by Jerilee Kaye
After breakfast, she asked him what his plans were.
“Do you know how to ski?”
When she was in high school, back when she was still rebellious, she used to sneak behind her parents back to go on ski trips. She told them she was going to the beach house of one of her friends for the weekend. But when they thought she bathed in the sun, she was actually rolling on the snow. They didn’t really care much about her to ask her why she didn’t have a tan when she got back home.
“I’m not a pro, but I can balance myself on a pair of skis.”
The thought of skiing again excited her. They took a trip down to a nearby ski mountain. Justin brought his own gear and he bought Adrienne new ones for herself.
“It’s temporary. Can we just rent for me?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Nope. Who knows? You might want to keep doing this. Consider this another treat. And besides, if you change your mind and decide not to breakup with that asshole boyfriend of yours at all, I want something in your apartment to remind you…that you deserve better than him.”
She stared up at him. “Justin…”
He silenced her with a kiss. “I know. No pressure. Do it when you’re most ready. I can wait.”
Justin helped her put on her new ski boots, helmet and goggles. They headed to a beginner’s slope to get her accustomed to skiing again, as it had been a long time since she did this. Pretty soon, she was getting the hang of it again. As they ventured into more challenging terrain, Adrienne felt her blood pumping into her system, and she screamed to her heart’s delight.
Justin always stayed close, making sure she was safe and he would reach her soon enough in case she tumbled or struggled.
When they came close to the station, Adrienne felt tired but extremely happy. She fell to her knees, causing Justin to ski faster to get to her. He reached her side the very first second.
He bent down. “Are you okay?”
She let go of her ski poles and then grabbed a handful of ice on her hands and threw it at Justin. He was caught unaware. She got out of her skis in a minute, standing up on her feet, and tried getting away from him, scooping another handful of snow.
“You’re dead!” he said, unfastening his skis.
Adrienne balled the snow on her hands and then directed a perfect aim at Justin. It hit him on the shoulder. She shrieked when she saw him coming for her. She turned around and tried to run away but he was agile, fast even though he was wrapped in layers of clothing and wearing a heavy pair of ski boots.
He caught her by the waist and lifted her off the ground. She struggled to free herself. She couldn’t help shrieking and laughing. Justin put her down and spun her around. He lifted her googles off her face and also took his off. He smiled at the rosy color on her face. Slowly, he leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the lips.
They deepened the kiss. Then suddenly they heard a camera clicking behind them.
They pulled away from each other and looked at the person who just interrupted their moment.
Adrienne saw a very good-looking guy with sparkling blue eyes, a shade almost similar to Justin’s. His blond hair was peeking out from under his helmet.
“This is a sight you don’t see every day,” the guy teased, seeming to be taunting them…particularly Justin. “Actually, it’s a sight you don’t see ever!”
“What are you doing here?” Justin asked in an annoyed tone.
The guy lifted the snowboard he held with his right arm.
“This is why the plane was unavailable yesterday? We were going to the same place, and you didn’t want to share, Just?” His eyes danced and he obviously succeeded in needling Justin. Then his eyes went to Adrienne. He studied her quickly and then he smiled. “Of course, now, I understand why.”
“Go away, Gian!” Justin said to the guy.
“You’re not even going to introduce us?” The guy feigned a shocked look on his face, enjoying Justin’s irritation.
Justin sighed. “Adrienne, Gian. Gian, Adrienne.” Then he turned to Gian. “Now, can you…evaporate?”
The guy didn’t back down at all. He took a step towards them. He looked at Adrienne. “Sorry. My cousin has better manners than that. Don’t get turned off.”
“Cousin?” Adrienne echoed, peering up at Justin.
“Now I’m thinking…how unfortunate, right?” Justin said, rolling his eyes.
Adrienne finally smiled. She extended her gloved hand to Gian and he shook it, although barely because his gloves were much thicker than hers.
Gian smiled at her. “I can see why he doesn’t go home frequently anymore. I can’t see what you see in him, though.”
“Nah! He’s a great guy…if he chooses to be,” Adrienne teased.
Justin pulled her closer to his side, and then he turned to Gian, “Now, can you leave us in peace?”
Gian took a step back. “Aww! I was hoping to show Adrienne my impressive moves on the board.”
“Not gonna happen.” Justin raised a brow at him.
“What’s the matter, Justin? Afraid of some competition?”
Justin narrowed his eyes. “Remind me again who taught you how not to fall on your ass in a halfpipe?”
“That’s what I’m talking about!” the guy jeered. “Come on, big cuz. Show your girl what you got.”
Adrienne actually smirked. She wanted to see Justin on a snowboard. She was curious and she felt sure Justin would be pretty good at everything he did.
“That would be interesting!” she announced.
Justin turned to her. “Really? You’re listening to this guy?”
She laughed. “It’s not like I present any sort of challenge to you on the slopes. Have fun. I’ll watch.”
Justin shook his head. He turned to Gian. “Just so you know, it’s rude to interrupt somebody’s date.”
“Just so you know, it’s not good to antagonize family when one of them runs into you while you’re on a date,” Gian responded evenly.
