The Cherry Blossoms (5 page)

Daniella walked close to him; she tapped his chest with her index finger as she told him, “That my love is because you are a fashion magazine editor.  The designs I brought home are designs for my outfit.”

“I see.  Then, yes I would love to see them.”

“Do you really want to see them?”

“If you did not think I would like to see them, why did you bring them home for me to see?”

She giggled and then handed him the folder, “Pick out the design you think is best suited for me to wear to the show.”

Michal looked at the designs one at a time.  He then laid them onto the table to see them side by side.  After studying them closely, he rearranged the drawings.  He picked each one up and examined it again.  He laid the sketches out on the table in a different order.

“Michal, you’re killing me with all this suspense.”

“Je prends mon temps.  Don’t rush me into the wrong choice.”

Daniella did her best to be patient; however, it really wasn’t one of her finer virtues.  She went back into the kitchen to finish preparing dinner.  She peeked into the living room every other minute to see if Michal was ready for her.  It was getting harder to concentrate on her dinner.

“Daniella, I’ve made a selection.”

She rushed to the living room to see his choice.  “Which one did you choose?”

Michal pointed to a design she’d done her first year in Paris, “This is the one I would choose.”

Daniella was delighted, “What fabric would you favor?”

He held up the design and put up his thumb as if he was concentrating on the angle.  “I think a light wool camel.”

“Hmm, my business suit for the show is a light wool tan.  What do you think of Ivory?”

“Ivory would work.  What about your blouse?”

“Which one do you mean Michal?”

“Daniella, what do you mean by which one do I mean?  I don’t know what I mean anymore.  Ce que nous parlions ?”

Daniella doubled
over with laughter.  “I never know what you mean because you speak to me as if I understand French!”

Michal nodded his head and told her, “
Mon amour, and je n'oublie pas.”

Daniella hit him in the head with a sofa pillow, laughing hard enough that she almost choked.  “This is the last time I’m going to ask.  What color should my blouse be?”

He lifted his shoulders as if to say, what do I care?  “Je préférerais que vous ne portez pas une blouse.”

“I caught enough of that to know that you prefer that I not wear a blouse, am I right?”

“Daniella, you have a beautiful body.  You should show more of it.  Come to me, Mon chéri, I want see that beautiful body.”

Daniella giggled as she pulled off her sweater to expose her breasts to Michal.

Paris, France

Daniella wasn’t sure where March went; well, if the truth be told, she knew very well where it went.  She worked from early in the morning to near midnight preparing for the show.  She arrived at her office before dawn and when the sun rose, Daniella saw that the cherry trees at the base of the Eifel Tower were in full bloom.  She thought about her wonderful staff.  No one complained about the long days and short nights.  Her team’s hard work put Daniella two days ahead of schedule.  Mannequins were scattered throughout her shop’s lobby wearing the clothes she designed.  As Daniella slowly walked around the mannequins, she stopped at each one for a final look.  If they passed her inspection, she would release the staff for the day.  Grant would need to stay to go over the details one last time.

Grant had scheduled the models for a dress rehearsal in the shop for the next day.  It would be the last chance to see how well they walked.  She certainly did not expect them to walk as well as the professional models did.  Her concern was that they walk well enough for the judges to see her designs.  Most designers hired just one or two models for the show, which required time in the dressing room, to change into the next outfit.  Daniella couldn’t run the time risk, so she chose two models per outfit.  Not only would Daniella’s plan save time, but if one of the models got the last minute jitters, the second one would be able to walk the runway.

Grant had entered the shop and was standing next to her. She was so engrossed in her designs she didn’t know he was there until he spoke.

“Bonjour Daniella.”

Daniella chuckled, “I was so focused that I didn’t hear you come in.”

Grant handed her a fresh cup of coffee, “What do you think?”

She took the coffee as she told him, “I think these are good,
très bien.”

Daniella needed someone else’s opinion, so she asked the only person available to critique her designs. “Grant, I’ve walked through the mannequins twice this morning, would you please walk through them and give me your honest opinion?”

“Je serais ravi de Daniella.”  Grant walked slowly through the mannequins assessing each one.  He tilted his head to one side and placed a hand along his chin as he studied each.  Daniella followed him as if she were a puppy looking for a treat.  Grant walked through the mannequins a second time, and once again didn’t speak a word.

“Grant you’re killing me with suspense.  Say something.  Say anything.  If they suck tell me that you think they suck.”

“Daniella, Ils sont magnifiques.”

Daniella closed her eyes before she spoke.  “English Grant, tell me what you think in English.”

“I am so sorry; when I get excited you know that I revert to my native language.  I said they are magnificent.”

“Does that mean we’re ready?”

“I believe it does other than seeing them on real people.”

“What time do our models arrive tomorrow?”

“I asked them to be here no later than 9:00 tomorrow morning.  That would give Charlene time to make any last minute adjustments.”

“When the rest of the team arrives, please tell them that they have the day off.  Would you join me for lunch?”

Grant hesitated before answering.  Daniella had never asked him to join her for lunch.  Thoughts raced through his head checking and rechecking every detail for the show.  She would never be so bold as to terminate him two days before the biggest fashion show in all of France.  “Thank you for your generous offer.  Have I done something to offend you?”

“How could you think that?  I want to discuss some backup options for the show in case we’ve missed something.”

Daniella spent the morning drafting new designs.  If she did well in the show, it was likely the show would generate new design orders.  While her thinking was a bit premature, it never hurt anyone to be prepared.  Grant stuck his head into her office at 12:30.

