Chapters (22)
“No, I grew up here but I live in Paris now. I’m just here for this pop-up store. We’re doing one in Dallas and another in L.A., and then I’m going back.”
“Well, if you need anything while you’re here, don’t hesitate to call me.” He felt foolish for saying it, but he wished he could see her again, and he had no idea how to do it. She was leaving town shortly, traveling and then going back to Paris. She had a life somewhere else, and had survived unspeakable trauma and tragedy. He couldn’t imagine how he could be so taken with her. It seemed wrong and like a terrible intrusion, even to him. But Robert Richmond was right, he was obsessed with her. He had no idea why, but she was under his skin. He felt as though he had been meant to meet her, but he had no idea why. It made no sense. And he wanted to protect her, but he was a year too late. There was an otherworldly quality to her, as though she was too gentle to protect herself.
When he thanked her and they said goodbye, he stepped beyond the curtains and Theo retreated behind the curtains again, like a deer into the forest. He wanted to pull the curtains back and see her again just one more time. She was the most beautiful, bewitching creature he’d ever seen. He’d never met another woman like her, or as beautiful.
He made his way back through the crowd to the door, until he reached the sidewalk, and spoke to the young agent briefly and casually on the way past him.
“Is he still here?” Mike asked in a low voice about de Vaumont, and the agent nodded.
“Good. Stay with him. I’m leaving.” He walked away then and hailed a cab to take him downtown. He felt as though he was in a daze. He couldn’t remember any other woman who had affected him that way before. He had no idea if he’d ever see her again. It seemed unlikely. He felt like a moonstruck boy as he rode downtown in the cab, holding the bag with the red purse he could never give to his sister, or anyone else, except one of his secretaries at Christmas. Theo looked like a lost soul and he wanted to protect her from the evils in her world. He still wasn’t sure if Pierre de Vaumont was one of them. All he wanted now was to see her again. She was addictive, and he was hooked.