by Chloe Emile
Despite her many talents, perhaps he had hired her because he wanted to be close to her. He hadn’t realized it when he offered her the job, but now it seemed like it would've been a better idea to just ask her out.
As coworkers, there was a professional boundary that was getting trickier to cross. Mia was a rising star at LUX, and he'd heard that the other employees would not give her the time of day. The truth was, they should be jealous. She had more creativity in her pinkie than his top five employees combined, and the unfair part of it was that it came so naturally to her.
Mia was definitely an asset to his company, but he now realized that he would rather date her.
He chugged down the rest of the champagne. Between Mia and the Mademoiselle Montaigne presentation, he was nervous.
Didier had reservations about Mia's "guns and lingerie" idea. Then again, Didier was on the conservative side, being the rational businessman of their partnership. Luc had stayed in the office one night, weighing the pros and cons of the idea with him. Ultimately, he was able to convince Didier that they should take the risk. It was an outrageous idea, and advertising was all about taking risks. A lingerie campaign was supposed to be provocative, but this campaign would provoke the public in an unexpected way. The goal was to make their ideal customer smile, if not outright laugh out loud. Mia's idea achieved that, and he hoped Beth and her team would agree.
The risks his company had taken so far had all paid off, and they were the fastest-growing ad agency in Paris. He had to continue to trust his own instincts. Mia's idea was brilliant. Surely the Montaigne group had a sense of humor?
Relax, he told himself. Just relax. Everything's going to be fine.
He looked at Mia and smiled. Mia smiled back. She didn't seem to be nervous at all, and that calmed him.
She looks like America, Luc suddenly thought. He had traveled extensively throughout the States, notably a summer after his semester at a university in Utah, when he went on a road trip with two of his brothers. He saw small towns, the farms, the famous landmarks. Every city was the same—traffic problems for one—and every city had its own distinct personality.
On a visit to the western states, they'd driven through the Rocky Mountains. The view was majestic, the incredible green mountains carved into the landscape: frightening in a way, yet beautiful. He had wondered how early settlers had ever walked the passes through the mountains in the winter. The weather was lethally cold, and in the summer, unbearably hot.
This stunning landscape was emblematic of the nation. He was a fan of early western movies and had read a few western novels. After seeing the landscape in person, he felt a connection to the people and the country.
Still smiling to himself, he wondered if Mia would feel it was a compliment to be compared to the Rocky Mountains. She should. Mia was wild yet stable. Beautiful but a force to be reckoned with. She had the indomitable American spirit. She was even biracial, representing the nation. And she could throw a mean punch. He suppressed a chuckle. What would have dismayed him in other women only charmed him in Mia.
When the limousine stopped, he took a deep breath. He had to put thoughts of America and Mia—no matter what a fine distraction she was—to the side. Focus on the business. They had an important meeting to conquer. Thoughts of romance had to wait.
He was going to see Beth Montaigne. Beth. These thoughts of romance used to be centered on her. He should've been more excited to see her, but he was already excited, because Mia was by his side.
Chapter 11
"It looks like a French boudoir," Mia whispered to Luc when she stepped out of the elevator. "An extra-fancy one. For royalty."
They were on the fifth floor of Montaigne headquarters, and Mia was more than a little nervous, especially seeing the grandeur of the office. They might as well have been in a palace.
"This building actually used to be the Paris getaway for the princess of Monaco once upon a time," Luc said. "They kept a lot of the artwork and the original moldings."
"Unreal." Mia shook her head. Nothing in Seattle came close to this.
The office had modern furniture: stainless steel tables and black leather chairs. Juxtaposed against the powder-blue wallpaper, the ceiling frescos of cherubs in the clouds, and the crystal chandeliers, the space felt modern and seductive. It was the perfect decor for a classy French lingerie company.
