Be My Valentine: The McClendon Holiday Series, Book 3

by Sean D. Young

  * * * * *

  The night had been perfect for Patrice. She could see all the little touches that Jacques had prepared just to put a smile on her face. It was all done with elegance and class down to the beautiful heart-shaped necklace he had given her. To say that she was surprised was an understatement.

  As they rode back to her place, Patrice kept looking at the Valentine’s Day card Jacques had given her. It really touched her when she read the words. She could tell that he’d taken his time and chose just the right card for her.

  She appreciated his efforts and everything he’d done to make the Allure fragrance a reality. Here she thought he went back to New York for good and he was up in the Big Apple negotiating a deal for her. She knew it must have been hard for him to agree to a contract with them. But just as she’d thought, Jacques was a businessman. She finally realized that events and circumstances could change your life forever in the blink of an eye.

  While lying back against the headrest, Patrice turned toward Jacques, staring at him as he drove home. “Thank you again,” she finally said. “I don’t know how to repay you for what you’ve helped me accomplish.”

  Jacques leaned his head slightly but kept his eye on the road. “I could think of a few things you could do.”

  Patrice smiled. “Would you stop it, please?”

  Jacques chuckled. “Well, baby, you asked me.”

  “I know and why I asked I don’t know.” She shook her head. “I’m starving,” she said.

  “You’re the one who didn’t eat her food.”

  “It was cold. We should have ordered after all your gifts and surprises.”

  “Right you are. Do you want to stop somewhere?”

  “Do you mind?”

  “Nope, what do you want?”

  “Can we stop and get some soup?”

  “I thought you said you were hungry.”

  Patrice punched Jacques playfully in the arm. “Let’s just go home.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Patrice had been busy the last couple of days, but neither she nor Jacques allowed it to consume them so much that they couldn’t spend time together. They’d made a vow to never let anything else come between them.

  With her personal life back on track, she called a meeting with her mother so that she could give her an overview of what was about to happen at Good Scents. She’d had lunch brought in so that she and her mother could spend quality time talking about what this new product would mean for the shop.

  Myra arrived right on time, dressed like she was ready to walk the runway. She wore a pair of black slacks that hugged her hips and a black turtleneck sweater and white cape style shawl over the top. Patrice smiled when she saw her mother walk into the room.

  “Momma, I’m so glad you’re here,” Patrice said as they hugged each other.

  “Treecie, the store looks wonderful and I even noticed you had the spa decorated for Valentine’s Day.”

  “Yes, Marla did that a while back. It’s been a while since you’ve been in the store.”

  “Oh okay,” Myra said, taking a seat at the table. She glanced over at the counter in the corner.

  “You ordered food for us?”

  “Yes and I invited Renee, Jennifer and Faith to come too.”

  Myra looked around. “Where are they?”

  “I’m sure they’ll be here, but this gives us a chance to talk,” Patrice said. “Do you remember when I told you that adding a fragrance to the line would take our business to the next level?”

  Myra nodded. “Yes, I remember.”

  “Jacques and I are going to start our own business.”

  Myra opened her mouth in surprise then closed it quickly. “That’s wonderful. When did you decide that?”

  “It was his idea,” she said.

  At that moment, the conference room door opened and her sisters all filed into the room. “Look who we found coming down the hall?” Renee said.

  Patrice was trying to look past them and in walked Jacques. “Oh, you did, huh?” Patrice said.

  Jacques walked in and went over to Myra and kissed her on the cheek. “Mrs. McClendon, it’s good to see you again.”

  “You too, Jacques. My daughter tells me you guys are going into business together.”

  “Yes, we are. We’ve got some things to work out, but we’re going to be creating fragrances,” Jacque answered.

  “What?” her sisters said in unison.

  Patrice stood. “Why don’t we get our plates and I’ll explain everything over lunch.”

  Jacques came over, planting a kiss on her lips. “Baby, I’ve got to go out but I’ll be back later.”

  “Okay.”

  Jacques waved at everyone. “Have a nice lunch, ladies.”

  “Bye, Jacques,” they all chorused.

  The ladies went over to the buffet where Patrice had all types of lunchtime goodies including chocolate fudge and walnut brownies.

  Once they were settled, Patrice gave them all the information she had and they were all excited about her new venture. The only piece they needed to figure out was the boutique. Patrice wasn’t worried because they always worked things out, so this would be no different. Her only fear was that her mother thought she was abandoning Good Scents. There had to be a way for everything to stay intact and Patrice was ready to do whatever she had to in order to make it a win-win situation for everyone.

  * * * * *

  The days seemed to fly by as they got closer to the launch. Patrice hadn’t realized how much it would take to ensure the success of the event. This morning Patrice received a call from the marketing department at Fairchild, telling her that one of the executives would be joining them sometime today to go over the logistics.

  Patrice had already started working with Renee on the information that Fairchild had emailed and sent through UPS. They had flyers, pluggers, key chains, and other giveaways with the Allure No. 6 logo on it. She was grateful that her sister was a wiz at marketing. Renee had been working over at Vine for so long. Patrice even whispered to her that she should go into business for herself.

