The Lost Year

  “Officer Gaston?” Red asked.

  “Oui.”

  “My name’s Taddy Brill. My lawyer Pierre de Vergès spoke with you on the phone. I’m here to pick up Kiki.” She gently placed her canvas tote on the floor.

  “Excusez-moi?” Gaston’s face went blank.

  “Tabitha Adelaide Brillford, for Kelly Ivy Kailyn Izatt. She’s the American you’re holding. Kiki was arrested along with her friend, Dejon something-or-another.” Her hand went to her hip, gold bangles jangling from her impatience.

  Brillford? Warner had heard her name before. He’d heard it in December. She’d come with the rock-n-roll star’s daughter and Farnworth Firewater heiress. It finally made sense to him.

  “Oui, mademoiselle, we’re processing Izatt’s paperwork.” His jaw tightened. “Monsieur Dejon was not charged. He left our station about an hour ago.”

  “Typical! I want to see her. Where is she?” Red grabbed her bag, ready to be led in the direction she’d intended, to her friend. It reminded Warner of her eagerness to move on the second he handed her the bronze purse in his driveway.

  “Your friend will remain here ’til charged. You may bail her out then.” The officer looked down as if to move on with his paperwork.

  Red released her belongings with a noisy thud, causing two police officers at neighboring cubicles to stand with their hands over their gun holsters. “Prostitution and pornography are not illegal in France, correct?” She leaned her weight on one foot, digging her heel into the floor. He admired her calf muscles as they flexed.

  “Izatt isn’t being charged with prostitution or pornography.” The officer took out a stack of paperwork, ready to move along with his own agenda.

  Red put her hand on top of the policeman’s. Warner noticed because the officer’s face flushed. “So then, what’s the charge?”

  “Trespassing.” Officer Gaston stared at Warner as if asking, ‘You wanna take this one?’

  With a head shake to hush the policeman, Warner remained behind her. Unaware of his presence, she tapped her nails on the wooden countertop. The wavy red curls bounced around her neck as she spoke. “Who’s pushing the trespassing charge?”

  He wished he could get a view of her face.

  “Kiki didn’t do anything wrong,” she continued, stomping her foot. For a second, Warner thought Red would jump across the counter and strangle the officer. He could see her struggle to stay calm.

  “Mademoiselle, the gentleman pressing charges is standing behind you.” The officer pointed over her shoulder at Warner, not wanting to deal with Red’s wrath.

  Warner leaned against the wall. This is going to be good.

  Red turned around, her jaw set. Snapping her sunglasses off, she shouted, “YOU.” Her pupils dilated. “If it isn’t the infamous Warner Truman.” She stepped forward, bringing her face close to his. He could smell her chewing gum.

  “Nice to see you, too, Mademoiselle.” Her beauty was more magnetic than he’d remembered. Warner extended a hand, in hopes she’d accept it. “And who are you pretending to be today?”

  Irked by his cool behavior, she brushed his hand away. “I should’ve figured. It’s your hotel. Only an asshole would press charges.” She crossed her arms over her breasts, possibly to calm her huff as she exhaled.

  Warner sidestepped her and faced the officer. “Do you have a private room we could use…to talk?” He eyed the detective, then directed his attention to Red.

  “Oui, follow me,” ordered the officer. He appeared relieved to be getting rid of them both.

  Hoping a little Red would ease his frustration over Hôtel de France, Warner inhaled her tuberose the second she walked past him. He followed, entering an interrogation room maybe eight-by-ten feet in size with no windows. It was dark, with a dim ceiling light. They’d have some privacy.

  “Your paperwork is going to take about an hour. I’ll come get you when it’s ready.”

  “Mr. Warner is going to drop these silly charges. You don’t have to file anything.” Red tried again to persuade Gaston, putting her hand on his shoulder. She stood taller than he did. Her confidence felt alluring and annoying at the same time.

  Officer Gaston smirked up at her, as if to say, ‘We’ll see’. He closed the door, leaving them alone.

  Warner pulled out a chair. “Have a seat, Mademoiselle Red.”

  She walked over to the chair and pushed it into the table’s edge leaving it unoccupied. “After flying for the last eight hours, I prefer to stand.”

