Wildest Dreams:

By: Mew Ami

Beta Reader: Miakemi

Chapter 9: Heat In The Night

It was now July and Paris was going through a bit of a heat wave. Iris was spending her Thursday night with Beau. She had hung out with Beau a handful of times since their dinner date back in March. Lately, it had become really noticeable that Beau liked her. Iris, not wanting to confront him about it, tried her best to show him she was not interested. She would flat out ignore his flirting and pay for her own food or drinks, etc. Sadly, he hadn't gotten the message.

In reality she should feel the same. Iris did like him, when they were kids. They had similar interests and were both outgoing. Beau was charming, funny, and engaging. The prefect type for most girls.

They were standing outside of a bar which was about a 20-minute walk from Iris's apartment. They'd been arguing about him walking her home for about five minutes.

"Please let me walk you home," said Beau once again.

"You worry too much," Iris said. She gave him a look of annoyance. "I'll talk to you later."

"But, Iris."

She sighed. If she let him, then it would send more wrong singles but this was getting annoying. "Alright."

"Really?" Beau looked pleased with himself.

"Yes." They both walked down the sidewalk heading toward her apartment. Iris kept the conversation to small talk to keep showing her annoyance with him. She hoped that would give him a clue. But she could tell he was being oblivious to it. She knew what she had to do, but she hated hurting people.

When they got to her apartment building, she said goodbye and just walked into the entrance closing the door right behind her. Iris walked up the stairwell and looked back. He didn't follow her and she sighed in relief. Iris got up to her floor and walked into her apartment.

She threw her purse on to the counter and went her bedroom. Iris got dressed for bed and tried to go sleep, but her mind was buzzing. She sat up and reached for her phone. Iris glanced over at her clock. It was only 10:30. Lori should still be awake, right? Iris dialed her number anyway and it rang two times before Lori picked up.

"Hello?" she said.

"Lori, hi! It's me Iris. I'm sorry for calling you so late, but I need your help."

"It's fine, Iris. What's up?"

"Well, I hung out with Beau tonight and he's still oblivious."

Lori sighed. She had been telling Iris for months to ditch him. "You need to be honest with him."

"I know, I know." she started to play with her hair. "But it's hard to tell him that I just want to be friends."

"And like I said, it will hurt him but he'll move on. I think it's easier for guys to move on from their crushes."

Iris nodded her head. She remembered a guy she dated in New York. Tony. He called it off when she told him she was going back to Paris. Tony didn't want a long distance relationship, and he didn't want to move to another country. She didn't blame him, but it hurt. It took her all of January to get over it. Then again, the guy Élise dated before Jonathan broke up with her and she got over it within a week. So maybe everyone was just different? "I'm not sure, Lori."

"Did his feelings easily get hurt when you were kids?"

"No."

"So there."

Iris curled the phone cord in her finger. "I'm being silly."

"No, I understand how you feel. Love isn't easy."

"You got that right." Iris lean back against her pillows and let out a small laugh. "So all I should say is let's be friends. I did like you when we were kids, but that was a long time ago and I've gotten over it."

"Yes."

"Okay. I can do this." Iris smiled, but it slowly faded away when she remembered something. "What if he asks me if there's someone else?" She just remembered that happening to a character in one of the trashy romance novels.

"You answer, no." Lori then laughed. "Or you could say you're seeing Mr. Agreste."

Iris gasped. "Lori, I do not like him!"

"I know, I know." Her friend was still laughing at her.

"Good! Now stop teasing me!"

"I'm sorry, but you guys do look like a couple."

"We are not! We're just um.. um..." Iris felt her face turning red.

"Acquaintances?"

"Yes.." She was trying not stutter. What was wrong with her?

Lori sighed. "Iris, aren't you guys friends yet? I mean, you've been going over to his house helping him with his designs since March. Like I said, Mr. Agreste seems happier."

"I don't know." Iris sat up. "It's complicated. I mean, we haven't address each other by our first names yet." She paused. "Is he really happier?"

"Yes. He's more pleasant to be around when he comes to photo shoots. I also heard the same thing from some of his designers."

Iris was quiet and leaned back into her pillows. Did she really make him happier? He was more open to her and their conversations were fun. She smiled at the thought of it.

"Iris?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry I spaced out."

"Thinking about him?"

"No!"

Lori laughed.

"Lori, stop."

"Okay I will. I'll see you tomorrow, Iris. I need to go to bed."

"Alright. Night."

