Chapter 204 I Love You
Stepping outta Nasir's crib, Evelyn made a beeline for Cathy's office.
Cathy was already there, with Laura in tow. An open bottle of champagne and three glasses were chillin' on the desk, clearly ready to toast Evelyn's return.
"Drinking on the clock? Naughty!" Evelyn chuckled, shaking her head.
"Who said it's drink? This is victory juice!" Cathy shot back, grinning. "Now, shut that door."
They closed the office door and yanked down the curtains. "Aren't we supposed to party after work? What's the rush?" Evelyn asked, but she still grabbed a glass.
"Tonight's the big bash; this one's just for us," Laura said, raising her glass to clink with Evelyn's. "Congrats! Winning this award is huge. I'm so stoked for you!"
It was a killer moment, especially for Laura, who'd seen Evelyn hustle every step of the way.
Being Evelyn's sidekick for so long, Laura had picked up a ton—blending scents, analyzing fragrance components, extracting essential oils, doing distillation, and so on. Evelyn had all the skills but never got the props she deserved.
All those late nights grinding paid off, but the big recognition always seemed to slip through Evelyn's fingers.
Back then, Laura would ask if Evelyn was cool with it. Evelyn always said that outdoing herself and crafting killer perfumes was all that mattered. Fame was not worth sweating over.
Evelyn brushed it off, and even when Laura griped, there wasn't much she could do but stick by Evelyn's side, helping with experiments and production.
But now, Evelyn was finally up on that fancy award stage, her perfume shining bright. It was a sweet, sweet victory.
"Thanks, I'm pretty psyched, too!" Evelyn clinked glasses with Laura and took a sip of champagne.
There were some fruit snacks on the table, showing Cathy had planned ahead. After a sip, Cathy asked, "So, what about that kidnapping thing in France? We couldn't reach you, and we were freaking out."
"Kidnapping?!" Laura gasped, totally out of the loop and shocked.
"You didn't know?" Cathy thought Laura was in on it, so she just blurted it out.
"Nope! What kidnapping? How'd it happen? Are you okay?" Laura bombarded Evelyn with questions, setting down her glass and staring at her.
Evelyn sighed, "It's been a while. Everything's cool now."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Laura snapped, turning to Cathy. "And you, why didn't you say anything?"
Cathy looked exasperated. "I only found out later that Evelyn got nabbed. Nasir called me, asking if I could reach her, but I had no idea it was about this. Didn't I ask you if you could get ahold of her?"
Laura said, "Yeah, you asked, but you didn't say it was a kidnapping!"
Cathy threw her hands up. "I didn't know it was back then!"
Listening to Cathy and Laura bicker, Evelyn made a "zip it" gesture. "Alright, enough about the kidnapping. Still breathing, I'm fine. Let's move on."
"So, tell me. Who grabbed you, and how'd you get out?" Cathy and Laura both stared at Evelyn.
Evelyn gave them the CliffNotes version of the whole France kidnapping saga, leaving out the part where Samuel came to her rescue and the showdown with the kidnappers. Even with the watered-down version, Cathy and Laura looked like they'd seen a ghost.
Laura shrieked, "Oh my God! There were guns involved?"
Cathy gasped, "Holy crap! International fugitives? You always get mixed up with the craziest people!"
Both of them were freaking out, staring at Evelyn like she was some kind of miracle.
"Evelyn, are you really okay? If something's up, you gotta tell us. Don't bottle it up!" Cathy said, looking super worried.
Laura chimed in, "Yeah, seriously! Whatever they did, you need to speak up. We're your besties, and we can keep it on the down-low!"
Evelyn rolled her eyes. "Why does it sound like you are hoping something bad happened to me?"
Laura shot back, "No way!"
Cathy added, "Don't be ridiculous!"
For once, Cathy and Laura were totally in sync, saying together, "You being okay is all that matters. We're just worried about you! By the way, you said the cops nabbed the kidnappers, but what about the mastermind? Did they tell you why they did it?"
"The mastermind..." Evelyn thought about Rosen, who got hauled away, and Vivian, who vanished from France. She didn't know much about what happened next, just that the three kidnappers and Rosen got busted, and they were looking at some serious jail time.
Before she could say more, there was a ruckus outside. Cathy frowned, set down her glass, and went to check it out. "What's going on out here? Even if we're celebrating tonight, we still gotta work. Do you guys wanna keep your jobs or what?"
One of the employees pointed. "Cathy, look!"
Cathy noticed everyone was staring out the window, where a bunch of colorful balloons were floating up, making a pretty cool sight.
"Where'd those balloons come from?" Cathy was puzzled but waved it off. "Alright, nothing to see here, just some balloons. Do the balloons pay your salary? Get back to work!"
Just then, a few more balloons floated up, each with long ribbons tied to them. Every balloon had a message: [Evelyn, I love you!]
Cathy quickly shut the door, turned to Evelyn, and said, "Quick! Look outside!"
Since they had the doors and windows closed, they hadn't noticed. Cathy yanked back the curtain, and they saw the balloons floating up, each one with a ribbon that said: [Evelyn, I love you!]
Evelyn went silent. Who the heck was behind this stunt?
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