Novo življenje
Slovenian for New Life.
Over the next days, Adrienne spent most of her time in the Starck mansion, getting to know her mother. It was like they both couldn’t get enough of talking to each other. As gently as she could, she told her how difficult it was, growing up with Marina Miller, the woman she thought was her Mom, who provided little comfort and constant negative comparisons to her stepsister.
Yuan and Jill enjoyed Paris just as much. Jin took them around anywhere they wanted whenever Adrienne desired some alone time with her mother.
“Do you have a boyfriend, Adrienne?” Her mother asked.
Adrienne sighed. She was reminded again of the broken pieces of her heart. She hadn’t heard from Justin since the last time he told her she’d be going to Italy in forty days. She reckons he was still working on convincing his parents to let him go. She had no idea how he’s going to do it, but deep inside her heart, she really, really hoped he would succeed, so he could come back to her.
Adrienne looked up at her mother. “I did, but it was…complicated,” she disclosed.
Her mother’s eyes narrowed. She didn’t miss the shadow of pain that she saw cross Adrienne’s eyes.
“You loved him?”
Adrienne blinked back the tears that are threatening to pour from her eyes. Then she replied, “With all my heart, Mama.”
“Then why aren’t you together?”
“Because…because we can’t,” she replied. “His family is rich and powerful. Apparently, he needed to marry an heiress.”
Her mother raised a brow. “Are you saying to me that his family couldn’t accept you because you were from a middle-class family? Well, now you’re not anymore! You’re an heiress now, too.”
Heiress.
She still has not gotten used to that word. She didn’t even know what it was supposed to mean and what obligations or duties were attached to it.
“Well, his family already arranged for him to marry some girl.”
“Oh. Well, I can’t say I’m surprised, considering it happened to me, too. What did your boyfriend do? Didn’t he fight for you?”
“He did,” Adrienne replied sadly. “His parents disowned him. He still fought for me. But I couldn’t make him leave them for me, Mama,” Adrienne said. “So, I gave him up.”
Tears slid down her cheeks and she wiped them as she smiled at her mother ruefully.
“You truly are a brave girl, Adrienne. I am so proud of you, sweetheart.” She reached out to Adrienne and pulled her into her arms. Adrienne cried silently in her mother’s arms, wishing she had this luxury when she was entering puberty and finally realizing how harsh the world really was.
Her mother pulled away from her and touched her face between her palms. She smiled at her. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. You are a beautiful woman,” she assured her. “Don’t worry. I will introduce you to someone who is worthy enough to claim your hand. Handsome, rich, smart and powerful. You will forget your boyfriend in no time.”
She was about to say that she wasn’t interested in other wealthy heirs, but her mother already pulled her away into the house.
“Come quick! Let’s go to the salon. Nothing beats a nice spa to heal a broken heart. And shopping of course.” Her mother laughed.
Adrienne couldn’t help but admire the spirit of the woman in front of her. She was contagious.
Wow! My mother rocks!
They went to a spa in one of the Starck’s hotels, with Jill and Yuan. Then they had lunch with Jin in one of their restaurants. While waiting for their car to drive them to the nearest shopping mall, Jin came up behind her.
“So, is she wearing you out yet?” Jin teased.
Adrienne smiled at her brother. “Oh my God, Jin! She is wonderful.”
Jin nodded. “Yes. And she’s waited for you for years. So if she gets to be a little clingy or overprotective, just bear with her. She will loosen up eventually.”
Adrienne shook her head. “I don’t care. I’ve waited all my life to feel like this. Like I have a mother.”
“I know. And I’m glad you’re smiling genuinely these days.”
“Thank you, Jin. If you didn’t find me, I would have been sulking behind my desk in Manhattan instead of being here in Paris, happily getting to know my mother.”
“You’re wrong,” Jin said and Adrienne raised a brow at him. “You wouldn’t be behind your desk in Manhattan. You would probably be in Boston…behind bars.” He teased and Adrienne couldn’t help hitting him on the shoulder.
Then she smiled at Jin warmly. “Thank you. I mean it. I will forever be thankful to you for bringing me back home.”
