He stood as she arrived and she looked at him with great sadness in her eyes. “Chanel! Please join us!”
A waiter added a chair to their table and Chanel sank into it gratefully. Her short black hair had grown out a little and was looking like she’d slept on it. She wore no make-up as usual but with the weight she’d lost and the apparent lack of sleep the bruises under her eyes made her look truly exhausted.
“What happened?” Gabriella asked.
“I tried. I did. I tried to put her from my mind and move on. Go back to my life before…” Chanel sighed and rubbed her face. She looked at Ben again. “After that animal Rapava took my Isabelle I had my hate for him and the hunt to keep my heart and mind occupied. Then Cath-” her voice caught. “Then she entered my life and I was torn. I still had to complete my mission but there was a chance for love again.”
Her face tilted down and she seemed to be struggling to hold back her tears. When she looked up again her eyes were glassy. “I’ve been so single minded since I escaped my mother’s plan for my life. I had my ambitions and my own plan. Isabelle was the one unexpected element but she flowed effortlessly into my life and was content to follow. I made room for her in the course I’d set. When she was taken there was a huge void in my life. I thought Catherine might step into Isabelle’s place but she is so much different. She is not content to follow. She-” a sob escaped. Gabriella took her hand and Ben saw Chanel took strength from the touch as she bit her lip to stop her tears.
“She will not follow. She is strong and willful and has her own plan and commitments. And my plan is dust in my mouth. Nothing has meaning anymore. Without her, I am nothing.”
Gabriella made a sympathetic sound and squeezed her hand.
“Why didn’t you call her? Tell her?” Ben asked thinking of the pain Catherine was going through as well.
Chanel dropped her eyes again. “In my desperate desire to start over I erased all the information I had for her. No numbers. No address. Then so much time passed. She must hate me. For how I ran.”
Ben scowled. “If you think that you don’t know her well enough!”
“Ben!” Gabriella admonished and he settled back in his chair but he wasn’t finished. “I’m sorry for that outburst Chanel. But you’re wrong about Catherine’s reaction. She’s heartbroken. She misses you terribly. She wants you back.”
Chanel began to cry softly and Gabriella moved to pull her into an embrace.
Eventually, Chanel got control and thanked Gabriella. She wiped her eyes and for the first time she seemed to become aware of Miriam and Daniel. She smiled weakly. “You must think I’m a silly woman.”
“Not at all. I think you’re a woman in love. You should be with the one you love,” Miriam said gently and Daniel nodded.
Chanel blinked at the young ones and looked to Gabriella. “You truly are the Goddess of Love if your children are this wise about love.”
Gabriella blushed and smiled at the woman.
“Miriam and Daniel are flying back home tomorrow on a jet. Catherine is picking them up at the airport. There is room on that jet if you want to go to her,” Ben said.
Chanel looked at him in surprise.
“Understand, Catherine loves me and I love her. I’m not giving her up but I don’t have to. She loves you too. There is more than enough love for everyone. She needs you as much as you need her. Go to her. Find it in yourself to understand that love isn’t finite or have to be divided and make it work. You’re right about one thing. Nothing else matters,” Ben asserted.
“I- I would like to go to her,” she said shakily looking into Ben’s eyes.
“I’ll call the jet service to let them know you will be joining the kids on the flight home,” he said and stood taking his cell out.”
“Are you not flying home as well?” Chanel asked.
“No, I have business in Australia to attend to first.” With a nod he left to make the call from the lobby where the signal was better.
Chanel looked at Gabriella. “I feel like a leaf, lost in the wind.”
Gabriella smiled and took her hand once more. “We all feel that way when life gets away from us. When we forget to pay attention to what’s truly important. I promise, when you’re in Catherine’s arms again the world will right itself and you’ll find your balance once more.”
Chanel smiled and looked at the kids. “You are very lucky to have this woman as your mother.” Two happy grins told her they knew.
