𝐸𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓃𝑜𝓇
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Monaco.
We're back.
How much I missed the luxury of this place, the sea breeze and the summer nights. It always feels like paradise on Earth. I inhale slowly, eyes closed as I feel the freshness of the air. I'm walking down the street, heading to the restaurant that Faith talked about a lot lately. She said it was something we must try, so I couldn't say no to her.
We're missing each other's company a lot lately. Work and life have been keeping us both busy. With me going all over the world for my job and her busying herself with photoshoots and fashion weeks, we barely can find some time to meet or hang out. But we make sure our summer breaks are the same, so we can enjoy the time we didn't.
"There she is, my shining light," Faith says when she spots me down the street. And there she is, my Faith with her usual glow. I believe I've never seen her in a mess. She always looks put together and fabulous. It still confuses me why she's still single, but I think her attachment to fictional men has something to do with it, especially Luke from her favorite film.
I'm opening my arms for a huge hug, taking my time to reach her. I very much need her hug from time to time, they are always comforting and relaxing. She wraps hers around me, her warmth welcoming as always. "I missed you, Fai," I hug her tightly, "Of course you did, I'm a hard person to love without," she jokes, huffing her short blonde hair off her face. I can't but chuckle, at her joining me. "So this is it," I turn to the restaurant, contemplating the elegant building in front of us. She nods, "Yes, they said the food is as delicious as the one who made it," she winks, teasing me. I roll my eyes playfully and laugh. Yes, this is Faith, no shy of words and full of fun.
"Let's get our lunch, I'm starving." I groan. I had breakfast very early this morning, and now it's one after midday, so I'll have my stomach growling sooner if I don't fill it with food. We wrap our arms around each other's shoulders and go to enter the restaurant. She moves her hand to my butt, giving it a little squeeze. "Damn, you've grown an ass." I laugh hard at that.
Yes, that is Faith, that is her.
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"So basically, he's not the one who told your boss, but it was leaked by someone else?" She points her fork at me as she asks. I give her a little nod, enjoying the amazing food in front of me. "So, who is it?" "I have no idea," I reply taking a sip from my water glass. "He's still guilty though," she eats another spoonful of mashed sweet potatoes. I frown, "Why?"
"Because there is no evidence that it's not him."
"Faith, there is no evidence that it's him also."
"I refuse to believe he's not," she states firmly, digging into her steak. "Why not? He doesn't look like a bad guy." No, no, no, don't take me as I'm defending him, I'm only saying we don't have enough proof to accuse him of something he didn't. Shakira said "These hips don't lie", but let me "Eyes don't lie too". Those brown eyes of his have honesty and sincerity that are hard to miss.
"Because you are a very good-looking woman with an intimidating but still attractive attitude. You're a perfect victim for his games."
"I appreciate the compliment, but I can assure you that even though I hate him, he's not the type to play games."
Silence fills the air after my statement. I raise my eyes from my plate to find Faith in a frozen state, her fork half its way to her mouth and her eyes staring intently at me. "What?" I ask, concerned. "Oh my lord, that man got you defending him without moving a finger, she exclaims, amazed, "or he did move a finger with the date he took you on," she smirks, having a French fry thrown at her. "What? Don't blame me," she chuckles, "after the accident, you were too frustrated to talk about it every time we caught up." I give an eye roll, "It concerns my job, Fai," she shrugs, careless, "Whatever, but later he took you out on a date and bam," she claps her hands, scaring me and some people around, "you start speaking kindly of him." She giggles, enjoying it, "Damn, Eleanor finally likes a man," she sings-songs, giggling more when she receives another French fry on her face. "No, that is not true."
"Oh yes, it is."
"Oh no, it's not."
"Whatever, you can deny it all you want, but deep down, you know it's true." She sips from her glass with her smile always there, teasing me and pushing my buttons as always. "You didn't find your Luke yet?" I change the topic, annoyed by always talking about me. She groans, impatiently, "Nope, not yet," she moves a pea around her plate, "If only he is right in that kitchen over there." My eyes roll upwards, chuckling at her joke. "Wait I have an idea," she extends her hand to my hair and rips one strand out, I watch her hand go away with my hair with a blank stare, "Outch, thanks for the warning," I say sarcastically. I thought she was crazy with her sudden outburst, but what happens next was crazier.
She puts it on her plate, hiding it in the sauce. "What are you doing?" I question, she motions to me to stay silent and then she shouts out, calling the waiter. Scared by her tone, the poor waiter walks to our table, "Yes, ma'am?" Faith pointed to her plate, holding a disappointed look, "Excuse me, but can I meet the chef? I found a hair in my food." The waiter turns pale and apologizes, promising to bring the chef out to speak to her. Once he leaves, I can't but stare at her blankly while her disappointed look turns into a grin. "What?" she asks, innocently. "You're crazy," I shake my head at her.