  He sat opposite the empty chair. “Would you rather I call you Miss Brillford or Tabitha Adelaide?”

  “Neither. Taddy Brill is fine, thank you.” Smiling, serious, or aloof, her face disturbed him.

  “You came to St. Barth’s as a firestorm with your rock-n-roll and speed boat party friends. You ruined my New Year’s.” He’d given her too much credit. “Then you sic your Kiki minion on Hôtel de France during our busiest week of the year.”

  “Kiki is my executive assistant.” Her voice resonated. “And a damn good one. This is a mix-up.” The skin on her décolletage began to blush. He enjoyed watching her get hot. “She is impressionable and didn’t do anything wrong except be nice to a few endowed actors who paid her some attention.”

  He sat back, crossed his arms, kicked his feet up and mocked, “Now, now, Red. Let’s not get our vajazzled self in a glitter knot, shall we?”

  “Don’t speak to me that way.” Her lips pursed, but she was close to a giggle. He could tell ‘vajazzle’ had lightened her up a bit. Fighting the urge to laugh, she’d bitten her cheeks inside. Warner noticed because her cheekbones became more pronounced and her jaw tightened. It was the same restraint she’d used the night she’d stood motionless, clenching her fists in his driveway.

  “Do you have any idea the damage you’ve caused me and my hotel?”

  “Damage? On the plane ride over here, I caught Hôtel de France on the news.” She reached in her tote and pulled out the newspaper. “Your little motel’s logo is plastered globally. It’s massive exposure.”

  Motel, my ass. “What would you understand about publicity?” Probably nil. He couldn’t believe she’d upswing this. “Truman Enterprises is highbrow, not low, Miss Brill.

  “Meaning?”

  “You may work in a whorehouse, but I do not.”

  She moved closer to him, her head thrust forward. “You have no clue as to what my brows do for a living.” Reaching inside her tote, she withdrew two papers and flung them across the wooden table’s smooth surface.

  Catching the items as they zoomed toward him, he looked at the business flyer. It read, “Get fame, get glam, get Brill, Inc.” The other item was a brochure on her media services. Hmmm. “Appears we’re in a bind.” He folded the papers on the table then flung them back in her direction. “I’m not dropping the charges.” Confident in his decision, Warner smiled at her.

  “I’ll get the media to flip this in Hôtel de France’s favor,” she said, as if it was just another day at her office. Taddy held court well.

  “How long will your fame-glam-Brill strategy take?” He couldn’t imagine it was possible to rebrand or re-launch anything until at least a year down the road. The hotel would most likely be closed by then. Who would want to stay at a place reporters had coined ‘Hôtel du Anal’? He had to act fast.

  “Twenty-four hours.” She clamped her jaw tight and stared at him. “Drop the charges against Kiki this second, and we’ll get your little PR stunt crossed off my long to-do list.”

  Warner noted how positive Taddy was of her PR capabilities. But he wasn’t convinced. “And what’s the contingency plan if your publicity mastery backfires?”

  “I don’t have one.” Her voice raised a pitch. “Brill, Inc. won’t need one.”

  “If you fail…” He imagined the possibilities. She’d have to do whatever he wanted. “We finish what we started at Privé Extreme…Red and her Big Daddy.”

  Her perfect eyebrows furrowed. “I would ne
ver sleep with a married man.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “How’s Rielle?” Taddy blurted his ex-fiancée’s name as if calling ‘sooey’ to a pig. He thought, for a second, she might add an oink, but she didn’t.

  “You honestly don’t think I’d marry her.”

  “Yes, I do.”

  Upright in the chair, he held his left hand out and illustrated no wedding band. “Not married. Rielle’s insane, and was arrested after you left. Had you not run away so fast—” He cut himself off and swallowed a deep breath. “If you’d given me the benefit of the doubt after I held you in my arms, you would know this already.”

  “I thought…” Red’s features clouded with unease. “Sorry.” She reached for the chair and rested her tall body against the backrest. He hoped she’d sit down with him. “You’re single?”

  “Yes. Do you honestly think I would’ve kissed you if I was getting married?” He looked her over seductively. With any luck, it would remind her of what they’d shared.