  Three hours later, Madelyn Cole showed up at the boutique, rolling suitcase in hand. Fantasia showed her to Patrice’s office where she and Renee were working with the checklist for the event.

  Patrice stood when the short, stout, dark-skinned woman walked into the room. With her hand outstretched, Madelyn approached Patrice.

  “Madelyn Cole, Ms. McClendon.”

  Patrice shook her hand. “Please call me Patrice. It’s good to finally meet you in person, Ms. Cole.”

  “Madelyn, please.”

  Patrice pointed to Renee. “This is Renee McClendon, my marketing advisor.”

  Madelyn reached over and shook Renee’s hand as well. “Renee, it’s great to meet you.”

  “Nice to meet you as well,” Renee responded.

  “Madelyn, won’t you have a seat?” Patrice offered. “We were just going down the checklist that you sent me yesterday,” Patrice said.

  Madelyn sat in the chair next to Renee. She unzipped one of the outside pockets of the suitcase and pulled out her electronic tablet. “I wanted to be sure that you received everything that will be used for the launch.”

  “I don’t know what you guys sent out, but we received five boxes of pluggers and flyers, plus the key chains and the arm bracelets with the fragrance name on it,” Patrice said.

  “They were very nicely done,” Renee added.

  “Excellent,” Madelyn said, using her stylus to check the boxes on her tablet. “Can you tell me when Angela Simpson is flying in?”

  “Angela’s people called me and said she would be here a few days before the event. She’s just as excited about the launch as we are,” Renee said.

  “Will she be performing?”

  “Yes, s
he will be singing a medley of her songs,” Patrice confirmed.

  Madelyn swiped her finger across her tablet. “Angela did an awesome job when we completed the shoot for the print ads. We also got some great pictures of her with the perfume,” she said, bringing up the pictures on the device.

  “Wow, these are beautiful,” Patrice commented.

  “Great job,” Renee said.

  Madelyn grinned. “We’ll be running those on social media sites, women’s apparel sites and also momloggers sites.”

  “What is a momlogger?” Patrice wanted to know.

  “Moms who maintain blogs,” Renee said. “A lot of those women have large audiences and followers. That audience could yield some great results.”

  “Do you ladies think that the store is too small to have the event here?” Patrice asked.

  “No, I think that even if we spill out into the street, it will be okay.”

  Patrice looked at her sister. “Maybe we should find out from the city if we can block off the street for the event. I don’t want any surprises.”

  “Sure, we can do that,” Renee replied, scribbling in her notebook.

  “Do you know what happens every time a new Air Jordan or an Apple product comes out?” Madelyn asked.

  “They have lines for blocks of folks standing outside the store the night before, waiting. And while we might not have that, we’ll still have a huge crowd.”

  “Treecie, having people inside the store will give the other products exposure, thus creating more revenue for the aromatherapy business as well,” Renee mentioned.

  Patrice loved the way their conversation was going and Madelyn was a very down to earth person. She watched her sister Renee working with the executive and she couldn’t have been more proud. “Renee, do you have any questions?”

  “The only thing I could think of would be the décor for the launch. How are we going to get the shop ready?”

  “Carol from Unity Designs will be here next week to transform the shop. We’ll have a DJ, catered hors d’oeuvres and sparkling wine,” Madelyn explained.

  “I have the DJ and the caterer checked off on my list already,” Patrice said, enthusiastic about everything that was going on in her life. “Well, ladies, I think this is going to be a very successful launch.”

  Madelyn stood. “I can tell you that the results from our test audience were very favorable. I think we have a hit on our hands.”

  “What about the New York launch?” Patrice asked.

  “It will be two weeks after the one here in Chicago. We already have a venue secured. That one will be on a slightly larger scale because of the New York market.”

  “Wow, this has been my dream come true,” Patrice said. She couldn’t be happier.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  The day that both Jacques and Patrice had been waiting for had finally arrived. It was Valentine’s Day and the launch for their new fragrance Allure No. 6. Fantasia and Sheila had put together beautiful gift baskets of the aromatherapy oils, plus Patrice had come up with a couple of new scented soaps. They were put in red heart-shaped boxes with white ribbon or vice versa. The aroma girls would work the front counter as they normally would, but they’d have to be three times as fast because the line was around the block and it was only seven o’clock. The shop didn’t open until nine.

  The decorator arrived the night before, transforming the boutique into a place that Patrice hardly recognized. Wisps of gold and purple were everywhere along with Swarovski crystals giving the display cases more sparkle and shine than ever. Patrice couldn’t do anything but smile as she scanned the room. The crystal chandelier hung in places that she’d never thought about. It was such a royal-looking atmosphere.

  Patrice stood near the door, acting as greeter. She wanted to be the first person her mother saw when she entered the boutique. Patrice just needed to see the look on her mother’s face when she took in the full view of the space.

  Several minutes later, Myra and Russell came into the boutique. Right away Myra opened her arms to her daughter. “This is simply beautiful, Patrice. I’m so proud of you.”

