Later, Vive and Lex went to the spa for facials while I crawled in bed with Hedda and slept. I don’t know how I could get any sleep with all of the insanity going on between my friends, the boys, and now this opportunity to pose nude, but I did. When my head hit that pillow, I was out.
No Candy Land dreams. No sexy moments either.
“Stop,” I awoke to Hedda licking my face. I looked at the clock, 8:00 pm. Ugh. I walked out to the main area and noticed Lex was watching TV.
“Where is everybody?” I asked.
“Vive is at the bar. Blake is asleep in his room. Leon came by.”
“He did?” My spirit lifted.
“Yes, and he brought you those.” She pointed to a crystal vase filled with long stem roses. Blossoms of pink, yellow, and white were mixed together. “There’s a card too.”
“Did ‘ya read it?”
“Duh!” Lex smirked.
“Don’t tell me,” I said and plucked the envelope from the bouquet. Inhaling the scent, I closed my eyes and realized I’d never had anyone send me flowers before. Once again, Leon broke a new first for me.
Opening the card, I tried to read his cursive writing. It was in French. Err.
This note was clearly written by a dude. I couldn’t make out what it said.
Lex smiled as I came back into the room.
“What does this say?”
She laughed and read out loud, “Princess Lolly, you are beautiful. Own it.”
“Wow.” My insides melted all over again. I sat beside her on the sofa.
“When did you two talk about Candy Land?”
“At sea, we chatted about a lot of things.” I thought back to that raft for a minute. “Lex, why do you think I gravitated toward Lolly when we were little?”
Setting the dessert plate she munched from on to the side, she said, “Why do kids like what they like? Sponge Bob. The Smurfs. Who knows? Lolly was the spirit of adventure. She danced to the sound of her own music, following shiny things that fascinated her. Isn’t that you?”
I nodded. “It’s exhausting being me sometimes.”
“I can only imagine,” she replied jokingly, then lifted the plate and offered, “Cookie?”
Uncertain if I’d go through with it or not, I found myself showered and ready the next morning, as if my subconscious had wanted me to move forward with the photo shoot.
There was a knock at the door. Blake was still asleep. Dang those pills knocked him out. I went to answer it.
“Coming,” I tied the robe around my waist and turned the knob, expecting to see Fabian with his make-up kit and clothes for today.
“Salut,” Leon greeted me, taller than I remembered.
“Hi,” I managed back at him.
Holding a large lollypop in his hand, he appeared nervous. “May I come in?”
I stepped back, giving him space to enter.
Leon glanced at the flowers. “I did not know if you had a favorite flower. Red is your favorite color but I did not want to send the wrong message, twice.”
“Thank you. They’re lovely, and the card’s message was touching.” I pointed to the prop in his hand. “So we’re really doing a Candy Land theme, huh?”
“Oui.” He stepped closer and handed me the lollypop. It was a scepter carved from colorful wood. “Master made this for you. He’s transformed the entire ballroom downstairs into the Lollipop Woods.”
My heartbeat quickened at the thought that today I’d get to live out my childhood dream.
“Taddy, I am sorry for taking advantage of you and our situation.”
“Don’t be silly. You didn’t. I encouraged you to have sex with me.”
“I should have told you about Fabian,” he lowered his voice.
“True, perhaps you thought you’d never see him again.” I reached for him.
He nodded slowly, taking me into his arms. It felt good to have him hold me again. That citrus smell of his was back. I loved that. “Do you have regrets?”
“None.” To be honest, I didn’t want to know if Leon regretted sleeping with me. That would crush me into a million pieces. Regardless, I asked anyway. “And do you?”
His forehead touched mine lovingly. “You were my first woman.”
“What?”
“Fabian is the only person I have ever had sex with.”
Whoa! I wasn’t expecting him to say that. “For a newbie, you certainly were pretty darn good, considering we were floating with little sunlight.”
“Merci beaucoup.”
“Don’t get all proud or anything. It’s not like I have nothing to compare you against.” Well, other than yesterday when I sat on your boyfriend’s face.
“You are an amazing person, Mademoiselle. Boys at the university will fight over you.”
“Did you enjoy being with the opposite sex?”
“Very much,” he answered and then he kissed me. Pulling my body against his, our tongues interlaced, I couldn’t resist this man. We’re a lot alike, I supposed. Curious about life. We beat to our own drum.
“You don’t have to do the photos if you don’t want to. Fabian and I can look for new jobs when we get back to Paris.”
“Don’t be foolish.” I slipped on a pair of sandals. “I thought about it, Leon, and I want to do the pictures. But not for the reasons you think.”
“Why then?”
“Something you said to me in the water about embracing what I have. I’m happy to be alive and that we met. You’ve changed my life in ways I don’t think you’ll ever know.”
“I feel the same way about you, Mademoiselle.”
“One day when I’m not so young, I’ll look back at the photos and wish I had liked myself a little bit more than I do right now.”
“You are wise.”
“Ha! Not really. I also need the money, and I figured having this nude pictorial out there for the world to see is the first step in accepting who I really am.”
“And who is that?”
“Why…Miss Taddy Brill, of course.”
During the shoot, as I stood naked in front of Leon, Fabian and Gustave I realized why I didn’t like having my picture taken before. I’d never given myself the permission to feel pretty, until now.
My last time having sex with Leon was under that tree. Somehow, that made our time together even more special. I wondered if I’d always be Leon’s first and only girl. Something deep down inside me said, yes. At least, that’s what I’d told myself.