Coco Chanel Saved My Life (16 page)

“How do you like me in this suit?” He asked me at the door, while I put my arms around his neck and covered his face with kisses.

“
A man can wear whatever he wants. He will always remain a woman's accessory
.” I said laughing.

“Very kind of you!”

“It's a Coco Chanel quote! Don't be offended.”

“She must have known a lot about men,” he laughed too.

We sat on the sofa waiting for our guests. We had two glasses of the wine I used for cooking. It was our last night, and we spent a lot of time just looking at each other without saying anything.

Claudio arrived on time and immediately opened a bottle of the Barolo wine he brought to let it breathe. A few minutes later Emma arrived. She brought a delicious mille-feuilles cake and she was very excited to finally meet the man of my dreams.

“Hi, Emma,” Cristian said, kissing her on both cheeks.

“Hello, Cristian. I'm Rebecca's best friend and she has talked a lot about you. I couldn't wait to meet you!”

“Really? Did you talk a lot about me?” Cristian asked, amused.

“My best friend forgot to add that
she
talks too much!” I said, giving Emma the evil eye while she smiled at me, embarrassed.

We sat around the table and began to eat. Strangely my lasagna was pretty good and everybody had two helpings… I felt proud.

“Coco, you outdid yourself!” Claudio said, finishing the last bit of pasta on his plate.

At that moment my life seemed perfect. I looked at Cristian and my friends, and thought that this was my idea of happiness, even if it lasted just one second! I was lucky.

Then, maybe because of the good red wine I had drank, I began to fantasize about Cristian and me seriously being a couple. I dreamed of us drinking coffee in bed on Sunday morning, shopping for groceries together, spending rainy evenings cuddling, going out with friends, and sleeping every night in a tight embrace… While immersed in these thoughts, I suddenly realized that maybe I was falling in love again, and that it was a good thing that Cristian was going to leave the next day.

I gathered the plates and joined Emma, who stood near the sink checking her phone. She had been doing this for most of the evening. It wasn't her style.

I looked in her eyes, and asked: “are you ok?”

“Yes, Coco. I'm just checking my mail. And you?”

Good question. “I feel strange, Emma. I really like this guy and I don't know how to let him go tomorrow.”

“I told you that it wouldn't be easy. I know you too well.”

“You're right, but I had to do this, otherwise I would regret it forever.”

“I understand. However, being with Cristian has been good for you. It has been months since I've seen you like this. Look at you! You seem like a different person: cheerful, serene and much less angry.”

Yes, the actor who had come from the other side of the world had healed my broken heart. Now I shouldn't spoil everything by suffering again.

We moved to the living room and chatted a little longer until our friends left. The last night Cristian and I spent together was perfect. We both wanted to enjoy every minute that was left and we didn't sleep at all. When I saw the dawn light creeping through the bedroom window, I asked him if he wanted me to drive him to the airport.

“I would prefer not,” he said with a serious tone. “It would make things even more difficult. Let's say goodbye here, at your home. I want to remember you like this: naked, with your messed up hair, more beautiful than you've ever been before.”

I let him go, and immediately the house seemed terribly empty to me.

He had been here just long enough time to heal my heartbreak.

Monday morning, the day after Cristian left, I was very down. I missed him more than I had imagined. The most difficult thing was sleeping without him.

Once again I arrived at the office with dark circles under my eyes. They had become my signature look!

The atmosphere at the office was electric that morning. Everybody was ramped up with excitement. Our boss Paolo had important news, and had called all of us in for a meeting.

While waiting for the meeting to start, I sat at my desk to check e-mails. I was looking for something from Cristian, and I found a brief message. He said hello from Belgium, sending kisses and hugs.

I smiled a bittersweet smile.

At nine-thirty we all headed to the conference room on the second floor. Paolo was already there sitting with his faithful assistant on his right. For this occasion, he wore a dark suit and a thin black tie, instead of his usual uniform of jeans and a sweatshirt. I looked around and almost fainted! What was Etienne doing in an elegant suit and with a tired face sitting on Paolo's left? What was happening? Why was my heart racing? I had a terrible foreboding feeling and all of a sudden I broke out in a cold sweat.

“Welcome everybody!” Paolo said, while we were taking our seats. “Thank you for your presence and punctuality.”

Valentina took a seat close to me, and her strong, sugary perfume woke me from reverie.

An errand boy sitting with the boss? Why? Had the Russian revolution finally succeeded?

“You're all here because we have great news to tell you. As many of you already know, a few months ago we began a closer collaboration with our French partners. We have had great results and we are really satisfied.”

Behind Paolo there was a large illuminated screen where we could see a power point presentation of the company's financial performance and the number of events taking place. The graph's line went up and showed evident growth.

“Some of you have already met Etienne, the CEO of
Seven
– our French partner agency – and have had a chance to work with him…”

Had I understood correctly? I started to hyperventilate! Etienne, the blue-eyed
errand boy
, the guy I'd stolen the love letter from, was the CEO of
Seven
? One of the most important events agencies in Europe?

My head was spinning and I began to feel sick to my stomach.

Why didn't he tell me this? At that moment I wanted a magic wand to transform myself into some kind of microscopic organism! I needed a spell, right now! What the hell could I do? I felt like a mouse in a trap. Actually, more like a Neanderthal at a Nobel Prize convention!

Etienne was smiling at me, while my face was becoming redder and redder.

“Our agency has decided to give three weeks training experience in Paris to one of you.”

A buzz rose in the room. Everybody was excited at the idea of working in Paris at such a prestigious agency.

“We want to give each of you the chance to participate in this selection. Therefore, in the next few months we'll look closely at your work and productivity to see who among you will meet our expectations and go to Paris.”

