Learning to be Beautiful

Learning to be Beautiful ~13~

I had to remind myself that staring with jaw hanging slack was definitely not good before I stepped over the threshold into Pierre’s extravagant home.

A crystal chandelier hung in the entryway, the heavy glass falling from the silver frame like teardrops frozen in the air. Thick, lush carpet covered the floor in the living room, and marble tile sat comfortably in the kitchen. In this particular room, however, the floor was hardwood, and the rich brown wood extended all throughout the house.

“Well, are you just going to stand there drooling over our attractive British friend, or are we going to get this party started?” Pierre teased, walking past me and into the carpeted living room.

Pierre’s words made me blush, but it made Linc’s smirk be replaced by a deep frown. His thick eyebrows furrowed over his beautifully green eyes, and his mouth turned down at the corners rather abruptly. I wondered why he had reacted like that; most guys would have had their ego boosted—though having a girl like me ‘drooling over’ them probably isn’t on their list of top five things to accomplish in life. My face matched his frown as we followed Pierre silently through the doorway.

“What made you guys so grumpy all of a sudden?” Pierre questioned from his seated position on a cushiony chair on the far side of the room. I opened my mouth to tell him ‘nothing’ but he quickly cut me off with a short wave of his hand, “Unimportant. Today… you will be learning about flirting.”

“Flirting? How does flirting have anything to do wi—“

“Confidence is key in this exercise, and confidence is beautiful.” He cut me off. Sighing, he sank back further into his seat, “I really don’t think you need to learn to be ‘beautiful’, Aislyn. You’re just lacking one key component: confidence.”

“I’m confident…” I mumbled, though in truth I had almost zero confidence.

“That’s why you’re currently looking down and to the side with your hair hiding your face, am I right?” Pierre’s observation skills need to go die a horrible death.

Beside me, Linc’s smug smile was slowly returning to his face as he listened to Pierre and I’s exchange. Finally, once Pierre and I had quieted down, he decided that then was the time to join in the conversation.

“Pierre is right, Ms. Palmin. You are lacking in the confidence department. Now please, stop protesting and let us help you.”

One of the fashion designer’s blond eyebrows quirked upwards at the same time one corner of his mouth did. “It’s settled then, now stand up and flirt with Linc.”

“That’s why you wanted me here?” Linc raged, jumping to his feet with his fists clenched at his sides.

“Naturally,” Pierre replied, still seated comfortably in his arm-chair. “You didn’t think that I would have her flirt with me did you?” He stole a quick glance at me and reached a hand out, “No offense meant to you, of course.”

“Of course.” My voice was much calmer than I actually felt inside. When I heard that I was supposed to flirt with Linc my stomach twisted inside of me, and my ribcage felt like it was starting to constrict around my lungs, making it hard to breathe.