Le Rouge's

I straightened out the skirt of my lavender cocktail dress, looking in the mirror to be sure my white sweater and white heels looked alright with it. There was a lavender bow on the back of my head, pulling back the longer pieces of my bangs which gave way to red curls. Grandmother always said purple looked best on redheads. Conveniently, purple was the colour JP and I liked most which made it easy for either of us to wear it on her suggestion. I touched up my mascara and applied the smallest bit of natural lipstick (just to make my lips a little more red) before walking out of my suite to greet JP. He was dressed in khaki skinny jeans with a red sweater under a brown vest with white faux fur.

“I’m disappointed I don’t get to meet him”, he admitted, shoving his key card in his vest pocket. “But I’m sure he’ll be great. Are you concerned?”

“A little”, I murmured.

JP put his hands on my shoulders and held me at arms’ length. “You know Papa isn’t going to hook you up with some schmuck”, he beamed. “He’ll make sure you have some kind of arm candy. Look at what he got for Dad!”

“I’m not arranging my kids like this”, I groaned.

JP snickered. “I’m not going to either! I think I want to adopt a pair of Asian children. Like a brother and sister. They have the prettiest features. But think about it this way; the careful breeding ends with us! It has to. Matt barely gets the company, I can’t reproduce, and you’re too shy to stand up to Grandmother.”

“I am not shy!” I argued.

“Okay, nonconfrontational. Anyway, bonne chance, Cecil.”

“Tu aussi”, I sighed.

He hugged me, mushing his fuzzy vest collar into my face. “Salut, Ceece. See you in a bit!” With that, my brother went sashaying down the hallway to meet Niall. I walked a different way to meet Grandmother and Grandfather (Papa when Grandmother wasn’t in ear shot). An elevator brought me down a couple of floors, then I had to walk to the glass elevator that led to the lobby. Grandmother and Papa were standing by a tall Christmas tree with a boy I didn’t recognize.

“Maguerite”, Grandmother smiled sweetly, resting a hand on the boy’s shoulders. I walked over to them carefully and smiled back. “Darling, this is Harold Styles. The young prodigy of Styles….?”

“Styles Technological Enterprises”, he finished in a low, English voice. “Or maybe as it’s more popularly known, TechnoCandy.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Styles”, I said.

“Please, call me Harry”, he grinned, extending his hand. I shook it, obviously. This was a business deal. A business deal with a guy who was surprisingly attractive for being a nerd. Maybe he was Riverwind? After all, he had the dark locks, the piercing eyes. Unlike Riverwind, he had a kind smile though and boyish dimples. Harry also wore a very nice black suit, something that the mighty barbarian did NOT wear.

“Shall we go to dinner?” Papa asked. “So we can all get acquainted?”

“That sounds delightful”, Harry answered. He carefully held out a warm arm for me, his left arm because the man always walks on the right. I linked my arm with his and let him escort me to the main dining room, an elegant and grandiose place with beautiful black and white marble tiles that reflected the chandelier hanging above the red and white clothed tables. We took a reserved place by the dance floor where one of my favourite sous chefs, Louis, waited on us.

“Mr. and Mrs. Van Roux!” Louis beamed, handing us menus for that night’s selection. “So glad to see you together. Mr. Van Roux, you’ve been quite busy, haven’t you sir?”

Papa chuckled. “Yes, I’ve been working on expanding the company into Germany”, he informed. Louis was a complete suck up but a great host. It was because he sucked up to Papa so much that he knew so much about Le Rouge’s resort chain and could recite any notable details for any curious guest. It also made him a favourite among many patrons so he frequently worked large business luncheons. “Louis, please meet my granddaughter’s fiancee, Harry Styles.”

“Pleasure, sir”, Louis quipped, turning to Harry. “Don’t tell Steve Jobs this but your EarCandy is so much better than the iPod. So much more storage space, so much more customization, compatible with Apple and Microsoft, great video and audio quality!”

“Thank you”, Harry said modestly. “We strive for consumer happiness and quality products.”

“You get my vote for product of the year”, Louis joked. “Anyway, the wine selection for tonight is an Italian Merlot from 1870. Would you like me to fetch a bottle while you look over your menus?”

“That would be wonderful”, Grandmother stated blandly. Louis retreated while the four of us sat at the table. Another server filled our glasses with water, something we could sip on before Louis filled our wine glasses. “So Harold, you work for a technology company I presume?”

“Yes, ma’am”, Harry nodded. “We are a very big competitor with Apple at the moment.”

“What can you bring to Le Rouge’s?”

Harry glanced to me as I gave him a friendly hand squeeze under the table. “Believe it or not, Mrs. Van Roux, even technology companies use fossil energies. Especially in production. Not only do we strive for improvement in entertainment and business, but we’re also promoting research in cleaner energy sources. That includes things like solar power and donating to certain foundations we’ve done research on who protect the ecosystems and replenish the ever decreasing tree populations.”

“But what does that do for us?” Grandmother questioned.

