Trouble finding Blondie (36 page)

Jada came out with another Pellegrino.

“Well, if that wasn’t blowing steam. That was playing with fire. You should have warned me to bring a fire extinguisher.”

“He was a safe choice.”

“For whom? Oh, for you. Not to do anything stupid. I get it.”

“For both of us. It was just a dance.”

“Uh-hmm. If you wanted to push buttons, you succeeded. Andre was ready to go down there to kill him. Senior saved your asses.”

“Oh, that was on purpose? And you are wrong. I did it for Adam...”

“When are we leaving?”

“Five minutes.”

Simona walked down the stairs towards the Zatopek ladies: first wife, Elise, second wife, Daniella. And Monique.
 

“Moni, are we ok?”

“Of course, you had my blessing. It was mesmerizing, even believable. I have never seen him like that.”

Simona was smiling, hugging Monique, “You are welcome, Moni.”

“Hmm?? For what?”

“He is awake. Steamy and yours,” Simona finished the sentence with an alluring smile.

“Mr. Arnaud is ready to take you home, ladies, any time you are ready. I think I have had enough for tonight. Good night,” Simona said. She hugged each woman with a different energy. It was very natural for her to hug Elise. She loved her like a mom. Monique she hugged with true friendship, a pure deep soul to soul connection. And with Daniella it was just a polite, reserved kindness.
 

Back at the bar, Philippe walked over to the bartender.

“Let me see the bottle. How much of that did she have?”

“I just opened it. She said she might not even need it. Asked to keep it on ice.”

Philippe nodded and walked away.

While everyone was talking, Damian threw his wife into the pool, Stephan was next, but Paul wouldn’t dare. Damian grabbed Simona, and Radka started yelling not to do it because of the dress. She was still screaming when he jumped with her, fully clothed, into the pool.

“Enough about the dress. It’s over,” Damian said.

“Haha. That’s one way to do it,” Simona agreed. She grabbed Damian and kissed him on both cheeks. “Didi, forget the dress. You ruined my shoes.”

“Manolos?”

“You know Manolo Blahnik?”

“Yes, dear. Got few of those on my credit card.”

“Well, these are Louboutins.”

“Fine, I’ll get you new shoes. But I’m not paying 25 thousand for the dress.”

“Fair enough. And now get my wet ass out without taking my shoes off.”
 

Damian lifted Simona, and his wife Steffi was helping pull her out. Radka was standing ready with the towels. Simona was finally ready to laugh seeing Radka in excruciating pain, watching her squeeze water out of the precious possession. They all walked up to the house. Aurelie and Steffi left to change. Damian was squeezing water out of his shirt, showing off his dark skin.

“What the hell happened?”

“Your moron friend threw her into the pool.”
“No, no, Radka, I didn’t throw her. I jumped with her.”

“Same thing. You ruined…”

“Yeah, yeah, your obsession. We heard.”

“Come on, you two. Thank you for a lovely evening. It was a pleasure being with all of you, but it was a very long day for me,” Simona was blowing kisses, leaving when Andre silenced the room.

“Are you really going to leave us all hang with no further explanation about the dress?”

Simona was facing Jada, walking towards the exit when she stopped.

Jada was praying in her head.

Don’t take the bait! Don’t take the bait! Just keep walking. A few more steps.

It was too late. Simona was furious. She turned around and said, “I already gave my dress speech. You must be drunk or deaf if you missed it.”

“I may be drunk, but I clearly remember I didn’t buy it. Philippe didn’t either. Adam couldn’t, you wouldn’t, so who did?”

“I’m going to do you a favor because it’s your birthday and ignore your accusations, insinuations, and stupid questioning.”

“I would like to know, too.”

Simona couldn’t believe that Philippe was ganging up on her. She was scanning them both, feeling her barometer raising. She came within a few feet from Andre and Philippe, not losing eye contact for a second, jumping from one to the other.

“I didn’t want glory or big speeches. The only thing I wanted tonight was to see you happy, Andre. Nothing else. I have been doing shots to calm my nerves. I’m tired, I’m horny, and I didn’t get what I wanted! So, you know what??! Fuck You and You!” she was pointing from Andre to Philippe. ”And Good night!”

You could hear a pin drop. The only noise was the pounding clicks of Simona’s heels. It was like a giant clock tower, a countdown. She was almost by Jada when she turned around and walked back to the bar. The sharp sound of her heels hitting the marble floors was giving everyone chills up their spine, already in shock, holding their breaths.

“Didi, can you please unhook the ivory closure?”

Damian opened the top of the zipper. Simona reached with her arm behind her back so high up like a snake woman and pulled the zipper down. The dress dropped to her feet, and she stood there in her perfectly shaped bra and beautiful, lacy underwear. It was a stunning definition of ivory color on her tan, lean body with cheeky boy cut bottoms, exposing her perfectly perky butt.
 

She stepped over the dress and turned around to face the three men.

“All you cared about tonight is this dress. You can have it.”

It was a shocking moment from a Hollywood movie where all the people in the room just stand there gobsmacked. Perfect timing to run for the exit. Simona had to grab Jada like a coat on her way out. It took something very special to bring Jada to a state of shock. Nothing usually fazed her.

“WTF just happened?”

“It was wet anyway.”

“Well, were are we going now?”

“Anywhere. Just drive already.”

“Considering we have no wallets and your outfit, it may have to be nature. On second thought, with your outfit we don’t need money. We will get free drinks.”

“Very funny. Let’s go to my house,” Simona slumped back into the car seat.