“Where are you staying? Wait- how did you find us?” Gabriella asked in surprise.
Chanel raised an eyebrow. “I am a detective.”
Three grins indicated they were suitably impressed.
“I am staying at a dumpy little hotel on the edge of town,” she replied.
“Check out and bring your stuff to the Brezza offices. You can stay in the suite at the office tonight. There is a party tonight in honor of Ben’s saving the company. It will be good to unwind, there’s going to be delicious food, drinks and dancing. And a really nice bed to sleep in until we pick you up in the morning to drive you and the kids to the airport.”
“Ben saved the company? The last I heard you were trying to sell off assets to save the company,” Chanel said.
“I was hunting for investors with very little luck. Ben stepped up and made a major investment to save this season’s product line up,” Gabriella beamed.
“Major?” Chanel asked.
“Millions major,” Gabriella said with a raised eyebrow.
Ben returned and took his chair. He saw the two women smiling at him. “What?”
“Nothing,” Gabriella smiled sweetly.
“I must go to check out of my dumpy little hotel. I will meet you tonight at Brezza,” Chanel said.
Everyone stood and gave Chanel a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She especially enjoyed hugging Gabriella as the woman exuded love. Chanel was convinced Catherine was right about her friend. After a moment’s reflection she thought she might be right about Ben as well.
Brezza headquarters was buzzing with energy that night and Ben was right smack in the middle of it. Gabriella failed to mention just how large a ‘party’ the employees were going to throw for him.
He was wearing his dark suit which normally made him an intimidating presence but each and every employee of the merged companies insisted on shaking his hand, hugging him, kissing his cheek, or all of the above. Gabriella did her best to move the more amorous and enthusiastic ones along but by the height of the evening Ben was feeling truly worn out. He needed a little downtime so Gabriella found him a table in the corner and found four of Brezza’s security staff, who also owed their jobs to Ben, to stand guard and redirect the now slightly inebriated staff away from the table.
From his vantage point Ben could see most of the floor space the party was occupying. There was a large screen on one where images from the most recent fashion show were being displayed. This was the collection that was already making waves in the industry. Fashion was a very fickle business but for this year it seems theirs was the hot iron and it had struck well.
Gabriella finally explained what she meant when she said his name had leant the company a great deal of respect with the suppliers. He was holding one of the silk garment tags that were being sewn into each item. Sewn onto each was a silhouette of the blasted brass statue… with permission from Gabriella’s cousin who was reaping her own fortune from the damn thing. The chateau was booked for the foreseeable future as the only way to see the real statue was to stay at the hotel. A copy was on display at Richard and Henry’s hotel as that was only fair. The two businesses shared the wealth very well.
Getting back to the silk tag, some clever stitching left the impression of a formidable appendage between the legs… or it could just be the contour of his thigh muscle. It was left to the imagination of the wearer.
He’d been shocked and a little disturbed when Gabriella first handed him the tag and explained what it was. Then she explained how it was driving their pre-orders through the roof. The order estimates for the collection were being recalculated but it seemed like they had underestimated by a factor of 3 if not more. The production department was thrilled!
So his little foray into investing in fashion was going to pay off very well after all. His nest egg was going to get another sizeable bump.
He tucked the tag into his pocket and looked out over the party. He could see Daniel’s smiling face behind his new camera. He was circulating, taking candid shots and the models hired to show off the new line were all fawning over him. Someone had the brilliant idea to tether his camera wirelessly to the computer displaying the images up on the screen and his party shots randomly appeared on the screen as well. He saw one of Miriam and it took his breath away.
The image on the screen showed her wearing one of the new dresses and laughing with two of the models. Daniel had captured a moment of pure happiness and joy for his sister. It seems Miriam had been made an honorary model for the evening and Ben thought she looked absolutely beautiful.
“Oh my god, I look like a goof!”
Ben looked away from the screen to see Miriam standing next to the table looking up at the screen in dismay.