Mardi Gras Masquerade (26 page)

“It was all a mistake, at first.
 
The clerk in the hotel assumed that I was you.”

“But, surely, Tienne could tell the difference.
 
Why are you still there?”

“It’s very complicated, Marla.
 
When the people in the hotel thought I was you, I didn’t want them to tell your fiancé that you weren’t here before I had a chance to talk with him.
 
And then, it felt so good pretending that I was a successful model that I kept on with the pretense.”

“You have a lot of nerve!
 
Tell me what Tienne said.”

“Well, I met this man on the levee, and he believed me when I told him that I was Maria Fontaine, a model.
 
He turned out to be Tienne’s brother.”

“And where was Tienne all this time?” Marla asked in a stern voice.

“He got tied up with business and had to fly to
Japan
.
 
He isn’t back yet.”

“You must have spoken to him before he left!”

“There was no time.
 
I’ve haven’t seen him yet.”

“Then he doesn’t know?”

“No.
 
You told me not to tell anyone but him.”

“He never even called you?”

“No.”

“The arrogance of that man!
 
I knew it!
 
He thinks that I’m waiting for him there and he made no attempt to even talk to me!”

“Calm down, Marla.
 
I haven’t even told you the worst part yet.”

“It gets worse?”

“You won’t believe it.
 
All of the arrangements have been made for you to marry him tomorrow, after he gets back.”

“What???
 
Why didn’t you stop him?”

“I couldn’t without explaining everything to his brother.
 
He’s in charge here.”

“Then, you should have told him, you little fool!
 
I knew I never should have let you take care or this for me!”

“
You
know I didn’t want to do it,” Maria cried out in frustration.

“So, you got even with me by botching everything up!
 
Thank you very much.”’

“I would never do anything to hurt you, Marla.
 
You know that.
 
If you’ll just call Tienne’s brother, you could explain it all to him, or maybe, he’ll give you Tienne’s number in
Japan
.”

“I don’t want to speak to Tienne!” Marla shouted, enunciating every word.
 
“That was the reason I sent you there in the first place!”

“I could give you his brother’s number.”

“Who is this man, anyway?
 
I don’t remember Tienne ever telling me that he had a brother.”

“From what I understand, he runs the business and shares this house with Tienne.
 
You should see how lovely it is here.
 
I’ve been treated so nicely.”

“You go speak to the brother.”

“You don’t understand, Marla.
 
He’s a very forceful man.
 
He won’t let me go until I . . .”

Maria broke off her sentence because she knew how her friend would react.

“Until you what?”

When Maria did not answer right away, her roommate went on, “Good Lord, Maria!
 
Don’t tell me this has gone so far that he expects
you
to marry Tienne when he gets home!”

“I’m sorry, Marla.
 
I realize I should have told him now,” Maria paused for a moment, and then went on, “There’s another complication.”

“If you say anything else to upset me, I’m going hang up this phone and never come back from
Rio
!”

“It’s not something that would be bad for you.
  
It’s just that I’ve . . . fallen in love with him.”

“With Tienne’s brother?
 
Why would he even look at you?
 
Don’t tell me he’s in love with you, too?”

“I don’t know.
 
He’s been very nice to me, taking me out and showing me the sights and everything, but he hasn’t actually told me that he loves me.”

“And, believe me, he doesn’t.
  
Right now, he just sees you as Tienne’s plaything, and while the cat’s away, the mice will play.
 
He must think you’re some kind of slut anyway if you’ve been playing house with him while his brother’s away.
 
What a family!”

“It wasn’t like that,” Maria quickly assured her friend, feeling close to tears.
 
“You know I wouldn’t do anything to ruin either of our reputations.”

“Always the goody-goody,” the model sarcastically replied. “My advice to you, girlfriend, is to catch the next plane back to
Illinois
.
 
When I left, I thought you would be home in a couple days.
 
Our bills must be piling up in the mailbox, and someone has to pay them.”

“But, I love this man, Marla!
 
I can’t just walk out on him.”

“You won’t have to walk when he finds out about your little game.
 
He’ll kick your lying butt right out the door.”

Finally, the tears ran silently down Maria’s cheeks.

“I guess he has a right to do that,” she said in a weak voice, “but I still have to explain everything to him, just in case he’s willing to forgive me.”

“You can write him a letter.
 