He chewed on his lip quietly. “We can help you to modernize your company. We’ve produced a number of powerful PC’s, e-pads, and whatnot. Instead of keeping paper copies of registries and ledgers, we have a scanner that can put all of that into a PDF file to store in a driver. I can set you up with a server specific to your company with the highest level security so nobody can hack into it. And with our goal to find cleaner energy, you could be called a supporter, which means tax write offs if you donate or even good publicity.”

“That’s very interesting, Harry”, I stated.

He smiled sheepishly. “We’re living in a new age of technology”, Harry chuckled. “Instead of letting it happen and waiting for it to reach us, why not join in and welcome the new age with open arms?”

“You have a good head on your shoulders”, Papa grinned. “An open mind and a mind for business! The world could use more young men like you.”

“The world could use anyone willing to work at this point”, Grandmother snapped. Harry looked to me quickly and I clenched my jaw.

“Miss Marguerite, I think I’d like the oysters. When you know what you’d like for dinner, would you like to dance?” he asked quickly.

“You know what? I already decided on the lobster”, I said just as swift. “Would you like to go now?”

“Of course! We’ll be back when the server comes”, Harry waved, helping me out of my chair. We scurried over to the dance floor where a pianist was playing an instrumental version of Hopelessly Devoted to You from Grease. “I’m sorry for acting so...oddly”, he apologized. “I just felt like that could’ve very easily turned into a political debate and I don’t exactly consider that my forte.”

“You’re fine”, I giggled, placing a hand on his shoulder. “It probably would’ve. I don’t mind.”

“That’s good”, he murmured. “I’m sorry I didn’t get to meet you sooner. You’re actually...a lot prettier than I’d imagined.”

“You are too”, I laughed. “I was hoping you’d be cute but I was scared you might look like the Hunchback of Notre Dame.”

“Your pronunciation”, he noted, leading me across the floor. “You’re not…?”

“Oh, no I’m of French descent”, I answered. “Papa’s family is from France.”

“Vous savez que le français est la langue d'amour, correct?”

“Very impressive”, I beamed. “Do you mind if I ask you something?”

“Not at all. In fact, that might be for the best”, Harry shrugged. “We’re engaged after all.”

“Nice to meet you, future husband”, I stated. “But really, how do you feel about ice skating?”

“I can do it, if that’s what you mean?”

“Do you like it?”

Harry seemed to think for a moment. “Yes. Especially if you do”, he grinned.

“I was wondering if you’d like to go tomorrow afternoon? So we could get to know each other?” I offered.

Harry made a playful face. “Tomorrow? Why wait?!” he laughed. “Let’s go tonight! After dinner, we can go put on warm clothes and head up to the Viking Lodge?”

“Even better”, I sighed blissfully. We talked and joked through the whole dance which ended just in time for Louis to come back to our table. We rejoined my grandparents and told Louis what we wanted for dinner before having a general discussion, primarily between Papa and Harry about humourous business endeavors. When the food came, Louis made sure to rearrange my table setting as one of his waiters placed everything. As a lefty, I never understood why I couldn’t keep a right handed setting. That would keep the forks right by my left hand, making it easier and avoiding all of the stupid arm crossing. I felt the same way about right handed people; they should receive left handed place settings so their forks are by their dominant hands. Instead, I let Louis do my job and gave him a smile before he explained to each of us in detail the seasonings he had picked only to saunter off to fetch more wine.

“This is very good”, Harry stated, trying his best to pick at his oysters without making a mess.

“I only pick the best”, Papa chuckled. “Louis’s a great boy with French roots as well and he has no problem applying the old culinary to dishes now. Just wait for his Cajun dishes. The boy knows his food.”

“He’s also very good at sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong”, Grandmother snipped.

Papa frowned and rolled his eyes. “Do you not agree that the staff should be just as knowledgable as the company’s heads?” he questioned.

“He doesn’t need to know everything down to why people are getting fired.”

“He’s the reason Alex got fired. He’s a good lad with his head on straight and he wasn’t about to let that girl try embezzling money. Louis came to me the moment he found out about her plans. Is that not helpful, Elizabeth?”

“I apologize”, Harry interrupted. “But may I ask about the business? What got you into the resort game, sir?” I sent Harry a look, thankful that the kid recognized Grandmother’s behaviour and that it was improper to act as such in front of a guest.

Papa enthusiastically began telling him stories of his own father’s ancestors starting a small inn in Saint Germaine, France. As our ancestor (affectionately called Grandfather Antoine) had many sons, one inherited the inn and the others travelled or studied economics, things that could all help the inn grow. Those who travelled brought back the knowledge of other cultures’ and lands’ forms of hospitality and those who studied economics made investments and complex financial decisions. It was only natural, with the amount of time that Grandfather Antoine’s sons put into the inn that the family would continue to proudly boast its reputation for comfort, luxury, and rest. He explained this all throughout dinner until Harry and I excused ourselves yet again. We headed for the elevators together and he smiled gently.

“I’ll meet you back in the lobby in around twenty minutes?” he suggested.

“Of course”, I nodded. We parted ways for the meanwhile and I had to hold back a smile as Harry left. God damn, he wasn’t a freak. He wasn’t a monster. He wasn’t a douche. He was actually a likable and smart person. Thank God. This was going to go over so much better than I thought it would.

Notes

It's been for fucking ever so have an update :D