Running Away to London

by Geiza Stefany de Oliveira

  Rebekah asks me, catching Kim's curious gaze.

  “Yes, I am. Elliott tells me to enjoy more time with Mia, but I know what that girl wants with me and this is by no means a game where we are fake friends.”

  “Forget Rebekah, she'll keep running from Mia until she can't anymore.”

  I hate that! Even because I love being with Elliott and having fun with him, but fighting with his sister is putting everything to lose. It is so good to be around his arms, with our friends watching the typical comedy shows they love around here or even the sport they love.

  So the next few days I will balance well on my heels, walking around London in fascinating editorials. This time I use my boot Walter Steiger — Elliott's gift, in my apartment with a card — and so I coordinate everything until I see Mia. She uses that famous t-shirt "Karl Who?", Attracting stares wherever she goes.

  I drink my coffee knowing exactly what lies ahead on Wednesday night. Her excuse sounds good this time:

  “I'm out of the company for dinner, and you need some relaxation from work. A girls-only night is what I propose, what do you think?”

  I smile at her, propped up in a corner of the studio.

  “It's perfect, Mia! We'll meet later...”

  “Oh, how silly! We go now, my driver is already waiting for us.”

  “Mia, I have a very serious job to do so I'm sorry, but I can only find you later.”

  She almost twists, then smiles, and says goodbye to me. I have to take several deep breaths, but by no means will I run away. At 8 pm I am completely ready, in a fake fur coat and perfect heels for the occasion.

  Mia appears at the door of my office with a slightly shocked look. I smile without any shame. We both go silent as she rings on her cell phone all the time. Her huge legs are sticking out in a dress that is a very colorful Moschino elongated t-shirt.

  We stopped at Westminster, on the sidewalk, there is a drive of ladies leaving, nicely dressed, saying goodbye.

  “No, come back! We just arrived!”

  Mia begins by exclaiming, trying to get her aunts back; they give almost no reason for the girl who clings to my arm. We both, however, entered. The place is spotless, being evacuated from teacups, sweets, and canvas by professional staff. It looks like there was an auction here.

  Standing, a dark-haired lady with gray hair notices us entering. She is quite tall, wears a pink Chanel set and still wears rounded glasses. She looks us up and down very critically and looks a lot like Mia, especially Mrs. Pollentier.

  “I’m glad you arrived, Mia, the auction will start now!”

  It is the first tone of sarcasm I hear inside in a very serious face.

  “I’m sorry, Aunt Margot. Liz had to stay at work and...”

  “Liz, so are you in the pictures with my nephew?”

  She approaches me, even more critically.

  “Yes, ma'am.”

  “Liz was at my birthday party, aunt Margot.”

  That yacht party where I was surrounded by Elliott's cousins and could only dance with him later in the evening. To this day I try to forget about that party and pretend it did not happen because there were a few boring hours with the boring people in their family.

  “You're stunning in person.”

  No smile looks on your face.

  “Thank you, you are so generous.”

  “Oh, please! Aunt Margot is my mother gone?”

  Mia interrupts me when I was about to start the self-depreciation thing. Smile. Margot takes a deep breath before answering.

  “No, she's in the dining room with Jordan.”

  Suddenly, I feel like a hand squeezing my heart. Mia smiles broadly and stares at me. I try to smile back and I know I fail because I can not lie about what I really feel and at the moment is completely threatened.

  Chapter 25

  The clearest blue eyes of Audrey runs my face, but I look Jordan. She gives me the last look she had for me in Milan.

  “Oh, Liz! I'm glad you joined us. This is the first program of my sisters that you put together when it should be the fifth.”

  “You're right, Audrey!”

  “She's just like Elliott, mother because she only lives for work.”

  Mia pins me and then Jordan cuts the subject.

  “So you caught the most coveted bachelor in London!”

  She says, smiling at me. That's awesome!

  “I'm sorry I didn't introduce you, but this is Jordan, my friend, and Jordan this is Liz.”

  We both joined the table, but before we shook our hands. Her hand is so cold.

  “You said you had no company for tonight.”

  I tell Mia who smiles at me, confident.

  “Jordan is my company, Liz.”

  Audrey justifies me and I smile at her. Oh no! Does not Audrey want me in Elliott's life either? I feel completely out of place here.

  “The table will be served and I would love to have got a musician here to entertain us first.”

  Jordan raises his hand to speak as Margot sits down.

  “I mean a professional musician.”

  Margot concludes by making her withdraw.

  “So, Jordan. Tell us about your move to London.”

  Mia entices her while we are served... I can not believe this ridiculous scene is happening!”

  “I'm having a lot of work lately, mainly in London and Paris. I thought it best to rent a flat and move here now.”

  Margot makes a face at once, but Audrey and Mia look at her with admiration.

  “What about you, Liz? As far as I know, you are Brazilian. I went to Rio once, in 1989. I had just graduated in Letters and had not yet met my husband, it was fantastic.”

  I smile at Margot, really being welcomed by her.

  “Rio is a wonderful place with natural beauty, although it has problems, I am from another city where there is no beach.”