I’m sure you don’t want to hear him screaming in your face.
 
You get out of there right now and go home before I really get mad at you for what you’ve done!
 
There’s a pile of wash in the bathroom and on my bed.
 
I’ll need to have that cleaned before I get home on Wednesday.
 
Oh, by the way, I tore out the hem of my yellow dress.
 
You’ll have to sew that up for me.”

“But, what should I do about the situation here?”

“Nothing.
 
You’ve done too much already.
 
It will serve Tienne DuPont right when I leave him waiting at the altar.”

“I have to talk to his brother.
 
That’s the least I can do to make this right.”

“Get real, Maria.
 
He only wants you for your body.
 
I need you back in
Illinois
:
 
You’re my best friend!”

The model’s tone was wheedling.
 
Before Maria could think of a reply, the line crackled and went dead.

“Marla?
 
Marla?” she spoke into the receiver, but there was no answer.

Maria hung up and waited in the study for her friend to call her back.
 
She wasn’t really surprised when no call came.
 
Maria didn’t even get the chance to ask for Marla’s number in
Brazil
.
 
Now, there would be no opportunity to convince her to explain everything to Steve.

If she did not go home right away, there was a strong possibility that her roommate would never forgive her for disobeying her orders.
 
If she did leave, there would be no possibility of seeing Steve again.
 
She had no doubt that he would not forgive her.
 
Maria had to make a difficult choice.
 
There was a chance that she could lose the man she loved
and
her girlfriend.

For a while, she sat there in the study and cried over the desk.
 
Marla’s words about Steve had stung her deeply, especially the thought that he must consider her to be a slut.
 
It was true that she had allowed him to hold and kiss her while he believed her to be his brother’s fiancée.
 
What kind of woman would do that?

In spite of everything her roommate had said, Maria knew that she could not walk out on Steve without a word.
 
This was not just because he kept her guarded there or because she had given him her word that she would not run away.
 
Maria’s reason for staying, at least for now, was that she was not the kind of person to run away from her problems any more.
 

She had to see Steve face-to-face when she told him the truth.
 
Then, she would have to accept whatever happened.
 
This was not a situation you could leave at loose ends.
 
Everything had to be firmly established so she would know exactly where she stood.
 
That resolution had been easy for her to make.
 
She wondered if it would be as easy to keep.

With a feeling of great weariness, Maria got up and left the study.
 
Even her plan to confess everything to Steve’s parents when they got back was gone.
 
The man would hear the truth from no one except herself.
 
She owed him that.

All of the excitement about the ball was over.
 
Maria’s desire to share her enthusiasm with the dress designer had faded away along with the last wisps of the dream.
 
Thee earlier comparison to Cinderella was going to turn out to be all too true.
 
When tomorrow came, she would be sitting back in the ashes, Maria mused.

All of the tension had given her a headache.
 
She laid down on her bed with a damp cloth over her eyes until it was time for lunch.
 
Even then, she still felt listless and had no appetite.

All afternoon, she expected to hear from Steve’s parents since they were due to arrive home that day.
 
Worse yet, Tienne DuPont could walk in the door at any moment.
 
This was going to be a disaster.

The headache continued to linger slightly in spite of Maria’s ministrations.
 
She applied a light coat of makeup to disguise the ravages the day had left on her face.
 
It would not be wise to let Steve see her discomfort, she thought.
 
That would lead to too many questions that she did not feel prepared to answer just yet.

A few minutes before three, there was a light knock at her door.
 
After Mara called out for whoever was there to come in, Steve opened the door and stepped inside.

“Where’s that big smile you had for me this mornin’?” he asked cheerfully.

Maria tried to smile brightly, but most of her ardor was gone.
 
Steve walked to the chair in which she was sitting and squatted in front of her.

“How was your day?” Maria asked to make conversation.

“Too long to be away from you,” the man replied, as he took hands in his.
 
“Are you ready to dance the night away with me?”

Maria only nodded.

“What’s the matter, butterfly?”

“I suppose I’m just a little nervous.”

“There’s no need for that.
 
I’ll be by your side to guard you with my life all
evenin
’.”

“Steve,” Maria said in a gentle voice.
 
“I’m not worthy of that kind of sacrifice.”

“Are we
fishin
’ for compliments, my dear?”

“No, it’s just that I’ve been thinking about a lot of things.”