by Megan Bryce
Nicole slapped back with her words as she left, just like she’d left when she was fourteen because she didn’t know what else she could do.
“And when you OD at twenty-seven, you still won’t be part of that club, Colette. You have to be somebody to be in that club, not just the daughter of somebody.”
Eleven
Flynn did not put gel in his hair the next morning.
If under oath, he might have admitted to thinking about what he was putting on as he got dressed for work but he’d swear on a bible that was as far as it went.
He did make sure his underwear was presentable but that was just self-preservation. A guy had to be prepared to end up in Nicole Bissette’s office half naked, apparently.
And no bible would make him say that he’d glanced at a few well-dressed suits on the subway.
Suits. No, thanks. He didn’t ever want to be one.
He wore one because he had to. And yeah, he liked to think he wore it ironically like Nicole had said.
But he wouldn’t ever be a suit.
He wondered if there was a job out there where he didn’t even have to wear one but it fell right out of mind when he got to work to find it teeming with people.
Photographer and assistant setting up. Seamstresses putting finishing touches on clothing. A makeup artist trying to put lipstick on one of the models who was flapping her arms and arguing loudly with another model who was getting her long brown hair styled.
Nicole stood between them, the calm eye of the storm, and when she noticed him, her eyes traveled down to his shoes– okay, he might have dusted them off– and back up again to his hair.
She raised an eyebrow at him and he mouthed to her, “No gel. I’ll quit.”
Her lips twitched and then she shrugged one shoulder gallantly. He meandered close enough to hear her say, “You’re safe. Today.”
He nodded at the arguing models. “Anything I can fix?”
“Not unless you have a time machine that could go back ten minutes or so.”
Flynn patted his pockets. “Mmm, I left it in my other pants. Sorry.”
The model who was getting her hair done turned around to look at him.
Her eyes traveled down and then her eyes traveled back up, and what Flynn had found fun and slightly endearing from Nicole was aggressive and cold from her.
She said, “This is Flynn?”
The wild-haired model with the waving limbs stopped yelling and turned around, too.
She looked at him, her eyes zigzagging from left top to right bottom, and she said, “That’s too bad about the time machine. You could have stopped a perfectly good friendship from being flushed down the toilet.”
Nicole held out one hand. “Victoria.” And the other. “And Gia. My best friends, who agreed to model for me on super short notice.”
Victoria turned back around, choosing to study Flynn in the mirror. It wasn’t anymore pleasant an experience for him.
Gia turned her chair completely around and the makeup artist stifled a sigh, following her with her lipstick brush.
“Ex-best friend.”
Victoria stopped sizing up Flynn long enough to flick her eyes at Gia.
“Why are you taking it out on Nicole? I was the one who said it.”
Gia sniffed, ignoring Victoria, and Nicole was the one who answered.
“Because I was supposed to tell you that you were wrong. And you’re not.”
Gia sucked in a breath. “Oh, I hate you so much right now. And I am a size effing 12, not plus-sized!”
Flynn took a step back, realizing fairly quickly that this was a conversation he wanted no part of.
Nicole glanced at him and said calmly, “You’re scaring him.”
“Plus-sized!”
Victoria said, “I called you a plus-sized model. Anything above a 6 is considered plus-sized.”
Gia threw her hands in the air. “That. Is. Effed. Up!”
Flynn said, “I’m going to go see if I put my spare time machine in my closet.”
Nicole patted his arm, making Victoria’s eyes narrow and Gia sit back in her chair.
“I’ll call you if we need–” Nicole began and then the photographer’s assistant ran over, telling them they were ready for the first model.
Victoria rose, suddenly all business and forgetting about Flynn. Nicole walked around her, checking to make sure she was perfect, and then they walked over together, Victoria saying it had been awhile since she’d done modeling but she was sure it would come back to her.
Gia was quiet long enough for the makeup artist to finish and Flynn stood watching, trying to see in his mind’s eye how the final pictures would look on the website.
Gia interrupted his thinking.
“I’ve been friends with them for over a decade and you know what conclusion I’ve come to?” Flynn turned to her and she said, “Money effs you up. Lots of money effs you up lots.”
“Okay.”
“It makes you untrusting, closed. Mean, sometimes. Afraid, other times. You think everybody wants what you have, and you’re not wrong.”
Flynn had no idea where this conversation was going so he said okay again.
“You like her,” she said, more a universal observation than a question, and Flynn suddenly understood.
“Ohhhhh.” And Flynn couldn’t even really argue with her. He liked Nicole. But he was a man, so he considered the situation the same as breathing.
He was a man, he was alive, of course he liked her.
Gia raised an eyebrow at him. “She’s Nicole Bissette. She’s been hit on more times than you’ve woken up. Are you thinking about joining that long list?”
“Err. . .”
He hadn’t been thinking about it for real. Fantasizing about it, maybe, but she was Nicole Bissette.
“I think you should. You seem nice.”
He blinked, trying not to be embarrassed. And suddenly, once again, not knowing where this conversation was going.