  Margot gapes at me.

  “How is this place?”

  Suddenly Margot wants to know all about Belo Horizonte, my hometown. She makes me so happy at this insane moment and makes me laugh when I talk about cheese bread.

  “Write a letter and send me the recipe we will make next holiday, please!”

  Mia takes a deep breath beside me as Audrey scowls in depreciation. Jordan, however, does not take his eyes off me.

  “Your parents live there, don't they? It should not be easy for you to go without seeing them. I would die if I didn't see my children.”

  I look at Mary, realizing she speaks to me. It's complicated to talk about it, especially with her.

  “I have got no contact with my father, Audrey, but I always see my mother when we can.”

  The look she gives me is completely shocked. Margot just looks at me seriously, reminds me a little of Elliott.

  “Unlike Jordan, isn't it? Your father spoils you all the time.”

  Mia tells Jordan that she laughs and that makes me terrible. My father was my best friend and much closer to me than my mother.

  “How much did it affect you, Liz? A parent is extremely important in a child's life.”

  Margot questions me.

  “It affected me a lot because the reason we no longer have got contact is because of his divorce from my mother. I came to London to try a new life with a lot of work after it happened. I have got succeeded and engaged, extremely.”

  Margot pays full attention to my every reaction. Audrey has rejected me completely and that's obvious, but Mia has a different look this time. I would think she understands me about my dad, after all, she had hers too and it was not easy. Silence dominates the table for a moment until Jordan opens his mouth.

  “Now I know where I know you from! When Elliott came to see me in Tirano, you were in the car with him.”

  Jordan finally makes me a strange look and she can make er with all look upon me with suspicion.

  “Yes, I was, because I was his assistant. Today I am the executive producer and as Mia said I work a lot.”

  Oh, what a c
omplicated night! Jordan shakes his head like a real victim. It seems like I seduced Elliott as an assistant.

  “How long have got you been together?”

  She asks me unscrupulously causing Margot to widen her eyes at her and Audrey looks up with a pout of boredom. Mia looks at me the same way since I talked about my father.

  “Less than a month ago, Jordan. We're just together, so...”

  “You are in love.”

  Margot watches with a critical eye.

  “I am, very much.”

  Holding a passionate smile is hard, but I try to do it in vain. Jordan hides her flushed face in the glass. Audrey and Mia still look the same.

  “Liz, what else do you want?”

  Mary asks me skeptically.

  “I want to work harder, definitely, because I love it, but I also want a family.”

  Jordan chokes at the same instant attracting everyone's eyes and Margot's laugh... Audrey and Mia laugh too, while Jordan turns redder and I have got no reaction. God, how am I going to tell Elliott about tonight? I hope he is having fun with Lewis.

  Kim will want to know every detail of tonight. I eat, careless. The more I talk the more they want to know about me. Jordan is so silent that she does not even look like she is at the table. I eagerly wait for dinner to end.

  “How many children?”

  Ask me, Margot.

  “Oh, I do not know. I think this conversation has to be reflected with the future dad.”

  “Elliott wants a couple, so we already have got an answer.”

  Jordan glances at Mia, but she completely ignores her by turning to me.

  “What about the dress?”

  Audrey asks me a little less bored.

  “I married a Dior dress, just like Audrey.”

  Margot smiles at her sister who smiles back.

  “Dior attracts me a lot, to be honest.”

  I confirm by making them smile at me.

  “It's still too early to talk about marriage, I think you should focus on your career as you have got been doing. No one here really knows who you are and men can be silly or cruel about every sort of woman there is in every single one neighborhood.”

  Jordan says finally. I look at her carelessly.

  “That’s for both us.”

  She looks at me in astonishment.

  “Oh, please look at me!”

  I smile at her confident and determined.

  “I'm looking.”

  Oh, her face burns! Margot drinks some of the wine and Audrey gets bored again. Mia, in turn, keeps the same look at me. God, I was working! The last year I was here in London I spent a lot of things, including the worst of loneliness. I listened to hundreds of advice from many people I met and lost touch about a lot in London, including men.

  Honestly, I have got a lot to do with my life. Elliott is a gentleman, a wonderful person. We are just getting to know each other. I did not want things to go that way about his family, but what could I expect? We are all so different, and I am still in another country. God, Elliott's ex-girlfriend is in front of me!

  Dinner ends with Audrey faking that the next dinner will be at her house. I call an Uber already under my coat, leave them behind, but not before telling Margot I will write him a letter. She smiles at me with some interest. I just want to thank her for the night.

  I think very seriously in the car. Mia just wanted to humiliate me by demonstrating in front of her family that I have got not got enough money to buy one of those canvases and help some charity work. It is true, I am still rebuilding my life and there is absolutely no fear in me for anything that tries to make me cry while I lie down. Tomorrow is another day when I will have got everything that interests me.

  Chapter 26

  The Pollentier Magazine just opened the doors and I already see Mia come into my room.

  “Good morning!”

  “Oh, Mia! It’s nice to see you again.”

  “I see. Anyway, I brought Jordan to see Elliott, and I came to see you.”