Montaigne was the most popular lingerie brand in the nation. Mia had gone into the flagship store last Saturday afternoon with her French class friends, and they had drooled over the delicate French lace, the silk, the sexy bodices. The price tags made their jaws drop, but they had to admit that it was worth it for the piece of luxury. Kiko had walked away with a pink-and-black silk robe. Amanda had been tempted to get a hot-pink lingerie set, but on her yoga teacher's salary, it wasn't sensible. Mia had her eye on a black lace bra and panty set, but she wanted to save some money from her new job before she went splurging on tiny pieces of fabric.
After Didier spoke to the secretary at the front desk, two French businessmen in black suits as expensive and tailored as Luc’s and Didier's came out to greet them. Mia had worn her nicest dress and the only pair of heels she owned, black, which went with everything. She was aware, however, that nearly everything she owned came off a sales rack at Macy's, and her shoes were from T.J. Maxx. Everybody else, even the secretary, seemed to be wearing designer couture from head to toe.
The men escorted them into a room through two golden doors. A beautiful woman who looked like a blond goddess stood up to greet them. She was around Mia's age. However, she was more put together, and she looked as if she had just stepped out of a Vogue fashion photo shoot.
"Bonjour" was the only thing Mia understood as the blond beauty kissed Luc and Didier on the cheeks. She and Luc exchanged some more French that Mia couldn't understand before she turned to Mia and introduced herself with a surprisingly firm handshake.
"I'm Beth Montaigne." She spoke English with a sexy French accent. "Mia, I presume?"
"Yes. Nice to meet you."
Mia was surprised. Luc had told her that Beth Montaigne was the young heiress who was in charge of the Mademoiselle Montaigne line, but she had never expected her to be so beautiful. Why wasn't she a model or a celebrity? She looked like someone who would be in the tabloids.
Beth was at least five-ten, and she had a perfectly proportioned figure. Not supermodel skinny, but the type of thin with enough curves to make men drool. Her hair was long and straight, perfectly styled to frame her heart-shaped face. With blue eyes, full lips, skin as creamy as milk, and a neck adorned with diamonds, she was the poster girl of beauty and refinement.
And she was definitely dressed in clothes that were infinitely more expensive than Mia's. A cream Chanel boucle jacket trimmed with black, a perfectly crisp white shirt, and a black tweed pencil skirt—perhaps it was all Chanel. The cost of her outfit alone would probably pay for Mia's entire year's rent in Paris.
"Luc tells me that you've been in Paris for only a few weeks," Beth said. "How are you enjoying our city?"
Luc had talked about her with Beth? Mia wondered if that was a good thing.
"Yes," Mia replied. "I've always wanted to visit, and now that I'm here, I just think it's the most beautiful place, until I saw your office, that is."
Beth laughed graciously. Her laugh was like a music box. Mia watched the other men look at Beth with adoration. Luc was standing behind Mia, so she couldn't gauge his response to Beth. She was curious whether he was attracted to her, but she also couldn't bear to find out.
"Flattery will get you everywhere," Beth said. "Especially in Paris, where everyone is so keen on being negative."
"Oh, I haven't noticed," Mia said, half joking.
"Please, sit down." Beth gestured toward the seats on one side of the long stainless-steel table.
Mia, Luc, and Didier faced Beth and the other members of the board. Beth introduced each of them. Mia remembered their names quite easily. She'd been
trained well as a journalist to remember everything. There were six of them. Two of them were male and in their fifties. Three were women, ranging from late twenties to forties. The last member was a man in his mid-thirties.
Beth turned to her team. "Luc has requested that we speak English for the duration of this meeting. Hope that's not a problem."
"Not at all," Edgard, one of the two older gentlemen, said with a thick French accent. "Shall we get started?"
"Al right." Luc stood up. "I'm sure you've seen dozens of proposals in the past week for the Mademoiselle Montaigne line. Many of them were probably sleazy or outrageous, and not in a good way. How do I know this? Members of my team have come up with these same kinds of ideas. Not to cast a bad shadow on my team, but we as a society have come to expect the same kind of ads for lingerie. Blatant sexuality, the come-hither look, it’s all been done before. Considering that Madame Montaigne is all about sensuality and celebrating the woman's body, the younger-sister line should do the same. But younger doesn't equate to being wild and crass. We can still keep the elegance of the Montaigne brand while remaining respectful to women and being fun and edgy, as your team has requested. But instead of trying to explain it, why don't you take a look at a version of our idea yourself."
