Santino’s eyebrows rose when he spotted me. “When are we setting sail?”
I turned around myself to show him the look, knowing my butt looked spectacular in the hot pants. “I’m not someone who wants to follow a trend. I want to be the person who creates a trend. Clothes are more for me than a cover for my body. I want my looks to make a statement. They are a way to express myself.”
“And you’re trying to express your interest in hooking up with a sailor and live on a boat?”
Santino stood. He’d put an effort into his clothes too. The black chinos ended above his ankle and created a nice contrast to his white sneakers. Thankfully, he was wearing sneaker socks like any person with a hint of fashion sense did. The white simple shirt hugged his muscled chest in a very pleasing way and his jacket just made it perfect.
“You can swear like a sailor,” I said with a shrug. “Maybe it’s a message for you.”
Santino ignored the comment but I knew it would float around in his brain for a while. We headed out to a small restaurant near Sacre Coeur. Once we’d settled at the table, I felt a brief moment of worry that we wouldn’t have anything to talk about and it might become awkward, but Santino nodded toward a guy who wore very form-fitting chinos and sandals with plush golden fur lining plus matching golden socks. I remembered the shoes and socks from the Balenciaga runway show in the fall.
“Explain this to me.”
“Well,” I said thoughtfully as I took a sip from the champagne. “It’s bold.”
“He’s wearing sandals in winter, with socks. How can this be fashionable in anyone’s mind?”
“Fashion always tries to break rules, at least if it wants to be progressive. Not everything is there to last of course. But someone once said you only regret the things you didn’t do, and I suppose that goes for fashion too. As a designer, you don’t want to do what everyone has done before you. You want to be innovative and surprise people. That becomes harder and harder over the years, and especially with fashion being such a fast business.”
“If something has worked for years, why change it? Why not reinvent old fashion trends and not create new completely insane ones.”
“That’s what I’m hoping to do. Rethink old trends and try to create something new and exciting with secondhand pieces. At least, I hope that’ll work out. I don’t know what to expect.”
“You always do your thing, Anna. I doubt a French fashion professor can stop you. And from what I’ve seen you always look good with your secondhand pieces.”
“Thank you,” I said, surprised. “Many people think I’m crazy for loving to shop in secondhand stores because I could afford the most expensive pieces.”
“You could, but then you’d look like all the other rich girls. You always manage to stand out.”
I set down my glass with a smile. “Did we just manage to have a conversation without fighting?”
“Don’t get used to it. I’m sure we’ll find something to fight about soon enough.”
“I have to say, I enjoy both, the fighting and the talking.”
Santino regarded me for a moment and I couldn’t read his expression which made me unreasonably nervous.
The waiter arrived with our starter then, cutting our strange moment of peace short. We ate in silence, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence where you’re grasping for a topic to talk about and every scratch of the cutlery echoed painfully. This just felt cozy and nice, us both enjoying the delicious food and occasionally exchanging a look when someone with odd clothes caught our eyes. One cock of Santino’s brow said more than a thousand words, and when I answered with a roll of my eyes that gave him his answer.
After dinner, we headed to a bar that also had a club on the floor below. I didn’t think Santino would join me on the dance floor. Over the years he’d always avoided dancing but this time he followed me to the center of the club where the beat had taken hold of the crowd, turning dozens of bodies into one pulsing mass. “I thought dancing wasn’t part of your job description,” I shouted into Santino’s ear. That was one of his favorite phrases whenever I asked him to do something. Not part of my job description…
He bent down to answer over the music. “This is an extraordinary situation. Don’t get used to it.” His lips brushed my ear briefly and I shivered pleasantly. Our eyes met. We were close, too close to be socially acceptable in our world, but these rules were suspended for now.
I wondered if Santino realized it as well. That in this moment, he could be whoever he wanted to be, and not limit himself to being my bodyguard. He straightened, bringing a bit more distance between us, but not nearly as much as he would have in the past.