Chapter 21 Retinol
One Year Later
With a dramatic sigh, Sebastian walked into the office and mock-collapsed onto Ari’s desk.
“You will not believe what that bloody bridezilla wants now,” he groaned. Ari leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest and looking at him evenly.
“Language, Sebbie,” she chided. “I could’ve had a client in here. Reine could’ve been here.”
Sebastian at once stood, straightening his tie. “Is there a client here?”
“Well, no—”
“Is Reine here?”
“No, she’s at school.”
With another dramatic sigh, Sebastian collapsed once more over Ari’s desk. “You will not believe what that bloody bridezilla wants now.”
Ari leaned forwards on her elbows, tilting her head so that her gaze met his.
“No, I probably won’t,” she replied. “What is it this time?”
Sebastian groaned again. “Her bouquet,” he muttered. “She wants it made from Cosmos atrosanguineus .”
“Okay then.” Ari gave a small shrug. “So, a particular type of flower. That’s not the end of the world, Sebastian. An easy request, in fact, compared with some of her others.”
“Easy?” Sebastian stood, shaking his head at Ari in disbelief. “ Easy? I don’t know how much you know about rare plants, Ari, but for your information the Cosmos atrosanguineus is only grown in Mexico. Mexico. ”
Ari paused. “Mexico?”
“Mexico,” Sebastian emphasised again, sinking into his own office chair and swinging it around so that he faced Ari. “We only have four days until this wedding, Ari, and I can’t go to Mexico. I’m covered in so much anti-ageing Retinoid product these days that if I step out into the sun, I’m pretty sure I’ll burst into flames.”
Ari rolled her eyes. “You don’t need all that retinol.”
“I’m old. Of course I need it.”
“Sebbie, you only just turned forty. Don’t be so overdramatic.”
Sebastian waved a hand at her dismissively. “When you get here, you’ll know,” he warned, before running a hand over his eyes. “So, what do we do about this flower then?”
Ari tapped her pencil on her desk. “Give it to her, naturally. If that’s what she wants, that’s what she’ll get. She’s a bride, after all.” Ari thought for a moment. “I’m sure one of our suppliers in Holland will have some. One of the exotic flower specialists maybe. I’ll send a message to them all straight away. Did she say why she wanted this particular flower or...?”
“Apparently it smells like chocolate,” Sebastian replied, sniffing. “Her and chocolate. You know what she’s like.”
Ari smiled. “Yeah, I do. Okay, so we ship one over, whatever it takes, whatever it costs. You remember what they said — money is no object.”
Sebastian nodded, sighing once more. “Sometimes I miss the old days, you know. When I first set this business up, I planned weddings free-of-charge to hard-up brides who just wanted their special day to be special. Women and their families who’d scrimped and saved for years to buy a designer dress or a fancy cake.” He gave Ari a woebegone smile. “I once had a couple who’d saved for years to rent an entire Premier Inn by the side of the M25 so their friends could party with them the whole night. I remember getting there and seeing the laminate floors and worn carpets and hearing the screech of traffic outside and secretly hating it.”
“Well, no one likes the M25,” Ari offered, reaching out to pat Sebastian’s hand.
“I don’t know,” Sebastian replied. “When I compare couples like Mr and Mrs M25 to our current ‘money-is-no-object’ twosome I kind of miss it.”
Ari stared at him. “You need to lay off the retinol, because that doesn’t sound at all like the brother I know and love.”
Sebastian stood, collapsing into his own office chair. “I just need a—”
“No more cigarettes,” Ari cut him off instantly. “It took Luis six months to break you from your last nicotine addiction. None of us want to go through that again with you.”
“I wore so many patches I was like a fucking quilt,” Sebastian breathed out, before he shook his head. “Actually, I was going to say I need a holiday .”
“After the wedding,” Ari promised. “Just a few more days and you and Luis will be lying in the sun.”
