She trotted in, smiling brightly, a copy of her résumé in hand. She was nervous and excited and offering her throat to Vivian like the zeta female to the alpha.

Vivian’s eyes gleamed, and Jules knew she’d chosen well. “So,” Vivian said neutrally, “who are you?”

“Alexandra Lake.” Allie then added, “Allie, please.”

Vivian’s lip curled. “And what brings you here, Allie?”

Allie blanched. “Um.”

“I’ll just go mind the phones,” Jules said.

Vivian nodded, a satisfied look on her face.

Jules sat down at her desk. She was listening in, but she couldn’t help thinking, She called her Allie. She calls me Julia.

Maybe she thinks I’m special.

No. Time to pay attention. Jules focused back on the interview. She heard Vivian say, “think you can bring to the table?”

“Oh, I love fashion,” Allie replied earnestly. “My mom got Du Jour in the mail every month when I was growing up, and I always read it cover to cover.”

“Really,” Vivian purred. “Well.”

Jules could just picture the look on her face. She rather thought she could pat herself on the back. Score one brand-spanking-new minion. She tried not to preen. Finally.

Chapter 31

Chapter 31

The next day, Simon took one look at Allie, pulled Jules aside, and said, “You’re kidding.”

“Nope. I think she’ll be just right.”

Together they watched Allie, who’d been given a small table and rickety chair from storage. It was conveniently placed near Jules’s desk but out of Vivian’s sight as well as that of anyone else who might judge Du Jour for having furniture that wasn’t straight out of a showroom. Allie still looked thrilled to be there—at least Jules was pretty sure she was thrilled. Her stare was a little vacant.

“Can she rub two thoughts together to create a spark?” Simon asked in a low voice.

“Time will tell.” She patted Simon’s arm. “Look at it this way. While she’s making copies and bringing Vivian coffee, I’ll have more time to bug you in your office.”

He gave her a wry smile. “It’s sad if you think that’s true.”

Over the next few days, his prediction bore out. Jules didn’t have time to do anything other than train Allie. For the most part, Allie shadowed her, watching with wide eyes as Jules attended on Vivian, answered the phone, sent endless texts and emails, and ran errands.

Three days after Allie’s hire, as Ben was ferrying her and Jules to Hermès, Vivian called Allie’s cell phone.

“Hello?” she squeaked, then went pale. She stammered, “O-okay, Vivian,” hung up, turned to Jules, and said, “She said to get her that footstool that she liked at that store. Do you know which footstool? And which store?”