  “Totally.”

  “Touched you?” He focused his attention on the exact spot his hands had been.

  “Maybe.”

  “Invited you back to my place?” He had her there.

  “No, I suppose not.” Taddy shrugged it off. “Our night was a misunderstanding, and so is this week’s fiasco.”

  “I’ll drop the charges if you hold your press conference tomorrow morning. Work on your strategy today.” He paused. “Tonight, you can show me what you’ve come up with over dinner.”

  “Sounds fair enough,” she confirmed.

  “If your press conference fails, we finish what we started at Privé Extreme.” Warner hoped they’d succeed at both. He could always get another hotel, but he could never find another Red.

  “Deal.” She extended a firm handshake and relaxed her face into a slight grin. Finally, he saw the whites of her teeth. Straight and perfect, they matched the rest of her features.

  All this arguing made him ravenous. “Can I take you to lunch? We could eat at La Palme d’Or over on Boulevard de la Croisette and discuss your media approach further.” He loved their tables on the terrace. They overlooked the Bay of Cannes.

  Suddenly, Red straddled the back of the chair. She dropped her shoulders and teased him with her breasts. Warner remembered stroking her sensitive nipples in his hands. He’d enjoyed seeing her face blush in pleasure as his fingers slid into her weeping hole. When his eyes met hers, she spoke. “Do you have any clue how much work is ahead of us to pull off this conference?” Turning for the door, she whispered over her shoulder. “See you tonight, Mr. Truman.”

  I haven’t seen you since December. It took me five months, but I got you, Red!

  Outside, Taddy spoke to the journalists who’d gathered on the street. They’d clamored for a response from Hôtel de France. She hosted a short two-minute pre-press media alert and told the world to tune in tomorrow for bigger news with their CEO, Mr. Warner Truman.

  Kiki was ready to go home. Not back to Manhattan, but Utah. She’d called her family from jail, and they agreed some time in Provo would be good for her.

  DJ Dejon had been waiting at a nearby café until Kiki was released. He wasn’t being charged with anything. When Taddy first met Dejon, she’d grilled him on his intentions with Kiki. Taddy concluded he was a great match for her assistant. He seemed like an upstanding guy, especially when she’d learned Dejon had advised Kiki against inviting the adult actors to their room. When he and Kiki had first arrived in Cannes, he’d tried to score his own private melonlicious time with her.

  Afraid to be alone with Dejon, Kiki had hung out with Manuel and Caramel as a distraction. “Better Manuel and Caramel having sex than me with Dejon,” Kiki had revealed to Taddy when she was packing up her things that Dejon had put butterflies in her stomach and while she couldn’t imagine losing her virginity before marriage, she’d desperately wanted to. “Please, thank Mr. Truman for dropping the charges.” Her assistant opened the door to Taddy’s rental car and climbed in with her bags.

  “I’m glad that’s over.” Taddy apologized to Kiki for possibly being overly sexed the past few months. She told Kiki she just wanted to see her happy.

  During the drive to the nearby Mandelieu Airport, Taddy hoped she could get her assistant to change her mind and stay. “Are you sure you want to leave Cannes?”

  “Yes.” Kiki held on to her bag as if it was all she owned.

  Taddy shifted the Peugeot into fifth gear as they zipped east down Avenue Bachaga Said Boualam. She didn’t have much time to get the press conference organized, but wanted to make sure she gave her good-byes to Kiki. “If you change your mind and stay, I could take you shopping once the press conference is over.” The car’s radio played unfamiliar French pop music. She turned it down. “We could spend the day in Rue d’Antibes. They have the best—”

  “No.” Kiki shook her head.

  She tried again to encourage her assistant to stay. “Blake e-mailed me a nightlife schedule. We could make our rounds.”

  “No way!”

  “You have tickets for the Vanity Fair party and let’s not forget the gorgeous dress, which you have yet to wear. I could do your hair.” Please, stay. I feel horrible about suggesting you watch those darn videos.

  “You can go in my place, Miss Brill.” Her face tilted toward the window.