❖ ❖ ❖

Back at the chateau, Jada’s husband David was already told not to wait for her. She was going to be on friend duty. He loved Simona and knew their friendship well enough to stay away and not ask questions. Philippe was holding Andre who was on
 
his way to chase Simona, telling him she needed to cool off first.

“Jada, what did I do wrong?”

“Nothing. This is not one of your ’start from yourself bullshit.’ It was totally circumstantial. You couldn’t make this shit up even if you wanted to.”

“Did I mess it up for him tonight?”

“No, he got stuck, and nothing was gonna fix it.”

“I don’t know what got into him. The whole day was a limbo between jealousy and obsession.”

“My favorite part besides the dance and the striptease was, ‘fuck you and kiss my ass!’”

“It wasn’t a striptease. I had underwear on. And I didn’t say ‘kiss my ass.’”

“Wet underwear. As in see through. You know - seeing it all.”

“Still not a striptease. The definition is a sexual, seductive, and gradual removal of clothes.”

“Oh, ok, I’ll give you that. You dropped the shit without music, and ‘I’m horny’ is not sexual enough for you?”

“Oh, Lord! Was my father-in-law there?”

“You may be safe there. I think only Adam was there out of the Zatopek clan.”

“Jada, what happened to him?”

“Andre? Well, just think about it. You shipped him off...”

“What? It was his dream destination. On his bucket list!”

“I’m just saying that he was away from the two of you on his birthday.”

“It’s just a fricking date. And I had no control over this whole expedition.”

“Stop with this annoying defense. Shut up already.”

“Fine.”

“I’m just trying to see it through his eyes. Isn’t that what you preach?”

“How am I the bad guy here?”

“You are not, but shut the stubborn voice up. Simona, try. Please.”

“I get your point. I shipped him off to be able to make all the arrangements and the grand surprise, not realizing how it could make him feel to be away from us. I get that.”

“Ok, now we are onto something. Then lady Mounia shows up....”

“And he gets all crazy about who in my life is important enough to buy me a dress like that.”

“I’m proud of you. You got it.”

“I guess I got some ironing to do tomorrow.”

“Ok, Black & Decker.”

“Oh, God, it’s Rowenta.”

“Who cares?!”

“You should. If you want to be a smart ass, you need to get it right. The best iron is and always has been Rowenta.”

“Ok then, iron nazi. I shall see you tomorrow. Wait. Who bought the dress anyway?”

“Good night, Jada.”

“You are evil like Scarlett O’Hara. ‘As God is my witness, I shall…’"

“…'never be hungry again?’”

“Fuck that shit. I could lose some weight. I shall find out.”

“Haha. As Scarlett said, ‘I’ll think about it tomorrow.’”

“You bet your skinny ass I will.”

“Good night, Jada. I love you.”

“Get some sleep. Love you, too.”

❖ ❖ ❖

Jada walked into a room full of men drinking by the bar and women sipping midnight tea outside. The only sober ones were the bartender and Mr. Arnaud.

“Before anyone asks me anything, she is safely home, and someone needs to find Andre a bed.”

“I’m going home,” Andre protested.

“Hell no!” Jada stood firm in front of him. “Your drunken, sorry ass is bunking with someone here.”

“I need to talk to her.”

“Your house is full of kids. You are in no shape for a conversation. Maybe tomorrow. Philippe, he is all yours.”

“Thanks, Jada,” Philippe said. “That was my dream ending as a host.”

“Just tell her tomorrow that she owes you.”

Jada was about to say good night when Damian started another round.

“Why is it that you don’t want to marry her, Andre?”

“What? Are we back to my non-existing proposal?”

“I’m just curious. Is it money you are worried about? If that’s the problem, you can always sign a prenup.”

“Wait, you think she wants to marry him for money?” Jada was getting furious.

“No, of course not. Everybody knows they are perfect for each other, and the love is real. I’m just saying if that is holding him back...”

“Prenup for whom?” Jada was staring Damian down.

“What? What do you mean?”

“Well, Andre, are you going to say something?”

“I would love to, Jada, but I can’t. I swore not to. It’s not my choice.”

“I can’t believe you are going to let all these people think she is a housewife, living large off your money.”

“Again, not my choice, not my call,” Andre walked out, and everyone looked even more confused.

“What does that mean, Jada?”

“Oh, no. Double whammy. How did you two become friends? Ashley is a total CIA, and Radka proved to be the FBI. Don’t you two gang up on me now.”

“Well, you heard the man. He can’t, but you can.”

“Nice strategy, Ashley. Let’s just say it’s not Philippe or Andre who paid for your asses to come here.”

“Simona? How?”

“She is a trust fund baby.”

“Trust fund from a communist country? Yeah, right,” Radka was laughing.

“Damn. Forgot about you, Czech FBI. Ok, well, you know she is a writer.”

“Come on, Jada. Writing for magazines doesn’t pay for a castle.”

“Look, until I talk to her, she won a lottery. Okay?”

Jada left Ashley and Radka puzzled, walked to the bar, and ordered a shaken, very dirty martini.

“I can’t stand it either,” Philippe appeared out of nowhere and joined her for a drink.

“Philippe, why?”

“You know her. It’s all about her privacy, identity, and Francois.”

“How do their best friends not know?”

“You know. I know. Andre knows. Her kids know. That’s all that matters to her.”

“How about the family?”

“His or hers?”

“Her family doesn’t know either?”

“Not even her sister.”

“What? Her twin sister doesn’t know?”

“I’m pretty sure not.”

“How did she manage to do that? That’s crazy, Philippe.”

“I know. But for once Andre is off the hook on this one.”

“She would rather come across as a dependent housewife who waits for a proposal?”