Her frequent visits to Paradijs were a perfect example of her stinginess. Club membership included monthly consumables that she was determined to completely use up, and since she needed to kill some time as it was...
Julian: Where are you?
Fleur: mtg
Julian: Your driver has refused to tell me your whereabouts.
Fleur: sop
Julian: Will you stop it with the three-letter replies?
Fleur: oki
Julian: Cute. Very cute, but that just earned you a hard slap on the ass once you're through with your period.
Julian: Where are you?
Fleur: sry. txt lingo only.
Julian: WRU?
Fleur burst out laughing even as it caused her abdominal muscles to clench, and she knew it would only be a matter of time before her period pains came back in full force. She couldn't believe Julian had actually done as she suggested, and she was about to type back a reply when Herbert, one of Paradijs' night shift managers, came back to her with an eager smile.
"We've just received word that our retail floor is ready to welcome our diamond members, Ms. de Konigh. Would you like to be one of the first to see our line-up?
The younger man had such an excited look on his face that she couldn't bear to turn him down. "It would be my honor and privilege, Herbs." She reluctantly dropped her phone back into the pocket of her dress and mentally apologized to Julian. I'll make it up to you, my handsome devil.
Herbert then led her up to the fourth floor, which Paradijs had dedicated in its entirety to a mix of luxury brands and independently-owned boutiques. As with the rest of the establishment, everything here was also decked out, and the speakers were already playing Mariah Carey's beloved Christmas classic.
Another member approached Herbert with a question, and Fleur assured the younger man she would be fine on her own.
Fresh trees adorned with colorful lights were everywhere, their ornaments ranging from Christmas stockings hand-embroidered by local artists to gold-plated snowflakes studded with pearls, crystals, and semi-precious stones.
The scent of pine was in the air, and mistletoes hung in just about every doorway there was. She definitely needed to drag Julian here, Fleur thought gleefully, and from there she would smother him with—-
"Kisses!"
Fleur ended up blurting the word out loud when she saw Philippe DeRose coming from the opposite direction, and oh shit, it seemed that he had heard her, too, with the way his lips were slowly curving into a smirk.
She saw his gaze turn admiring as he surveyed her from head to toe, and Fleur fought against the urge to cover the cleavage exposed by her wraparound dress when she saw Philippe's jade-green eyes linger for a moment on her tits.
Fleur could practically hear Julian snarling 'I told you so' in her mind, and it nearly had her wincing. I'm so sorry, my beautiful sweet devil. I promise to listen to you next time.
Philippe slowed to a stop just inches away from her, and even though Fleur's heart now completely belonged to a certain Russian, being in love wasn't synonymous to being blind. Philippe was still as breathtakingly handsome as ever, and just being this close to him made her feel like hiding behind her hair instead of flipping it over her shoulder.
"Je suis désolé, chérie," Philippe said in a politely regretful tone that was completely belied by the wickedness in his jade-green eyes.
"Um..." Why was he apologizing?
"I wish I could kiss you as requested—-"
Oh shit, she had forgotten about that.
"But as there aren't any mistletoes around..."
"That's totally fine," she said quickly.
"Then again, if you are amenable to kissing without mistletoes..."
Fleur jumped back without thinking, and she could only smile weakly when Philippe raised a brow. "I...uh...wish I could say yes? But sadly, my...um...family takes Christmas traditions very seriously," was all she could think of saying.
"Your family being..."
Dutch?
Catholic?
Fleur struggled to come up with something plausible, but since having her period always, always reduced her brain activity by 25%...
"Superstitious," Fleur decided even as she could already feel an imaginary Willem glaring at her all the way from his mansion in Amsterdam. "We're very, very superstitious."
"Je vois..."
Philippe's gaze was amused but quizzical. He was obviously wondering where her B&A ways of earlier went, but...what was the point of pretending to be something she wasn't when Operation Yuletide 1.0 was officially cancelled?
Fleur took a deep breath, thinking that she should at least make an effort to explain the sudden change in her attitude, but before she could say any word, a particularly vicious bout of cramps suddenly struck, and Fleur instead ended up audibly drawing her breath.
Come on now, period gods! Can't you give a girl a break?
Philippe frowned. "Are you alright, chérie?"
She wrapped her arms around her stomach and managed a smile. "I'm fine. I just—-" She broke off when she noticed Philippe's gaze suddenly cool, and the next thing she knew, a muscular arm was already curling around her waist from behind.