"Night," said Lori and then hung up the phone.

Iris placed the phone back down on the receiver and let out a heavy sigh. She then went back under the covers and rest her head on the pillow. She did not like Mr. Agreste. They were becoming friends and nothing more. She rolled over on her side. Now he wouldn't leave her mind. Mr. Agreste was an interesting man. He was quiet, reserved, smart, funny (in his own way), charming, creative, and handsome. Ugh! What was wrong with her!? Why was she naming off his personality traits?

The next morning Iris woke up sweating. She got out of bed and walked over to the AC unit. She put her hand over it and warm air was blowing out. She sighed. It was broken, which meant she had to call someone to fix it. She turned it off and went to check the AC unit in the living room. It was broken as well. So Iris called the apartment building's maintenance and they were scheduled to come out Monday because they were backed up with other issues. Great. After calling maintenance, Iris started to make breakfast. She had plenty of time before her photo shoot. As she was eating her phone rang. Iris got up from her stool, walked over to the phone, and picked it up.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Good morning, sweet pea," her mother said.

"Oh, hi, Mama."

"You're not rushing out the door?"

"No. I'm in the middle of eating breakfast." The phone cord was long enough to reach the breakfast bar, so Iris sat back down.

"Oh, good. I was worried I would make you late. Now, are you free before dinner?" Today was her father's birthday and they were going out to dinner to celebrate.

Iris was quiet. She was still helping Mr. Agreste. Iris was going to help him like usual then go straight to dinner. She even told him she couldn't stay late. "..Why?"

"I need your help to cook for 30 people."

Her daughter felt flustered. "30 people!?" she was confused. "I thought we were just going out to dinner?"

Iris's mother gasped. "I didn't tell you? I decided to throw him a party instead."

"But I thought you wanted it just to be us." Iris was annoyed. Of course her mother would forget to tell her. She had a bad habit of forgetting things and Iris hated to admit that she was like that too.

"I did, but then his mother complained to me about not throwing him a party." Iris's mother did not get along with her grandmother. "So can you help me? Élise arrived last night and we're going to do all the shopping. By the time you're done with work we'll be cooking.

Iris was not happy about this at all. Helping her family would mean she would have to cancel on Mr. Agreste. She hated not seeing him.

"Iris?"

She let out a sigh. "Yes, I'll come over when I get off work." Iris then got up from her stool and walked back over to the phone receiver.

"Thank you so much! I'm sorry about all of this. I thought your sister and I could handle it alone, but your grandmother keeps inviting more people."

"It's okay."

"Have a good day at work. Love you."

"Love you." Iris hung up the phone. She let out a heavy sigh. Why must her mother forget about things like this? She went back to eating her breakfast and once she finished, Iris got ready for work.

When Iris arrived at work, she decided to go see Mr. Agreste before she forgot to tell him about the change in plans. She rode the elevator to his floor and walked over to his secretary. Unfortunately, he was in a meeting so Iris asked his secretary for a piece of paper. As she was writing out a note for Mr. Agreste she heard a door open. She felt her heart leap and looked over at his office door. Disappointment hit her. It was Nathalie leaving his office. Iris went back to writing her note.

"Oh, good morning, Iris," said Nathalie and walked over to her. She looked surprise to see Iris here.

"Good morning, Nathalie," Iris said and greeted her with a smile.

"Is there something wrong?"

"Um." Iris looked down at her note. She was just going leave it with Mr. Agreste's secretary, but Nathalie seemed like a better option. Iris quickly finished writing it out. "I um. I have something for Mr. Agreste." Now she was stuttering all of the sudden. She handed Nathalie the note. "It's important."

Mr. Agreste's assistant stared at Iris for a second before taking the note. She then placed it into her jacket's pocket. "I'll make sure he gets it."

"Thank you so much." Iris said with relief. She was afraid for a second Nathalie was going to question her.

"Have a good day, Iris," Nathalie said and then went into Mr. Agreste's office, closing the door behind her.

Iris walked over to the elevator and got on. Once she got on, Iris hit her floor's button. The door closed and she leaned against the wall. Iris still felt disappointed that it was Nathalie. Why couldn't it be Mr. Agreste? Iris shook her head. Why did she want to see him so badly? She would see him on Monday. It wasn't like they would never see each other again. The elevator arrived on her floor and she got off. Iris walked down the hallway to the dressing room. What was wrong with her? Why can't she stop thinking about him?

