Heiress in Distress

•Chapter 32•

I wonder how sated it would be if you agreed to join me on a short trip to one of the most destined for spots on Earth?

Would you not want to find out?"

Clara brings the paper down and says "Oh I'd love to find out," in her normal voice.

She continues reading, as her voice falls back to a deep octave,

"Thursday, I'll be at your door by noon.

I'll be waiting with pleasure for your company,"

Just then, she places the back of her hand on her forehead, rolls her eyes into her head, and dramatically falls to the ground, pretending to faint. Her actions elicit a hearty giggle from Élise, whose body shakes up and down with the force of laughter.

I shake my head in disbelief, though unable to help the smile that breaks in response to Élise's laughter. I snatch the paper from Clara, who swings up and repeats the whole fainting thing just to make Élise laugh more, which she does.

Re-reading the letter, with Elias' voice saying the words in my mind, has my heart gearing up to 500mph, especially when the fact that Thursday noon is only a few hours away registers. My gaze darts to the bunny-shaped clock mounted on the wall, which reads 8:00 A.M.

There's an Eiffel Tower clipart at the bottom right corner of the letter that makes me wonder...

When I catch my reflection in the mirror of the vanity, I walk closer and dip my head down slightly, noticing how my roots are already growing in. I can't walk around with my hair looking like this, and I don't have time to re-dye it. Then again, I don't even have a bottle of hair dye left.

My head shakes in disapproval with the whole idea, "I don't think I can go,"

Clara's head whips in my direction, "I'm sorry, I think I might have bumped my head so hard on the ground because I thought I heard you say you can't go,"

"No I actually said that,"

"But you don't mean it..."

I pick the empty envelope up and shove the letter inside it, "I do,"

She sighs heavily, "M sweetie, 'playing hard to get' has just fallen out of fashion, you know,"

Her words raise my eyebrows.

She pushes me by the shoulders, and I drop on the bed next to Elise, "Sit back and relax, I'll do the preparations,"

I settle down, cross-legged and cross-armed next to Élise, who squeals and claps her hands in delight.

Clara goes to my closet and pulls both doors wide open, "Let's see what we got here,"

I shake my head, staring at the ceiling, because I already know that nothing will sway my decision, not even Clara's best wardrobe spells.

•••

Distant murmur, besides the lulling whirr of the engine, wakes me up from a very delicious nap; a nap that gives me the urge to stretch and purr. But I know I can't.

He turns to me with an indentation-adorned smile, "We're almost there, only 5 more miles,"

He looks back at the road, "Feel free to sleep the rest of way there,"

Embarrassment at my unpreserved comfort has me turning my head to the window, choosing to watch the whooshing cars. However, I catch myself smiling when I do find humor in his words. I just hope I didn't drool.

Something warm wraps around my hand, and by the time my gaze swings to the console, Elias is already entwining our fingers together, causing a searing path of sparks to shoot up from my palm all the way up to my chest.