“Daniella, shall we go for lunch?”

She chuckled, “I don’t know where the morning went.  Of course, let’s go.  It’s such a beautiful day, shall we walk?”

Before he answered, Grant thought to himself.
What is it the Americans say about people they know who aliens take away in spaceships? 
He could not remember what they said exactly, but Daniella was not behaving normally in his mind; she had never invited him to join her for lunch.

“Yes, that is a marvelous idea.  A walk in the fresh air would be nice.”

They stopped at a sidewalk café.  Daniella ordered a bottle of wine as she perused the menu.  Grant thought she had definitely gone over the edge ordering wine in the middle of the day.

“Grant, I think I’m going to order a salad so that I will fit in my own outfit, but please feel free to order whatever you like.”

“Merci, I believe I will have the quiche and a salad.”

Daniella saw that Grant was watching someone over her left shoulder.  When she turned to see who it was, she saw an attractive young man.  “Grant, do you know that young man you’ve been watching?”

“No, mademoiselle, I do not know him.”

“Well then, I tell you what, I’ll excuse myself to use the restroom.  He appears to be dining alone, so while I’m gone, go over and talk with him.”

Shocked by her suggestion he told her, “Daniella that would be most inappropriate on my part.”

“Has he been watching you?”

Grant’s cheeks turned deep red in color.  “Yes, he has.”

“Then if you’ll excuse me, I need to use the restroom.”

Daniella looked back to see that Grant did not need to approach the young man in question because as soon as she left the table, he rose from his chair, and walked to Grant.

On her way to the restroom, Daniella spied the love of her life dining at an indoor table.  When she approached his table, she saw that he was dining with a beautiful woman.  She thought nothing of it until she saw the disturbed look on Michal’s face.

Michal stammered as he stood to greet her, “Daniella, what a surprise.”

She wasn’t sure what to say to him after his alarming look.  “Grant and I are having lunch outside.”

Michal made no move to introduce her to the woman he was dining with, so she stuck her hand out and introduced herself, “Hello, I’m Daniella McPherson.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you Daniella, my name is Samanta Laroque.”

Michal said nothing.  He sat there with a dumfounded look on his face, so Daniella excused herself, “It was a pleasure to meet you as well.  Enjoy this glorious weather.”

She was fuming by the time she returned to her table.  Grant saw a disturbed look on her face, so he asked, “Daniella has something gone wrong?  You were so happy when you left to use the restroom and now you look angry.”

She sniggered, “Tell me about that young man.  Did he ask for your number?

Grant blushed, “Yes he did.  I invited him to the show.”

“Wonderful!  Grant, do you know a woman by the name of Samanta Laroque?”

As if the sunny day had suddenly turned gray with looming clouds, he answered Daniella, “Yes I do.  She is a designer with the House of Victoria.  Why do you ask?”

“She’s having lunch with Michal.”

“Then I am sure it is a business luncheon.”

Daniella could tell by the forlorn look on his face that there was more to the story, but she didn’t press him for more.  The show was more important to her than even Michal was.  She needed to go over the show details with Grant.  She’d deal with Michal and his lunch partner later.

When she and Grant were satisfied with the details, Daniella needed to use the restroom.  “Grant, can you wait for a few minutes while I use the restroom?”

“Of course I can.”  While he said nothing more, Grant knew finding Michal having lunch with another designer had unnerved her.  Michal tended to be a womanizer and was often seen with other women.  Grant had no idea what Daniella saw in him.  In his mind, she deserved a better man in her life, but it was not his place to tell her what he thought.  Grant thought the world of his boss.  She was prone to being cranky and of course, she was a perfectionist, but so was he, so they worked well together.  He sat quietly at the table thinking about Gaspard, the young man he had met today.

Daniella stole a quick glance at the table where Michal had been having lunch.  He and Samanta had moved on to dessert.  It looked like some sort of chocolate cake that they shared.  Samanta was giggling over something.  Daniella went to the ladies’ room without speaking to them.  She felt certain that Michal had seen her as she was leaving, but she refused to acknowledge his existence.  Grant was waiting at the table for her to return.

“Grant, please take a walk with me.”

When he stood, she laced her arm around his.  Grant wasn’t sure what she wanted, so he played along.  They rounded the corner at the end of the block when Daniella couldn’t hold in what she needed to say any longer.

“Grant, I adore our working together.”

“Je le fais aussi bien.”
  In his mind, he begged her not to ask about Michal. If that is the direction she took, he could not lie to her.  It was not because she was his boss it was because he truly liked her as a person.

“If I understood what you said, you agreed that you liked working with me.”

He chided her, “Daniella, we really must work on your French.”

Daniella giggled, “I’m sure that after living in France as long as I have
it’s quite annoying that I still don’t have a handle on the language.”

“Daniella, I feel there is something you want to say or perhaps a question you want to ask.  Please talk to me.  This talking in riddles could take all afternoon.”

As they strolled along the sidewalk, Daniella asked, “Grant, Michal is a womanizer, isn’t he?”

“I am not sure how to answer that.  Michal loves beautiful women.  To him they are like candy that he cannot resist.  Does that mean he does not have feelings for you?  It may not.  If you are asking a gay man for advice, I may not be the best choice.”

“Ah, Mon chéri, that may not be so.  Surely you have been in love and found that your lover took many lovers that you were not aware of.”

Grant nodded his head in agreement. 
“C'est plus vrai et Oui, il m'est arrivé.”