“Lying in the sun? I think not. Luis might, but not me,” Sebastian corrected her, gesturing to his skin. “Retinol.”
“Lest I forget.” Ari smiled.
“Are you still okay for Luis and me to take Reine for a couple of weeks?” Sebastian asked, and suddenly there was a hesitant tone to his voice. “We don’t see her as often as we used to. We miss her.”
Ari paused, instantly closing her laptop. “Sebbie—”
“Oh, I know, it’s all for the best, and don’t get me wrong, Luis and I are loving having our weekends back and our social lives and all, but... but we miss her. We didn’t know how much time we had with her until suddenly it was cut in half, you know?”
“Yes, I know. I know.”
She really did. Tom had been good to his word, slotting himself into Ari and Reine’s life and keeping his promise to be the father to Reine that she deserved. Twice a month he flew over to London from the States, picking up Reine from school on a Thursday and keeping her until Monday. He’d taken a small flat near Ari’s little house, and both he and Marnie had become regular fixtures in Reine’s life, never missing any event, no matter how small.
Ari still remembered the look on Miss Bates’s face when she, Tom, Marnie, Luis, Sebastian, Corentin and Stella turned up at the school nativity to see Reine play Sheep Number Three, her costume lovingly hand-stitched by Luis in the finest Merino wool. She wished she’d taken a picture of the headmistress’s disapproving face, although, looking back, she was fairly sure Stella did. It was hard to miss Stella’s flashes. Miss Bates was probably still temporarily blind.
It had been odd, those first few months with Tom sharing parental responsibility. Ari, unused to having a co-parent to rely on, had been given her first free weekend in years. She’d sat listlessly at home until Sebastian and Luis persuaded her to come to their flat for a Christmas party they were hosting, and it had been an eye-opening experience for her. She’d walked into their flat to find it full of fabulously dressed people, all friends and acquaintances of Luis and Sebastian that Ari hadn’t even known existed. One woman, taking in Ari’s off-the-rack jacket and flat ballet shoes, had looked at her with sceptical eyes until Luis had rushed over for an embrace and to take her coat.
“Oh,” the woman said, loudly, “that must be Sebastian’s sister. You know,” her voice dropped to a whisper, “the single mother .”
Ari had never realised quite how much she’d leaned on Luis and Sebastian until she suddenly didn’t need to. With Tom on the scene, she hadn’t needed the hours and hours of babysitting or childcare, and Luis and Sebastian had been able to step into the roles of loving uncles rather than pseudo-parents. Luis and Sebastian had a life away from Ari and Reine, and Ari was glad for it. It had been a strange transition for all of them, but a positive one, she reminded herself.
The most positive effect, Ari soon learned, was on Reine. The little girl, still quiet and thoughtful, had adapted well to suddenly having a father, and had learned to love Tom. She’d slipped into calling him ‘Daddy’ just recently, and although Tom hadn’t made a big deal of it, Ari had seen the soft look that came into his eyes when he told her about it afterwards.
She’d seen that soft look in his eyes before. It was the look Tom wore when his heart was full. Once, Ari had liked to imagine that only she could inspire that look in his eyes. It was wonderful to know she was wrong, and that her child — their child — could inspire it too.
“Of course you can take Reine on holiday with you,” Ari carried on, patting Sebastian’s hand again. “She’s looking forward to it. Did you decide where you’ll be going yet?”
Sebastian shrugged. “Our ‘money-is-no-issue’ couple threw a spanner into the works when they scheduled their wedding for the day we were due to fly to Nice. Never mind. We’ll find something else.”
“Well, just let me know,” Ari stopped, clearing her throat. “Um, Tom and Marnie want to take Reine away for a week too.”
Sebastian looked up instantly. “Really?”
“Yes. Marnie was thinking about Spain, apparently.” She paused again. “They’ve asked me to go with them.”
For a long moment, Sebastian stared at her. “Okay. How do you feel about that?”
