it’s not like he’s really going to stop paying the landscape architect at my country estate. But now I need your help.”
“What can I do?”
Colette’s eyes brimmed with tears. “Carlton finally picked up the phone. He told me to stop calling him. He said so many horrid, horrid things, I don’t even want to tell you. And he told me that he never wants to see me again! Can you believe it? I know he’s just upset about what happened to you. I know he’s feeling guilty, blaming himself in some way. Please, you’ve got to convince him that you’re fine, and that we’re friends, and that he doesn’t have to be angry at me anymore. I have something very important to discuss with him, and I need to see him as soon as possible. Will you please help me?”
Rachel sat quietly, watching the tears spill down Colette’s cheeks. “You know, I haven’t seen Carlton since getting back to Shanghai. He hasn’t spoken to me or his parents. I don’t think he’s ready to talk to anyone yet.”
“He’ll talk to you, Rachel, and I know where he is. He’s in the Presidential suite at the Portman Ritz-Carlton—that’s where he always hides out. Will you go and see him for me? Please?”
“I can’t do that, Colette. I don’t want to force Carlton into seeing me until he’s ready. And I really don’t think I should be getting in the middle of your relationship. Nothing I can say will make him stop feeling the way he wants to feel. You need to give him time to heal, and he needs to figure out for himself what he wants.”
“But he never knows what he wants. You have to tell him!” Colette pleaded. “I think the longer he broods about this, the more it will fester—like his accident. He was already such a mess all the time when he was recovering from his accident, I don’t want him to get into another mess in his head about this.”
“I don’t know what to tell you, Colette. People are messy. Life gets messy. Things are not always going to work out perfectly just because you want them to.”
“That’s not true. Things always end up working out for me,” Colette said impetuously.
“Well then I suppose you’ll just have to trust that they will this time.”
“So you’re really not going to go over to the Portman?”
“I just don’t see the point.”
Colette’s eyes narrowed for a moment. “Oh, I get it. You don’t want me to get back with Carlton, do you?”
“That’s not true.”
“Yes, I see now. You want to punish me, don’t you?”
“I don’t understand—”
“You’re still angry about what happened to you.”
Rachel gave Colette a look of frustration. “I’m not angry at you. I felt sad for you, maybe, but I was never truly angry.”
“You felt sad for me?”
“Yes, I felt sad about the whole situation, that things would ever get to a point where Roxanne would feel the need—”
Colette suddenly slammed her fist onto the table. “How dare you feel sad for me! Who do you think you are?”
Rachel jerked back in alarm. “Um, I didn’t mean it as an insult, Colette, I just meant—”
“I took pity on you, Rachel Chu! I thought, here is this poor, pathetic orphan girl from America. I paid for your meals, I invited you to my house, you flew on my plane, I paid for the whole damn Paris trip. I gave you special access to the most exclusive places in the world and introduced you to all my important friends, and you can’t even do one small favor for me?”
My God, she’s losing it. Rachel tried to remain calm. “Colette, I think you are being unreasonable here. I am grateful for all the generosity you have shown Nick and me, but I just don’t think it’s my place to tell Carlton to do anything, especially if it concerns his relationship with you.”
“You’ve never really been my friend, have you? I see you clearly now, in your cheap American clothes and your cheap little jewelry!” Colette spat contemptuously.
Rachel stared at her in shock. Was this really happening? She could see that all the other well-manicured women in the dining room were gawking at them now. The two security guards rushed up behind Rachel’s chair. “Is everything okay, miss?”
“You brought security? Who do you think you are? Oh this is funny, are you trying to imitate me now? Well, I have double the security detail that you do! Roxanne was right about