“Did you, or did you not read the rules?” Bastien asked, slightly agitated.
Celine worried her lip between her teeth. “Yes. Sort of.” She might have skimmed. “But I know for certain that there was not a single mention of the model’s gender.”
“Sort of?” Bastien gritted and, throwing his head back in a grand gesture of distress, he groaned. “This is expected of me, not you.” Then, as though his brief malfunction hadn’t occurred at all, he said, “Leave it to themaestroto fix this,” and pushed past her with a flounce.
Whatever he planned to do couldn’t be good. But Celine had precious few options but to let him try.
“Listen here…”
“Gabriel,” the young man supplied.
“Gabriel,” Bastien repeated, saying the name in such a way that made Celine’s skin crawl with goosebumps.Dear God, was he going to flirt their way in?
“I’m sure we can find some way to bypass this tiny complication. You only need to name your price, although I’m told I can be verypersuasiveeither way.”
“I am sorry,” Gabriel said obstinately, indifferent to Bastien’s twisted charms. “But I cannot allow you passage.”
“But Ihaveto enter!” Celine exclaimed, a little short of shouting the words.
Dread had started burrowing deep in her stomach, making her queasy. She had come so close to grazing her dream with the tips of her fingers. She was certain her mother would find out sooner or later, but until that happened, Celine wanted to have a chance at grasping handfuls of her dream before it was wrenched away from her.
“Then I suggest you find another model, Mademoiselle LeBeau. A woman, preferably. You have ten minutes until the—”
“Gabriel!” An agitated voice bellowed from within the house. “What is all this commotion? It’s almost ten o’clock for heaven’s sake, let the people in.”
“W-well, Monsieur,” Gabriel stammered. “You see, Mademoiselle LeBeau can’t enter. Her model is a man.” He tossed a dry look at Bastien. “And a very strange one at that.”
Celine squinted at the silhouette who was just looming into view, though still obscured by the shadows in the dim hallway. Suspecting he was someone in charge to oversee the contestants, she was about to complain again, when she stopped short before uttering anything stupid.
“You—you are—”
“The one and only, Mademoiselle LeBeau.” As he stepped outside, Celine could only hold her breath and wait for his next words. “Claude Baudelaire,” he said simply, his smile crinkling the corners of his eyes.
Celine had only ever seen pictures of him, but he looked just as polished in real life too. Though he had a simple attire, as faras the black suit and his black shirt went, his brocade vest was stitched with thousands of Tiffany Stone beads creating a marble effect that caused both Celine and Bastien to stare at him in awe.
Monsieur Baudelaire’s right hand flexed around the carved cane he was using to support himself as he extended his other one to Celine. “Can I have a look at your application form, Mademoiselle LeBeau?”
“O-of course.” She handed it to him utterly stupefied, acting like a marionette on strings.
“And the issue?” he asked after reading through it.
“Well,” Celine started, shaking off her stupor. “I see no problem with it, Monsieur. My model has agreed to represent gowns, and, as far as the rules are concerned, it is all that matters. There was nothing stated in the application form that the model has to be a woman.”
Gabriel tapped a finger rapidly on the application slip. “But it saysgowns. Right here.”
“It’s all right, Gabriel.” Monsieur Baudelaire placed a hand on the young assistant’s shoulder. “No need to harangue our contestants. Now, Mademoiselle LeBeau, I’m assuming this gentleman with you is…”
“My model.” Celine tilted her head towards Bastien. “Bastien Mé—”
Bastien savagely shoved her out of the way, reaching his hand out for a shake. “BastienReneau. A pleasure.”
Celine blinked—partly from being manhandled like a sack of potatoes and partly from the abrupt identity change.Reneau?What is he on about?
If Bastien had ruined both of their chances to compete she would—
Monsieur Baudelaire had gone rigid—lips parted, eyes darting up and down, taking Bastien in full, like he was searching for some sort of answer on his person.
Celine peered at him too, but all she could see was the loose tie and a semi-faded kiss mark right underneath his jaw. Nothing shock inducing—though for someone who was just meeting Bastien it might have had such effects.