“And speaking of home,” Jin paused. “Have you thought about what you’re going to do?”
“What do you mean, what I’m going to do?”
“Adrienne, you realize you don’t have to work another day of your life, right? You have a trust fund just waiting for you. We have a company of our own. You can work for one of our hotels if you really want to work. And you can pursue your love for writing.”
Adrienne took a deep breath. “I have a job at Blush.”
Jin raised a brow. “And you’d rather spend your days with your heartless editor than your family?”
Adrienne bit her lip, not really knowing what to decide. Jin did have a point.
“Come on, Yen,” Jin said. “Mom has waited for you for so long. She deserves to get to know her daughter.”
Adrienne nodded. Jin was right. She owed it to her mother. She needed to spend time with her to make up for what they had lost. She needed more time to bond with her new family…to feel like she belonged to a family.
And moreover…a new life, environment, new country would take her mind off Justin while she waited for him. He said he would find her after forty days. But what if he didn’t come back?
She could keep herself busy learning how to live her new life…to forget that her heart had sustained irreparable damage. She would never forget Justin. But she needed help going through one step at a time.
Adrienne and her mother spent the whole afternoon shopping. Adrienne’s mother insisted on getting her a new wardrobe and Yuan and Jill happily helped her pick out more than a dozen different tops, a dozen different jeans, skirts and other stylish items.
Adrienne didn’t really want expensive clothes, handbags and accessories, but Jill and Yuan talked some sense into her.
“It’s not for you, Yen!” Jill hissed.
“Do it for your mother!” Yuan insisted. For many reasons.”
“Like what? Squander her money?”
“No. Like you’re her daughter now,” Yuan explained. “She has a semi-celebrity status and her family is like the crème of the crop. And since you’re the latest addition to that family, people in their world will look at you, gossip about you, scrutinize you. So, why don’t you give them something beautiful and good to look at? Some girl with style and finesse, as well as the sense and the brains.”
“Leave your old self behind, Yen,” Jill said. “Your stepmother and Kimberly can no longer hurt you. Change your image, free yourself and embrace who you really are!”
As much as she wanted to argue with them, Adrienne realized that they did have a point. She can’t be the plain, simple Adrienne anymore. Because she’s no longer ordinary. She’s Andrea Blanc. And she will not let others criticize her for the sake of hurting her mother, her brother, or her stepfather. She would not embarrass them. If they introduced her to their world, she had to make sure that she will make them proud.
So, they raided several luxury shops. Chanel. Balenciaga. Gucci. Armani. Prada.
Her mother sat in a corner and worked on her mini laptop while the three of them shopped.
“Buy anything and everything you want, my child,” she told Adrienne. “You guys dress her up and don’t worry about the bill. I’m sorry I just need to finish this intense scene I was working on. I just can’t concentrate on anything else.”
When they finally got home that evening Adrienne probably carried more than fifty paper bags from luxury designers.
Jin shook his head when he met them at the front door. “So who’s responsible for turning you into a shopaholic so soon?” He grinned.
“Mom. And these two.” Adrienne pointed at Jill and Yuan.
“Come on!” Jill urged. “We just thought that now she’s one of you, she has to dress the part.”
“Well, you’re right,” Jin said. “Mom will soon introduce Adrienne to her circle of friends and sons and daughters of her friends. They would be very excited to meet you. Not because they think you’re an interesting person. But because they want to know what’s wrong with you and how you could stain our mother’s spotless reputation.”
Adrienne blinked back at her brother. “So…are these your friends, too?”
“Hell no!” Jin said. “I couldn’t stand them. If they’re not good for business, I don’t bother to know them at all. I honestly don’t know and care about ninety percent of Mom and Dad’s friends. I haven’t even met them. But there can only be one black sheep in the family. And unfortunately for you, I’ve already called dibs on the title!” He grinned. “So they don’t expect anything good to come out of me. I’ve gotten to the point that nothing bad I do even makes it to social gossips anymore. They just don’t care. When you’re bad, and you do bad things, people just ignore it. But when you’re good… like you my dearest sister…and you do bad, you’ll be talk of the town…tabloid meat…for a whole week.”