“I’ve never been to Spain. It might be nice.”
“What do you mean, you’ve never been to Spain? Every Brit has been to Spain. Vomiting into the foam of an Ibizan nightclub is practically a rite of passage.”
Ari shrugged. “I’ve never been.”
Sebastian frowned. “You mean, you never got there when you and Tom travelled across Europe? Back when he was Tom Miller?”
Ari shook her head. “No, we meant to . . . it was on our list . . . but then . . .”
“But then Tom knocked you up and ditched you?” Sebastian asked.
“Something like that.”
“Hmm. Well, you should go — wait, Marnie’s paying, right?”
“She’s offered.”
Sebastian grinned. “You should definitely go then. I’ve told you before, you hit the sperm jackpot with Tom — you know, aside from the whole seven-year-long abandonment thing — oh, and all the lying. Anyway, you should definitely start riding that child-support pony.”
Ari grimaced. “I don’t want to ride any sort of... metaphorical ponies.”
Sebastian gave her another grin. “So maybe go to Spain and ride Tom then? Honestly, the man clearly wants you so much that even I almost feel sad for the poor fucker and—”
“Sebastian!”
“Oh, blush all you want,” Sebastian said, rolling his eyes. “But the two of you aren’t fooling anyone, you know.”
If anything, Ari blushed harder. “We aren’t — we don’t... look, there’s no way I want to go down that path again, and—”
“You totally want to.” Sebastian reached over to poke Ari in the arm. “And I can’t say I blame you. The man’s a total ride. Even I’d love to slather that man in retinol and take him down to town.”
“What would Luis say?”
“Oh, he feels exactly the same. I know we didn’t like Tom at first, but he does kind of grow on you. If you gave him another chance—”
“Well, I’m not giving him another chance,” Ari finally snapped, coming to a stand. She stomped over to the coffee machine, setting it to make a cappuccino. “I gave him a chance years ago and he let me down. I’m not going down that path again. Never ever.”
Ari watched as Sebastian sank back in his seat.
“Fine,” he said eventually. “Fine. So, things can just carry on as they are, with you and Tom constantly giving each other looks and being all awkward and quiet and sexually frustrated. Fine.”
Ari took a deep breath, waiting for the coffee machine to finish frothing her milk, staring into the depths of her black coffee, the liquid hot and dark, just like the look that came into Tom’s eyes when he stared at her.
Shaking herself, she turned back to Sebastian. “We should go through the wedding plan for Mr and Mrs ‘money-is-no-object’ again,” she suggested. “Are the flights to Iceland all confirmed?”
“Yes,” Sebastian nodded, flicking through some papers on his desk. “I still think it’s ridiculous, but yes. The wedding will take place in a cave next to the black sand beach under the aurora borealis, as planned.”
“Good.”
“And the hotel is booked, with a four-course Icelandic meal to be served after the ceremony.”
Ari nodded, sipping at her cappuccino. “You made sure it was vegetarian, right? The groom was insistent.”
“Of course I did—wait, salmon counts as vegetarian, right? It’s not really meat. It’s too coral in colour. Meat isn’t out there like that.”
Ari looked at Sebastian in horror. “Um, no?”
For a moment, Sebastian looked concerned. Then he gave a shrug, flicking to another sheet of paper.
“Okay, so I’ll cancel the salmon. I’ve done a lot of that this last year. I’m an old hat at it now.” He paused. “An old, wrinkly hat.”
“You aren’t old,” Ari said again. “Stop with the retinol.”
Sebastian gave her a look, before nodding to the coffee machine. “Make me a latte, will you please? I’ll contact our florist, get the bridezilla’s order ASAP. I’ll probably head home after that—”
“You literally just got here,” Ari said flatly.
“I need to pop into Waitrose, we’re throwing a dinner party tonight. Luis’s making duck.”
