Filed to story: Watch Out, I’m The Lady Boss (Eleanor & Sebastian) Book PDF Free
“An old friend. She runs Titanova.”Whatever he saw in my face must’ve rattled him.
“What’s wrong?”
“What? Nothing.” My knees buckled. I reached blindly for a chair and sat down hard.
“So, she’s flying back to Skyline with you.”
“Yeah. I’ll have to cut my trip short.” He gave me a regretful look.
“It’s fine.” I forced a smile.
“I get it.”Of course I did.
Daniel had been perfect-for Catherine.
And he only ever had eyes for her.
Sebastian was perfect too. And now there was another woman. One he clearly cared about. One who only had to call, and he dropped everything to run to her.
The other shoe had finally dropped.
Yvaine and Sebastian had called it cold feet.
But it wasn’t that.
It wasn’t wedding nerves or commitment issues.
It was the gut-deep certainty that this wouldn’t last. That it was never meant to.
I didn’t know why. I just knew.
Perfect things didn’t happen to people like me.
Caroline and Franklin had been perfect parents for Catherine.
Daniel had been a perfect boyfriend for Catherine Sebastian would be a perfect husband for someone else.
Any minute now, I half expected Fabrizio to call and tell me his offer had been a misunderstanding, or a prank.
“Elean? Elean?”
“Huh?” I blinked. Sebastian was in front of me, his hands on my shoulders.
“You’re crying.” He brushed my cheek with his thumb. It came away wet.
“Am I?” I rubbed my eyes.
“Must be the fumes.”
“What fumes?”
“I was using a butane micro torch earlier. The vapour stings.” I pushed myself up.
“I need the loo.”I ducked into the bathroom, turned on the tap, and shoved my head under the cold water.
Sebastian’s voice floated in.
“You all right?”I straightened and looked at him.
“Fine.”The water masked my pale face, hid the red in my eyes.
He stared at me for a moment.
“If something’s bothering you, you can tell me.”
“I’m fine. Really.” I clung to the same lie about the fumes “It’s late. You should get some rest. You have a plane to catch.”
“You never told me how the dress fitting went.”I thought of the gown-silk crepe in ivory, draped off the shoulder with a structured bodice and a long, dramatic train, embroidered with tiny pearls and silver thread that shimmered when the light hit just right.
“It was perfect.”Too bad I wouldn’t get to wear it.
“If you cut any deeper, you’ll lose a finger.”
“What?” I looked up.
Fabrizio gently took the precision blade from my gloved hand.
“You’re distracted. Not a great headspace for working with sharp objects.”
“Sorry.” I stripped off the gloves and stood.
“Think I need some air.”
“Come to Caf? Loufoque with me. I’m dying for a noisette, and you could use a caffeine hit too.”
“Sure.”We stepped out of the workshop. Even with my mind elsewhere, something felt off.
“Where is everyone?” The open-plan office was quieter than usual, half the desks empty.
“On leave,” Fabrizio said.
“April is always slow. Most people use up their annual holiday now.”
“Oh,” I followed him into the lift.
“I’ve never seen you take a day off.”
“I’m the boss. Can’t afford those luxuries.” He smiled.
“But if you decide to stay, you can have mine. I’ve got months” worth piled up.”
“Still trying to poach me, huh?” I smiled back.
“Thanks, but I’ve got Elean Joie.”
“We could join forces.”
“Funny you say that. I’ve made up my mind-I’m signing the joint venture papers.”
“You are?” His head snapped round. His eyes lit up.
“That’s brilliant.”I nodded.
“I’d already decided. Just needed to shift some funds around.”The money Dominic had been transferring to me on Sebastian’s orders every month was still untouched, sitting in a separate account.
Now that I was preparing for a future without Sebastian, I was definitely not about to start using it.
Between my savings and income from the studio, I had enough to cover half the investment.
“This calls for a celebration,” Fabrizio said, veering off course and dragging me down a different street. Proper food. Not just coffee and croissants.”
“You’re paying.”
“Of course.” He found a table, ordered for both of us.
“I’ll send over the share purchase agreement this afternoon. Get a lawyer to look it over.”
“Will do.”He studied me.
“If I didn’t know you better, I’d think going into business with me had depressed you.”I forced a smile. It felt fake, so I gave up and shrugged.
“s not that. I’m just tired.”
“I’ve been working you too hard,” he said, sounding guilty.
“No, I love the work.” I couldn’t exactly tell him I had a feeling my engagement was circling the drain. So I said, “I’ll probably be spending more time in Paris. Might even move the studio here.”
“Yes!” he said, actually snapping his fingers. I’d never seen him do that.
“I wanted to bring it up, but figured I’d sound too eager. You’ve no idea how happy that makes me.”I raised my glass.
“Cheers.”At least Fabrizio’s offer was real, solid. Something I could build on.
Sebastian had been back in Skyline for two days. We’d called over the weekend, gone through the motions-” How was your day?”
“Did you eat?”
“Sleep well?”
“Goodnight.”But I could feel the performance on both ends.
He seemed distracted. Like something was sitting heavy on his mind.
A few times, he opened his mouth to speak. Then changed his mind.
He had that look-hesitant, guilty. Like someone about to say something they didn’t want to say.
I didn’t push him.
When he was ready, he’d tell me.
But the signs were all there. He’d stopped chasing me about the wedding dress. Never asked for my guest list. The honeymoon chat had gone cold.
Fabrizio, ever the gracious host, didn’t pry, but he must ve sensed something.
After a long lunch, we went back to the office.
I signed the share agreement and transferred the money Just like that, we were business partners.
I shoved thoughts of Sebastian into a mental drawer and got back to work, sketching out a new collection using plique-?-jour enamelling.
Work, work, work.
It was the only thing keeping me steady right now.