“I… I...” I groaned, unable to find my voice. “I don’t even know what to say to that. I mean, he’s just handed me a credit card and called me a princess. Two things he knows I don’t agree with. Why would he do that?”
“Because he’s Prince G.” She smirked.
I shook my head and pushed the offending objects away. “I can’t accept this. It’s too much.”
“Honey, you’re going to go to that appointment at Vera Wang and you’re going to go to the opening night. You know as well as I do that you could turn up in a trash bag and he wouldn't care. The point is, Payton, he’s trying to push away your perceptions of fairy tales by pushing them on you. He’s a smart man, in my opinion.”
“The man who makes my coffee without me having to tell him my order is a smart man, but that doesn't mean he’s going to hand me his credit card,” I countered, arching my brow.
“Look, just go to the appointment and see what it looks like, you don’t have to wear it. Just at least take a look at what she’s designed for you. It’s Vera Wang, Pay!”
I sighed, my shoulders sagging.
“Okay, fine. But if I fall on my face again, you better hope you can run fast in those heels you’re wearing.” I pointed at her ridiculously high heels on her feet.
“When’s the appointment?” She smirked.
I took another look at the note, noticing today's date: the appointment was in an hour.
“In an hour, apparently,” I said, turning the note over in my hand as I tried to wrap my head around what was actually happening.
“Ah,” She chuckled. “He’s been on a 'vow of silence,' as you so delicately put it, right?”
I nodded, wondering where she was going with this.
“He isn't answering any form of communication, right?”
I nodded again. “Where are you going with this, Kylie?”
She chuckled once more. “God damn it, he’s a genius.” She grabbed my hand, pulling me from the chair and out of my office.
I pulled back but she didn't loosen her grip on my wrist. I smiled awkwardly at my co-workers who looked on in confusion as she dragged me past.
Yeah, you and me both.
“I'll be back in ten!” Kylie yelled over her shoulder to who I presumed was Phil before dragging me down to the foyer. By the time we got out onto the street, she was already hailing a cab and still hadn’t told me what the hell she was doing.
“Seriously, if you don’t tell me what’s going on, the cops will have to peel your body from the sidewalk. What the hell is wrong with you?” I pulled back my wrist as a cab pulled up and she held open the door for me.
“Get in.” She pointed.
I slid in and she shut the door. I opened the window, wondering why she hadn’t gotten in with me. What the hell was going on?
“You’ll thank me in the end.” She smiled before reading off the address of Vera Wang’s private studio to the cab driver and patting the roof of the cab.
“Kylie Jackson, I’m going to kill you!” I screamed out the window as the cab moved into the mayhem of New York City.
Fan-fucking-tastic.
BY THE TIME THE CAB ROLLED up at Vera Wang, I was beyond pissed at Kylie, I was nuclear pissed. What the hell was she playing at? I didn't understand her little light bulb moment and I’m sure most normal people wouldn’t either.
I sighed as I paid the driver and stepped out of the cab, deciding I’d better go in and see what all the fuss was about. Rolling my shoulders, I inhaled deeply, trying to find some courage as I made my way towards the old brick building. I felt my heart pound in my chest as my heels clacked louder than usual against the stone steps that graced the entrance of the studio. I paused when I reached the main doors, unsure as I took everything in.
I wasn’t at a Vera Wang store.
In Kylie’s light bulb moment, I managed to grab the note from Gabriel and, much to my distaste, his credit card. Pulling the note out of my back pocket, I turned it over in my hands again, hoping to find the address Kylie had read off to the cab driver. As I turned it over, I noticed the address in small print on the bottom of the note.
Of course.
Would I expect it to be any different?
Looking up, I gazed at the large black frosted glass doors, I shook my head. Funny what money could really do.
Taking a breath, I opened the door and with a gulp, stepped into one of the most stunning buildings I’d ever had the honor of gracing. The floor was polished dark wood. I stopped briefly, concerned my shoes would ruin the, no doubt extremely expensive flooring.
“I think Heidi Klum did the exact same thing when she came to her first appointment for her wedding dress.”