The Heartbreakers

Lenley

“CAN WE HAVE A PHOTOwith the founders of the museum before we start the official guided tour?” one of the journalists invited to the VIP opening event asks.

I leave Sarah’s side to walk next to a life size cut-out photo of Papà, where Mom and Kyle are standing.

I catch sight of Anna making her way toward us in my peripheral vision; she’s been following Jameson everywhere since we entered the museum.

I know I have no business being jealous, because it’s not like Jameson is my boyfriend or anything—despite our exclusivity agreement—but actually, the annoyed expression on Jameson’s face makes me feel better. He doesn’t like Anna but Darrius’ sister doesn’t seem to take a hint.

I make sure to step to the opposite side of where Anna is headed.

“Hey Len.” Darrius’ deep voice makes me turn but the smile dies on my face when I lock gazes with Kiara dangling from his arm in the tightest pantsuit I’ve ever seen. She’s taller than me right now, so her platform heels must be close to five inches.

“Can you all stand a little closer to each other?” The journalist asks. Kiara stands next to Darrius and I’m pushed closer to Kyle.

“I thought he said founders?” I ask, unable to bite my tongue.

Call me petty, but I really don’t want Kiara in all the official photos.

“Yeah, he did.” Kyle agrees. “Kiara, darling, do you mind stepping to the side? You’re part of the team and you’ll have your chance at a few photos, but the founders are just the DeLaurent and Penn families.”

You’d think that having worked for the Angels for a whole five minutes, Kiara would just understand that she isn’t included; but I’ve known my ex-best friend for years and I’m not surprised when she argues with the man who technically is her boss.

“But I’m part of the Penn family! I’m Darrius’ girlfriend!”

I can’t disguise my eye roll at her less than gracious reaction.

“What?” she snaps.

“Nothing,” I answer, trying to keep from raising my voice to match hers. “It’s just that you’ve been dating Darrius for a whole five minutes. I didn’t think that would automatically make you part of the family.”

Anna takes Kiara’s side and of course there’s no surprise there. “Butt out, Lenley! You’re just jealous that Darrius wouldn’t date you instead.”

She isn’t wrong, but that’s beside the point.

“Anna, don’t be rude.” Darrius intervenes, defending me like he’s always done every time his sister has been mean to me since I can remember.

He then looks at his girlfriend. “Kiki, we’ll take a few photos with just the two families. I promise I’ll make sure you’ll be in some of the best shots of the night. Just the two of us, babe. Ok?”

She’s immediately mollified by Darrius’ peace offer. “Ok, baby.” She coos, fussing with the lapel of Darrius’ tuxedo and kissing his lips before stepping to the side.

I stand rigidly between Darrius and Kyle, marginally relaxing only when my eyes meet Peyton’s.

The Devils’ captain is observing the scene leaning against a table a few feet away, behind the photographer.

After a few introductory speeches given by a very emotional Mom and Kyle, I’m asked to cut the ribbon in front of the double doors that lead from the foyer, where the evening started, into the actual museum.

The first section of the museum is about Papà’s beginnings in France.

Headphones are distributed to all the guests and each exhibit has a QR code that can be scanned with your phone to follow each section of the guided tour at your own leisure.

The first piece of the exhibit is a snowboard. I know exactly what the recorded tour says because I worked on it in the past couple of weeks. “Patrick Didier DeLaurent was born on June 15th 1980 in Paris, France. His family owned a property near a very popular resort on the Alps and his first love wasn’t skydiving but snowboarding.

Patrick competed at national level in the junior categories where he became French junior champion at the age of sixteen.

His national champion title caught the attention of several sportswear manufacturers and the film industry. Patrick was cast to play a small role in one of France’s most popular teen flicks franchises. The role involved acrobatic jumps for which stuntmen were hired. Patrick loved watching the stunts and began hanging around the stunt crew more and more during filming breaks. His stunt double was the one who introduced the young Patrick to BASE jumping and a love affair was born. That led Patrick to abandon competitive snowboarding to turn his attention to BASE jumping, skydiving and eventually wing suitflying—”

One of my earphones is taken away from my ear, interrupting the audio tour.