Tied Together (The Cade Siblings Duology #1)

27. Alana

CHAPTER 27

Alana

We step into the crowded restaurant and Alex speaks to the ma?tre d’. After an exchange, he leads us to a table in the back corner. It’s much quieter here and it’s dark, the candlelight flickering on the tables is some of the only light. It creates little bubbles of golden glow around the faces at each table and reminds me of a scene from a movie.

As we approach our table, an older woman with white hair stands to greet us.

“Amélie, so good to finally meet you,” Alex says, taking her hand and bringing it to his lips for a kiss. I smile next to him and put my hand out for her to shake. She takes it, and tugs me forward, capturing me in a hug.

I let out a small oomph as my body meets her’s, but her embrace is comforting. As I pull away, she moves her hands to my arms and squeezes them before letting go.

“Alex, Alana. It is so lovely to meet you.” Her accent is beautiful and adds to her grace. She’s wearing a black Chanel dress and short heels. Her hair is tied back with a gold clip and she has pearl earrings hanging from her ears. She is the very picture of elegance.

“Likewise. Thank you for having us for dinner,” I reply with a smile. We all sit down and the waiter brings us water and tells us about some of the menu items, he takes our order and Amélie gets right to it.

“I am sure you are both anxious for any information about our office and your tasks for the next few weeks.”

“We are excited to get going,” Alex answers her. I give a nod in agreement.

“Excellent. Well, as you know we are in a bit of a predicament.” Amélie pauses and takes a sip of her water. She takes a deep breath and continues, “Almost our entire team of editors was poached by a competing magazine and it’s left us with only two.”

“How many editors do you typically have on your team?” Alex asks. It’s a good question, because the European version of the magazine operates on a much smaller scale than the US does. Our office has upwards of fifty different editors because we branch off. We have beauty editors—which is Cami’s title—features editors, short story editors, and a few more. There are usually a team of two editors for each category and underneath each of those is a team of ten or so more that work with the lead editors and support them.

Alex and I are both features editors, but we sort of flip flop around and help where needed. Our team under us is currently running ship back in New York while we’re here.

“We typically have a small number of about seven total. Someone takes on each of the branches, beauty, fashion and so on, then we have a few others to support and assist. However, right now only two are taking on the whole magazine alone. It’s been…challenging.”

“I can imagine that would be tough. I’m sorry you’ve been having to juggle all of this.”

“Thank you, Alana. It has been. But I feel confident that, with your help, we can overcome these challenges and put our magazine back together.”

The waiter arrives with our food and we talk as we eat. Amélie asks about our backgrounds and she shares a little bit about her family. She is much warmer than I anticipated her being and I think it will be really easy to work with her.

“Can you tell me a bit more about the other two editors that are still with you?” Alex asks. I’ve been wanting to ask this as well, but haven’t had the courage. Heather mentioned to us that they weren’t the kindest, so I am anxious to know Amélie’s thoughts on them.

“Those two are interesting. They are not the most warm people you’ll encounter in the office and I anticipate them making your time a bit difficult. They don’t welcome outsiders and even when our team was intact, they often split off on their own and didn’t engage with others.”

“We aren’t scared of a little challenge,” Alex says, looking over and winking at me. He really has to stop doing that . His eyes are so warm I want to get lost in them, but I can’t because I’m at a work dinner.

“I’m sure we can handle it,” I say with a nod. “So will you have us interviewing new hires or helping train them? We can help with the workload as well as assisting with the hiring of a new team, if that is how we can best be helpful.”

“Ah, yes. I would like to have at least one of you in each of the interviews, but they will likely be done in French so I’m not sure how beneficial your presence will be if you don’t understand what they are saying.”

“I know a small amount of French. I’m not fluent by any means, but I could probably pick up on the general flow of the conversation.”

“That would be fantastic, Alex. I will plan to have you sit in then.”

I suddenly feel a small panic at the need to prove myself worthy and helpful in this situation. Right now it seems like Alex is the only one with any initiative. If I want this promotion I need to step it up.

“I am happy to train whoever you choose to hire. I’ve already started mapping out what they might need to know and creating onboarding materials.”

Why did I say that? I have no onboarding materials.

Alex looks over at me with a surprised sort of approval and I shrink a little in my chair.

“Oh Alana, that would be wonderful. It seems like you two really are the dream team. Heather wasn’t lying when she spoke of your abilities.”

Heather is always our biggest champion. I find myself missing her, which says so much about her leadership style considering people don’t typically miss their bosses.

We finish up our conversation over a shared dessert and then gather our things and head out.

“Thank you both so much for meeting with me. I look forward to seeing you in the office on Monday.”

Alex reaches out to shake her hand, but she pulls the same move from before and tugs him in for a hug. I go straight for the hug this time, knowing that’s what she’d prefer, and she waves goodbye as she walks down the street. Our car is already pulled up out front, so we climb in and buckle up.

As we drive, I notice we aren’t headed back in the direction of the flat. Not that I know where we are, but I know our flat is near the Eiffel Tower, and we are currently driving away from it.

“Where are we going?” I ask Alex, hoping he has more knowledge than I do.

“It’s a surprise,” he says with a shy smile.

“A surprise? For me?”

“Yep. Just sit back and relax, we should be there shortly.”

I want to ask more questions, but he seems so excited and I don’t want to force him to tell me what we’re doing, so I do as he says. Normally, my need for control would prevent me from enjoying whatever Alex has planned for us tonight, but for some reason the worry eases with him.

Resting my head back on the headrest, I look out the window and watch as we pass buildings and people all bundled up. All of the light posts are topped with green wreaths adorned in gold and red ornaments. The snow is falling lightly, dusting the wreaths and streets in a slightly transparent white blanket.

I notice the car slowing down and turning onto a street that is pretty deserted looking. We continue driving down the road and there’s only a few street lights placed a couple hundred yards apart.

“Are you driving out here to kill me and dump the body? Seriously, where are we going?”

“Relax, Lanie,” he says and reaches out, placing his hand right above my knee and squeezing three times. He does that a lot, squeezes three times. “We’re nearly there.”

After about five more minutes of driving in dark nothingness the car turns onto a street, and as it does, lights come into view. The long drive we’re headed down is lined with short evergreen trees leading to a small red barn at the end. Behind the barn there are rows and rows of tall, short, fat, and skinny Christmas trees. I feel like we’ve left France and crossed over into a Hallmark movie. The roof is covered in a blanket of snow, the temperatures having dropped so the snow is now sticking to the surfaces, and there are yellow lights framing the barn.

The whole thing reminds me of one of my favorite romance novels and I pinch myself because it doesn’t feel real. There’s a sign on the barn that says ‘ferme de sapins de No?l’.

“Wait, where are we? What does that mean?” I ask, peering through the window looking for clues. Alex clears his throat before speaking, a bashful expression on his face.

“Um, it’s a Christmas tree farm.” The blush on his cheeks is endearing and makes me smile.

“A Christmas tree farm?” I ask in wonder. I didn’t notice we’d pulled up to the front, lost in thought, until Alex hops out of the car. He doesn’t even have to threaten me to keep me in my seat this time, the shock has frozen me as I stare out the front window. The door startles me when he opens it and I take his hand in a daze, stepping out of the car.

He doesn’t let go of my hand, instead he uses it to pull me forward and towards the small building.

I think this man is going to get me a Christmas tree.