who nodded unhappily. “It’s true, I did it.” She sighed again. As always when she was emotional, a slight French intonation crept into her speech. She was bilingual and it showed in moments of stress or turmoil; she was Afro-French, her mother from Senegal and her father from France.
Angelique immediately turned off the DVD and faced Lisette. She and Lisette were on opposite ends of the couch and Paris was on the floor by the coffee table. Paris poured her another glass of tea and Angelique handed her the box of tissues. “Okay, Lisette, this is obviously a story you need to get off your chest. Tell us what happened. And you have to know that we don’t think you could have done anything evil, it’s just not possible,” Angelique said comfortingly.
“Well, as you know, my family owns Le Coeur de la Maison and we do interior design for any and everybody. I don’t like to use the word ‘celebrity’ but we have a lot of prominent people who use our services. That’s how I met Warren,” she said, a soft look coming into her eyes. “He came into Maison one day and said he was meeting his fiancée there. He said that he had bought a new house and it needed everything done to it. He was so captivating, I didn’t tell him he had to have an appointment. We’re so busy, you know, we have to schedule our clientele. But he was so... mmm,” Lisette sighed and looked lost in thought for a moment until Paris reached over and jiggled her foot.
“Okay, we got that, he was fine as wine and you were smitten. What about the fiancée ?” she demanded.
At once, Lisette’s pretty face became tight and drawn. “Zut alors, what a cow! She was a dreadful, dreadful woman! Just awful! She was beautiful, yes, but a horrible personality. She was a beauty queen . ” Lisette spat in the same tone she would have used to say the woman did animal testing or something equally cruel.
Angelique nodded knowingly. “One of those women who thought she was all that because she was cute? I know the type.”
Lisette shook her head earnestly. “No, she really was a beauty queen. Miss Tracy Lovejoy.” She sniffed. “She was a runner-up in the Miss America contest. Or Miss Universe or Miss World or Miss Stuck - Up Hateful Cow, I don’t remember which one. But she did everything but wear a tiara and a cape into the salon, believe me. She wanted everyone to know that she was the queen of the universe and the rest of us were her slaves.
“ She tried to be sweet when she was with Warren, of course, but when he wasn’t around , mon dieu, what a horror.” Lisette shuddered. “You probably don’t know this, but Warren is quite wealthy. His family has boatloads of money and he has money of his own from his income and investments. How do I know this? Oh, little miss runner-up, of course. She and her coven of friends and her greedy sisters, they made sure that everyone with whom they came in contact knew that Warren Alexander was filthy rich, and believe me, they were determined to spend every penny. And those friends of hers, they were horrible.” She gave another exaggerated shudder. “They traveled together like a pack of lady dogs, if you know what I mean.”
Lisette stopped and drank deeply from the glass of iced tea, then held out the glass for more. “All she wanted was money, money, money. He bought her a ring that made the Hope Diamond look like a pinkie ring,” she said indignantly. She was so fired up by now, the word “ hope ’’ sounded like “ ope ."
“So what did you do, exactly? I mean, you knew she was just out to get her mitts on Warren’s money and I can see how angry that made you, but what did you do?” Paris scooted closer to the sofa in her eagerness to hear more.
Lisette gave a short laugh. “You can tell I’m angry because I start to sound like Pep e Le Pew, I know. It is a family curse. We all sound like cartoons when we get wound up,” she said on a hiccup. “Well, this is what really made me
Angelique immediately turned off the DVD and faced Lisette. She and Lisette were on opposite ends of the couch and Paris was on the floor by the coffee table. Paris poured her another glass of tea and Angelique handed her the box of tissues. “Okay, Lisette, this is obviously a story you need to get off your chest. Tell us what happened. And you have to know that we don’t think you could have done anything evil, it’s just not possible,” Angelique said comfortingly.
“Well, as you know, my family owns Le Coeur de la Maison and we do interior design for any and everybody. I don’t like to use the word ‘celebrity’ but we have a lot of prominent people who use our services. That’s how I met Warren,” she said, a soft look coming into her eyes. “He came into Maison one day and said he was meeting his fiancée there. He said that he had bought a new house and it needed everything done to it. He was so captivating, I didn’t tell him he had to have an appointment. We’re so busy, you know, we have to schedule our clientele. But he was so... mmm,” Lisette sighed and looked lost in thought for a moment until Paris reached over and jiggled her foot.
“Okay, we got that, he was fine as wine and you were smitten. What about the fiancée ?” she demanded.
At once, Lisette’s pretty face became tight and drawn. “Zut alors, what a cow! She was a dreadful, dreadful woman! Just awful! She was beautiful, yes, but a horrible personality. She was a beauty queen . ” Lisette spat in the same tone she would have used to say the woman did animal testing or something equally cruel.
Angelique nodded knowingly. “One of those women who thought she was all that because she was cute? I know the type.”
Lisette shook her head earnestly. “No, she really was a beauty queen. Miss Tracy Lovejoy.” She sniffed. “She was a runner-up in the Miss America contest. Or Miss Universe or Miss World or Miss Stuck - Up Hateful Cow, I don’t remember which one. But she did everything but wear a tiara and a cape into the salon, believe me. She wanted everyone to know that she was the queen of the universe and the rest of us were her slaves.
“ She tried to be sweet when she was with Warren, of course, but when he wasn’t around , mon dieu, what a horror.” Lisette shuddered. “You probably don’t know this, but Warren is quite wealthy. His family has boatloads of money and he has money of his own from his income and investments. How do I know this? Oh, little miss runner-up, of course. She and her coven of friends and her greedy sisters, they made sure that everyone with whom they came in contact knew that Warren Alexander was filthy rich, and believe me, they were determined to spend every penny. And those friends of hers, they were horrible.” She gave another exaggerated shudder. “They traveled together like a pack of lady dogs, if you know what I mean.”
Lisette stopped and drank deeply from the glass of iced tea, then held out the glass for more. “All she wanted was money, money, money. He bought her a ring that made the Hope Diamond look like a pinkie ring,” she said indignantly. She was so fired up by now, the word “ hope ’’ sounded like “ ope ."
“So what did you do, exactly? I mean, you knew she was just out to get her mitts on Warren’s money and I can see how angry that made you, but what did you do?” Paris scooted closer to the sofa in her eagerness to hear more.
Lisette gave a short laugh. “You can tell I’m angry because I start to sound like Pep e Le Pew, I know. It is a family curse. We all sound like cartoons when we get wound up,” she said on a hiccup. “Well, this is what really made me
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