"I love her. Not gonna lie. Not beating about any bush. The woman's attractive and I think I want to spend the rest of my dying days with her." I sighed and leaned back in my chair.
"Aren't you going a little too far?" Dae-jung asked.
"Of course, not. Byeong-ho understands. Right?"
"Completely." Byeong-ho nodded. "What did she do yesterday that made you want to choke the living daylights out of her?"
"What did she do? What did she do!" Dae-jung slammed the book he was reading. "You all remember Blaire, right? She decided she was going to make an appearance and I warned Francesca about her. Even told her to model after the woman had left. She didn't listen. All she did was try to prove to Blaire that she could perfect too. It. Backfired."
"And you're mad, because she tried to prove a point?" My smile dropped.
"No. I'm mad because she tried to prove a point, failed, and punched the living daylights out of Blaire."
Byeong-ho and I shared a knowing look. Francesca did that? It made her even sexier. Sexier than her sisters who came by last night with food. I really want her.
"Oh?" Byeong-ho tried not to smile. "I mean...Blaire's always had it coming. If we weren't such nice mentors, she would have been kicked out of the program with multiple bruises."
"That doesn't give her the right to take matters into her own hands. Now we have to deal with lawsuits and her father's going to be pissed." Before we could console the guy, Dae-jung put his book down and left the office. Well...
"I mean she was wrong to do that," I said. "...Blaire did have it coming. If they bring up all the times she's bullied the hell out of past models, they might have a chance at coming out winners."
"I doubt Monsieur Délon is going to give her the satisfaction of a lawsuit."
"Maybe."
"Anywho, Young-ho, how are the dresses coming along?" Byeong-ho leaned back in his seat. "What's her name told me you were doing just fine."
"What's her name? Who are you talking about?" I suppressed a smirk.
"What's her name? Dang it. It's been a while since I last talked to her."
"Are you talking about Nicolette?"
"Yes! Her. I need more human interaction. Don't tell her I forgot her name."
"Oh, I won't." I smirked and picked up the book Dae-jung had been reading. "Remind me never to get on Dae's bad side."
"Why not?"
"Look at what the man's reading..."
I passed the book to Byeong-ho who only suppressed another smile and set the book down gently. Man, I never thought Dae-jung would be the guy to end our lives. Fashion week is just around the corner, so I know why he's getting so worked up. Francesca has only been training for a day and she's already causing trouble with retired models. Not the way I was hoping she'd go.
My alterations were going pretty great. I'd already had Francesca try on more than she had to last night. When she and her father retired for the night, I was still glued to one particular dress. I had assumed Cesca was more thick around the waist, but she proved me wrong. Now I have to pin it in more and make another dress by the end of the week.
"Have you been able to get that shipment from America?"
"...Which one?"
"Which one? The...the skirts."
"Oh, mhm. They're supposed to be here in the afternoon. Shouldn't be too long."
"Nice. Do you want to get lunch before going to see it?"
"Yeah. I want to go to that Thai food truck again. You can't get something that good anywhere else."
"I knew you'd like it. Everyone likes it."
"Says the Frenchman born in South Korea. Let's get it."
⚜⚜⚜⚜
We explored Paris more than I'd liked to this afternoon. Byeong-ho was late to receive the skirt shipment. Nicolette was anxious about the dress I was working on. I've never seen this side of her and I'd prefer it if she kept her thoughts to herself. I love the woman, I really do, but there's a fine line between wanting me to succeed and needing me to succeed. She's leaning more towards the needing part. If I can clearly remember, I only accepted coming back to France to help myself.
"Nic, calm down, please. I'm only ten minutes late," I said. "Where's Monsieur Délon? Is Francesca with him?"
"How would I know? After the stunt she pulled yesterday on her first day of training...I doubt he's letting her back in here."
"You're mad at her, too?" I shook my head. "You and Dae need to work on your--"
"Monsieur Lee, I don't tolerate violence of any kind. What Francesca did was dumb and now our company is taking the fall for it."