Luc passed them a file of the mockup ad campaigns that his team had drawn up.
Beth opened up the file first. Mia noticed the expensive gold bracelets adorning her slim wrists. There were two rings on her fingers, but none on her ring finger. It was surprising that some rich mogul hadn't proposed to her already. Or perhaps a few had, and she’d rejected them. Beth was a businesswoman, after all, but Mia wouldn't have been surprised if she had to beat men away with a stick.
Poker faced, Beth passed copies down to the other members on her team.
Adam, the man in his thirties, laughed immediately. Laughter was a good sign. Beth hadn’t laughed, though, and her opinion was the one that mattered most.
"'Keep Your Valuables Protected,'" Beth finally said. "Clever slogan."
"Yes," a brunette named Giselle remarked. "It certainly stands out."
"I don't know," Anton, the other older gentleman, said. "We're trying to sell lingerie, not guns. While guns are commonplace in countries like America, in France, we don't use them to sell women's underwear. It can be controversial."
"But controversy's not necessarily a bad thing, Anton," Giselle said. "It's an homage to classic movies, and I think the gun holsters are cute. So much so that I'm tempted to suggest we make them part of the line."
"That's precisely the problem," Anton said. "What's the message we're sending here? That women need guns to protect themselves from the big bad men out there?"
"That's ridiculous," Giselle said. "It's obviously not an antirape campaign. It's still doing what it's supposed to: sell lingerie. Plus, I think it's pretty funny, but I guess, as usual, Anton, you fail to see the humor in the situation."
"Let's put away the boxing gloves," Beth interjected. "Why don't we go over this campaign rationally?"
"You know where I stand," Anton said. "We know what sells lingerie. Sure, this campaign has a degree of creativity, but let's face it. Sex sells. The new lingerie line is sexier, so it makes sense to have a sexy campaign. Now, this is a major international campaign. We can't afford to make any mistakes. The stakes are incredibly high. We want to convince our customers that wearing our lingerie will make them irresistible to men. I'm not at all sure that this campaign conveys that message."
Beth nodded, taking Anton's opinion in. Which worried Mia. She had to speak up.
"With all due respect, women don’t always buy lingerie for men."
All heads turned to Mia. It was intimidating in that silent boardroom, but she willed herself to continue.
"When we use these beautiful models for advertising campaigns and turn them into pieces of meat, like so many companies do, we're doing them, and women in general, a huge disservice. Women buy lingerie for the same reasons they buy clothes. When they look good, they feel good. And if they happen to attract attention from the opposite sex, great. But if their main objective in life is to please men, their self-esteem must be in the gutter." Mia looked Beth in the eye. "It's bad enough that society has already conveyed this message loud and clear—that a woman is only as valuable as her looks and her body—so do we have to continue to perpetuate it? We could do something more revolutionary here. We can run a campaign that empowers women without being preachy. It's fun. Giselle is a woman, and she gets it. In fact, she's our target market."
Giselle beamed. "I do. I feel inspired by the ad. It's fresh. It's funny. It's powerful."
"Power," Mia stated. "That's what the gun symbolizes. It's just a symbol. It's about women taking back control."
"Anton," Giselle said. "I doubt that our customers are going to rush out and buy guns because they’re in a lingerie ad. Besides, even if they do, you need a license to use guns. They're not easily accessible here in Europe anyway."
"In the States, you have to take classes for gun safety," Mia added. "Although that's beside the point. The point is, women want to feel strong and confident, even if they don't know it yet. A lot of the young women are misguided these days from what's in the media. Victoria's Secret Angels are sexy and fun, but they’re missing humor. Women look at those models and think, they're perfect, and I don't measure up. You hired Gigi to be the face of your campaign for a reason. She's clever, with unique personal style, and she has a mind of her own. Women don't just relate to her because she's this perfect specimen. They love her because she's sassy and cool for not caring about public opinion. Funny enough, it's what endears her to the public. That's what a Mademoiselle Montaigne girl should be: cool, confident, with a lethal sense of humor. How many men wouldn't find that sexy?"
