* * * * * * * * * *
When Alyson said she could plan the dinner party in two weeks, she meant it and she came through. She worked her butt off taking calls left from right, her and Joseph drove all across town to check out venues, meet vendors, caterers and so much more. In between it all, she also helped Joseph write his speech though he did really well at writing the majority of it.
Now the time had finally come, and everyone they invited had flown in to attend this major dinner party and find out the future of Toujours Enchanté.
The only thing they needed to do was find a suit for Joseph which wasn't easy because he was definitely not a suit guy - at all.
Currently, they were at Joseph's house, trying on a bunch of suits that was sent by a friend of Alyson's who was also a clothes designer.
Not surprisingly, Joseph hated every suit so far. It didn't matter how good it looked, he complained about how tight and constricting they were. Which resulted in him asking if he could just wear a t-shirt and be done with it.
Of course, Alyson said no but that didn't stop him from asking.
While he was upstairs, trying on yet another suit, Alyson was waiting at the end of the staircase for him to come down while she replied to some emails. This dinner party wasn't the only thing they had been planning, they had already started reaching out to different people about projects that they wanted to start.
She was so focused on her phone, she didn't notice Joseph standing at the top of the stairs. He cleared his throat and she lifted her head to look at him.
"Oh my god," her lips spread into a grin. "This is it," she nodded. "This is the one."
Joseph trudged down the stairs, fidgeting with the collar of the charcoal black suit, "it's not as uncomfortable as the other ones," he admitted as he descended the stairs.
"That's a very good improvement considering your strong dislike for the other ones," chuckled Alyson as she adjusted his collar for him. She took a step back, looking him up and down thoughtfully, "I love it."
"I don't hate it," Joseph looked down at the suit, giving a shrug.
"So, do we have a winner?" Alyson raised her eyebrows, hopeful.
He nodded, "that's a way to put it."
"Great!" Alyson gave her own nod of approval, "then we're set for tonight."
"Now," she sits down on the steps and pats the space beside her, "we've gone over all the important people you need to know, and we've practiced your speech. How are you feeling? Are you nervous?"
"Well," Joseph let out a sigh, sitting beside her. He put his clasped hands to his chin in thought.
"Honestly, I am nervous. Not because I have to speak in front of a crowd or anything but because of well, everything. If somebody would have told me I'd be taking over the family business, I would have called them insane."
He leans on his knees, "I'm afraid to mess up, you know?"
Alyson nodded, having been listening intently, "I get that. On the bright side though, you're not in this alone," she gestures to herself. "If you're nervous or you get stuck, just fall back on me. I'll be there."
"Have I told you how thankful I am for you helping me out?"
"Consistently, through this whole planning process, yes you have," Alyson laughed slightly.
"Well, I say it again. Thank you, I really appreciate it."
"It's no problem, really," Alyson fidgeted with her fingers, looking down sadly.
A sad look that Joseph had noticed way too many times that he had liked to count.
When they were working, and talking about the business, she came to life and seemed very happy. But any mention of her deciding to help him made her go to this dark place. Joseph could only assume it was because of Evan.
He had been going back and forth on whether he should call things off or not. The last thing he wanted to do was come in between Alyson and Evan.
"Are you sure that you want to do this?" he asked Alyson. "If you working with me is causing problems with you and Evan and I -"
"No, no," she scoffed, shaking her head. "No, don't worry about it. Trust me, this is not even half of the issues between Evan and me." She rolled her eyes at herself, "I shouldn't say that. He's actually been pretty nice to me."
Mentally, she left again, only this time, she had a confused look on her face.
Realizing that Evan was a tough subject, Joseph clears his throat, bringing her out of her thoughts.
"I'm sorry," she apologized nervously, "I just . . ."
"No, it's my fault, we agreed that this is business, so maybe, Evan is a conversation that we should stay away from."
"Honestly," Alyson was visibly relieved, "that would be really great."
It was sad but, Alyson hadn't been working with Joseph that long and already, working with him had become an escape for her. Escape from her marriage and the confusing signals Evan has been sending her.
When she thought about home, she got tense, sad, and conflicted. Which really bothered Joseph because she was way too sweet, to be feeling such a way.
"Anyways," Alyson checked the time on her phone. "The car will be here to pick you up at seven."
"About that," Joseph stood. He held his hand out to Alyson, helping her stand up. "Can I just ride my bike? As much as I appreciate having a driver, it's not really my thing. Call me old school but, I have hands, therefore, I'd rather get there on my own."
Alyson chuckles, crossing her arms over her chest, "I hired a driver, so you could practice your speech and mentally prepare on the way there. Besides, this is the business world, you pull up on a bike and no one takes you seriously. They'll think you're some old guy trying to hold on to his youth."
"Ouch," Joseph leaned on the railing, "Is that what you think of me?"
If it wasn't for the grin on his face, Alyson would have thought he was truly offended.
"Of course not," she said quickly. "I think it's cool, but we're dealing with a lot of traditional people here, you want to make a good first impression. They don't play it when it comes to their money, they're going to be looking for something to judge you about the moment you walk in."
Joseph smirked at that, shrugging, "too bad I don't give a shit what anyone says." He pushed himself off the railing, standing directly in front of Alyson. "I'm only doing this for my father."
His "I don't care what anybody says" attitude was inspiring and his confidence was very - appealing.
"But for you Alyson, I'll take the car."
Realizing she was staring, Alyson nodded, glancing away for a moment, "okay, thank you. But I mean," she rubbed the back of her neck, looking back up at him, "if you don't give a shit, mine as well take the bike."
Joseph chuckled at that.
"I'm serious," she shrugged, holding in her own laugh. "It's your company, you call the shots, you want to ride in on your bike, have at it."