After work, Iris headed to her parents' town home. She walked in through the front door since she had a key. Iris found Élise in the kitchen icing a cake. Iris looked around and didn't see their mother.

"Hey, Élise," Iris said and walked over to her.

Her sister put down the icing spatula and brought her attention to Iris. "Hey." She then hugged her.

Iris smiled and returned the hug. "Where's, Mama?"

"She forgot to get balloons so she left me in charge of the cake."

Iris shook her head. "Did she tell you she forgot to tell me about this dinner party?"

"Yes. I don't know why. She never forgets to tell me things."

Iris laughed. "Maybe you're her favorite." She then gasped in horror. "Élise! The icing looks goopy!"

"Huh?" her sister looked down at the cake. It looked like it was melting.

Iris sighed. "When did you start icing it?"

"Right when Mama got it out of the oven."

"You have to let it cool first!"

"Oh," said Élise looking embarrassed. "Mama, didn't tell me about that. She ran right out the door after pulling it out of the oven."

Iris just smiled and wiped icing on her nose. "I guess we'll just have to make a new one."

"Huh? Can't we just scrape the icing off?"

"No, the cake is ruined." she pointed to the center. "It's starting to shift now."

"Well, excuse me for not being a baker."

Iris laughed and wiped more icing on her nose.

"Stop that!" Élise fought back by wiping icing on Iris's forehead.

Her little sister laughed harder and grabbed a towel. She then wiped off the icing. "Well we better get to work. Hopefully we can finish it before, Mama comes back." She pulled out new bowels and went straight to work.

When they put the batter into the oven, Iris sat down at the breakfast bar. She noticed a to do list and started to read it. Meanwhile, Élise poured them some wine. She handed Iris a glass. Iris grabbed it and took a sip.

"So, how's work?" Élise asked.

"Work," her sister replied after taking her sip.

"Wow sounds glamorous."

"What can I tell you? All I do is get my picture taken."

Élise sat down beside her little sister. "I'm sure there's more to it."

"Not really." Iris took another sip of her wine.

Her sister frowned. "Are you hating it?"

"Of course not! I love my job!"

"But you don't sound excited about it."

Iris was quiet. She really couldn't talk about her job to anyone besides Lori. She would have to talk about helping Mr. Agreste, and she promised him she wouldn't tell anyone about it. She glanced over at her sister. Would he care if her sister knew? He probably just said that so rumors wouldn't spread around the workplace. People would think they were sleeping together. Iris's cheek turned red at the thought.

Élise noticed her cheeks. "You're keeping something from me."

"Huh?"

"You're blushing!"

Iris's eyes widened and she quickly turned away. "I ...I am not!"

"Oh, yes you are!" Élise then gasped. "Are you seeing your boss!?" She remembered her little sister talking about how handsome he was.

"No!" Iris spoke harshly. "And would you keep your voice down? Do you want Papa to hear us?"

"Sorry," Élise lowered her voice. "I got excited. So, you're not seeing him?"

Iris hesitated. "Yes and no."

Her sister looked confused.

"I am seeing him, but not romantically."

"So you're just sleeping with him?"

"Élise!" Iris's face was now a deep shade of red. "It's not like that!"

"Then what are you guys doing?"

"I'm helping him with designing."

"Oh," Élise looked bummed out.

"Get your head out of the gutter." Iris took a huge sip of wine to calm herself down.

"Well, sorry. You should have explained better. So, when did he ask for your help?"

"Back in March."

"Tell me everything, Iris."

Her little sister just sighed. Why was she so interested in this? She took one more sip of her wine before telling her about how all of this came about. "So, in the end I agreed to this so I could befriend him." She then went into detail about how her plan is progressing because knowing Élise, she would dig for information. After she was done talking, her little sister looked down at her wine glass. She smiled softly.

"You're in love."

"Excuse me!?" Iris looked up at her sister.

"You're in love," Élise repeated.

"I.. I am not."

"Look, Iris. You have been hanging out with this guy for months. Something was bound to happen."

Iris tightened her grip on her wine glass. "We're just becoming good friends."

"Then why haven't you fallen for Beau?" Lori wasn't the only person Iris talked to about Beau.

"Huh?"

"You should be crazy about him. You two are a prefect match, but there's no sparks. The reason why is Gabriel Agreste."

Iris sighed. "Can we drop this?"

"Suit yourself. I'm just speaking the truth."

Iris just looked away. She was not in love with Mr. Agreste. Even if she was nothing would happen! He had no interest in women. She got up from the stool to check on the cake. She peeked through the oven's door and watched the batter rise. Iris then heard the front door open. Their mother was back.

