Dauphine had cornered me and asked me very seriously if we were real friends, and if I would call her when I was back in America. I’d given her my American number and told her to use it anytime.
I shared a look with Andrea.
Dauphine sat in troubled silence and continued to eat.
“Anyway, put whatever you like on the list for Evan,” Andrea said to me. “We’ll see how he handles it.” She stood and took her coffee cup to the dishwasher. “And put at least one outrageous thing on there. I swear, one of these days I’ll find something he can’t get me.” She gave a smirk. “That man sure is resourceful.”
“Anything going on there?” I asked with a sly glance at Dauphine to make sure she didn’t get my meaning.
A cloud passed over Andrea’s face. “No,” she said emphatically, but somehow I didn’t quite believe her. “I don’t … date. I can’t. You sure you don’t want this last piece of baguette?”
“Ha. No chance.”
“Oh, before I forget, you and Dauphine are accompanying Mr. P for lunch today. You are all going to Le Cinquante-Cinq. It’s a famous beach club.”
Dauphine clapped with joy. “Today?”
“We are?”
Andrea smiled at Dauphine’s excitement.
That didn’t leave us a whole lot of time. “Come on, Dauphine. It’s time for our morning yoga class.”
She hurriedly stuffed her last bite of baguette in her mouth.
“Oh,” I said. “Is Evan picking us up to go to the beach club? What time should we be ready?”
Andrea shrugged. “I’ve given up trying to get Evan to pin down times. Let’s say, be ready by noon. He said it’s safer to be unpredictable. ”
“Which drives me crazy,” said Chef, entering the kitchen.
“You and me both,” Andrea responded.
I gently guided Dauphine toward the door. “We’ll be upstairs if you need us.”
In the cool breeze and bright morning sun of the top deck, I cued up the yoga video. I inhaled deeply and exhaled per instructions, trying to expel any negativity inside me. I cracked an eye. Beside me, Dauphine was cross-legged, finger and thumb of each hand touching, and eyes closed. I loved how seriously she was taking our yoga.
Closing my eyes again, I tried to drown out the Jet Ski and a small nearby motor as well as all the feelings of guilt that I hadn’t called my mother in days to see how she was. The uncomfortable feeling inside about my work, and how I hadn’t heard anything back from sending out my resume yet, pressed against me. I didn’t want to face the fact I’d quit when I could have just hung on a bit longer at Donovan & Tate while looking for another position. I’d been hasty. And now I was sitting on the other side of the world. It was gorgeous, but it was a fantasyland. In more ways than one. But … gratitude, I reminded myself. The female yoga instructor told me to let any thoughts blow away like clouds, and I tried. I really tried. But there was a stubborn ice-eyed one that was hard to dislodge. Then we started into the first set of poses.
We had to pass on some because there was no way to balance while the boat rocked even gently. I mean Warriors One and Two, sure. Tree pose? Forget about it. Eventually we ended back in Downward Dog for a final set of Vinyasas. I tipped my butt up, trying to get as much into the stretch as I could one last time. I opened my eyes and was staring vacantly through my ankles when a set of familiar white-soled boat shoes and strong male ankles stepped into view from the stairwell.
There was a strangled sound from the man in question, and then Dauphine’s excited gasp next to me.
“Papa!” Dauphine almost tripped in her haste to extricate herself from her pose and get herself into her father’s arms as fast as possible.
“Oof,” he sounded.
I got to my feet awkwardly, light-headed from being upside down. I’d just displayed my butt in skin-tight leggings straight at my employer. “Hi,” I managed, face throbbing.
He nodded, looking everywhere but at me. “Bonjour. I’m sorry to have been gone so long.”
“It was fine. Dauphine and I are doing a yoga class.”
He cleared his throat. “I see. Which I interrupted. Apologies.”
Dauphine stripped off her t-shirt down to her bikini and stepped into the plunge pool. “It is so fun, Papa.”
“We were almost done,” I said. “Uh, I didn’t know you’d be back. I thought we were meeting