"Hm," Joseph replied thoughtfully, looking her up and down.
"What?" she raised her eyebrows.
"It's you."
"What's me?"
"There's this sweet scent that I've been smelling around the house, I didn't know where it was coming from. Now that we're this close, it's you. You linger, you know that?"
Alyson laughed, oddly nervous under his speculating gaze, "I linger?"
"What is that?" he continued to try and figure out what perfume was wearing. "Lavender and something else, something sweet."
"It's cocoa butter," said Alyson, "with Lavender essential oil. It's the only thing I use on my skin really."
"Nice," Joseph squinted at the surprised look on her face. "Why do you seem so shocked?"
"I don't know," she shrugged, looking away. "I guess I'm surprised, you noticed something so, small." Alyson shakes her head at herself, "I don't know."
"Well, I did say you linger."
"Yeah," she laughs, nodding, "yeah, you did. Thank you."
"You're welcome," Joseph watched her look at her phone.
"I should go," she checked the time. "I have to get ready."
Joseph nods, "right, yeah."
"I'll see you later, tonight."
"Ditto," Joseph gives her another nod, thoughtfully watching her walk away.
* * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * *
With her shoes in her hand, Alyson quickly descended the stairs, heading for the front door. After grabbing her car keys and her purse, she reached for the doorknob only to step back when it opened. To her surprise, it was Evan.
"Hey," he nicely greeted her with a kiss on the forehead.
"Hi," she replied awkwardly, "what are you doing here?"
He closes the door after himself, putting his suitcase on the floor. "I can't decide to come home early?"
"Of course not," Alyson was squinting at him at this point. "It's just, I would have made you some dinner before I left."
Evan shrugs, "I'll manage," he caressed her face, "why are you looking at me like that?"
"Becuase you're sending mixed signals E," she backed away from him. "You couldn't even look at me not too long ago then, you come home one day and suddenly have the courage to touch me. Then we're back on bad terms when I bring up your dad and now that you're grandmother's back, you're nice to me and you don't have a problem with me working with Joseph."
"So, what do you want, huh?" he loosened his tie. "Would you like it if I went back to not being able to look at you?"
"I would like it if you were consistent, Evan. I would like it if I knew who I was waking up to every morning."
Usually, her true but agitated words would set Evan off but surprisingly it didn't.
"You know what," Evan rubbed her arms, "you're right and I'm sorry. I just," he sighs. "I want everything to be good between us."
"Do you? Because it seems like you let me work for your father just so I can get off your back. Can't nag you about our marriage if I'm busy."
"How could you say that?" Evan feigned to be hurt.
"I'm sorry, Evan but that's what it looks like and -" Alyson's phone rang in the middle of her sentence.
She took it out of her purse to see the call was about the dinner.
"I have to take this."
"Yeah, it's okay, you should probably go, we can talk later." Evan gives her a kiss on the lips, "I love you."
"I love you too," Alyson forced a small smile.
While part of her felt like he was playing mind games, the other part of her was just grateful he was actually treating her well - for now at least.
* * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * *
Guests were still arriving, photographers were snapping pictures, valet was parking cars and at the same time, everyone was anticipating the arrival of the new CEO of Toujours Enchanté. While some of the guests were already inside taking their assigned seats in the 'Night in Paris' decor, others were outside, waiting to shake the hand of the late Louie Thomas' son.
Alyson stood outside, greeting the arriving guests with a smile and a handshake.
Luckily for her, no one really knew who she was in which it pertains to being Evan's wife. Toujours Enchante has been in business for years which meant, there were men who had been apart of the company since it was started. By this time, they had been married for years, were grandfathers, great-grandfathers or had younger women on their arms who were trading their sugar for money.
Due to their age, they weren't as educated on the younger generation of entrepreneurs and investors, i.e, Evan which meant no one knew that Alyson was his wife.
While Evan didn't want anyone knowing that Joseph was tied to him, Alyson was happy about it as well. As much as she loved Evan, she wanted to be known for being more than just his wife.
In the midst of greeting a few other guests, Alyson, as well as everyone else, heard a very loud engine that sounded like it was coming right toward them - and it was. Everyone looked to see a motorcycle pulling up.
While everyone was confused about who the helmet-wearing man was, Alyson knew exactly who it was and she even found herself smirking.
She crossed her arms over her chest, watching a smiling Joseph take off his helmet. People started whispering and cameras started snapping.
"Couldn't resist, huh?" Alyson walked over to greet him.
Her smile disappeared when Joseph didn't reply. He was staring at her with this stunned look on his face.
It made Alyson realize that all the eyes and cameras were probably too much for him. Especially because he was a very lowkey guy.
"Is this too much?" she asked, worriedly.
"No, no," Joseph chuckled, "no, it's fine, it's just, you look beautiful."
Alyson couldn't stop herself from blushing if she tried.
"Oh," she was so surprised, she had to look down to remember what she was wearing. "Thanks," she looked back up at Joseph who was still finding it hard to break eye contact.
"You're welcome," Joseph finally got off his bike.
A smiling Alyson looked away while Joseph gives his helmet to the valet, "take care of her, would you?"
"Yes, sir," the young man, takes the helmet, staring at the bike in awe.
To Alyson's surprise, Joseph took all the attention very well. He smiled at the cameras and gave waves to those who were already making assumptions about him. And already, he could recognize the faces of important people he and Alyson studied and talked about.
"You ready for this?" Alyson asked him.
He looked down at her, a confident smile on his face, "let's do this."
Turning back around, Joseph started shaking hands and introducing himself.
A smiling Alyson stood there for a moment before following behind.