Chapter 13

"Alexander, you old fraud," Monique said as he bent down to kiss her cheek once she was settled into her chair. Greg was already moving around to the driver's side as Alex steered Monique to the front of the restaurant where Samantha and Rachel had so recently entered. Alex had watched them go in from a discrete distance while watching for Monique's car. They had arranged it so that Samantha would get seated and comfortable before Monique made her entrance. The restaurant was Monique's choice, one that she frequented and knew her well. Nothing like having home field advantage.

"Good evening to you Monique. Now what did I do?" Alex asked as they waited for Greg to return from parking the car.

"You, in a suit darling. I did not even know you owned one."

"I don't. I had to borrow this one from Martin."

"Alexander, do not lie to an old lady. There is no way you could squeeze your height into a suit Martin might own, and there is no way it would not gape at the waist, even if you did. It looks good on you by the way. Remind me the next time Karl is in town and we will get him to fit you for a couple of new ones."

"Yes Monique. I buy one suit a year and there is no way I could afford to look at a Lagerfeld, much less actually have the man fit me for one, but I thank you for the introduction anyway."

"Oh pooh. You can afford several solely on the crumbs you let me pay you," she said.

Alex held his tongue, Greg's arrival providing him the opportunity to change the topic before Monique got herself wound up. As much as he would like to own a Lagerfeld, he hated wearing suits and would never get the value out of it.

"Shall we go into dinner then?" Alex asked as Greg opened the door for them.

"Madame DuMaurie, bon soir! Monsieur Gilcrest how are you sir? And Alex, my friend, you have been away? I have not seen you in forever.

"Good evening Guy," Monique said, as she accepted his kisses before the maitre d' hugged Greg as an old friend. Alex was quickly looking around the room, finding Samantha with his eyes as she faced out from the wall, Rachel had turned slightly in her chair looking at the commotion, as were most of the patrons in the restaurant.

"I have a table ready for you. Right this way. The Sommelier?" he asked as Alex maneuvered Monique's chair around the patrons in the crowded restaurant, stopping now and then as Monique saw people she knew and had to say hello. In some ways, it was like a procession and Monique was making the most of it. Alex was trying hard to keep a straight face, saying his hellos to the people that he knew at each stop they made. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Samantha, also trying hard not to smile, her water glass held in front of her, shielding her face. He thought it slightly odd that there were no wine glasses on the table.

As they approached their table, Monique, with casual ease, swung her head to look where Samantha was sitting, and exclaimed, "Samantha, darling, there you are! I thought we were having dinner this evening." Alex was already pushing her that way, people politely moving their chairs out of the way so that she could get closer to the table. Samantha, for her part had stood up and slid out between the tables to stand a little ahead of Rachel's chair as Alex brought Monique's chair to a halt.

"Bon soir, Monique. Ca va?" Samantha said.

"Bien, chérie! Tres bien. You have been practicing, oui?" Monique said with a grin.

"Oui, c'est vrai, madam. Alex has been helping in his spare time," she said with a grin, her eyes still on Monique.

"But I am interrupting..." Monique began.

"Oh, not at all Mrs. DuMaurie," Rachel interjected, coming to her feet.

"I am sorry. Monique, this is my boss, Ms. Rachel Staunton. Rachel, this is Monique DuMaurie."

"A pleasure to meet you, Ms. Staunton," Monique said with all propriety.

"It is a great pleasure to meet you Mrs. DuMaurie, I have been a fan of your designs for years, ma'am."

"Please, call me Monique," she said, noticing that their appetizer's had not arrived. "Would you join us? I wanted to hear all about Samantha's excursions this afternoon," Monique said, taking Rachel's hand as Greg slipped behind her chair and steered her towards the table Andre had prepared for them, waiters quickly laying in more places while Alex waited for Samantha to pick up their purses.

"She is a master, isn't she," Samantha whispered to Alex as they walked slowly to their table, the noise of the place masking their conversation.

"Oui, she is," Alex said.

"And you are not so bad yourself," she said squeezing his hand.

"Now, Rachel, you sit on my left, and Samantha, you are on my right. Alexander you will sit next to Samantha of course, and Greg, you will please sit next to Rachel. This won't do at all will it. Alexander, what was Michelle doing this evening?" Monique said as if she was organizing a dinner party in her own dining room.

"You're asking me? I was skipping stones in the Seine this afternoon."

"Well?" Monique said, looking at him.

"Manipulative bitch," Alex said with a smile, catching Rachel's quick gasp. He took out his cell phone and started walking back to the front doors of the restaurant to place his call. Monique had a very strict policy about cell phones at the dinner table.

Champaign had been poured and the conversation was fully joined by the time Alex got back to the table.

"We are in luck. Michelle was just about to go out for the evening. She was going to grab a cab and will join us shortly," Alex said, sliding into his chair at the table.

"Wonderful, now as I was telling Rachel, Samantha has found some wonderful things today and I expect that Michelle has the list in her head of the people we need to talk to, but I wanted to know what you thought of the idea of some automated inventory management?"

Alex paused, glass to his lips to look at Monique. There was something going on and he had missed the initial cue. Samantha seemed tense beside him, but Rachel had an odd look on her face. He could not decide if it was one of anger at being usurped or frustration at not getting her own way.

"What sort of inventory are we automating Monique? You want RFID chips on your employees? Although, come to think of it, if we implant a GPS RFID chip in Josie's ass, we would have a much better time of it." He took a sip while Greg did his best not to laugh out loud and Samantha was vibrating with mirth.

"Alexander that is not nice," Monique said, partially sternly. "I am talking about automating my inventory."

"Monique you would put Amanda out of a job if you did that." Which was not all that bad of an idea, but Monique needed Amanda's unique talents, as much as she would argue against it. "Besides, you are already automated, just not in the normal sense of a full scale manufacturing operation. Leave those headaches to Karl and do what you do best, creating fabulous one-of-a-kind pieces."

"You are sweet, Alexander," she said, smiling. "So that is solved then."

Rachel did not look pleased, but he did not pursue it further. Monique would likely tell him what that was all about tomorrow. The talk turned to a general discussion of fall fashions in Milan and Nice and once Michelle joined them a few minutes later, the four ladies started talking earnestly about what would and would not sell in the ready-to-wear world of large chain stores versus the slick one-off or boutique styles that the designers really tried to put out on display. For their part, Alex and Greg kept glasses filled, food circulating and answered the occasional question of this or that waiter and the night wore on.

"Ladies, as thrilling as this night has been," Alex said with a slight yawn, "I have an early appointment and need to seek my bed. And I think we should let Guy have his restaurant back so he can go home to his wife before she forgets what he looks like." It was well past midnight and while there were still one or two patrons in the place, it was clearly well past time to go, even though Guy was sitting at the bar having a drink.

"Well, then shall we continue this discussion tomorrow at my office?" Monique asked. "Say 10:30? That way everyone can get some sleep and start their morning off right?" With nods all around, the table stood up and shook hands or kissed as appropriate. Michelle whispered, "Well played," into Alex's ear as she kissed him on the cheek. Greg took up position behind Monique and with Alex in front, a small procession lead the way out to the street.

"We will take Michelle to her apartment," Monique said as Greg went to get the car. Are you able to get back to your hotel?" she asked of Rachel.

"I believe so. Samantha and I took a cab here, but it is a short walk." Alex tipped his head to the side so as not to be seen laughing. While Samantha was wearing shoes that could have made the trip, Rachel had selected a pair of three inch heels with straps that must have been uncomfortable walking from the table to the street, there was no way she would make the walk from Les Halles back to the Champs Elysées.