“Well, I have it worse than you! My Adèle, she saw the pictures on the internet. I am now fini!”
Maddie groaned. “So we’re both fini.”
“No, no, I do not accept this. You will come to my hotel now. I have the Skype; you will explain to Adèle that it was all just in fun. She knows I am crazy when I drink. Tell her it was our silly way to make your lady jealous.”
“Why would Adèle believe me?”
“Ah chérie, if you could see the way your face alights when you describe your Elena! Adèle will see this too. I know it!”
Maddie snorted. “Well, there will be a lot less glowing now. Elena fired me an hour ago.”
There was a startled intake of breath. “Non!”
“Oh oui. She shredded me, then tossed me out. So, yeah. I doubt Adèle will see much more than my anger.”
“Was it because of the kiss? Oh Madeleine, I am sorry.” At least she sounded genuinely remorseful.
Maddie sighed. “No. Okay, it’s not like I’m doing anything productive here. I’ll come and try.”
“Merci, merci, merci!”
“Don’t thank me yet. My bad mood is hard to hide.”
“Madeleine, I will not forget this. So—I will see you soon?”
“Yeah, sure.”
* * *
Adèle turned out to be a rather severe-looking punk rocker, with electric-blue streaks in her black hair and cheekbones so fine they could cut glass. She was striking and cool rather than beautiful, but Maddie could see why Natalii was so taken with her. Right now, though, she was glaring through Natalii’s video link with blazing eyes.
“So you bring the pute to mock me?”
Maddie wasn’t sure exactly what a pute was, but given it was said in the same biting tone as Véronique’s “gutter wench” the previous night, she could guess.
“Ma chérie, non.” Natalii uttered a string of pleading French. After a few minutes, she turned to Maddie and gestured to the webcam, an expectant look on her face.
“Uh hi,” Maddie said to the stony face watching from Paris.
“So,” Adèle said in heavily accented English, “my Natalii claims all this was for fun. For small revenge to make your boss crazy by putting her assistant into the gossip papers. Because your boss sent so many of the flowers to Véronique.”
“Revenge?” Maddie shot a look at Natalii, who looked shamefaced and guilty. “You… All this was revenge?”
“Just a little.” Natalii did not meet her eye. “It was too tempting not to. But it was not the only reason—”
“And she claims she was drunk,” Adèle continued, “and that you were innocent as a kitten, because you are feeling great love for your boss.” She shot Maddie a sceptical look while misery etched Natalii’s features. Adèle leaned forward and stared hard. “So, Australian, make me believe it. Tell me what is this Elena Bartell to you?”
Maddie closed her eyes, trying to rewind to before the horrors of the morning and thought about all the times Elena had studied her with interest and made her heart beat faster. Before she cut it out and stomped on it and…shit, no…back to the day we met. Yeah.
She opened her eyes. “The first time I met Elena, she insulted me. She implied that I was badly dressed. She even threatened to fire me over it. But she did it in such a way, it made me want to know more about her. I’m not sure how she did that. I spent weeks watching her. I discovered what she was really like. She’s curious about things and people who intrigue her. And smart. She has a really dry sense of humour she doesn’t share often. She likes to hide behind her scary persona and pretend she’s a corporate machine. She’s so much more.”
Maddie paused as she thought about her, and a smile warmed her face. “And then one night we had this real conversation. She looked so interested. And…it meant a lot. After that, one chat became many chats, and it was all I could think about. I looked forward to it so much. Well, before…I came here. And now…”
She stopped again, as all the recent memories washed over her. “I know it’s ridiculous. I mean, I know she’s married and straight, but whenever she gave me glimpses of her real self, when we were alone and it was late, I felt special. Like she thought I was interesting enough to get to know. I started to believe that. But it was a mistake.”
Maddie rubbed her eyes and gave a bitter laugh. “One day, she called me in and tore me apart. She made me doubt who I was. She told me I wasn’t a journalist. I cared too much. Then she fired me and tossed me an assistant job instead. You’d think I would hate her for that. But no, even after everything, I still love to watch her at work. I love to watch her. I won’t get that again, though. Hell.” She choked on her words and stared at Adèle through tear-glazed eyes. “Did I mention Elena fired me today?”
Adèle peered back at her uncertainly.
Maddie shook her head. “I’m an idiot. She’s fired me twice now, but still, I can’t stop what I feel. I’ll miss her so much. Which is totally messed up. I told the truth, and she fired me for it. But all I can focus on is that I won’t see her ever again. What the hell is wrong with me? I must be a sadist or something. But you asked me what she is to me. Okay, when I think of her—Elena is beautiful and vicious and impressive and terrifying and charismatic and vindictive and a complete, utter hypocrite, and still even the thought of her drives me crazy.” She paused, as a new thought hit her.
Oh God! Maybe she really did love her. Oh. Hell.
Don’t let that be true.
Awareness mingled with surprise coursed through her, as she turned over that thought. There was a rapid-fire French conversation that seemed to go on forever, while Maddie sat in shock engrossed in her own fears. By the time tears were welling in Natalii’s eyes and words of sweet amour were being exchanged, Maddie was jolted out of her reverie, her cheeks blushing at having understood way more French than she wanted to.
They stopped talking, and Adèle pinned Maddie with a contemplative look. “Merci, Madeleine. You have saved us when you did not have to. You could have punished Natalii for hurting your life, but you did not. This is a noble act. And Natalii knows she will not be making so foolish a mistake again. I wish you well with your great amour.”
“I don’t think she’s that. After today, she hates me.”
Adèle smirked. “Ah, Madeleine, you give up too easily. For shame.” She waggled her finger, and her Skype screen closed down with a blurp.
Natalii looked at Maddie with profound relief. “You have done us a very great favour. So I will return it. I will give you something you want very much. Maman hates the media and would never grant you an interview. But I could ask her to give you the answer to one question. This I believe she would do. Okay?”
“Uh…” Maddie stared at her in astonishment.
“Just one,” Natalii repeated. She gave a rueful smile. “Maman is a hard woman, driven, and always about the control. I think that even her own daughter she has difficulty finding pride in, so I do not have much sway. I do not think it wise to ask for more. So, one question. You will want this, even so?”
