drink.
She took it and with ease gulped it down.
‘Wow, I was only kidding about how fast you had to take it down.’
‘I needed it. Even if you didn’t tell me I would’ve still done the same thing.’
He smiled and lifted his glass to her and she nodded. They buckled up as the pilot mentioned they would be landing soon. She wondered where they were. She looked out of the window but that didn’t tell her much about where they were. The tires hit the track and her stomach finally settled, she hated the take offs and landings.
‘Welcome to Paris,’ he said with a wide grin.
‘ Paris?’
‘Yes and we have a long day ahead.’
‘Will this be appropriate?’ she wondered about her dress.
‘You’re just perfect. I have a few business things I need to do but I won’t be long. My driver will drop you off on Rue Fauborg St Honore, it is Paris’s most famous shopping streets. You will enjoy the best of the best. Prada, Gucci, Jimmy Choo, you will love it.’ He beamed, this was his world.
‘Looking forward to it.’
‘And take this; I had this done specially for you.’ He handed her a platinum card.
‘I can’t take this.’
‘Yes you can and you will, now go wild.’ They got to the car and the driver opened the door. ‘Get something nice for tonight, I’m taking you out,’ he said. ‘I’ll meet you back at my hotel, my driver knows where that is.’ The door was shut and she was left alone with a driver in a foreign country.
Rhyland walked over to the other waiting car, she watched as he hopped in and drove away.
‘Bonjour,’ said the driver.
‘Sorry but I don’t speak French.’ She smiled tightly. She could’ve made more of an effort but she was upset. Upset that he was treating her like a business deal. Like something he came back to when he needed to.
She browsed the shops without much interest. If it was on her own accord it would’ve been fun but it wasn’t. She did find pleasure in Zara and Sephora, it was more of her league and made her feel a lot more relaxed. She felt a little intimidated by the other shops but she had to get something for the evening. She braced herself, pushed back her shoulders and hoped she would be able to pull it off.
At first the assistants just looked at her, but she decided to have fun with it. She spotted a light pink chiffon type dress. It was beautiful and asked to try it on. The assistant raised an eyebrow but soon noticed how serious she was that she took the dress and escorted her to the changing rooms.
The dress looked perfect all she needed was matching shoes. The shop assistants were whizzing back and forth with different styles of shoes and colours. It took a good ten pairs before she was satisfied.
‘Oui!’ said the assistant.
‘Yes! Yes that’s perfect.’
Both assistants clapped their hands relieved exchanging dialogue she could barley understand.
‘I’ll take these.’ She smiled and handed them everything.
All she did was hand over the card without flinching or hesitation. It felt good and even though she knew she could pay for the very items with her own money that she’d earned from him over the past months, she didn’t mind swiping the platinum card.
‘Merci,’ she said, the one and only word she’d remembered during her high school years.
They waved her goodbye and she was met by the driver who opened the door to the Bentley and took her straight to the hotel. Rhyland wasn’t back from his business meetings but there was a message for her to be ready by half seven. That gave her a good three hours to just relax and do nothing. She floated around the hotel out of interest, landed herself a massage, pedicure and manicure. By the time she got back to her room there was just enough time for a shower and to get ready.
She took one look at herself in the mirror and knew she’d made the right choice. The dress floated to the ground hiding the black glossy shoes. It was an off shoulder dress and complimented her skin