Forever, Yours ➹ Timothée Chalamet

13 | How To Seduce A Rich Man

VERA

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HERE'S THE RUNDOWN.

It took a ton of explaining, a ton of Timothée yelling at Sam for dozing off, a ton of Avery making snarky remarks, and a ton of sitting awkwardly on the couch as I was told that I'd have to learn how to seduce someone. Sam said he had utmost faith in me, but I could see it in Timothée and Avery's eyes that they were skeptical.

So was I.

However, the need of pulling off this heist was far too great for the boys, so they reassured me of the plan and their faith in me.

             Step #1. The group will orchestrate an operation at Corne D'Abondance, which is the restaurant Timothée's Uncle will be dining in (to go over gala plans). Sam will resume his position as diversion—a 'knocked over pot of soup' if anything went wrong—, Avery would be in the getaway car if said problem occurred, Timothée would be disguised as a waiter in the kitchen with an earpiece to talk me through the process, and I would be the one eavesdropping at the table next to the Uncle as he divulged in his party details.

             Step #2. I will enlist the three rules of Seduction. This will decrease suspicion of my true intentions, and will perceive me as less of a threat to whatever group the Uncle is keeping in his company. ("Use that oaf's misogyny against him," Timothée sneered).

             Step #3. I will snoop on the conversation, and gather any details I can get. The more we know about the party, the easier it will be to figure out how to get in. Ticket? Back door? It's based on whatever happens. Once we're satisfied with the intel, I'll make a quick escape out the door where Avery will be waiting with the car. Timmy and Sam will follow suit.

If we can pull this small con off, the heist will be green lighted. If not, we'll have to find another way to get into the party—and suffer Timothée's wrath of disappointment. To avoid this, I needed to learn how to seduce a rich man.

Something I'm not entirely good at.

This is why I found myself back in the 'book club' a few days later, getting pushed around a room by Sam as he tried to fix my posture. Avery was scrolling through Pinterest for outfit ideas, and Timothée was reading the rough draft of my first finished chapter—yes, I managed to finish Chapter One! It took a lot of complaining and motivational speeches from Timmy, but I got it done.

"So, tell me then," I said to the curly-haired boy, narrowing my eyes, "how do I seduce a rich man?"

Timothée looked up from the binder in his lap, cocking a brow. "How would I know? I haven't tried to."

"I thought you'd be teaching me."

"No, Vera, Sam's teaching you," he said, flipping another page of my manuscript, "now stop bothering me while I edit your first chapter."

I sent him a glare, but I felt a little warm inside at his words. He seemed to be hooked on whatever words I'd jotted down, because his eyes were glued to the words in front of them while he read it out under his breath. I wondered what he was thinking. If he hated it, I'm not sure what I'd do, but I didn't like how dependent I was on his criticism.

I wanted to impress him.

If that was something possible to achieve.

"Stop getting distracted," Sam said, slapping my wrist, "I'm trying to help you out here."

I bit my lip anxiously. "Sorry."

"Like the basics of being a thief, there's a basic to seduction," the blond explained, yanking my shoulder back to stand me straighter, "it's to be an onion."