"Where's the cake?" her mother asked, when she came into the kitchen. Élise threw out the old one while they were making the new one.

"Élise, ruined it."

Their mother sighed. "You iced it while it was hot?"

"Yes," Élise laughed sheepishly.

"Oh, well. At least your sister can bake."

"Did you get the balloons?" Iris asked.

"Yes. They're in the living room."

"Hello, everyone," their father walked into the kitchen carrying a box.

"Hi, Papa," Iris said. "Happy Birthday!"

"Thanks, sweet pea," he said.

"What's in the box?"

"I was cleaning out your old closet earlier this week and found this. It has your old schoolwork. Please get it out of here."

"Oh, well set it down on that counter over there," Iris said and pointed to the other side of the kitchen. "I'll take it home after the party."

Iris's father walked over to the counter and set the box down. "Smells good in here. I can't wait for your cake, Vivien."

"Actually, Iris is making it," her mother answered.

"Even better."

Iris smiled at her father.

The next morning, Iris woke up sweating again. She rolled over on her side and tried to fall back asleep. Last night was just awful. Her aunts and grandmother kept asking her about men. And of course her mother brought up Beau, which Iris had to constantly remind her that they were just friends. Luckily Élise did not bring up Mr. Agreste again.

Iris sat up. It was no use. She got out of bed and went into the living room. She opened up the windows to let air in. At least she had the day to herself. A day of doing nothing sounded nice.

Iris spent the whole day working on a skirt. Instead of using a pattern from the craft store, she came up with her own design. Working with Mr. Agreste inspired her to design again. Sadly, she wasn't pleased with how it was turning out. She restarted over many times.

Around dinner time Iris was sitting at her breakfast bar going through her recipe book. What should she make tonight? She wasn't sure what she was in the mood for him. She let out a sigh and looked at the box that was sitting on the bar. She hadn't looked through her old school work.

Iris pulled it closer to her and opened the lid. She stood up and looked into the box. She noticed a sketch book sitting on top. She pulled it out and flipped through it. There were no drawings. She sat it down on the counter. Iris then pulled out another sketch book. This was one filled with designs from her time in New York. She sat back down and slowly flipped through each paged. Seeing her old designs made her sad. She closed the book and the set it down next to the other sketch book. She gave up too soon.

Then suddenly, she heard a knock on the front door. Iris looked over at the door and raised an eyebrow. Who could that be? Iris got up from the stool and opened the door. She was filled with shock. It was Mr. Agreste!?

"You really should ask who it is before answering," he said.

"Uh, yeah.. Um.." Iris was now stuttering. "Would you like to come in?" He walked in and Iris closed the door behind them.

"Sorry for coming over unannounced, but I need your help."

"With what?" she asked with a smile.

"Designing a wedding dress."

"What?"

"Mrs. Morin, my top client, has a daughter who is getting married in two weeks, and her dress got lost while being shipped overseas."

"Oh, no."

"So, she asked me to make up at least five designs so her daughter has choices."

"She has a lot of faith in you."

Mr. Agreste nodded his head. "So will you help me?"

"I know nothing about wedding dresses."

"Neither do I."

Iris just smiled. She moved the box off the bar. "Well, two heads are better than one." She then grabbed a pencil from the other side of the kitchen. Iris sat down at the bar and motioned for Mr. Agreste to join her. She pushed aside the sketch book that was filled with designs. She did not want him to look through it. Iris gave him the pencil and the blank sketch book.

Mr. Agreste opened the sketch book and started to sketch a model.

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" she asked him.

He looked up at her. "If you don't mind. This could take awhile."

"Of course not. I love to cook for people."

"You can cook?"

"Well, yeah! Don't you?"

"No, I have chef."

"You never learned how to cook?"

"Well, I can make basic things."

Iris tried not to laugh at him. "Okay, well you can start brainstorming while I make us something to eat."

Mr. Agreste didn't say a word and went back to sketching. Iris stared at him for a moment before returning her attention to dinner. She opened the fridge and remembered she was low on food. Iris closed the fridge and went through her cabinets. Iris pulled out a jar of tomato sauce and a box of pasta. So much for a meal by scratch. She'd just have to add to the sauce.

She put some water into a pot and set it on the stove. She turned on the burner and turned her attention to the sauce. Iris pour it into another pot and placed on the burner beside the first pot. She started to add more spices to the sauce.

