“But youhaveseen this before,” I said. “I mean, you must have.”
“Is it a prop from the movie? I’m sorry, Lou, I haven’t had a chance to see it yet. But I will.”
What the hell was going on?
“You really don’t need to do that,” was all I could say.
Constance went around my back and slipped the exquisite piece of jewelry around my neck, fastening it in place with expert hands.
“You should take a picture,” she said, facing me again. “With the light in the background, it’s beautiful.”
The sun had fully set now, the sky a deep shade of blue with streaks of orange. I handed her my phone and she snapped a few pictures of me alone and then of the two of us. I thought maybe she was messing with me, but even though there was sadness in her eyes, her smile never faltered.
Since Constance was giving me her blessing, the next thing I would have done was to post that picture. To brag about my gorgeous outfit and this insanely beautiful necklace. Though it didn’t pop that much in the pictures because of the cape and the shimmery fabric. I should take a close-up of it to really show it off.
But I stopped in my tracks. Constance and I saw him at the same time, standing tall in the background. His hair was windswept. I guess you could say that Dorian Fisher was the reason I wouldn’t go to jail, notfor theft anyway.
Dorian Fisher saved me.
Unfortunately for him, he wouldn’t be able to say the same thing about me.
Constance
When I saw Dorian, I thought I was going to be sick.
I’d spent the last couple of hours pleading with myself not to come tothis party. I couldn’t see him, couldn’t face him.
But I had to do it, for Tyler. Tyler, who had lost the role he’d been so excited about hours after I kissed him. Of course there was a connection. Dorian had seen the pictures and instead of deciding he wanted to be with me, he chose to destroy the only other man who mattered in my life. That’s how powerful Dorian was. He’d gotten Tyler kicked out of his exciting new movie. Probably all it took was for him to make a phone call or two. That was how easily he could twist our lives beyond pain.
“I came to talk to him,” I told Lou. “Just something I have to do.”
Lou nodded, like she understood. She came forward and wrapped me in a hug.
“Thank you. I don’t know what I did to deserve this.”
She placed her hand on the necklace before releasing me.
“Right,” I said, but I didn’t ask what she meant.
I only cared about Dorian.
A mistake I kept making, a lesson never learned.
I got close enough to him that our eyes locked, but I didn’t realize until it was too late that he was talking to Carly Wolf. When she noticed me, her eyes burst wide open.What the hell is she doing here, she seemed to wonder.
I had to push through. She couldn’t hurt me anymore than she already had. Or so the thinking went.
“Hello,” I said, looking from Dorian to Carly.
Dorian nodded coolly.
Carly shot him a nervous look before addressing me with a pinched smile. “I didn’t realize you were in Cannes.”
I glanced at Dorian, waiting for him to speak. He was the one who had explicitly said he was looking for a new stylist, who had also strongly implied that it could be me. The one who had then invited me to his styling sessions, had listened to my opinions. Everything else, I could put into question, but that had happened. I hadn’t dreamed it.
Now it was obvious that Dorian hadn’t told her. These two looked way too friendly with each other. Still, I was here. I hadn’t seen Carly since she told me how disgusted she was with me, how wrong she’d been to hire me. This was my moment to prove her wrong.
“I have a few clients in town.” I gazed pointedly at Dorian, who still didn’t react. “I work for myself now. I’m doing great.”