“One more word and I’m kicking you out of my house!”
Gian backed down, his eyes dancing as he pressed his lips together.
“See you on the pipe in fifteen minutes,” Justin said, then he pulled Adrienne with him.
Adrienne turned to Gian. “Good luck!”
“Oh, he’s the one who’s going to need it, sugar!” Gian then walked away.
“Unbelievably annoying!” Justin groaned.
Adrienne smiled up at him. “So…you seem close.”
“Sometimes, I think… too close! You know like one of those annoying little brothers?” Although he was groaning, Adrienne didn’t miss the affection that was disguised in his voice.
Then she remembered that he took a picture of them while they were kissing.
“He…took a snapshot.” She sounded a little worried.
“Don’t worry about it. The most he’ll do with it, is blackmail me into borrowing one of my cars for a week to impress one of the girls he’s dating.”
Half an hour later, Adrienne stood in one of the viewing decks overlooking the snowboarding halfpipes. Justin had arrived there with Gian.
She watched proudly as Justin took off from one side and went to the other side hanging mid-air for a few seconds. Then came Gian’s turn. He looked like he knew what he was doing, too.
Then both of them showed off their freestyle moves, somersaulting, spinning three hundred sixty degrees in the air. Adrienne took out her phone to take a video of Justin. He was amazing. He could totally go into one of those X-Games competitions. Gian seemed extremely good, too. But in the end, Adrienne understood exactly what Justin said. He had taught Gian those moves. He remained the better one on a snowboard.
When they finished, Adrienne met them at the station, smiling widely.
“So, did I totally kick his ass out there?” Gian asked her.
She laughed. “You were magnificent!” she said. Justin raised a brow at her. She smiled at him. “But he still owned you!”
Ju
stin laughed proudly and pulled her into a hug. “You’re saying that because you’re dating him,” Gian complained.
“Yeah. And he owns the transportation that got me here. So you can see that my hands are tied.” She winked at him.
Gian laughed. “Yeah. He owns the plane that got both of us here, so let’s give it to the guy.”
“You two are unbelievable,” Justin groaned. Then he added, “Come on. Coffee’s on me.”
Gian turned out to be actually funny and sweet. Adrienne learned that he was only twenty-two and still in college. He had a twin. Adrienne guessed that twins ran in Justin’s family.
That night, when they got back to the hotel, Adrienne showed Justin her video. He watched it happily.
“You’re really, really good,” she told him. “Do you do that a lot?”
“Whenever I have the time. I usually go snowboarding with my cousins at least once a month.”
“It looked dangerous.”
“It is. If you don’t know what you’re doing.” He grinned.
“Smug!” She rolled her eyes.
They made love again that night. Slowly, passionately. Here in this place, she felt like she belonged to Justin. He belonged to her. Here, in their own little world, where no one can stop them and nothing holds them back.
Justin never told her how he really felt about her but what right did she have to demand that? She couldn’t ask him to commit to her, when she can’t commit to him in the first place. He was single…and she was the one who was supposedly spoken for.
As Adrienne rested her head against Justin’s shoulder, she looked through the glass windows and watched the Northern Lights. She realized there that she didn’t know if he felt the same way about her, but she never would until she risked everything she had. Troy. Her mother’s respect. Her friends. She might end up losing them all. But all this freedom to love and be loved by Justin…had become something absolutely worth risking everything for.
12. Curiosus
Latin etymology of the word Curious meaning “inquiring eagerly” meddlesome or diligent.
Adrienne returned to the office on Tuesday. She felt confident and proud of herself. True, she still hadn’t figured out how the heck she would tell her friends about Justin, but other than that, everything was perfect.
Justin is perfect.
He deserved to be sought after, drooled upon, dreamt of, but not for the reasons they all believed. Not for his face, his body, his money, his cars, or his privilege. He was a total dream guy because he’s romantic and sweet… he’s wonderful inside and out.
Now, to tell my friends…
She figured she needed to break up with Troy first. And then tell her friends. And then her mother. In that order.
Whatever happened after that, she would have to take it. She’d gone too far. She owed it to Justin. She owed it to herself.
Jada called her to her office.
“Adrienne, since you took a long weekend, I trust you are more well-rested than I am,” Jada started. Adrienne rolled her eyes. “So, you have to make up for my lack of sleep yesterday by attending this meeting with a potential advertiser. This is going to be a huge account.”
“Don’t we have a department that handles that?” Adrienne asked.
“Yes. But I don’t want them to mess it up. I want to send my best weapon to make sure that we bag this account. Plus, the decision makers are within your age group. I’m sure you can better reach out to them.”
Adrienne sighed. “All right. What time are they coming?”
“Unfortunately, they would only be available at seven tonight. You have a dinner meeting with the representatives of AB Wellness at The Sixth in Lever Du Soleil Hotel.”
She blinked back. “ABW? That’s good. What rates do you want me to give to them?”
“Standard less thirty.”
“Thirty?” she asked in surprise. Their magazine enjoyed a great reputation, and, as a well-known venue for advertising, companies almost fought for an ad space. Blush typically only gave their best customers a maximum ten percent discount.
