Page 80 of Enemies to French Kisses
Our grip tightens.
“Where’s the washroom, please?”
CHAPTER32
Laura
“When doyou find out if you win?” Gina claps her hands together. “This is so exciting!”
“We all knew you were going to nail it,” Natalie says, “even ifyoudidn’t.”
“And who would have guessed that jerkball would come through for you like that.” Annelise flips the page on her magazine. “I sure didn’t. That man’s moral code is questionable at best, even if he does have feelings coming out the wazoo for you.”
I feel an urge to defend Marc, but stop myself. He deserves the flack. But what happened today was different.
“He gave me the credit, all while saving my sorry butt from humiliation in front of the investors. His moral code may be out with the jury, but that was stand-up quality butt-saving he did for me.”
Annelise drops her magazine on her chest. That sofa has an Annelise-sized imprint, not that there’s a whole lot of other places she can go while we’re here. The rest of us are huddled on the floor, as if around a campfire, except it’s wine and cheese on a cutting board.
“You did it right back for him,” Annelise continues. “So you’re even.”
“It doesn’t work that way.”
For Annelise, the world is black and white. There are rules that need to be in place, even if they aren’t always obvious ones.
Chrissy fills my glass a little higher with the sparkling wine, but I tip the bottle back up. “Nope, must stop there. I have prep to do for tomorrow and any more bubbly will have me out and about on the town.”
“Is that so bad?” Jessica sits up. “You’ve been MIA in a variety of ways these last couple weeks, but even before that, you can’t seem to let go of work.”
“You don’t get it. Tomorrow is decision day and they could throw us some serious questions. The heaviest part is past, but tomorrow could be the make or break. I need to be at my best.”
“Then at least take a couple hours break and think about something else.”
“For example that date with my boss…” Chrissy has not let up ever since this drama began.
“It’s not going to happen, girl!” I click her glass. “It’s really nice that you keep trying to push your boss onto me and all, but he made it very clear that my ‘lifestyle’ was not a fit for his.”
“You were in the midst of a pretend marriage!”
“With good cause! Besides, if the guy is such a catch, why don’tyougo out with him?”
All heads turn to Chrissy and she turns a lovely shade of beet.
“He’s—he’s my boss. And—and very busy. With work things.”
I lean over to Natalie with a not-so-whisper, “Is it just me or is she tripping over her excuses for not dating her boss.”
“She’s totally tripping.”
“Y’allare totally tripping. He’s my boss. It can’t happen.”
“A-hem,” Natalie clears her throat. “When something is meant to be, it’s meant to be.”
Chrissy sighs. “You and Olivier are different. You’re perfect for each other, it just took you a while to figure that out. Monsieur Tremblay is… different. Believe me, it can’t happen.”
I lean forward toward her. “Saying it can’t happen isn’t the same as saying you don’t want it to happen…”
Chrissy stands up from the circle. “We’re not talking about me, we’re talking about you, Miss Laura. Because I’m putting down my vote that you had this MarcLemonstrepegged wrong from the start. And he’s actually a great guy but you were too single-minded to see it.”
