Allure // Harry Styles AU

Six

Dinner was, like everything else on the trip, elegant beyond reason and expensive beyond bank accounts.

I couldn't read anything on the menu, having to rely on Grandfather to translate. I didn't enjoy what I ended up ordering, and my entrée was so small it felt like an appetizer. Dessert was nice, some kind of sweet crepe with whipped cream and fruit. Again, it was rather small. I would have to locate the pantry back at the fancy mansion to fill my poor rumbling stomach up.

Once we returned to Chevalier Mansion, I was instructed to get some rest since I would be accompanying Grandfather to work early in the morning. I managed to get some food in me before I was sent up to my room to get ready for bed. I was surprised to see a pastel dress and white heels had already been laid out for me, my maids speaking in quick French and hurrying to get me to the shower and in my pajamas. I would need to either learn French or get a translator soon, I hated not being able to know what they were saying.

I laid in my heavenly soft bed for the first time that summer wondering what the rest of my vacation would look like in the City of Love, my dreams whisking me away to bliss once I closed my eyes.

~•~

Morning was a blur of motion once I had woken up. It had seemed like I had barely caught my breath before I had brushed my teeth, washed my face, and gotten dressed. My maids had done my hair in loose curls and scolded me when I started walking downstairs barefoot instead of in my heels. Breakfast was more filling than it had been in the restaurant, and once I had finished eating myself, Maurice, Adelaide, and Grandfather all walked out towards a fancy car that awaited us in the garage.

My tired eyes blinked sleepily on the way to Grandfather's work, Adelaide's quick chatter filling the previously quiet car as she informed Grandfather of his tasks for the day and some reminders he may have forgotten.

The streets of Paris were already very busy, full of pedestrians and cars trying to make it to work on time or to a favorite café for morning breakfast. It was barely seven in the morning and people were already up and at it, ready to take on the day. If only I had been born one of those people. I was one to stay under my sheets in my bed all day, and I would do it if I didn't have any responsibilities.

After a short car ride, we pulled up to a building with white pillars and glass windows, a black sign above the door and lights hanging for nighttime. I yawned before getting out of the car, grateful that there wasn't any paparazzi like there had been at the airport. I straightened my dress out and fixed my hair as Grandfather and his assistants got out, hurrying me inside. I didn't even get to see the sign on the door, so I still had no idea what company Grandfather worked for.

The inside of the building was very nice, decorated like those fancy rooms in magazine spreads I would see my mother looking over. We walked over to the elevators, Adelaide pressing the button for the third floor quietly. Even the elevator was fancy, encased in golden trim and fancy mirror walls. The third floor was all gold and peach tones, mixed with a little accent of white. I saw the familiar LV symbol on the walls, my mind still spinning to try and figure out what it meant.

We all walked into an office, Adelaide and Maurice standing by the back of the room while Grandfather insisted I sat in the chair in front of his desk. My eyes looked around the office, seeing awards and certificates on the wall along with more fashion sketches. The LV had returned as an engraving in Grandfather's desk, and it was just killing me to know what it meant.

"Now Marie, there's something I must speak to you about." Grandfather addressed me, sitting down in his leather chair and sighing.

"What is it?" I asked, Grandfather's lips pursing as if he didn't know where to start.