"It was either her or me. We both know Blaire deserved it. Here may not have been the place to do it, but at least she got what she deserved."
"Monsieur Lee, it was the wrong thing to do. Now all the models are going to follow in her footsteps. Lawsuits are not my strong suit."
"...Right. Maybe it's good for the company. Monsieur Délon is squeaky clean. Now the world is going to know he has a violent daughter. Not only does it make her look bad, many men are going to find it sexy."
"MONSIEUR LEE!"
I laughed and went over to my work. The dress had been left exactly the way I'd left it last night. The waist was pinned in with a belt waiting on the table beside it. Nicolette was fuming behind me. It's not like I said they'd attack her. If it had been Nicolette who had hit Blaire, I'd worship her like a goddess. Yes, violence is never the answer, but if it comes to it, I'll accept it.
"So where are we with Francesca's measurements?" I asked.
"I need her bust size." Nicolette handed me a safety pin. "Unless you want to do the measurement, sir."
"Really?"
"No. I knew you were a pervert!"
"Nic, I'm not a pervert. I was just kidding." I offered her a small smile. "Anyway, you shouldn't be angry with her. Francesca is an awesome woman. She's going to walk through the door ready to work with a smile on her face."
"Or Monsieur Délon is going to walk in and tell us Blaire dropped all charges." Nicolette gave me a look that said she was being sarcastic. "...Both of those would never happen."
Wow. She's very optimistic today.
For the next couple of hours, Nic and I busied ourselves with alterations and working on Cesca's new dress. Classical music played softly in the background while I sketched how the dresses would look on Francesca. Frustration creeped into my mind as I realized this was proving harder than I thought. No one had any pictures of her, and imagining how she looked did make me feel like a pervert. I'm not a pervert.
I switched to texting Byeong-ho about the shipments. He sent pictures and I can definitely say America was good for one thing. I tried talking to Dae-jung, but he wasn't having it. He claimed his work was more important than worrying about what Francesca had done. That made me laugh. While he wasn't a modeling instructor, making sure sales were going through was tough. And boring. Like crazy, mind muddling boring.
"You're so boring," Francesca said while leaning over my shoulder. "What are you working on?"
"...Your dress, silly," I responded absentmindedly. "Nic is ready to work on your measurements again if you're ready."
"Oh. Nice."
Francesca...Francesca? Francesca! My head snapped up and found her staring at me in front of my desk. How the--When did--My poor heart.
"What?" She frowned. "I'm here and ready to work, Monsieur Lee." Then smiled and hooked her fingers through the loops in her jeans.
"W-w-w-well I guess you can go over to her. I'll be over there in a minute."
While I was pretending to be busy with my sketch, the door opened to reveal Monsieur Délon. It didn't freak me out that we'd been talking about him just a couple of hours ago. He also had a smile on his face and seemed to be in a good mood. I stood up immediately and greeted him with a bow and a timid hello. What was he doing here?
"Monsieur Délon, do you need something from me?" I asked.
"No, no." He waved my comment away. "I just wanted to tell you that no one has to worry about the lawsuit anymore. Blaire dropped all charges against my daughter. The media's gonna have a field day with that."
"She did?"
"Yes. Of course. She doesn't work here anymore, so it's trespassing if she started something with my models and thought she could get away with it. How're the dresses coming along?"
I froze for half a second before picking up my sketches and rushing over to him. My hands were shaking as I passed them to him and waited for his response. Francesca was laughing with Nicolette on the other side of the office. They were supposed to be working!
"I expected nothing less from you, Young-ho," Monsieur Délon praised. "Come to dinner tonight."
"Really?" I exclaimed.
"Yes, Young-ho. My daughters were asking about you. It's been a while since your last visit."
"Well...I'll be there. Could you speak with Dae-jung? He seemed more than a little upset over what happened yesterday."
"I was just going to do that. Have a nice day, Young-ho. Don't forget about our meeting."
"I won't. Thank you, Monsieur Délon."