“And if you’re not nice, Victoria will rip the skin from your bones so I don’t really have to worry about whether you really are nice or if you just seem that way.”
Flynn blinked again, looking over his shoulder at Victoria.
“Nicole’s been hit on a jillion gazillion times but never said yes. And she hasn’t had a boyfriend in. . .ever. . .so there you go. I give you my blessing. Hop on in there.”
“I have no idea what to say to that. Except maybe that I’d like to go to my closet.”
Gia ran her eyes up and down his poor suit again. “You ever seen the movie Hitch?”
“Yeah.”
“You should watch it again. Take some notes because you’re a regular guy. And I know what it’s like to be around royalty when you’re not. They’re just. . .from a different country. You’ve got to learn how to speak their language, Flynn. And I’d help you but I’m leaving Monday, so watch Hitch.”
He didn’t say anything more, didn’t want to give her anymore encouragement.
Didn’t want her to give him anymore encouragement.
Because he couldn’t ask out Nicole Bissette. She was his boss!
Flynn had carefully shuffled a couple feet away by the time Nicole and Victoria finished. They headed back to makeup and Gia jumped up from her chair.
Nicole inspected her outfit and as they walked away, Gia said again, “Plus-sized.”
“I didn’t call you that. I called you my best friend doing me a favor.”
“And how come you’re not up here modeling your own clothes?”
Before Flynn could hear her answer, he turned, hoping to make his escape, and found Victoria standing right behind him, her hands on her hips. She said, “Outfit change. Wanna watch?”
Flynn jerked back and Victoria smiled at him.
“Whatever Gia told you I’d do to you, believe it.”
Flynn pointed over her shoulder toward his closet. “I’m just gonna. . .”
“And after that, I’ll really get started.�
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“I’m not–”
“Interested in her?”
“Well–”
“Going to try anything?”
“Of course–”
“Hurt her?”
“No.”
Victoria continued to stare into his eyes, then she looked behind him.
“She likes you. She talks about you.”
Flynn whirled around to stare at Nicole before he’d even thought about it. Nicole met his eyes, raising her eyebrows at him.
When he just shook his head, she frowned at Victoria, then turned back to Gia, telling her to stop smiling.
Gia shook out her hair. “Plus-sized model, Nic. That means fat and happy.”
Flynn said softly, mostly to himself because he wasn’t sure he wanted Victoria to answer, “Did she say she liked me?”
Victoria breathed into his ear. “No. I’m saying it.”
“Why?”
“I can already tell that between the two of you, there’s no one to make the first move. So here’s a little push.”
Flynn looked again at Nicole’s face, not seeing any kind of liking on it then turned back around to face her friend. And take a big step back.
He said, “You just want me to make a fool of myself.”
Victoria smiled. “That does seem like something I’d do,” she said, and Flynn didn’t know why crazily beautiful women had to be all crazy.
She said, “But it’s hard to tell what Nicole likes because of her Resting Bitch Face.”
Flynn’s fists balled. “Hey!”
Victoria seemed amused. “What? We helped her perfect it. Stop. No. Not welcome.”
Nicole said right behind Flynn, “It doesn’t always work.”
He looked behind him at her face that was right now saying to Victoria: Stop. No. Not welcome.
He said, “It doesn’t?”
Nicole said to Victoria, “Go over there and get Gia to stop smiling so much.”
“Oh, it’ll be my pleasure.”
Flynn watched Victoria strut away and Nicole said softly, “Sorry. They’re overwhelming sometimes, I know.”
Flynn nodded. Overwhelming was one word for it.
He said, “I’m going to go hide in my closet until everyone is gone. If you need–”
Gia shouted at Victoria, “You need to apologize because if I leave while we’re fighting, we’ll never get over it!”
Nicole whirled around. “Leaving?”
Gia chewed on her upper lip. “I’m going to Florida.”
“No!”
“I need to. It’s my nonna. She’s getting older, you know, and I always said I would go back home after school and I never did and now she’s moving to Florida. They’re all moving to Florida and I promised.”
“Are you going to come back?”
Gia shrugged, sad. “I don’t know. I didn’t really find what I was looking for here. Maybe I’ll find it in Florida.”
The photographer raised his hands as if to say, hey, I’m working here, and Flynn shook his head at him. Do not get in the middle of this. Trust me.
“I’ve told you that you can come work for me,” Victoria said and Gia looked over at Flynn, wide-eyed.
“You’ve known us for a few minutes now. Can you think of anything worse for the universe than me working for Victoria?”
Flynn tried not to laugh, and absolutely refused to answer.
Nicole said, “You can come work for me then.”
Gia said softly, “I’m not looking for a job. . .or only a job. I’m looking for someplace I belong. New York isn’t it. But thanks for giving me something to laugh about when I miss you guys.”
Nicole sat down heavily. “You should have told us you were even thinking of leaving.”
“I know but I just kept hoping it wouldn’t come together. Nothing ever has before, why would this be any different?”
Victoria looked carefully at Nicole.
“This is probably a bad time to tell you that I’m going out to San Francisco for a while.”
