Page 13 of Enemies to French Kisses
Dread settles like sea water in my stomach. With these girls, this could be anything.
“Don’t kibosh before you’ve heard me out.” Chrissy clears her throat and Jessica purses her lips at me in support of her sister. Jessica ‘gets’ me more than some of the other girls, so if she’s in favor, then I need to hear what Chrissy has to say.
Considering that these girls can’t be told apart in a line up, it only takes a situation to see how night and day they are. Chrissy’s enthusiasm is the antidote to Jessica’s detached skepticism. I’ve loved them both since they learned my Mom left Brian and me behind and moved to Tennessee. They practically adopted Brian as their little brother. Jessica in particular took to him like a mother hen. There are few people in the world I’d trust more with my life, and even fewer I’d trust with my brother. But Jess is the real thing.
I drop onto the sofa, which is surprisingly more comfortable than the clic-clac, and fold my hands in my lap. “I’m listening.”
Gina squeals and Chrissy hushes her. “Here’s the thing. Since we came to Paris, you have been single-minded in your pursuit of professional validation.”
“Validation? I—”
“Shhh,” Natalie puts her hand on my knee. “She’s not wrong.”
“Hmph.”
Chrissy continues. “And you’ve barely had a chance to enjoy the extracurricular benefits of being in France. I, on the other hand, have been forced to experience more social events, charity galas, and aperitifs than I would have guessed with Monsieur Tremblay and the kids.”
“The thing is,” she continues, “Monsieur Tremblay has to attend all these fancy events with a plus one, and I’m his go-to so the kids can join. But…”
“Teeheehee!”
Jessica smacks Gina’s knee. “Hush, girl!”
“It’s just so exciting!”
“But,” Chrissy tries again, “youwould be a perfect date for him.”
“Oh, sweet baby bunny.” I fall against the back of the sofa and cover my face. “You’re trying to set me up with your boss.”
“I’m not—”
“She is,” Natalie jumps onto the sofa and pulls my hands from my face, “and you need it. Just look how this dork is wearing you down. You need a confidence boost! Imagine hobnobbing at the Malaysian embassy with Nicolas Tremblay, and then you stroll into your office the next day, dropping names of all the fancy pants government ministers you happened to bump into.”
Natalie knows just the right thing to say. “Government ministers, huh?”
She wiggles her eyebrows at me. “So many government ministers.”
When I was in business school, these were the events we dreamed of. Rubbing shoulders with the world’s decision makers. Influencing policy. Developing investment interest.
Maybe this isn’t such a bad idea after all.
“Think of it as a win-win,” Chrissy continues. “Nicolas needs someone like you to make him look good, and you get exposure to a segment of society that you’d never get to access otherwise.”
She’s leaving out one little detail. “Wait a second, Chrissy. Your boss… Does he already know about this?”
“I might have asked if he would be open to the idea.” Chrissy bites her lower lip. “Don’t chew my head off, I had to check first.”
Natalie play punches my shoulder. “And you know that Monsieur Tremblay is not so hard on the eyes.”
“It’s true,” Jess jumps in. “He’s rather the picture of a fine French man.”
“What would you know?” I playfully jab at Jess. “You haven’t dated since graduating high school.”
Her eyes widen in horror and her lips move as if she means to say something, which is all very confusing because a) it’s true, and b) everyone teases her for it.
Then she laughs, dispelling the tension in the room. “I can still spot a hottie when I see one, thank you very much.”
Natalie leans in and whispers in my ear. “You need the distraction, hun. The way you throw yourself into your work is admirable, but we both know you have to come up for air, or MarcLemonstrejust might drive you up the wall.”
