End Game

Chapter 8

“Tais-toi, Caprice. Mind your manners,” Estella chastised her daughter her accent heavy.

“That’s okay, Mère. I can tell you and Père later. They don’t have to suffer through the telling again.” Cera let the subject be changed from her. She wasn’t ready to talk about work again. She o hoping that Byron would call her today antell her his decision. She knew it was the weekend, but Mr. Byron Steel didn’t look the type to miss a day at the office.

Last night she had been sure that he would agree to work with her, but he left her studio without so much as a ‘good work.’ She had given him what he asked for and let him see the best of her work. While she hadn’t expected him to sign a contract on the spot, she did expect a little feedback on what he had seen. The suspense was killing her already. Cera was used to working alone and therefore was not accustomed to waiting. She didn’t know how long she could go without any response.

By the time they had finished breakfast, tales of what the girls had been doing were shared with their parents. After the table had been cleared and the dishwasher had been loaded, everyone went their separate ways in the house. Charisse went to study in her room, Coletta and Caprice went shopping with Estella, Kaleem went to the library to read, and Cera retreated back to her room.

After making a few phone calls to check on the state of both the shop and the studio, which were both fine, Cera called James. She normally wouldn’t bother him so early on the weekends, but she hadn’t had the chance to speak with him since he left her place before her meeting.

James answered the phone still sounding groggy. “Yeah?”

Cera pouted at him not giving her his usual greeting, but still purred into the phone, “Bonjour, Mon Prix.” Cera could practically hear his smile through the phone.

“Bonjour, belle.”

“That’s more like it. What are you doing today?”

James took his time answering, pretending to think on it, even though Cera knew he rarely worked or did anything on a Saturday that he wouldn’t move around for her if she were to ask. “Anything that involves you, if you want, Beautiful.”

“Nah, I’m good. I just wanted to let you know how the meeting went.” Cera spent the next twenty minutes filling James in on her meeting with Byron. From him being surprised to see her, to him not listening to her proposal at first, but she did not tell him about the kiss. With them being friends for so long, and Cera not knowing of James’ true feelings for her, she found nothing wrong with telling her best friend that she had her tongue down another man’s throat. But right now, Cera wanted to keep Byron’s sexual advances to herself. She hadn’t planned to tell anyone any more than she had already told her sisters.

She went on to tell him what he said about her not bringing her best and having to take him to her studio. She ended with a short rant about how rude he was barely saying a word to her and then saying her would call her with his decision. “I mean, he just turned and walked away from me. Didn’t even give me a chance to say anything to him; just walked out.  And the nerve of him, to stand in my studio and waste my time by not even saying one single word about my designs.”