"A woman with a gun is certainly sexy," Adam said. "I'm a big James Bond fan, and I've always liked the Bond girls who knew how to handle a gun."
"If you put Gigi in a typical lingerie ad," Giselle said, "I agree that we'd be selling her short. Gigi has attitude. She has spunk. She'd be perfect for this idea."
"She's British, but I can tell you that she's extremely popular in the States, too," Mia said. "Americans also love the cool British style. I've seen Mademoiselle Montaigne's designs, and they're definitely suited to a warrior woman rather than a weak plaything. Beth, you're a powerful businesswoman yourself. You own the brand, and you're the line's ideal client. What do you think about it?"
Beth sat back in her chair. She scrutinized the ad for a few seconds. It felt to Mia like hours.
Mia turned to Luc and Didier. They looked as if they were holding their breath, waiting for her decision.
"I had reservations about this campaign at first," Beth said. "You're right, Luc, I've seen too many sleazy campaign proposals, so this one seemed tame in comparison. While I do have the same concerns as Anton with the gun issue, my first impression of the ad was amusement. It's empowering and feminine, without a blatant feminist agenda. It's still sexy. The slogan is tongue in cheek. I get the message that the model is telling the audience that she's in control of her body, and she respects herself." Beth tapped her perfectly manicured fingers on the table as she scrutinized the mock-up ad some more. A smile slowly broke out on her rouged lips. "I like it. It's sexy and edgy, while still being classy. It doesn't exploit women, and I like the pink gun. Well done."
Luc and Didier looked at each other.
Mia digested the information. "You mean..."
"Congratulations," Beth said. "I've chosen your campaign."
Chapter 12
Luc caught Mia as she lost her balance walking down the steps of the Montaigne building's front entrance.
"Whoa, are you okay?"
His arm automatically wrapped around her waist, steadying her balance. Her head leaned on his left shoulder momentarily, and he could smell the coconut scent of her shampoo.
"My legs suddenly turned into rubber," she said, letting out an embarrassed lau
gh. "It's like I forgot how to walk."
"It was pretty intense in there," Luc said.
"Maybe I was more nervous than I thought."
"Here we thought you were completely confident," Didier said with a grin.
"You thought I was confident?" She laughed. "I was a ball of nerves on the inside."
"You commanded the room," Luc said, "and got the others into a meaningful discussion. It was impressive."
"Don't worry," Didier added. "Luc and I have made a career out of faking it until we made it."
"I'm probably having postmeeting shell shock," Mia said.
"You definitely hid your nerves well," Luc said. "And won us the campaign. Your speech was amazing."
"Thanks." Mia beamed at him with that beautiful smile of hers that warmed him from the inside. "I think Beth would've approved the ad regardless. She seems to be a woman of good taste and sense."
"She certainly is." Didier gave Luc a knowing look, but Luc ignored it.
"Should we get a drink to celebrate?" Luc cut in before Didier could say anything more about Beth.
"I'd love to," Didier said, "but my wife's been mad at me for working overtime lately. We have a daughter at home who's going through the terrible twos."
"What's her name?" Mia asked.
"Lorraine. She sleeps early, so I better get going if I want to see her. You guys have fun. There's a nice cocktail bar down the street."
"I know the one," Luc said.
"Great. I'll take the limo first. Just call the driver when you're ready and he'll come back for you later on."
"Bonne soirée," Mia said. “À demain.”
"Learning a thing or two from those French classes?" Luc teased Mia as Didier got into the car.
"I'll teach you a thing or two," Mia teased back.
When the limo turned the corner, they were alone on the sidewalk. The sun was starting to set, casting a warm glow over them. Luc had the desire to take Mia into his arms and kiss her. Of course he restrained himself. He wasn't sure how Mia would feel about the impromptu gesture.
