And the dress—the dress.
It’s shimmering as an ocean dipped in moonlight, showing off her trained figure in a way that she could be on her way to the New York Fashion Week right now.
We arrive at the mezzanine level.
I get one glimpse of a security guard in a suit guarding the private elevator, and finally find my senses again.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I hiss at her.
“I thought you could need someone in your corner with a mother like that.”
“You are my student!” I nearly shout, before I remember that no one can know, and whisper angrily.
“Not tonight,” she says and pulls me out of the elevator.
“You are out of your fucking mind,” I say.
“Maybe,” she says with a chuckle and walks to the security guard.
“Jane McKenzie and her girlfriend,” she says in a French accent English.
I am speechless.
My brain isn’t working.
“I have no girlfriend on the list,” says the man.
“It was a last-minute decision; I couldn’t tell if I’d make it out of surgery on time.”
Lying. She is lying to his face without blinking.
“Doctor’s curse, isn’t it?” asks the man and lets us into the elevator.
“It is indeed,” she says and holds out a hand for me to take. A hand, I do not take.
She leans against the elevator door and grins as she sees my face.
“Relax,” she says. “No one will recognize me, just let me do the talking.”
“Why are you here?” I ask her, completely taken aback.
The grin dies on her face.
“I don’t know,” she says. “Maybe to prove a point.”
“To prove what point?”
She ignores my question.
“One night. We fool them all, and you will have your peace.”
“Why do you care about my peace?” I ask, anger in my voice. “You shouldn’t care, you shouldn’t—“ But whatever should, dies in the opening elevator door, offering the view into the Rainbow Room with its breathtaking view over Manhattan.
“But I do care,” she whispers in my ear as she takes my arm. I want to remove my arm from her grip, but my mother walks towards us.
This will be the most stupid thing I have ever allowed to happen.
“Jane,” says my mother as she walks towards us. Her look lands on Amelie, and I see her displeasure immediately. “You brought someone,” she says with slightly pursed lips. And before I can so much as breathe in to say something, Amelie lets go of my arm and turns towards my mother.