  She patted her assistant’s leg. “I could get us into the Marie Claire party. Rumor has it Prince Harry and Zac Efron are attending. How fun! Let’s—”

  “There’s something about being handcuffed while ten thousand horny people chant ‘Fuck her! Fuck her!’ in your face which makes you not want to party.” She turned toward Taddy and added, “Or be seen in public.”

  “Gotcha.” She lowered the visor. The early-afternoon sun shone bright white and yellow across the Mediterranean beaches. Glasslike, the water gleamed back at her as if saying everything on the French Riviera existed for pleasure.

  “One night in jail and I’m ready to leave France.” Kiki squeezed Taddy’s hand to show her gratitude for the bail-out. “Thank you for buying my airline ticket to Utah to see my folks for a few days. I’m homesick.”

  Taddy’s sadness over Kiki leaving Cannes eased at the thought of her in Utah. She wanted Kiki’s family to get close again and had called the airline for a ticket before they’d left the police station. “Your trip home is a blessing.”

  “How so?”

  “You’ll make right with your family.” She hoped Kiki would return as promised. Assistants often left the city for a break and never returned. That was the reason Taddy resisted bonding with her employees. They never lasted. Devastated when one would resign or quit on the spot, over the years she found if she distanced herself from them, it would be easier when they left. Taddy had learned as a teen if she didn’t want to get hurt, she couldn’t get attached.

  “My parents are looking forward to meeting Dejon. I’m relieved he’s flying back with me. He texted to say he’d meet me at the airline check-in counter.”

  “Dejon is perfect for you. He’s young and lanky with ET-like fingers. You know what they say about men with his body type, don’t you?”

  “No. What?” Kiki’s face was expressionless.

  “Lanky men are…sweet and treat their girlfriends like ladies.” Taddy smiled. They’re hung like horses. “When you came out from jail and Dejon took you into his arms, I was moved.” She lowered her sunglasses over her eyes. “Such lovebirds you two make.”

  “These feelings are new for me.” Kiki’s neck blotched in response.

  “Enjoy what you have with Dejon. Love is hard to find.” She thought back to the guy she’d dated last. It’d been a few years since then.

  “What about you?” Kiki lifted her seat belt, pressing her back against the car door.

  “Me?” Taddy adjusted the air-conditioning vent to blow on her face. The rental car’s newness was making her nose itchy.

  “When we
left the police station, Mr. Truman didn’t take his eyes off you.”

  “Yes, he’s got hawk eyes.” They are also golden and change colors from green to brown and make me go into Candy Land. Her palms became slippery, causing her to grip the steering wheel tighter. She sat taller in her seat, clenched her thighs together, and pushed down on the gas with her right foot. “Warner is…handsome.”

  “Handsome?” Kiki repeated. “Next to Dejon, he’s the hottest man I’ve ever seen. When Mr. Truman stepped outside, the women on the sidewalk fell over each other. Even men stare at him.” She giggled.

  “You’re exaggerating. Warner’s tall, so he’s easy to spot.” The airport’s signs came into view. Kiki’s first flight would take her to Paris, boarding from Terminal Deux.

  “I’ve never seen muscles as large as Mr. Truman’s. Those arms, my goodness. I’d love to see you happy and with someone…similar to him.” Kiki studied Taddy’s face, waiting for a response or for her to reveal some tidbit she’d missed.

  Taddy shifted the car down a gear and pulled into the traffic lined up at the airport’s entrance. “Thank you for worrying, but I’m fine. Mr. Lee pedicured me before I came to France.” She winked. “I have my friends, my staff, my money—I’m good.” Lies, but if she kept saying the rubbish out loud, maybe she’d believe it.

  “Do you remember when I started at the agency?”

  “Vaguely,” Taddy joked.

  “You mentioned your fondness for red? You said you’re as intense as the color.” Kiki rolled up her window. “You said red helps people to make snap decisions, and embodies strength and power.”

  “I remember.” She’d lived by red.

  “As we’ve worked together this year, I can say those descriptions suit you.” She gave Taddy an admiring stare, one Taddy never witnessed from any employee.

  “Your words mean a lot to me. Thank you.”

  “Do you know what else comes to mind when I think about you and the color red?” Kiki’s eyes filled with tears.