  So begins my day: the worst way possible.

  “Sit down! I bet Elliott will love the surprise.”

  I say and smile, she is still serious.

  “I know, Liz. I'm playing dirty with you and you know very well, but I was wrong about you.”

  “Really?”

  I secure in my pendant with more smile.

  “First of all, you messed up for me!”

  She turns red with a lot of anger.

  “Wake up girl, Benedict never really liked you.”

  “And who are you? You don't even know him!”

  “It's ok. So you're 18 years old, know more shoes than values, and is in love with a man whose family has deep interests in his parents' business.”

  She closes her eyes at me and I stay the same way in my chair.

  “My father got the part of this company that belonged to the Petit the wrong way, Liz. I think you will never understand this.”

  “Whatever! That doesn't change the fact that Benedict was using you. You should value yourself and not allow love to enter your heart until you have got wisdom about not giving yourself completely to someone who tells you just a few words of persuasion.”

  She stares at me, her chin shakes and in a few seconds, Mia will cry... oh! What else can I do for her?

  “I loved him, you know that?”

  “I know, but he wasn't with you for the right reasons so he'll get screwed.”

  She clenches her fists and lowers her head for a moment with a heavy expression on her face.

  “Will I ever forget him, Liz? That is the point and I will blame you again for this pain.”

  “Please, Mia! Life is so much more than you can imagine and there are good things that just depend on you. I see a beautiful girl who has amazing potentials! You are a Pollentier! You are unique and this is a learning phase. You will come out of this much stronger situation.

  She smiles at me smugly. Liz's posture gradually changes, and before long she looks at me with inspiration.

  “I'm so sorry about all this. I know you are a good person and have got good values.”

  “It's all right. Are you talking about Jordan?”

  “Yes, she still likes Elliott a lot and is my friend as my mother too.”

  For a moment I get mad at Elliott.

  “Mia, we're adults, and there's no point in getting into an awkward situation right now. Elliott and I know very well what we want.”

  She gives me a wistful look.

  “You are right. But I need to go now, unfortunately.”

  Mia makes my room a little embarrassed and the only thing I want to do is get my head on my job... God, why did Elliott make me believe his relationship with Jordan was only casual when she is the best friend of his family?

  I have got a lot to do and the hours go by. My appetite is gone, so I find myself a little more than 7 pm still moving me from one side to the other in my office about tomorrow's work until I hear a familiar voice.

  “You still working late, my dear.”

  I look back with a folder in my hand and see Elliott ready to leave.

  “I was hired for that too.”

  I say firm. He looks at me like the old days when we started working together.

  “What's wrong?”

  I leave the briefcase on the table and hold my waist clenching my gaze at the same time.

  “Maybe the fact that you lied to me about not dating Jordan in a formal relationship.”

  He gets closer and closer looking deep into my eyes.

  “What the hell is with you, Liz? I never lied about it!”

  I take a deep breath because I am annoyed at the way he talks to me. Elliott stops in front of my desk, he envelops me with his scent.

  “Then explain to me why she was doing in your aunt Margot's dining room, accompanying your mother yesterday?”

  “Oh, for God's sake!”

  He looks away indignantly and then I realize that Elliott did not know what w
as going on.

  “I'll talk to my mother, but don't you dare think I lied to you.”

  Elliott looks at me little calmer.

  “Alright, Elliott.”

  I take a deep breath looking for my bag.

  “Hey, let's eat something?”

  He simply smiles impacting me.

  “Yes, because now I'm hungry for two people.”

  Elliott laughs and holds me around the waist while I am still mad. I missed him all day! We go to his house with a private driver. The moment he closes the door, he holds me, keeping me off guard... as usual we kissed a little until hunger spoke louder and we have got to go to the kitchen. We sat at the counter, drinking wine and eating.

  “I love how much you focus on what matters, duchess. I love how you dedicate yourself to me to the point of feeling this jealousy.”

  He smiles pulling me into the living room with a glass of wine still in hand.

  “You're warm and passionate and vain.”

  Elliott holds me, standing in the middle of the room and I hear with a silly smile on his face.

  “You're unlike anything I've ever seen and I fell in love with everything that makes you who you are... my Brazilian girl.”

  He kisses me for a moment.

  “I just want you, Elliott...”

  I whisper somewhat rendered in his arms. I make him smile at me, Elliott kisses me one more time.

  “You are important to me, Duchess.”

  “I believe in you my Englishman.”

  I give him one of my best hugs and finally, we sit down.

  “I will be busy this week because there are many models in an editorial that I will work with.”

  I remember what Mia said about Jordan visiting Elliott. So that's why.

  “What models are involved?”

  I ask and he tells me the names of each one including Jordan. The agenda was given by him, but the choice of casting was not. I pay attention to Elliott, but I realize that the best thing I can do is put the work aside a bit now.

  “It will be amazing, prince.”

  I say after finishing my wine.

  “Just no more than Paris with you.”

  This time I do not hold my laughter.

  “Elliott, I won't go.”

  He gives me an incredulous look.