“That sounds nice,” Ari replied absently. “I should think about what I’m going to eat tonight. I haven’t really had time to shop though... not with this Icelandic wedding spectacular just around the corner.”
“It’s Tom’s turn to have Reine this weekend, right?” Sebastian asked.
“Yes, he’s picking her up after school today. His flight was delayed.”
“Okay, so, come to our place then? We’ll make space for you. I’m sure Luis will pick up an extra duck. Or maybe three, given how much you eat.”
Ari gave Sebastian a look. “Thanks, but it’s okay. I’ll probably just order pizza or something. Maybe watch Eastenders.”
She didn’t tell him that she wasn’t comfortable around his friends. Sebastian and Luis had their own lives outside of her, Ari knew, and it was best to keep it that way.
Sebastian pulled a face. “Fine. Go home and eat your sad pizza and watch your sad soap opera. But don’t say we don’t invite you places.”
“I never said that you didn’t—”
“And don’t say I didn’t tell you to ride the loins of the man whose child you bore either,” Sebastian added triumphantly. “Because my darling, if you pick any end tonight, try and make it his, and not the one on the telly from the east side of London.”
Ari gave Sebastian another look. “You really are like a dog with a bone on this. If I’ve told you once I’ve told you a thousand times—”
Sebastian held up his mobile to cut her off, showing an incoming call. It was their current bride, Ari noticed. Mrs “money-is-no-object”.
“ Phone call, sorry ,” Sebastian whispered without looking sorry at all, swiping right with an enthusiasm Ari found almost disturbing.
“It’ll keep,” she warned, but Sebastian merely shrugged.
“ Darling ,” he said, using the tone of voice he exclusively reserved for brides.
Then his face changed. “ Darling, look— ”
Ari watched as Sebastian’s face changed again, this time turning an angry and blotchy kind of red.
“ Darling , I just think—” he tried once more, before swapping the phone to his other ear. “Look, you bossy fucking hag, if you think that you can just call us up and demand every little thing like some bitchzilla bride from hell—”
“Sebastian!” Ari snapped, snatching the phone from his hand. Holding it to her chest for a moment, she shook her head at Sebastian in reprisal, before taking a deep breath and bringing the phone to her ear.
“Hi Stella, how nice to hear from you. What can we do for you and Corentin today?”
* * *
Tom looked tired when he walked into Ari’s house later that day. There were dark circles under his eyes and his skin looked waxy and pale. He gratefully sat when Ari asked him to, gulping at the coffee she pushed his way.
“You can’t keep doing this, you know,” Ari said kindly, pouring herself a glass of water. “All this travel. What time even is it for you right now?”
Tom sat back in his seat. “What time is it now? Half two? I guess it’s half nine in the morning for me then. I tried to sleep on the plane, but just... Anyway, I got half an hour here and there. I’ll be fine.”
Ari looked at him with concern. “Go and take a nap upstairs. I’ll pick up Reine from school.”
“I think I’m a little big for Reine’s bed, don’t you?”
Ari felt herself blushing. “Oh, well, yes, um, I guess you could, uh, take my bed, maybe, and then—”
Tom gave her a soft smile. “I’m fine, Ari. I want to pick her up. Besides, it’s probably for the best that I keep going until tonight. Beat the jetlag tomorrow.”
Ari nodded, though she frowned just the same.
“All this travel though, Tom. You can’t keep doing it. We need to work out something new, something different. Something easier on you.”
Tom sighed. “Look Ari, you did the hard work for nearly eight years. Eight years without me. It’s my turn. Let me do this.”
She sank into the seat next to his, sighing in return. “You don’t have to keep punishing yourself, you know.”
“I’m not punishing myself.”
“You are. I know you too well. I know how you think and feel. You are punishing yourself and that’s not what I want.”
She glanced to the side, meeting Tom’s eyes. He was staring at her with an odd expression — a thoughtfulness to his eyes.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Nothing — well, it’s just... that’s the first time I’ve heard you say that in years.”
