Etoile (The Mannequin Series) (9 page)

“Oh yea,” he said with a small smile. “Exactly what you mean.”

She felt her entire face heat up, unsure of what he was referring to with his comment. Clearing her throat, she continued on without thinking. “I am just saying that I want to create something that will move people. Something that will bring out emotions. I do not think that I can do that just by posing in expensive fabric in a fashion magazine.”

“No, I understand,” he replied sincerely. “I don't see how I could possibly be benefiting the world with my job. I mean, I'm working 80-hour weeks to make money for people who are already insanely rich. It has no real purpose. But I guess that's life, huh?” James gave her a tired smile as he continued to cut at his steak.

“I suppose. So if you could do anything else, what would
you
rather be doing?” she asked curiously.

A pensive look crossed his face as he considered the question for a moment. “Architecture,” he finally replied. “Or studying astronomy or medicine. Maybe it's because I basically lived at the museums in Central Park when I was a kid, but I always wanted to do something having to do with art or science. I guess it just wasn't in the cards for me,” he added with a shrug.

She couldn't help but notice how his face lit up when he mentioned those other possibilities. “It is not too late, you know,” she told him with an encouraging nod.

He let out a little laugh. “When you become a senior citizen like me, you'll realize that most things happen for a reason. I mean, I appreciate my job for sure. But I really think that you should pursue your dreams and passions if you aren't happy with modelling. You're young. You should go for it.”

“I hope so,” she replied in a small voice as butterflies filled her stomach. It was exhilarating to have an intelligent conversation with someone so sincere and kind. This was the first time that anyone had ever suggested that she do what
she
wanted to do, as opposed to telling her exactly how to pose or walk or stand.

“I'm sure you'd be great,” he said with a big smile.

Elodie cleared her throat nervously before changing the subject. “So other than slaving away inside of your office or hanging out at nightclubs, what else do you usually do?”

James laughed, his eyes crinkling adorably as he flashed her his perfect teeth. “Don't confuse me with those 'models and bottles' guys. I'm really not into that whole scene. I mean, I can see how my friends can get caught up in it after long nights at work, but it's just not for me. I'd take a quiet dinner with a smart and beautiful girl over sitting at a sticky table covered in spilled Red Bull any day of the week.”

How does he know all of the right things to say, Elodie thought to herself as she watched him talk with a dazed look on her face. Maybe he was her reward for all of those years during which she put up with shitty guys who did shitty things?

“But all of my hobbies will probably sound terribly boring or generic to you. I just like to hang out with buddies, play the occasional round of golf, go for a run if the weather's nice. It sounds like I'm reading off of an online dating profile,” he added with a laugh. “Did I mention that I like long walks on the beach and prefer dogs over cats?”

“Oh no,” Elodie replied with a fake look of disappointment. “I am a cat person myself.”

“This was doomed from the start,” he played along with a shake of his head. “I think I'm just going to have to get the check and send you on your way.”

She felt his foot brush against hers playfully and resisted the urge to melt into a blissful puddle. Cool, calm, collected, she reminded herself as she took a deep breath.

“So what do you like to do? I can't really picture you as much of a clubbing girl,” he asked after she had steadied her pounding heart.

Should she tell him the truth? That she liked to sleep in through her morning castings and wake up just in time to watch the sun set? That she usually hung out in the living room and chain smoked cigarettes for hours with her roommates while gorging on cucumber slices and the occasional sliver of cheese? That she spent the majority of her free time scrolling through fashion blogs, Googling her friends or going out for coffee and gossip?

“Oh, just you know...” she trailed off with a small shrug.

“Well, I guess I'll just have to stick around and see for myself,” he said with a mischievous smile.

Elodie couldn't wipe the grin off of her face as he went on to ask her more questions and showered her with attention. Much to her surprise, he wanted to know every detail of who she was, and she him. This was, of course, in stark contrast to the rich old men and male models with whom she was used to interacting. She usually didn't even want to know their names.

She became so entranced in what he was saying that she never even noticed that she had cleaned her plate. And when he ordered her an olive oil cake, she indulged. Elodie felt so comfortable with him that all of her worries about her diet, her future and her job seemingly melted away.

