugged at Fran’s question. Repeating it in order to give himself a framework within which to answer.
‘Why did I leave you a copy of my business plan? To be honest, if I’d known who your father was, I wouldn’t have done it. Not in a million years.’
‘Why not?’ Fran looked genuinely mystified.
‘Because my sense of self-worth has taken enough of a bashing already. And the fact that your father is laughing at my business plan doesn’t exactly make me feel any better about myself. Surely you can understand how embarrassing this is turning out to be for me.’
He tried to keep the exasperation out of his tone, but from the look on Fran’s face, he’d failed.
‘No, Johnny – you’ve misunderstood. When I said he was laughing at it, he was only amused by the drawing. He thought the rest of it was awesome. A seriously good plan.’
‘Please don’t mess with me,’ he said, taking refuge behind a sip of rapidly cooling coffee.
‘I’m not. He wants to invest.’
‘He wants to do what?’
‘To invest.’ Fran spoke as to a child, slowing her words to allow them extra time to sink in. ‘He proposes to loan a lump sum of money in return for a percentage of the business once it’s up and running.’
‘Right. OK. Oh my God.’ Johnny took a moment to compose himself. This kind of thing only happened in fiction. ‘What percentage?’
‘Well, that’s what he wants to speak to you about.’ Fran allowed herself a grin. ‘Be warned, he won’t go easy on you. On us. First and foremost, he’s a businessman, don’t forget that.’
Us. She’d said ‘us’.
‘Are you interested in being a part of Chateau des Rêves then?’ he asked.
‘Only if you’ll allow me to clear up any misunderstandings you might have about me?’
By the time Fran had finished her explanation, again – it seemed as though she’d done little other than try to explain herself lately – her head really was throbbing.
‘The weirdest part of all of this is that everyone thinks I’ve been pretending to be someone I’m not. But I haven’t. Not really. That person, that Fran who was happy to join the chateau staff, the woman wanting to befriend a stray cat to help me make sense of my reality – that personisme. It’s the rest of it which is the unbelievable bit.’
‘I suppose that makes sense,’ Johnny said.
‘I didn’t mean to mislead anyone, and whether people choose to believe me or not, it’s the truth.’ Fran shifted on the mattress, wincing as she settled her head back.
‘I believe you,’ Johnny said. ‘And for the record, I like that version of Fran.’
She smiled, allowing her eyelids to lower. ‘Thank you. Me too.’
‘So, are we going to go for it?’ Johnny said. ‘Are we doing this thing? Do you feel like becoming my business partner?’
It was a big decision to make – one she couldn’t take so lightly. She suddenly needed more time, wanted to be sure she could cope with the arrangement being conducted on a purely business footing. She wasn’t in the right head space to be able to answer Johnny truthfully. Not yet. Not after the events of today had put her through the emotional ringer.
‘Sorry, Johnny, my head is killing me again. I should probably get some rest.’
Johnny was on his feet before she’d finished speaking.
‘I’ll find someone. Won’t be a minute.’