“I want this account, Adrienne. Their health clubs are booming and that’s the direction we want to go to. They will make us look good.”
Adrienne stood up from her seat and turned to leave. “I’ll keep you posted.”
She received a message from Justin as soon as she got back to her office.
Justin: Dinner tonight, honey?
She sighed glumly. She wants nothing more than spend the evening with him.
She replied: Can’t. Working again. Meeting some advertisers at Lever Du Soleil. Jada’s job—assigned to me. Her punishment for me taking the day off yesterday.
Justin: Sorry, hon. My fault she did that. I’ll see you after your meeting. I promise to make up for your evening. ;-)
She smiled. She felt sorrier that she couldn’t have dinner with him instead.
At seven o’clock she arrived at The Sixth, a restaurant in the five-star hotel, Lever Du Soleil. “I have a meeting with somebody from AB Wellness,” she told a reception attendant.
A restaurant hostess led Adrienne to her table, which surprisingly was only set for two.
“Aren’t there going to be more people coming?”
“We were only told to arrange for two,” the waiter said. “Can I offer you something to drink?”
“Okay. White wine please.”
“Right away, ma’am.”
She reviewed her notes as she waited.
After five minutes, she heard somebody in front of her say, “I’m sorry, I’m late.”
She looked up and found herself staring at a pair of aquamarine eyes. Eyes she’d seen before. She stood up from her seat and stared at the man dressed in a dark gray suit that screamed luxury with every thread. He was smiling at her, showing the deep dimples on either side of his lips. His reddish brown hair was not disheveled this time. It was combed perfectly in place, which made him look professional and formidable, far from the seemingly fun and carefree guy she bumped into a few days ago.
He extended his hand to her. “We meet again, Miss Miller.”
It took her a moment to speak. What was his name? She was embarrassed to admit that she forgot.
He grinned. “You forgot my name, didn’t you?” he said in a teasing tone, catching her off-guard. She was about to say something but immediately he added, “Jin Starck.”
She shook his hand. “I’m sorry.”
“That’s fine. It’s a first for me, though.” That should have made him sound cocky, but the tone he used made it easy for Adrienne to pass it up as a joke. “Please, have a seat.”
“I was… expecting to meet with some people from ABW.”
Jin nodded. “Yes. Me.”
“But…” Jin hardly looked like a guy who worked for a wellness spa.
“Were you expecting a bouncer-type muscle man? Or perhaps a healthy looking female?”
Yes!
But Adrienne simply said, “Sorry. Jada didn’t mention the names of who I was meeting today. And I also thought that I would meet more than one.”
“Well, my team is still in Paris,” he said. “I’m already here on business, so I decided why don’t I just meet with you instead.”
She nodded. She didn’t miss the words, “my team”. Jin Starck must be the head of their marketing department or something. And Adrienne couldn’t help thinking that he looked so young.
She remembered that Jada was dead-set about getting this account. She would have her head if she messed this up just because she was caught unprepared by the guy she was meeting.
“So, I was told you were looking to put an ad campaign with us.”
Jin nodded. “Yes. Our two lines of Health and Wellness services, Rain and Soleil are looking more into cosmopolitan men and women. We’d like to get it in line with this market with our set of elite services.”
They were interrupted by the waiter who took their orders.
Afterwards, Jin proceeded wi
th the specifics. In fairness to him, he looked like he knew what he was talking about. He looked young, but obviously, he was smart and he came prepared.
Adrienne discussed his options and what Blush could offer to them. She even threw in a first-hand feature and review of their services in one of her columns, to which Jin Starck seemed pleased to obtain.
When Adrienne gave him the standard rate, he didn’t seem to flinch at all. Instead, he replied, “Draw up the contract, send it to my office and my secretary will return it to you with my signature.”
That’s it? He is signing up without negotiating the amount?
“Um, all right. I would include the payment terms along with our offer.”
“I can pay via telegraphic transfer or check,” he said. “No need for terms. I can pay upfront if that’s what you require.”
Now, he didn’t sound like he just heads Marketing, unless his other job is also Head of Finance.
“So, it’s settled? Do I get your verbal confirmation then?” Adrienne asked carefully.
Jin grinned. “You can email me and you’ll get an email confirmation if your boss requires it from you.”
Adrienne smiled. “No. It’s just that, it will be a privilege for us to secure this account,” she said honestly. “She would want to ensure that the deal is a go, and we will make a space for you in next month’s release. There are other ads in line. Needless to say, she would kill me if I reserved a spot and then the client backed out.”
Jin nodded. “It’s a done deal, Miss Miller. I can assure you that.”
What if he has no right to decide?
“And of course, your word is good enough because you’re…” she trailed off, subtly asking him to supply her the information she needed. She realized that even his business card didn’t state his position.
Jin smiled at her mischievously, obviously, realizing what she was getting at. “Because I’m Jin Starck,” he said, much to Adrienne’s frustration.
He watched her expression for a while. Then as if he decided to end her agony, he said, “Miss Miller, ABW is a subsidiary of Starck Hoteliers. So I think, you can tell your boss that my word is good to go.”