"Good afternoon, ladies," says the chef when he appears at our table, with the waiter next to him, and I could feel the food stop in the middle of my throat. I grab the glass of water and drink from it, trying to compose myself and not burst out laughing. The shocked face of Faith turns to look at the old man, who happens to be the chef. Poor her, she thought he'd be some handsome young man when he is an old gentleman. I press my lips together, holding back my laugh.
"I was informed that there was a problem with your meal?" He asks, concerned. She looks at his wrinkled face and chuckles stupidly, not knowing what to do after her shock. I sit there covering my mouth with the back of my hand and watching the scene unfold before me.
Well, Faith has been always the type to pull off funny and spontaneous jokes, not caring about the consequences. Like that time when she walked into the mall with a horse head mask on, or when she decides to sign up for a salsa dance competition with no experience at all. I can assure you that she danced like a drunk chicken. She says always: "Life is one chance bitch, either we fuck it or it fucks us." Poor chef, he had to be another victim of her antics.
"Yes, it's alright now, sir. I'll just remove it from my plate," she says with a wavering voice. "I'm sure we can offer you a replacement dish, free of charge," he suggests kindly. She shakes her head, "It's unnecessary, sir. I already feel full," she lies with a smile, he nods, "I'll make sure to prepare a dessert on the house for you both. Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention, and I apologize for the inconvenience," he leaves with a nod.
I raise my eyes from the plate to look at her embarrassed expression, just to burst out laughing. "That was worse than what I expected," I say through my laughs. She hides her face in her hands, "I know, I know," she groans. I can't stop laughing as I hold my stomach, feeling like I just had an ab workout. She looks up at me with a scowl. Scared by her stare, I zip my lips, throwing the imaginary key away.
Not all chefs are young handsome men as she imagined.
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Well, that was a wonderful lunch, even though Faith had to embarrass herself.
We're crossing our arms and walking around the city now, enjoying the last minutes before sunset. We're holding some bags as we did some shopping after lunch. Girls' day together never gets completed without shopping of course.
"My dad reached out to me lately," I say, taking a spoon from my dessert. As promised, the chef prepared for us a delicious chocolate mousse that was perfectly complimented by the raspberry sauce on top. "Oh really?" Her interest piques. I didn't want to worsen the mood of our day, but if she finds out later, it will upset her more.
She is the only one of my friends that knows everything about me. We didn't grow up together, we only met on a high school summer break when I visited France, then we started a long-term friendship and ended up choosing Monaco as a place for both of us to stay in, but we mostly get back to our home countries.
"Anything bad?" She asks, tasting her dessert. She knows enough about my dad, his story with mom and all that. So she is aware we're not on enough good terms for him to contact me for something good.
"He invited me to a dinner─"
"With a new girlfriend." I nod, confirming her saying. "And what did you say?" I shrug, "Nothing, our call got interrupted." I can't lie, I'm thankful that Rafe interrupted the call that day. I guess he did something I wasn't able to do; say no to my dad. Faith nods, I could feel her worry for me. "You think you're going to go?" she asks, I shake my head, "I don't know, I still have to cover some work in the next weeks and I'm not sure if it's worth the trip." She nods in understanding, not pushing me more.
We continue walking in the streets, admiring the sights of Monaco and catching up on everything. I can't but feel grateful for moments like this when we can only enjoy ourselves and feel carefree. Faith is an incredible friend that I'm lucky to have in my life. Sometimes, I wish the time we spend together could be longer, but I make sure to cherish every moment when I'm here.
But I'm not so comfortable as I feel someone following us and my instincts pick up. It's the same gaze from that day in the parking lot. I check our surroundings subconsciously, making sure if it's only my imagination or he is really here, I hope I'm wrong and it's just my paranoia. I swallow the lump in my throat and keep looking around, scared that he might attack us from nowhere. Faith notices that something is off with me and asks if I'm okay.
"You good? What's wrong?" Faith asks, concerned. She checks where I'm looking and sees nothing. "Sorry, I thought I saw someone," I say, trying to sound casual and not alarm her.
It's not him, he's not back, Ele, I thought to myself. I sigh a breath of relief and shake my head, trying to shake off the feeling of unease. "Eleanor!" A voice calls out, making me jump out of fear. I turn to the source of the voice and relax as I see Cole, the driver of the Mercedes F1 team, approaching us. His eyebrows furrow in concern as he notices my reaction. "You're fine?" he asks and I nod, giving him too a small smile, "Yeah, I thought you were someone else." He nods in understanding.
We have a little chat, he introduces himself to Faith. After some minutes, he leaves, expressing his pleasure to meet us. We continue our walk as I relax, not feeling the tension anymore. Faith sights and takes my arm again, "If only he wasn't a driver but the chef of that restaurant," she teases, making me laugh.
She won't heal from that moment.
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