“Very.”
Alaric slowly placed his pen on the table.
Célestine avoided looking at him.
When the interview ended, the other panel members thanked her.
Alaric remained seated.
“Madame Vauclair.”
She stopped at the door.
“A moment, please.”
The room emptied.
Then there were only the two of them.
He opened her application.
“Your husband.”
Célestine remained standing.
“Yes?”
“And your daughter.”
She said nothing.
Alaric looked up.
“Tell me something, Célestine.”
Hearing him use her first name made her stomach twist.
“Was he waiting at home while you kissed me in Menton?”
Her face drained of colour.
“Alaric…”
He closed the file.
“I think we’d better start again.”
Célestine did not immediately confess everything.
That became the first serious mistake in a long series of attempts to repair the original one.
She explained that her private life was complicated. She said that she’d recently gone through difficult circumstances.
That she had not expected to see him again.
Alaric listened without interrupting.
Finally, he said, “Are you married?”
She looked down.
“Not exactly.”
“That’s an interesting answer.”
“I can explain.”
“Then explain.”
Célestine opened her mouth.
But she thought about her mother.
The bills.
The possibility of losing a job she hadn’t even obtained yet.
And the words would not come.
Alaric watched her struggle.
Something in his expression softened.
Then he looked at her application again.
“You have excellent qualifications for the work.”
She looked up.
“Thank you.”
“But this position comes with strict eligibility requirements.”
“I know.”
He studied her for another moment.
Then stood.
“The recruitment team will be in touch.”
He opened the door for her.
Célestine walked out with her heart pounding.
Two days later, she received an offer.
It was conditional upon the usual document checks and successful completion of the probationary period.
The salary was more than she’d dared hope for.
She accepted.
Then she stared at the signed contract and realised the problem had not disappeared.
It had merely become harder to escape.
Working under Alaric was unlike anything Célestine had imagined.
He was demanding.
Not cruel.
Not unfair.
Just relentlessly precise.
He expected employees to arrive prepared, explain their reasoning, and defend their decisions with evidence.
Célestine discovered that he disliked flattering presentations more than he disliked mistakes.
During her second week, she challenged a proposed redesign for one of the company’s family suites.
“The storage is too high,” she said during a meeting.
The senior designer frowned.
“It’s a luxury hotel, Madame Vauclair.”
“Children still need to reach their own coats in luxury hotels.”
Someone coughed to conceal a laugh.
Alaric looked at the drawings.
“She’s right.”
The designer turned toward him.
“Alaric…”
“Lower the hooks.”
Célestine kept her expression neutral.
But when the meeting ended, she noticed that Alaric was almost smiling.
Later, in the corridor, he fell into step beside her.
“Good observation.”
“Thank you.”
“You don’t have to look so surprised.”
“I’m not surprised.”
“You look surprised.”
She smiled despite herself.
“Perhaps I’m simply not accustomed to being right.”
“That’s unfortunate. You seem to enjoy it.”
Their eyes met.
For one brief moment, they were back at the harbour.
Then Célestine remembered the application.
And Alaric remembered her supposed husband.
They both looked away.
Bastien became involved in the deception by accident.
One Thursday, Léonie developed a fever while Bastien was working outside Paris.
The school called him.
Unable to leave immediately, he asked Célestine to collect his daughter.
