Page 93 of Enemies to French Kisses
“Hey!” Chrissy shouts. “You got me with that one!” She lobs a cushion, but Natalie ducks in time and it hits Annelise square in the magazine.
“Whoa, whoa! What did my mag ever do to you?” She smacks me on the thigh but I bump into Jess while trying avoid any more blows.
And thus the apartment descends into chaos, with flying pillows, blankets, and bodies as we laugh harder than we have in a very long time.
Until my phone rings.
You could hear an ant sneeze in this apartment right now, all of us frozen in place and no one daring to move, certainly not me because in my heart of hearts I know who it is.
It rings again.
I take one step in the direction of the phone.
It rings again.
“For goodness sake!” Annelise shouts and I grab at the phone. “The anticipation is destroying my soul!”
“Hello? Marc?” Smooth opener.
“Laura.Bonjour.”
“Bonjour.”
Silence. Silence in the apartment and silence on the phone.
Marc and I both speak at once.
“About last night—” I start.
“Meet me at Sacre Coeur—”
“—that’s not what I want for us—”
“It’s about work and it can’t wait.”
“Wait,” I stop him, “Sacre Coeur? About work? You can’t be serious.”
“One hour. Be there or…”
“Or what.”
“Or… else mayhem!” He shouts and hangs up on me.
I glance around the room where mouths are hanging open in every corner.
“That didn’t sound particularly romantic, did it?”
“I don’t know.” Jessica shrugs. “Mayhem could be promising.”
I sigh. “He said it’s toavoidmayhem.”
“Girl,” Gina grabs my arms to look me straight in the eye except that she’s a full head shorter than me, “you’re going to have a whole lot of mayhem in that heart of yours if you don’t go. So listen to the man, take a shower, and get your cute little hiney to Sacre Coeur!”
I grimace. “Cute little—”
“GO!” they all shout and I know they’re right. I have to get over what I think thingsshouldbe like, the guilt for what’s already happened.
And I know a Vespa named Valerie who’s going to help me do it.
