CHAPTER 3

"So he's like, a total asshole now?" Beth asked, munching on chips at the same time.

I sighed "Yeah, unfortunately." I replied, separating clean from dirty clothes in my suitcase.

Beth grunted over the phone "That's total bullshit! I feel like cryi-"

"Don't give me the sympathy card. Maybe we just aren't compatible? I mean we just don't know how to handle things." I dragged the basket of dirty clothes by the door, as a reminder of what I would be doing Saturday morning.

"No! You guys are meant for each other and that's how it's going to be. I won't let my ship sink like this."

I grimaced at the phone "Your...ship?"

"Yeah! You know, when you want two people to be together. Like...Johnlock-"

"Oh, I see." I wasn't too familiarized with "fandom" terms but that particular term wasn't new to me.

"Like, I'm dead serious right now, my shipping name is Sebaslie. Or Lebastian. Either way."

I couldn't help but laugh "God, really Beth?"

"What? It's true. I shipped it since day one and I refuse to let it end like this. When I get back I'll have to see for myself."

"Which reminds me. How is it France?"

"Well...about that...there may have been an intervention."

"A what?"

There was a pause "I'm not with Leo anymore. I met a new guy, Louis. He's...amazing."

A look of confusion and disgust crept on my face "What the hell, Beth-"

"It's a long story, but to make it short until I get back, Leo ended up being a controlling, self centered, egotistical jerk with anger issues and a lying problem."

I put the folded clothes in my drawers "It seems all Harrison men are like that." I mumbled.

"I mean sure he's gorgeous but you know...eh...so anyway, we got into an argument after he saw me talking to this waiter after lunch 'cause you know me," she giggled, "but it was completely innocent conversing that he blew out of proportion. So I got mad and went to the bakery across the street from our hotel and that's where I met Louis. He saw I was upset and gave me some french pastries for free and from there it just was...magical."

Beth was an enigma. She was so indecisive about men that it made my head hurt.

"It was like that movie 'Monte Carlo' when that blonde southern girl liked that rich guy but then she didn't cause he was a grade A asshole so she went with that Australian guy."

"...Beth you're mixing two characters into one."

She thought for a moment "Oh...well you know what I mean."

"And what's going to happen when you come back to America?"

"We talked about this. He said he wants to keep a long distance relationship until he can come out here. I agreed. I really like him, Leslie; he's amazing."

"You say that now until I see you on Dateline."

She laughed "No, it's not like that. I met his family and they're all really nice even though he had to translate for me since their English wasn't too good."

"Well I'm still pretty iffy about this. Ill trust it when I meet him. Seems like your relationship jump starts in a couple weeks while mine takes a couple months."

Beth gasped "There it is! There's hope! Sebaslie for life, bitch!"

I groaned.

*****

Later on that night, I got an email from Garret telling me to check my bank account. As I logged in, I noticed I was Fifteen thousand dollars richer. Of course I was happy at the moment but in all honesty it wasn't what I was expecting; the long term affect is what's most important.

I decided to keep the money deposit a secret for now. I didn't even know what I was going to do with it. Get a new place? No, maybe not yet. Beth would kill me. Buy a new car? The one I had was fine. I pondered on it heavily for about an hour, then decided that I would let it sit there until I found a good use for it.

Saturday morning, I woke up to the usual bombardment of notifications on my phone. I was off on Saturdays and Sundays but it still seemed as if I worked from home. I skipped the text messages and missed phone calls and went straight to emails as usual. The first one I see, from none other than Mr. Harrison himself:

To all Executives of Harrison inc.,

Monday morning a meeting will be held in the C-2 conference room. It will be brief, but important information will be disclosed so please make it on time.

-S

I knew for a fact either Sarah, Lucas or Lucinda wrote that for him. I rolled my eyes and dragged it to the trash bin; Darcy would remind me.

****

On Monday morning, I sluggishly dragged myself into my car and put the keys in the ignition. The weekend was spent entirely on thinking about Beth, the deposit, but most importantly, Sebastian. It was astonishing how fast he changed. I knew he was going corporate but not...this corporate. I shook the thought from my mind and decided to focus on getting to the meeting on time.

When I pulled into the garage, Darcy was waiting for me by the elevator.

"Good morning, Leslie." She greeted.

"Morning, Darcy. Um, remind me what time the meeting was again?" I asked, taking the black coffee, two sugars, from her hands and sipping it slowly.

"Um, it's in ten minutes."

"Good, I have time. I need you to make sure that his schedule doesn't interfere with his meeting with the Board today. And if it does, reschedule the fundraiser this afternoon to next month; it isn't that important."

She nodded, jotting down every word I said in her phone.

When we made it to the lobby, Darcy followed me and other executives to the conference room.

"Hey, Leslie...you okay?" She asked, a concerned look on her face. It looked as if she could see right through my act.

I smiled "Yeah. Never been better."