Page 131 of Tangled Up In You

She smiled and squeezed his arm.

“This all right for dinner?” he asked as he set up their impromptu picnic.

She looked at the spread with delight. Her smile faded, however, when she looked back at him and saw the telltale sign of him rubbing at his nose.

“How did you even get it here?” she asked.

“I had the help of the hotel’s amazing concierge, I have to admit.”

“No, not the food. The cocaine. I can’t believe you’re high right now, Gavin.” Though she was furious, her voice betrayed nothing more than mild disappointment.

“Don’t let’s ruin this, darlin’. Just relax and leave it be. Have some wine.” He looked her in the eye for a long, silent moment. “It’s okay. Really.”

Finally, she nodded. “You are so incredibly lucky that I love you beyond all reason,” she said. She didn’t have the will to follow through on her disapproval. She would rather give him a pass so that the gesture he had made of taking her to this spot wasn’t spoiled. It wasn’t healthy to pick and choose what she would acknowledge, but it was part of her survival instincts in this unnatural new world.

“I am that indeed,” he said. He took her hand and pressed his lips to it before putting his arm around her shoulders. “Now, do you want to hear something ridiculous about that beautiful thing there?” He gestured to the glittering tower.

“What?”

“It’s illegal to publish photos of it taken at night. Technically it would be a copyright violation to do so.”

She laughed at the absurdity. “Guess we’ll have to stay for a while to get our fill of the view, then.”

“We can stay here all night. Remember, like we did in Dublin when we were in school and we stayed out until sunrise?”

That night was burned into her memory, like so many other moments when he had seduced her out of her better judgment. She had always trusted him implicitly. Every time he implored her to do something she’d normally hesitate to do, it ended up being a time she treasured. In this instance, however, his cocaine high would keep him up through the night and she wouldn’t be able to stay up with him. Thinking of that left a bad taste in her mouth and a longing for those simpler times. If she could just hang on a little longer, she was sure he would find his way back to who he used to be.

77

CONOR

Conor hadn’t intended to reunite with Colette like this. As he’d predicted, she had broken up with him in response to the tabloid news of his and Sophie’s outing. He made a weak show of apologizing and then agreed they could use a break.

Finding out that Gavin was deep into cocaine was a huge shock. He and his friend had sampled a variety of drugs before, but they’d never taken it this far. Since he couldn’t penetrate Gavin’s denial about the level of his addiction, Conor’s next instinct was to confront Sophie. Doing so in the public way he had, in the lobby of the hotel, meant he couldn’t easily slink out of town. So he concocted the plan to reunite with Colette, turning his visit into a surprise to see her. She ate up the drama of his unexpected presence and quickly took him back.

It meant he was then committed to watching alongside Gavin as their women walked in various shows. The two of them garnered almost more media attention than the designers’ work. Conor bristled under the relentless energy Gavin exuded as he had trouble sitting still. Conor recognized this as not something born out of drugs, but rather his friend’s nervousness at his drug use being known. He also had to endure Gavin waxing poetic about Sophie and saying Conor deserved the same kind of ends-of-the-earth love. Gavin told him not to settle for Colette if she didn’t give him that feeling.

The time together shuttling from the runway shows for Saint Laurent to Valentino, then on to Miu Miu, and finally to Amaya Arzuaga was plenty for Conor, but Gavin insisted that the two couples share a late dinner that night.

They left the restaurant choice to Colette, and she chose the highly regarded Lapérouse. It offered exceptional service in an old-fashioned and traditional setting on the left bank of the Seine.

Once wine and starters were ordered, Colette sat back in her chair and openly examined Gavin. “You guys,” she said, looking at Conor and Sophie with mock excitement, “how come you didn’t tell me Gavin had this cute little coke habit?”

Gavin glanced at Sophie, who was in turn staring daggers at Colette.

“Oh, come, Colette,” Conor said with an air of lightness he did not feel. “You know we’re not one of those couples who tells each other everything.”

“Is it funny to you, Sophie?” Colette asked.

“Why don’t we change the subject,” Gavin said.

Sophie couldn’t meet her friend’s eyes and instead played with the thick cotton napkin in her lap.

“So, how bad is it?” Colette continued, undaunted.

Gavin met her gaze and held it for a moment. “It’s nothing more than recreational,” he said with complete confidence.

The waiter approached the table then, addressing his comments to Colette in French, and they spoke rapidly as he gave her a taste of the wine for her approval. When she nodded, he filled all their glasses and stepped away from the obviously tense group.

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