“Well, I got lucky.”
We slowly moved farther up in line and eventually were granted entrance. It was empty without tourists there to see all the works of art on display in the greatest museum in the world. Instead of going through the whole museum like tourists, we were escorted into the main attraction—the room with the Mona Lisa.
The painting was protected by two layers of glass, shielded from bullets and whatever means of destruction an asshole would try to wield against one of the most famous pieces of art.
There were standing tables with white tablecloths and tall centerpieces throughout the room. Waiters traveled through with trays of champagne and canapés. The room was already full of people, and I assumed we would eventually be ushered into another room for the formal dinner.
I came from money, but this was still by far the fanciest party I’d ever been to.
He guided me through the crowd, but he barely made it a few feet before he encountered people that he knew. He was the most charming I’d ever seen him, greeting people and remembering them by name, kissing their wives on the cheek, talking about their last meeting together.
I smiled in silence, trying to be invisible and supportive at the same time. I didn’t expect Luca to introduce me.
But he did. “Timothe, this is my girlfriend, Aliénor.”
We kissed each other on each cheek.
He introduced me to others, and then we moved to one of the empty tables. A waiter came by and brought us two glasses of champagne. Luca appeared to take it to be polite, because he left it on the table and didn’t drink it. “I hope that was okay.”
“What?”
“The girlfriend thing.” He scanned the room and didn’t look at me.
“Of course it is.” We’d already established we were a pair, but to hear him refer to me as such in public was a new high.
“I don’t like the label, but I didn’t know how else to describe it.”
And then my heart deflated like a balloon. “Oh…”
He must have picked up on my tone because he looked at me. With narrowed eyes, he examined my reaction.
“You don’t have to call me that if you don’t want to.”
He remained focused, like he was trying to solve a complicated math problem in his head. “I didn’t say I didn’t want to.”
“You just said you didn’t like the label.”
“I don’t. I feel like a teenage boy in secondary school.”
“Okay.” I grabbed the champagne and took a drink.
He continued to look at me. “I don’t understand what’s happening here?—”
“There’s my boy.” Bastien appeared in a black tuxedo like Luca’s, and his eyes were bright and alive because he seemed to enjoy the party a lot more than Luca. He stepped over to Luca, andthey did the grip thing guys often did together. “Have you tried the bacon-wrapped scallops? Some good shit.”
Fleur greeted me warmly, with a smile that seemed genuine, and she hugged me hard. “You look beautiful.”
“You look beautiful too. I love the blue.”
She pulled away and my eyes caught on the ginormous ring on her left hand covered in so many diamonds, including the big one right in the center. So large, it was distracting, equally a threat and a status symbol. “How have you been?”
“Good. Love my new job.”
“Oh, that’s great.”
“What about you?”
“Bastien and I just took a trip to the Loire Valley. Stayed at a hotel there and visited the castles and wineries. Really beautiful, even before spring.”