Once dinner was over, they stepped into the warm May night and he went ahead and reached for her hand as they walked a few blocks up to a cozy wine bar. Seated by the window, they watched other couples walk by on the street as they split another bottle and whispered drunken nonsense to each other.

“How do you suppose they met?” James asked as he surreptitiously gestured to an elderly couple that passed by in front of the window. They must have been in their 70's and were walking by hand-in-hand. Elodie couldn't help but smile as she watched them, wishing that she too could be that much in love when she grew older.

“I am going to say that they met when they were very young,” she began slowly, trying not to slur her words. “They were childhood sweethearts and are still as in love today as they were when they first met.”

“I like that answer,” he said after a slight pause. She could feel his eyes on her as she continued to watch the white-haired couple until they were out of eyeshot. “That's exactly what I want to have.”

Elodie turned to look at him and felt her heart skip a beat as their eyes locked. Do not explode, she warned herself as he gave her a small smile.

“I only hope that I can be half as happy as them,” she replied with a small sigh.

James reached over to touch her hand lightly as it rested on the table. “I don't know about 50 years in the future, but I'm happy right now,” he said quietly while looking at her with soft eyes.

Do. Not. Explode.

Elodie felt the tips of her ears burn as she squeaked out, “Me too.”

As the lights in the room got brighter, James broke his gaze and looked around. “Guess it's time to go,” he said as the waiter came with the cheque. “I didn't even notice that it was so late.”

A very drunken Elodie could feel her heart begin to pound as they stepped outside onto the sidewalk, unsure of what the rest of the evening had in store for them. He held her hand comfortably as he led them towards Hudson Street to grab a taxi. When the cab driver asked for a destination, she became confused as James gave him her address.

"I had a really good night," James told her in the backseat as he rubbed her knee and smiled. "I think I might just have fallen for your charm, Elodie Marais."

Hearing him say her name made her skin prickle. Please don't let him be able to hear my heart thudding, she thought to herself. "Me too," she replied in a tiny voice.

They stopped in front of her building and she felt sick when James asked the cabbie if he could wait. He helped her out and Elodie tried her best to hide her frown as they stood on the sidewalk. He ran his thumb over her cheek and slowly lifted her chin.

"Thanks for a great night," he said as he lowered his face closer to hers and gave her a light kiss.

Twelve

"Maybe gay?" Tatiana suggested candidly as she blew out a cloud of smoke.

Elodie groaned and sipped at her cold coffee. “But he said that he really likes me. And we're going out again tonight!” she whined in defense.

Tatiana shrugged her shoulders and stared blankly at her friend. The two had managed to crawl out of their apartment earlier that morning to “run errands”, which had translated into them sitting outside of a nearby cafe for two hours to discuss the previous day's happenings.

While replaying last night's events in her head, Elodie half paid attention to Tatiana gush about Daniel and his bedroom talents. “Is like redheaded jackhammer,” Tatiana had said with a dazed look on her face as Elodie fought the urge to vomit all over herself.

Daniel had apparently approached her at SP, teasing her about running off so abruptly the night before. Tatiana had tried to act cold to him so that he would get the hint to leave her alone. And he had. But as he got up to leave, she had found herself face-à-face with his generously bulging package. Enticed, she had purred out to him and the rest was history.

“So good, I do not even care that he not make lot of money. He even have roommate, but I do not care. Okay, only care little bit,” she had prattled on in a satisfied voice. “But is worth it. I even eat one pancake for him.”

“I ate yesterday too!” Elodie had confessed with a sigh of relief. Tatiana had nodded at her understandingly as the two shared a laugh.

After Elodie gave every detail about her almost perfect date, Tatiana had cocked her head in confusion before making that comment about James' sexual preferences. A pensive look filled her tiny face as she tried to think of other explanations for his behavior.

“I do not know,” she said finally. “That is not normal. Maybe he has roommate?”

“No, he lives alone," Elodie said with a sigh.

