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Paris, France
Saturday, July 12th, 2005
“I
think there has to be something incredibly wrong with me.”
“Why, because you’ve
finally discovered that, yes, there is life beyond Chad Monroe?”
She rolled her eyes, “No.”
Caylee
giggled and sipped her champagne, “We flew all the way out to Paris for this?”
“My
sentiments exactly.”
Caylee sighed, “How did I get talked into this? But better yet,
how did you get talked into this when you definitely RSVP’d a no, like, three weeks ago?”
“My
mother took back my deny and told these people I was coming, that’s how.” She said. The party was an engagement
party for some princess in France, or something. She wasn’t quite clear on the purpose of this ball. “I can't
believe her sometimes.”
Caylee nodded, “At least we look amazing.”
Aubrey
smiled.
“Can I be honest?” Aubrey nodded, “You haven't stopped smiling for six
seconds tonight, or yesterday. Not since we got on the plane two nights ago.”
“That
is not true.”
“Aubrey, talk to me.” Caylee smiled, “What are you thinking
about? Or, should I say, who?”
“Justin.”
“Ahh,
I see what’s going on.” Caylee grinned, “You don't want to be here because he asked you out but you had
to say no because you're going to be here.”
“That about sums it up, Cay.”
“Rough.”
Caylee sighed, “So…is it love, or what?”
“Don't be ridiculous; I barely
know him.”
“Well if thinking about him makes you smile, it’s awfully close to
that little four letter word.”
“I suppose.”
“You
never ever smiled like this when you were with Chad.”
“That isn't true.”
“Want
to bet?”
“No…”
“So, have you made a date
yet?”
“No, I told him I would call as soon as I got back to Manhattan.”
Caylee
nodded, “Very smart.”
“I thought so.”
“Wait,
have I met this guy?”
“You might have – he’s good friends with Emma.”
“Oh,
yeah. I remember him; I met him months ago at some after hours place…him and Emma are very chummy.”
“Are
they?”
“Yes…she is very taken with him.”
“You
spend more time with her lately than I do.”
Caylee shrugged gracefully; she was a ballerina
for a number of years but gave it up, “But you know her, she likes anything that likes her back.”
She
smiled, “That’s true.”
“Is he like Chad?”
“The
complete opposite of Chad.”
“That’s always good. Chad…he’s a nice
guy and all, but I think we all know he can be quite the drama queen.” Caylee said simply.
“Yes.”
“So
you really like this guy, huh?”
She laughed, “Yes. It’s strange.”
“Of
course it is.” Caylee said.
“He’s…he’s just the complete opposite
of Chad. It’s so…it’s so lovely.”
She laughed, “You are hopeless.”
Aubrey
laughed warmly, “Yes, I am.”
Manhattan
“You
are crazy about her.”
“Just a little.”
“You
can relax, I talked to her like three hours ago, she’s leaving Paris tomorrow morning.”
He
smiled.
“You’ve been waiting on pins and needles all week.”
“Pretty
much.”
“So what kind of date are you going to conjure up, Casanova?”
“Not
quite sure.”
“She likes Italian food.”
“Who
doesn’t?”
“Her favorite restaurant is Patsy’s.”
“Thanks.”
“And
she likes moonlit walks on the beach,” Emma laughed, “Just kidding.”
“I
thought that resembled bullshit.”
She giggled, “You like her an awful lot.”
“I
do?”
“Oh, yeah. Aubrey this, Aubrey that. You're itching to go out with her.”
“More
or less.”
“She didn’t want to go to Paris.”
“She
said that.”
“Her mother took back a deny RSVP…she was obligated.”
“Ahh.”
“Some
Princess in France’s engagement party or something…?”
“I see.”
“Can
I let you in on a little secret?”
“Sure.”
“Aubrey
will tell you she isn't in the market for a boyfriend.” Emma said, “She’ll feed you the entire blah blah
blah I don't need a boyfriend right now blah blah blah act…but you can't believe it, because she’s totally lying.”
“Okay…?”
“Aubrey
will try and ward you off…don't let her, okay? She’s just really vulnerable.”
“She
is?”
“Oh, yeah. A couple months ago she was a total annihilated mess.”
“Do
I want to know why?”
“She just broke up with this guy she was going with for four long
awful years…not that he was a bad guy…well, I’ll let her explain. She wouldn’t think it too respectable
for me to dish her dirt to you.”
“Good thinking; what a kind friend you are.”
She
laughed, “Yeah, right.”
“How long have you known her?”
“Since
high school. I went to Andover then transferred to St. Constance for high school.”
He nodded
slowly, “You wanna go to Marquee tonight?”
“Yeah, but only if you invite your
cute friend JC.”
“Yeah, sure whatever.” He said simply, “I’ll come
and get you at nine, entourage and all.”
“I hate going out with your entourage.”
“Well,
it comes with the package.” He said pointedly.
Emma rolled her eyes, “I’m not
too sweet on this package of yours.”
“Should I send flowers?”
“To
Aubrey?”
“Yeah.”
“That would be so sweet! Yes,
yes!” Emma cheered, “Absolutely. Her favorite flowers are white tulips.”
He smiled
and searched his cell phone’s contacts for the name of the florist he usually used. He placed an order for three dozen
white tulips and told the employee what to put on the card.
“That was flawless,” Emma
smiled, “Every girl loves flowers. Okay, so I have a new goal.”
“What is that?”
“To
find a boyfriend as good if not better than you,” She said, “because, let’s face it, you obviously know
how to treat a girl.”
He laughed, “It comes naturally to me; I can't help it.”
Aubrey
walked into her hotel suite after a rigorous day of shopping to find a vase of three dozen white tulips on her dining room
table.
She smiled and pulled the card from the flowers.
Thinking of
you,
Love, Justin
She smiled and dug around in her purse for her cell
phone. She found his number in her phone book and hit send.
“Hello?”
She
knew it was kind of late back in Manhattan, but she figured he had probably gone out or something. “Hi, it’s Aubrey.”
“Hi.”
He sounded genuinely happy to hear from her, “How are you?”
“I’m great.”
She said, “Thank you so much for the flowers.”
“Oh, you're welcome.”
“They're
beautiful. You didn’t have to send me flowers.” She smiled, “It was very thoughtful of you.”
“When
do you come back?”
“Tomorrow afternoon, Manhattan time.”
“Oh,
okay.” He said, “You’ll probably be jet lagged from your flight so do you want to do something the day after
tomorrow?”
“No, I’ll be okay for tomorrow night.” She said, “If you
want to, of course.”
“No, no, I definitely want to.” He said quickly, “Dinner
and the theater?”
“That sounds great.”
“Awesome.
Okay, well…I’ll call you tomorrow for directions to your place.”
“Okay.”
She agreed with a smile spread on her face, “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Alright.”
He said charmingly, “See you tomorrow.”
She smiled, “See you tomorrow.”
She
hung up the phone and tossed it on the king-sized bed. She laughed to herself as she removed her Sigerson Morrison flats and
collapsed on the couch.
Suddenly, she couldn’t wait to get back to New York.
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