Nicole gripped the arms of the chair and Gia said, “Angel of death?”
Victoria corrected her. “Angel of mercy.”
“Same thing.”
“Sometimes.”
Nicole said softly, “What about your father?”
“He’s coming with me. I’ve got an in-home nurse lined up.”
“You’re going to be gone a long time then.”
“This one needs me there, hands-on. The business is being run by a bunch of morons but they’ve got some great medical patents. If I can’t save the business, I’ll strip those out and sell ‘em to someone who knows what to do with them.”
Gia closed her eyes, shaking her head. “Why does anyone come to you as their angel investor?”
“Because I’m the best. And I can save them. And they’re desperate. Desperate people make bad deals.”
“So you take advantage of their desperation?”
“No. I make a good deal. If they were less stupid, they would make a better deal.”
“See?” Gia said to Flynn. “Effed up. It gets passed on in the blood.”
Victoria said, “Mm, says the woman going home to live with her family I assume?”
“Just for a little while. I’ve got a temporary job lined up. Fashion consultant.”
Nicole pushed herself from the chair, making her way back to her friends. “That’s code for personal shopper.”
“I can charge more if I use fashion consultant. I can charge even more because I’m a New York fashion consultant.”
Victoria smiled. “I always knew there was a reason I liked you. I’m glad we finally figured it out.” Gia returned the smile until Victoria added, “Did your cousin set it up for you?”
“Shut up. It was my sister-in-law.”
“Work those connections, Gia. I’m glad you’ve got someone to look out for you down there because the only way you made it through an all-girls school and New York City is you had us watching out for you.”
“I know. Why didn’t you let them eat me?”
“The world needs gummy bears.”
Gia put her arms around her friend, squeezing. “Aw. See? There is a heart in there.”
“Eh. Florida is going to ruin your hair.”
Nicole sniffed, joining in the hugfest. “It’s going to be terrible.”
And Gia wailed, “I know!”
The photographer looked through his lens at the three women hugging each other and said, “I can probably make this work.”
Twelve
Flynn watched Hitch.
In his closet, while putting the finishing touches on the store, all the while wondering if this movie was supposed to help him at all.
Because all he got from it was to be yourself but pretend to be someone else. And be sure to be confident about it.
Yeeaahhh.
Not that he wanted to date Nicole. . .
No, really. He didn’t.
He liked her. Maybe.
She was gorgeous. Absolutely.
But she was Nicole Bissette and he didn’t know how anyone could live their life front and center like she had to.
And she had beautiful crazy friends, let’s not forget that important fact.
But he was like a moth to a flame. He kept coming back to the idea and he couldn’t stay away from her and he wouldn’t be able to until she zapped him.
When he was as finished with the store as he could be without her final input, he knocked on her door lightly. Enjoying the anticipation of seeing her again and making it last as long as possible, and when she called out, he opened the door slowly.
She looked up from her desk and Flynn remembered what her friend had called that look of hers. Resting Bitch Face.
And okay, he could see it. And the point of it.
He just didn’t happen to see it right this minute, and his heart sped up.
“I’m done with the store. Just need you to okay it.”
“Why don�
�t you come show me. I need a break right now anyway.”
He came around her desk, leaning over to type in the URL and password.
Her scent floated up, into his head, and he thought, Don’t sniff her, dumbass.
He said gruffly, “Just let me know the things you’re not a hundred percent happy with.”
She took a moment to click links and try adding items to the cart.
“It’s beautiful. You’ve mimicked the website perfectly.” She looked over her shoulder at his clothes. “I think you have real style, I don’t know why you dress like that.”
“You’re not going to put gel in my hair again, are you?”
She sniffed, turning back around and pointing at the screen. “Let’s change this to prêt-à-porter.”
“Ready to wear?” She looked at him in surprise and he said, “It’s a movie. Can’t you just say ready to wear?”
“No. I’m French,” she said, then mimicked her friend from yesterday. “And I can charge more if it’s in French.”
“How are you French?”
“My mother was born in France? Ergo, French?”
“Ergo?” He shook his head in defeat. “I’ll give you French-American.”
She chuckled, still trying not to smile and saying, “French-American? What does that make you, Geek-American?”
He laughed, shaking his head. “I prefer Geekus Tyrannicus.”
“Geekus Tyrannicus?” She finally broke, her laugh escaping in little huffs, her smile lighting her entire face, her full lips opening slightly, and brown eyes warming.
Flynn’s breath caught and he just stared.
Nicole looked at the expression on his face and the smile disappeared. “Sorry.”
Flynn nodded mindlessly and tried restarting his brain. “Yeah.”
Nicole turned away. “Now you know why I don’t smile.”
He shook his head to clear it. “I can see how having all the men within your vicinity brainless would get old. I mean, you’re gorgeous all the time. But when you smile. . .”
“I know, I look like Nikita.”
And maybe that was it. Maybe having a living, breathing woman look at you just like the poster you’d had taped above your bed while growing up was what it was. Fantasy turned real.