She bit her lip as she thought about it for the hundredth time since he had gotten back into the cab. The light kiss had been all that he had given her, though her body had cried out for more. To add to her confusion, he had asked if he could take her out again the following day, to which she had fervently nodded her head with a hopeful smile.

And now here she was, going over every excruciating detail. Had she done something wrong? She couldn't find fault with any of her words or actions that evening no matter how hard she tried.

“Maybe he just shy,” Tatiana reassured her, but not before unnecessarily adding, “But I am happy Daniel not shy at all.”

Another groan escaped Elodie's mouth as Tatiana cackled beside her. She had never met a shy member of the male species before. Every boy or man that she had ever encountered had been quite forward in his intentions and with his calculated advances. Was it possible that James was just shy? Could it be that there were shy men in New York?

The two got up and linked arms as they started walking back to their apartment. They hit up the deli on the corner and filled their arms with as many coconut waters and bottles of Perrier as their frail arms could carry.

“You probably have eat today, so just starve until dinner,” Tatiana instructed her roommate sternly. Elodie nodded in agreement.

They made their way back to an empty apartment, as was expected. Heddi was in Copenhagen, enjoying her weeklong holiday, while Jelena had been sent to China to do catalog work for some clothing brand.

Elodie rushed straightaway to her room to begin primping, as James wanted to meet around two-thirty. She had exactly two hours.

A buzzing sound came from Elodie's Chanel bag as she rummaged through her closet, and she dug her phone out to find a taunting text message.

playing hard to get? you win

Shit. Elodie felt her stomach lurch as she read the text from Tyler. With a big smile, she turned to look at Tatiana, who was picking at her split ends next to her.  “Would you like to do me a big favor?” she asked in as sweet of a voice as she could muster.

“No.”

“Come on, you know that I would do anything for you,” Elodie pleaded.

Tatiana peered at her suspiciously. “What is it?”

“Well, you are just so close with Soren, that I thought—”

“No.”

Shit again. She would just have to find another way to get his things to him, she supposed. Elodie didn't want to go near Tyler until she had all of the James worries figured out. She knew that when they were near each other, trouble usually made an appearance as well. And she just did not want to risk that.

Shaking her head, she decided to focus on what to wear. Tatiana lay on the floor, watching with a blank expression as Elodie proceeded to hold every article of clothing she owned against her body while groaning at her reflection in the mirror. After much deliberation, she decided on a casual-and-not-trying-too-hard-but-still-very-chic combination of a white chiffon Chloe button down, dark J Brand skinnies and her black Lanvin flats.

She spent the next hour artfully applying her makeup so as to seem like she wasn't wearing any. Her hair wasn't doing it for her, so she gathered her long locks into a messy side braid. Taking a deep breath, she gave herself one last look in the mirror as Tatiana gave her a thumbs up. When her phone beeped with an “almost there” text from James, she threw on her sunglasses, grabbed her bag and skipped out the door.

“You get prettier every time I see you,” James said with a big grin when he came to pick her up. Once again, he looked perfect in a denim button down, khakis and brown brogues.

“What are we doing today?” she asked curiously as he placed his hand on her knee in the backseat of the cab.

He looked at her mischievously. “It's a surprise.”

The little girl inside of her squealed with glee as she looked out the window as the cab made its way uptown. When the cabbie pulled over in front of Central Park, she looked at James with a smile. “The park? I haven't been here in so long.”

He kept his mouth shut and merely gave her a wide-eyed look of amusement. Once on the street, he put on his sunglasses as he reached for her hand. “Even better.”

Swinging her hand playfully, he led her away from the park, across Central Park South and through the front doors of the Ritz.

She looked at him, thoroughly confused. “What are we doing?” Her heart skipped a beat. Had he gotten them a suite?

“Well, you were telling me how you missed London sometimes, and how you haven't had the chance to really see New York yet. My mom used to bring me and my cousins here when we were younger, so I thought I'd bring you for afternoon tea. A little piece of London in quintessential New York, you know?” he said as he led her to the lounge.

She looked up at him in amazement. Where had this wonderful man come from? “You were listening?”

“Of course,” he said with a wink as they sat down on a plush sofa.