Iris wished she could at least make meatballs to show off her cooking skills. She dropped the spoon in the sauce. Was she wanting to impress him!? Iris looked back at Mr. Agreste then quickly back at the sauce. Her cheeks were a bright shade of pink. Iris shook her head. She did not like him! She did not like him! She grabbed the spoon and went back to making the sauce. She took a deep breath to calm herself down.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

Iris almost jumped. Did he notice her breathing? Normally he had complete focus, when working. "No.. no!" she didn't turn around to face him. Great. He made it worse.

Mr. Agreste raised an eyebrow. "You sure?"

"Yes!"

He just shrugged and went back to sketching. "What are we having?"

"Spaghetti."

He didn't say anything.

"Would you like some garlic bread?" She knew she had some fresh bread.

"Sure."

She turned around to face him. "Oh, so you like garlic?" she gave him a teasing smile.

"You can say that," he said with a small smile.

Iris quickly turned around. Seeing him smile made her blush again. She slapped her face with her hands. She needed to stop acting like this!

"Are you sure there's nothing wrong?"

"Yes! I'm fine!" Iris then quickly bent down and grabbed a cookie sheet for the bread. She then placed it out the counter and started making the bread. "How are your sketches looking?"

"Alright. Not really pleased with them."

"Let me see." she turned around and took the sketch book from him. She flipped through the pages. He had two sketches going. "Did she tell what the original dress looked like?"

"Yes. Actually she gave me a picture." Mr. Agreste pulled his wallet out of his pants pocket and took out a folded piece of paper. He handed it to Iris and she handed him back the sketch book.

"Oh wow, it's beautiful!" Iris said when she looked at it. She gasped, when she saw the designers name on the bottom of the paper. "Carolina Herrera made this?"

He nodded his head.

"Wow. I saw some of her clothes while in New York. I like her dresses."

"She's okay."

"Oh, my bad I forgot Gabriel Agreste is a fashion god when compared to other designers." Iris then burst out laughing.

He just stared at her.

"What?"

"The water is boiling.." his cheeks were slightly red.

"Oh!" she gave him back the paper and turned her attention back to dinner.

Once dinner was ready, Iris joined him at the breakfast bar and they started to eat. The bread was the best part. She grabbed the sketch book again and flipped through it. She could tell he was struggling. "So you aren't going to take any inspiration from the photo?"

"No. I don't like taking ideas from other people's work."

"Hmm. At least use the shape of the dress. It's probably suits her daughter's figure."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. When my sister was getting married, she tried on many dresses and some did not flatter her body."

"I see. Wedding dresses are complicated."

"Yeah they are, which is why some brides are a pain. I'm glad I don't work in a bridal shop. I wouldn't be able to handle it."

"How come?"

Iris laughed. "I'm too emotional. Knowing me a bride would make me cry."

"I can see that." he chuckled.

She rolled her eyes at him. Iris then grabbed a pencil and started to make adjustments to one of his sketches. "Since the original dress looked like a ball gown then we should give her five ball gown designs."

"Alright."

After dinner, they spent the rest of the evening on designing the dresses. Both of them lost track of time. When Mr. Agreste let out a yawn, Iris looked at the clock in the kitchen. It was midnight. She looked back at him and noticed he was staring at the clock as well.

"I overstayed my welcome," he said.

"Oh, no! It's fine. We had to get this done," she said.

He closed the sketch book. "I appreciate your help, Miss Desjardins."

"No need to thank me. I'm always happy to help. I think Mrs. Morin's daughter will like her selection," Iris said with a smile.

"I hope so." he let out another yawn.

Iris frowned. He looked tired.

"I better get going." He got up from the table with the sketch book in his hand.

"Uh.." Iris stayed seated. She didn't want him to drive home so late at night. He could fall asleep behind the wheel. She gulped. "Stay here."

He turned around and looked at her. She could tell he was trying his hardest not to blush. "..Excuse me?"

"I uh.. It's late! You shouldn't be driving when you're tired." She was trying not blush as well.

"I'll be fine."

"Please." She gave him a worried look.

Mr. Agreste fidgeted in place. "Alright.."

Iris sighed in relief. She got up from her chair and went into her bedroom. She grabbed him a blanket and a pillow. She returned and threw them on the couch. "Sorry, I don't have a spare bed."

"It's fine.." he muttered and walked over to the couch.

"Oh, the AC isn't working right now. So feel free to leave the window open."

"Okay."