I was still thinking about my mistake about Etienne. I was devastated. I felt definitely cheated, but at the same time I was excited and curious at the idea of Etienne inventing that story for me, only for me.

Then there was the competition. I would love to win, but I knew I didn't have a chance. There were several people more skilled than me who deserved to win this training program in Paris. I looked at Valentina. Her satisfied smile showed she felt victory was within her grasp and she didn't fear the competition with other colleagues.

“Let me be clear. We do not want to put you in any kind of competition. We only want to award the one person who best demonstrates his or her potential. So, please continue your work as always, and don't forget we are a team rowing in the same direction.” Paolo ended his speech.

We all burst into applause. The possibility of going to Paris was exciting for everybody.

Etienne stood up and took the podium. “It will be a pleasure to collaborate with you all. Don't forget we are here to work, but also to have fun. We are lucky, we do a very exciting job. Don't ever lose your enthusiasm and keep going as always. You're great. May the best person win!”

He was charismatic and self-confident. A true leader. How could I have thought he was an errand boy? I was an idiot, without hope for redemption!

*

I tried to forget the embarrassing memory of my bad faux pas with Etienne, at least until some brilliant idea of how to apologize would come to me. At the moment I could only focus on the good news of the day and mingle among my colleagues.

The hope of winning the training period in Paris will definitely improve employee performance, but I was also afraid that the competition would be fierce. Our bosses (the ex-errand boy included!) probably ignored the fact that some of us would be ready to tear our adversaries to pieces to win, and the blonde tiger, with her passion for gossiping and online dating, was one of them. It was
Hunger Games
in Milan!

However, the challenge was really appealing. I had always dreamed of working in Paris, and now someone was giving me the possibility – however remote – to do it!

Paolo left the room and then everybody else began to leave, whispering, laughing and calling one another to comment on the news.

Valentina looked at me: “You might as well go ahead and congratulate me!”

“For now I will just say good luck to you.” I replied.

I left her to mingle in the crowd of employees. I needed a moment to reflect, and think of how to deal with the
boss-errand boy
situation. I had to find a good strategy.

While I was walking, one of my heels got stuck in a seam of the carpet and I had a disastrous fall. Paolo, who was nearby, run to help me. “Are you ok?” he asked, trying to lift me up… I had hurt one of my knees, but it was nothing serious.

“Yes, I'm fine.” I answered taking his hand to get up. My heel had come completely unglued from my shoe and it was hard for me even to balance. “Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about my shoe!” I added, picking my heel up from the floor.

“Don't worry. I have a very strong glue that will solve the problem. You can find it in the right drawer of my desk.” Paolo said, winking at me.

I thanked him and limped towards his office. I found the glue and sat on the floor to try to fix my poor shoe. I loved those shoes, and didn't want to throw them away.

I was there sitting on the carpet waiting for the glue to dry, when someone entered the room, closing the door behind him. It was Etienne talking on his phone. He paced up and down the room, raising his voice. He spoke French and seemed upset. At some point I heard that he addressed the person he was talking to, as ‘Juliette.' So, he was on the phone with her, his fiancée. Again! Unwillingly, I was violating their privacy. And again I had the same, strange sensation I felt when I had found his love letter. It was as if I were there to listen to his conversation, as if someone had purposely placed me there, in that precise moment, to listen to his words. A strange destiny seemed to bond me to Etienne and Juliette, and I didn't know why.

The desk was a good hiding place, so Etienne didn't notice my presence. I didn't know what to do, I held my breath, hoping he would leave the room as soon as possible. After a few minutes, he ended his telephone conversation, but instead of leaving, he came close to the window that was behind Paolo's desk. I knew it was hopeless, but I prayed to become invisible. Etienne looked down and stared at me.

“What are you doing here?” He sounded irritated… and who could blame him!

“I'm sorry. I… I didn't want to eavesdrop. I broke my shoe and came here to get Paolo's glue to try to repair it. I'm really sorry.” Without catching my breath, I continued, “I'm so sorry I've mistaken you for an errand boy. I'm so silly, a stupid girl with her head in the clouds… Someone who doesn't know any better. Hopeless. I'm mortified and don't know how to apologize…”

“You're really funny,” he interrupted me, when I was trying to get up, “and yes, I'm not an errand boy, but eventually my work is not so different from bringing packages around the world.”

“You should have told me!” I thought that I had humiliated myself enough, and wanted to regain some dignity.

“I'm sorry, Coco. I didn't mean to tease you. You were so kind to me when you thought I was an errand boy. I liked it and you amused me.”

“I'm an idiot.”

“You should have seen your face in the conference room, when you realized it… you were so hilarious.”

“I don't think so. I almost fainted.”

“I was there ready to catch you!”

“Ha, ha… so funny. Monsieur Etienne, I think
you
should apologize to me.”

“Well, since you were just eavesdropping on my phone conversation, let's say we're even!”

Embarrassed I looked down. “I'm so sorry – again – for this. Really, I didn't want to…”

“Don't worry. I didn't think anyone was here. But you could have sat at the desk, you know? I don't think Paolo would have any objection about a young wedding planner sitting on his throne!”

As usual, I had made a fool of myself.

He sighed.

“Are you ok?” I asked him.

“Well… It was a difficult conversation.”

“Hmm… I didn't understand a word of what you were saying, I'm not fluent in French,” I lied.

“We only had a little argument. Nothing serious.”

“With someone important to you?”

He smiled and looked at me, first my eyes, then my hair.

“I like your hair cut. It looks good on you.”

Clever! Changing the subject. Obviously, he didn't want to talk about Juliette. I got it.

“Thank you…” I whispered.

“I like women with short hair. They are not afraid to be daring…” He brushed a loose strand of hair behind my ear and I felt a shiver down my spine.

I tried to be brave and held his gaze. He stared at me with his deep blue eyes.