Ari frowned, puzzled. “To stop punishing yourself?”
“No.” She watched as Tom swallowed. “That you know me too well.”
She paused, chewing her lip awkwardly. “Oh. Right.”
Next to her, she felt Tom inhale deeply. “I like it when you know me,” he said, before Ari heard him swallow again. “I like that you know me. The real me.”
Ari inexplicably felt her heart pick up tempo, and she gripped her glass of water hard, so Tom wouldn’t see the sudden tremble to her fingers.
“Well, there’s a lot to like about you, Tom.”
She chanced a glance at him again, and once more found his eyes intently upon her. Abruptly she stood, moving to the kitchen sink and dumping the remains of her water into it. She heard rather than saw Tom sink deeper into his chair.
“Have you heard from the happy couple recently?” he asked, with tension in his voice.
Ari turned back to him, giving a crooked smile. “Actually, I spoke to them both this afternoon. They wanted to change Reine’s flower girl dress again . Luis’s going to pitch a fit when he finds out. Do you know how hard he worked on the first three versions? His fingers bled and he nearly went blind sewing Egyptian gold thread into the white satin.”
“Well, Corentin was always changeable,” Tom replied gruffly, and Ari shrugged.
“Surprisingly, he’s being quite laid-back about the wedding. Stella is the one in charge there. Poor Corentin will need all the blessings from his goddess he can get if he’s going to successfully navigate marriage to Stella long-term.”
Tom shook his head. “No, Corentin will be fine. He grew up with my mother. Trust me, he’s had all the prep he needs for marriage to a strong woman.”
“Do you still find it weird?” Ari asked him curiously.
“What, you mean my brother marrying the woman who terrifies me more than any other? The woman who told me just last week about her birth control implant so that she doesn’t pass on my ‘unfortunate’ jawline to an unsuspecting child? Yes, I still find it weird.”
Ari smiled. “They seem sickeningly happy.”
“Yeah, I guess. Mom’s flying in tomorrow for the family dinner here before we all fly to Iceland on Sunday morning. Are you coming?”
Ari went to her fridge, opening it to retrieve a cucumber from one of the shelves. “To Iceland? Yes. I’m kind of planning the wedding, Tom. My presence there is a contractual requirement.”
“No, I meant the family dinner,” Tom clarified. “Are you coming?”
“I’m not family,” Ari replied instantly, at which Tom frowned in disapproval.
“Yes, you are. You’re Reine’s mother, Stella’s friend and my . . . well, you should be there.”
Ari picked up a knife, slowly slicing the cucumber into batons. “I’ll come if I’m invited. Pass me one of the boiled eggs from that pot there, will you? I’m making Reine a snack for your place. I know you won’t have had any time to shop.”
“No I haven’t, but eggs? Reine hates eggs.”
“They’re good for her,” Ari said firmly, “she needs the protein.”
“So, give her some sliced chicken,” Tom returned. “At least she’ll eat that.”
“She should be eating eggs. An egg is an adventure—” Ari stopped, the knife still in her hand. For a moment, a strange kind of quiet fell over the room, and she looked over to Tom, who was smiling at her.
“We had some good times, didn’t we?” he asked softly, and Ari nodded, feeling tears prick at her eyes.
“I have some falafel,” she said over the lump in her throat, “I’ll put that in instead.”
Ari quietly packed the rest of Reine’s snack box, handing it to Tom awkwardly, doing everything she could to avoid her fingers touching the long lengths of his. She had a feeling if her skin brushed any part of him that she would fall apart in his arms.
“Thanks,” Tom said, his tone even, almost curt. “I better go and get Reine. I’ll see you at dinner tomorrow night.”
“Maybe.”
“No,” he said, more firmly now. “I’ll see you then. You’ll be my guest, even if Stella and Corentin haven’t invited you.”