When their champagne came, James clinked his glass against hers, jokingly adding, “To semi-new friendships.” His face lingered dangerously close to hers until he scrunched his nose at her and took a sip from his glass. Elodie cleared her throat awkwardly as she tried her best not to get overwhelmed by how adorable he was.

The server brought the sandwiches out and she let out a wistful sigh. Janet had loved going to tea, often arranging business meetings for Elodie at Claridge's so that she could write them off as expensed meals. Elodie had loved it when the trays of treats and gorgeous teapots arrived, signaling the beginning of hours of indulgence.

“Almost as good as in London?” James asked as he placed a salmon toast on her plate.

Her eyes sparkled back at him as she answered, “It is just perfect.”

What she really wanted to scream out was “you're perfect!” But, being the lady she was, she refrained herself.

“So you really haven't been able to go around the city for the two years that you've been here?”

She sipped her heavenly tea as she contemplated this. “Hardly! My booker kept me busy for the first year. Every day I was buzzing around from casting to casting all around town. Now, I am just lazy, I suppose,” she replied with a laugh.

“Well, just think of me as your personal tour guide,” he said as he placed his arm around her hips and pulled her closer.

Yes, definitely not gay.

The tiered platter of sweets arrived and Elodie did not hesitate to partake. As she took a bite out of a slice of opera cake, she couldn't help but wonder why she never ate such glorious treats. James watched her with an amused look on his face as he joked, “And who said models don't eat?”

Ha. Little did he know.

To her surprise, the two of them finished off all of the desserts, leaving not even a crumb in sight. As they stepped out from the beautiful hotel and onto the sidewalk, Elodie basked in the warm sunlight.

“Come on, let's go for a walk in the park,” James said as he casually put his arm around her shoulders and led her past the row of waiting horse-drawn carriages. Blood pounded in her ears as she tried to steady her rapidly beating pulse.

“I just love it here. It is like an escape,” Elodie breathed out as they walked along happily.

“Yea, me too. I went to school a couple of blocks away. I loved going to the Museum of Natural History when I was a kid. Have you been to all of the museums in this area?”

Elodie shook her head. “Up here? Only to the MOMA and the Met,” she admitted.

James stopped in his tracks and his arm fell off of her shoulders. “No way! That's it. I'm going to plan a museum day for us. I want to show you all of them. You'd love the Cooper-Hewitt,” he said.

“I would love that.”

This is what heaven must feel like, she thought to herself as he grabbed her hand again and they continued their stroll. James pointed out spots to her along the way, such as the tree that he ran into when he was seven, knocking his front tooth out, and the grassy area where he used to take his Jack Russel Terrier to play when he was a teenager. Music could be heard as they approached the throngs of people surrounding the fountain and lake. They stood for awhile in silence, enjoying the view, as the sky began to dim.

“Come on, let's get out of here. I have another place that I wanted to take you to,” James said as he led her on a path out of the park. “Is there anything that you wanted to do?”

Jump your bones, she thought as she stared at him pensively. “No, not really.”

He playfully scowled at her. “Always making me do all the work.”

Before she knew it, they were standing in front of a sight for very sore eyes. Elodie let out a little gasp as she looked into the window of one of her favorite places in the world. She had always walked by the Ladurée on the Champs Elysées in Paris whenever she was in town for a job, but had never dared to walk inside, let alone eat one of the famous macarons. God forbid that she even take in the smell of one of those calorie-laden works of art!

“First London, now Paris. Let's go in. We have to get you some before it closes,” James said as he gently tugged on her hand.

He asked the girl behind the counter for one of each flavor, which she proceeded to pack into one of the beautiful signature boxes. As James was paying, Elodie noticed that many of the females in the store were eyeing her enviously. And when James grabbed her hand and held the bag up like a proud little kid, she felt like the luckiest girl in the world.

The evening air was still warm and provided the perfect weather for a nighttime stroll. They walked around the edge of the park, talking about how they were dreading the beginning of the week and having to go back to work.

After picking up some Earl Grey tea lattes from a nearby cafe, they stood in front of the beautifully lit fountains in Columbus Circle, enjoying the view.