Iris sighed heavily. "Well, good night."

"Night.."

Iris went into her bedroom and closed the door behind her. She leaned against the door. What the hell was she doing!? He probably would have been fine. She kept herself from banging the back of her head on the door. Well too late now. She couldn't kick him out.

Iris grabbed her a summer nightgown off of a chair and froze. She really shouldn't be wearing this with him here. It had spaghetti straps after all. Iris shrugged. She would just have to get dressed when she got up. She changed into the nightgown and got into bed.

The next morning Iris woke up to the sound of birds chirping. She sat up and yawn. The birds were louder since the windows were open. She got out of bed and slowly walked over to the bedroom door. She let out another yawn.

Iris couldn't wait until the AC was fixed. Sleeping at night was uncomfortable. Iris opened the bedroom door and walked out the living room area. She stopped her tracks and her eyes widened. Mr. Agreste was standing at the breakfast bar looking through the sketch book in his boxers.

Iris let out a loud gasp and felt her heart racing. She covered her mouth with her hands.

He jumped causing him to drop the sketch book on the floor. It tumbled as it landed. He looked over at her. Mr. Agreste's face was now a deep shade of red. He was trying to say something.

"I..I'm sorry!" Iris somehow managed to say. "I forgot you were here."

"Forrgggot..? How could you forget!?" he stuttered.

She couldn't help, but look him over. He had a chest. Oh good lord! She couldn't stop herself from staring at it. "I.. I uh forget things.."

"I can tell.."

Iris just laughed awkwardly and started to play with her hair. "Would you like some breakfast?"

"Sure.."

She quickly walked into the kitchen and made something for them to eat. Iris tried her best not to stare at him. Was it even possible to be hotter? She bit down on her lip for thinking such a thing. Iris joined him at the bar when breakfast was ready. They both were still in their underwear. There was really no point to getting dressed. Both of them had seen too much.

"Did you sleep well?" Iris asked him trying her hardest to act calm.

He just nodded his head. He wasn't looking at her.

"Cat got your tongue?" she asked with a laugh. Iris notice his face grow more red. She laughed harder. Now she found this amusing. "It's okay. I'm not mad. It's my fault."

"You sure?" he asked still not looking at her.

"Yeah. Like I said I'm forgetful." She was starting to feel calmer. "Was it hot last night?"

"Yes even with the windows open."

"It was hot in my room as well. I'm getting it fixed tomorrow."

"That's good." He finally looked at her. He then stood up. "I need to get going. I'm meeting Mrs. Morin and her daughter for lunch."

"Alright. See you tomorrow?"

"Of course." he walked back over to the couch and put his clothes back on. Once fully clothed, Mr. Agreste took the sketch book from the bar. "Thank you for everything."

"You're welcome." They walked over to the door and he opened it. "Bye, and good luck! I'm sure she'll love the designs."

"Bye," he said with a small smile and walked out the door. Iris closed the door behind him.

She slowly walked back over to the bar and shook her head. Hopefully things wouldn't be awkward tomorrow. Iris sat back down at the bar and went back to her breakfast. As she ate she noticed that Mr. Agreste grabbed the wrong sketch book! He grabbed the one filled with her designs! She quickly got up and ran into her bathroom. She grabbed a robe since she didn't have time to change. Iris then rushed out the door with the other sketch book in her hands. Her heart was pounding. He was bound to notice he grabbed the wrong one. What if he looked inside of it!?

When she got outside, Iris ran right into the back of him. "Mr. Agreste! You grabbed the wrong book!"

He slowly turned around and he was holding it open. Iris bit her lip and felt nervous. Mr. Agreste traded books with her. "Did you make those designs?"

She nodded her head.

"They're good."

"No they're not! They're awful."

"Why do you say that?"

"My teachers said they were! Well not in those exact words. They said were plain and simple. Too boring!" Mr. Agreste just stared at her. She stared back and they locked eyes with each other.

"Sometimes the simplest of designs are the most elegant," he said with a full smile.

Iris was speechless.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Miss Desjardins."

Iris nodded her head.

He walked over to his car and got in. Mr. Agreste then drove off.

Iris turned around and walked back upstairs to her apartment. She closed the door behind her and went into the bathroom. She started a bath. Iris felt jittery and her heart was racing. When her bath was ready, Iris got undressed and got in. She leaned over the edge of the tub and exhale a breath of air. She closed her eyes and smiled to herself.

"I love you, Gabriel Agreste," she muttered to herself.