  Her father embraced her as well and Patrice’s heart overflowed with love and appreciation for her parents.

  “Is there anything I can do?” Myra asked.

  “Not right now, but we might need you when the shop opens.”

  “Well, I’ll be here,” Myra said before she and Russell went to look around.

  Jacques walked into the boutique with a dozen red roses and something behind his back.

  “Happy Valentine’s Day, baby,” Jacques said, pulling her to him.

  Patrice was speechless and Jacques kissed her again. She took the lovely floral piece from him. “We’re celebrating it today, too? I thought we celebrated this morning,” she whispered.

  “We’re going to be celebrating all day,” Jacques said in return, bringing her body toward him with one hand.

  Patrice saw the smiles on the workers’ faces as they watched their exchange. She had never been this happy in her life. She tried to see what Jacques was hiding, but he kept moving around. “What is that behind your back?”

  Jacques grinned and she guessed. “Another gift for me, right?” she said, getting excited.

  Faith and Jennifer strolled into the boutique. “Are you guys ready to open the store?” Faith asked.

  Patrice was so happy to see her sisters. “Yes, in a couple of minutes. We’re waiting for Angela.”

  “I thought I saw one of those RVs pulling into the lot in the back,” Jennifer said.

  Patrice moved away from Jacques, but she turned back to look at him with his hand still behind his back. She wanted to get whatever he had so badly, but it would have to wait until later.

  She rushed to get her coat and Renee was in the office. She told her that Angela was in the lot, so they went out together.

  “It’s cold out here,” Renee said to Patrice.

  “Yes, it is. I think we should let those people inside. We should be ready, right?” Patrice asked Renee.

  “Yes, we were actually just waiting for Angela,” Renee replied as they approached the bus.

  The door opened and Angela stepped off. “Ladies,” she said with her arms outstretched.

  They hugged like they hadn’t seen each other in years.

  “Let’s get inside,” Renee suggested. They all started walking together and before they knew it Angela’s security was following closely behind them. Patrice could understand the reason for it, so it didn’t bother her, but when she looked over at Angela, she was frowning.

  Angela looked at the security guard and said, “It’s cool. I’m okay.”

  Patrice watched as the two men fell back, but didn’t go away. Inside, Angela greeted the rest of the staff along with Faith and Jennifer. Patrice opened the doors, letting customers inside and pretty soon, Good Scents was filled with people milling about.

  * * * * *

  During the event, Patrice overheard the customers talk about how sensual the Allure No. 6 fragrance was to them. Some people purchased more than two bottles, which made Patrice even happier. The gift boxes of aromatherapy had sold out in the first hour. Sheila continued to make them until they ran out of boxes while Fantasia assisted the customers.

  Patrice was elated to see Jacques’s sister Cecilia coming to support him. She understood very well what it meant for a sibling to be in your corner. She scanned the room to find hers. She knew her sister Faith had her own shop, but she came over to support her and it meant the world to Patrice.

  Angela performed two of her chart-topping hits and the crowd loved it. Patrice thought that people would be coming and going most of the day, but a lot of them stuck around. She suspected it was because of Angela, who mingled and took pictures with the crowd. They in turn posted them on social media sites.

 
By the time they were ending the event, Patrice had sold everything that wasn’t nailed down. People came out in droves to try their fragrance. Having Angela there all day added to the success of the event.

  After the last person paid for their purchases, the crew started cleaning up. Some of the workers’ family members were already there, so they got to work too. Patrice walked over to the DJ table and whispered in his ear. Because the front area of the boutique had already been cleared away, she wanted to use it as a dance floor. The DJ started to play the latest line dance song and people started rushing to the floor. Patrice and her sisters got out on the floor as well, following the moves of the person next to them. They were having so much fun.

  Patrice spotted Jacques standing in the corner talking to her father. She wondered why they were standing so close together, so she walked over to them.

  “What are you two talking about?”

  “Guy stuff,” Russell replied.

  Patrice smacked her lips. “Yeah, right, Daddy.”

  Russell shooed her away. “Don’t you have a party to throw?” her father asked.

  Patrice pointed at Jacques and turned away from them. A few minutes later, Faith and Jennifer joined her.

  “What are Daddy and Jacques talking about?” Jennifer asked.

  “That’s what I wanted to know,” Patrice said.

  Faith kissed her sister’s jaw. “Everything worked out. I told you that it would, Treecie.”

  Patrice nodded then hugged her sister. “You did, sissy. You did. Thank you.”

  “I just wanted you to know that I’m leaving. Michael and I are going to spend a quiet evening at home,” Faith said.

  “Yeah and I have to get home to my valentine,” Jennifer said.

  “What are you guys doing for this lover’s holiday?” Patrice asked her.

  “Without a baby sitter, I think we’re going to be home too, but it’s cool. I love snuggling up under Simeon.”

  “That’s because you’re spoiled,” Faith said.

  Patrice eyed both of them and realized that she now understood. The excitement of the day depended on the person. It wasn’t up to another person to make you happy; you had to do it for yourself.