“Okay.” Ari nodded. “Give Reine a kiss from me and tell her I’ll see her tomorrow.”
Tom nodded, walking to Ari’s little door and turning the handle. Before he stepped out into the street, he turned back, giving Ari a pained look, Reine’s snack held tight in his large hands.
“We really did have some good times, right? I didn’t imagine it? It wasn’t just... all me?”
Ari felt her heart pulse painfully.
“It wasn’t all you,” she replied honestly. “We had some wonderful times. We really did.”
Tom gave her another look of bittersweet sadness, before he nodded, and stepped out into the London afternoon.
* * *
Ari pulled out dress after dress, throwing them on her bed and frowning at all of them. Stella had called her that morning, bright and early at 5a.m., insisting that she come to the pre-wedding ‘family dinner’.
“You really must come, Ari. The small is going to be there.”
“Oh, right,” Ari had replied, brushing at her sleep-encrusted eyes wearily. “Yes, okay. I guess it would be nice to see Marnie again, and you know I haven’t met your family yet.”
“My family?” Stella gave a high and tinkly laugh. “My God, those reprobates aren’t going to be there. Why, the very idea.”
“You mean your family aren’t coming to... the family dinner?”
“My mother is no longer with us, sadly, and I don’t want my alcoholic arsehole of a father anywhere near my wedding. No, it will just be a tight little gathering. Your fellow is going to be there, too, so—”
“Tom’s not my fellow,” Ari instantly cut in, and she heard Stella pause.
“I know that,” she said impatiently, “I meant your brother. And De León too, I suppose. Trust me, I’m well aware of the current stalemate between you and Jawline. Marnie complains about the two of you all the time .”
Ari blushed, rolling over in her bed and burying her head under a pillow.
“That’s good to know. Okay, I’ll see you tonight, Stella.”
“Lovely. Dress sharp, Ari. It’s at Whyte’s and I’m bringing my Leica. Don’t worry, I’ve told Jawline I’ll rub some Vaseline on the lens to soften him out.”
Ari held another dress against her body, berating herself for allowing her wardrobe to become so work-centred and practical, her outfits all functional to the point of being unattractive. Since Reine, she’d never thought to invest in pretty or dainty things, preferring dull colours that absorbed stains easily and disguised the smell of milk, baby vomit and motherhood. With a frustrated frown, she sank onto her bed, looking with irritation at the discarded piles of clothing around her.
You need to get a grip, she lectured herself sternly. It’s a work event, really. Tom only invited you because of Reine. It’s not like it’s a date or anything.
Ari took a deep breath, standing again and going back to her cupboard. She shifted through hangers and hangers, still undecided and annoyed, before closing the door sharply and heading downstairs.
She picked up her purse and her phone, then headed out into the Greenwich afternoon, walking towards the DLR.
She needed to do some shopping, she thought. She hadn’t bought herself anything new in a long time, and now that Tom was sharing parental responsibility for Reine, finances weren’t as tight as they used to be. Buying something new to wear to a special dinner wasn’t unusual, Ari told herself, other people did it all the time.
It’s not a date, Ari reminded herself. It’s not a date.
* * *
“ Caracoles! ” Luis said in amazement when Ari stepped out of her Uber. “You look amazing, Ari.”
Sebastian gaped at her, and Ari gave him a nervous smile.
“Your mouth is hanging open so wide I’m going to have to step over it to get into the restaurant,” she joked, her stomach jittery.
Sebastian pulled himself together rapidly, closing his mouth, though he continued to stare at her. “It’s just...” he began. “I’ve never seen you look like... Well, like this before.” He paused. “I’m not sure I like it.”
“What do you mean, ‘this’?” Ari asked, going to finger the shoulder seam of her dress nervously, before remembering that this particular dress didn’t have one.