What he said actually scared Adrienne. The look of shock ran across her face. Jin laughed and put an arm around her shoulder to give her a gentle squeeze.
“Relax, Adrienne,” Jin said. “Mama and Papa never really cared about what others around us thought. So you’ll be all right. And I’m sure you’ll be a hit among the sons of our parents’ friends.”
“I’m not interested,” she said.
Jin smiled at her. “Hmmm…speaking of that, where’s the hotshot boyfriend?”
Adrienne sighed. Yuan and Jill gave Jin a slight shake of head, as if warning him not to open a whole can of worms.
“Oooppps!” Jin whispered. “Tell you what, let’s go out tonight. Take your mind off things.”
After a few hours, they were at a club called Rendezvous. When they arrived, the line seemed long but, Jin led them to the beginning of the line. With only a slight nod, the bouncer let them in. Others waiting in line just groaned.
“That’s not fair,” Adrienne said. “I hate it when people with money and influence could just do that.”
Jin grinned. “It’s not money and influence that got us in. It’s just plain face value.” And he winked at her.
“Oh God, my brother is a first class jerk.”
Jin laughed. “And I’m just getting started!”
Jin introduced her to some of his friends. There was a girl named Tara and her boyfriend Mac. There were brothers Van and Victor, who were half-French and half-Brazilian. Then there was the French guy named Jean, who looked familiar, like she’s seen him in a print ad before.
“Yes, he is actually,” Jin said to her.
She stared up at him. “What?”
“If you’re wondering if you’ve seen him before and if he’s a model, he is. He modeled for several perfume campaigns.”
“Oh, that’s why he looked familiar,” Adrienne said.
Jin leaned forward to whisper against her ear. “He’s a Yuan.”
Adrienne stared back at her brother. It took her five seconds to figure out what he meant. And then she smiled. Already, Jean had started stealing glances at Yuan.
Hey, Yuan is a very good looking guy, too.
“You guys look too much like each other to be hooking up,” Mac said to Jin, referring to Adrienne. “It’s strange.”
“Nope, not hooking up. But that doesn’t mean any of you guys should get any ideas, okay?” Jin had pointed a warning finger at Victor and Van.
The two guys groaned. “Seriously, dude?”
“Seriously!” Jin said crossly. Then he pointed at Adrienne. “Sister.”
“Oh!” the two said in unison. “Sorry.”
“I didn’t know you had a sister,” Tara said.
“Now you do,” Jin said curtly, not really wanting to explain the whole history behind it.
“Seriously, Dude,” Van began to tease Jin. “Guard her with your life.”
“That’s what I’m doing,” Jin said.
“So, where have you been all this time, Adrienne?” Mac asked.
“In New York. Writing for a magazine called Blush.”
“Oh, she writes like your Mom.” Tara smiled. “I love Blush. I have my copies delivered every month. Seriously, you work there?”
“Yes,” Adrienne replied. “Me and Jill.”
Tara, a journalism major, asked for pointers from Jill and Adrienne. Both women were happy to help her start a career, should she want it. Her family owned Rendezvous, and she didn’t really have to work. Yet she didn’t want to be branded a good for nothing rich brat. She wanted to make a name for herself, too.
They got home around one in the morning. Jill and Van exchanged numbers after dancing saucily together. Yuan and Jean actually couldn’t take their eyes off each other. And Adrienne successfully made some more new friends.
Before she went to bed that night, she checked her phone to see her messages.
Kim: I hope you’re happy! You successfully ruined my life! Troy won’t talk to me. Mom and Dad are divorcing. And Troy’s family thinks so low of me now. Congratulations, Adrienne! You won again! I hope you die! Really!
She read the messages a couple more times, and then she just hit delete.
She read Justin’s last message to her again. Over and over. She tried her best not to call him. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She attempted to make it through one day at a time. Still, she felt so happy with her new family. She’s happy that Jill and Yuan were both with her in Paris.
But heiress or no heiress, she still felt heartbroken that she couldn’t be with Justin.