She’d found it in a store in Canary Wharf, a simple white number with a halter-neck top that hugged her body to just below her knees. The halter-neck tie flowed down her back, and she’d pulled her hair up into a simple chignon to show it off. She’d spent time on her make-up, applying it carefully and making her eyes smokier than usual, and had gone to the trouble of pulling on a pair of tall heels, knowing they accentuated the curve of her calves. There was nothing wrong, Ari thought, with showing off her calves. She didn’t run 10k a week just to keep them covered with long trousers and shapeless shift dresses, after all.
“You look stunning,” Luis said warmly. “That’s what he means.”
“You look like you care,” Sebastian explained. “Don’t get me wrong, you’ve always dressed well, but not like you care . I don’t know how else to explain it.”
Ari shook her head. “No, it’s okay, I think I understand.” She blushed. “Thank you for being so kind.”
“The question now,” Sebastian carried on, “is why you suddenly seem to care and have dressed to the nines?”
Ari blushed deeper, watching as Sebastian and Luis exchanged a look. Inexplicably, Luis leaned towards her and kissed her on the cheek.
“He’s not going to believe it when he sees you tonight,” he said warmly, and Ari shifted her weight from one foot to another.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about—”
“Please, I think you do,” Sebastian said. “Luis’s right — Tom’s not going to believe it when he sees you tonight. In fact, he’ll probably drop dead right here outside of Whyte’s. It would be a good place to go, actually. A refined place to die.”
“And even with that jawline, he’d make a beautiful corpse,” a sharp voice cut in. Ari jumped before she, Luis and Sebastian all turned, finding Stella standing next to them, looking at Ari with obvious approval.
“Stella, hello,” Ari stammered, leaning towards the woman to kiss her cheek.
Stella, however, stepped back.
“No offence, Ari, but your lips are quite the cherry-red tonight, and I don’t want that lingering on my expensive face-cream.”
“ Retinol ,” Sebastian mouthed at Ari, before he also turned to Stella. “You look lovely. The perfect blushing bride.”
“Really? Yesterday you thought I was a bossy fucking hag ,” she remarked back.
Sebastian waved a hand. “Last-minute wedding stress, darling, gets the better of us all.”
“Mm.” Stella frowned at him, but said nothing, turning to Ari. “Did you order my flowers?”
Ari nodded, standing taller. “The chocolate-scented Cosmos atrosanguineus ? I found a supplier in the Netherlands. They’ll be picked and shipped to Reykjavík, where I’ll deliver them personally to the florist. Your bouquet will be beautiful. Please don’t worry.”
“I never worry,” Stella replied smoothly. “I hire people to do that for me.” She gave Ari a long look. “So, tell me something? Are you trying to kill my brother-in-law-to-be tonight? Because your brother is right. Jawline is going to drop dead when he sees you. Honestly, if I weren’t about to marry the love of my life, I might even have taken a pop at you.”
Ari blushed again, looking down. “I just... You said to dress sharp—”
“Not sharp enough to deliver a mortal wound like this to the father of your child,” Stella remarked, gesturing to Ari’s dress. “Still, fair play to you. You’re stunning. Well done. Show the Jawline what he’s missing. Now, shall we go inside? Corentin’s on his way with Marnie,” she gave Ari another look, more thoughtful and contemplative. “Time for you to shine, Ari. You know, they say the best revenge is served cold, but tonight, I think hot is the way to go.”
With that, Stella stalked into the restaurant, Luis holding the door open for her. He gave Ari a pointed look as she walked past him, her heels clicking against the cool tiled floor. She followed Stella into the restaurant’s private room, where a waiter pulled aside a curtain to reveal an intimately set table with stunning crockery. Behind the table sat Reine, who called out happily to Ari when she saw her, but Ari’s eyes were mostly on Tom.
Tom, whose eyes went wide when he saw her, at once standing like the gentleman Ari suspected he was, but who, in his haste to stand, somehow managed to upend the tablecloth from where he’d been sitting, so that the immaculately laid glassware and crockery came crashing to the floor.