DISCLAIMER: This story is a Twilight spin-off/crossover of the movie made for TV in 2000 titled Sex and Mrs. X. All publicly recognizable characters, settings, dialogues, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.


CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT: The assistant


I was in freaking heaven.

The masseur's hands were heavenly, pressing down on my back, making my muscles feel like jelly. I had tried like crazy to keep my moans and groans quiet, but I had given up after five minutes.

"Can I marry your hands? I would take really good care of them, I promise," I said, in mock seriousness.

Gustave, my masseur, chuckled. "Je suis désolé, mademoiselle, but I don't think my boyfriend would like that, he is much attached to them as well."

I groaned. "Lucky guy."

I could hear Heidi giggling to my right. We'd both decided to get a body massage before the relaxing ceremony; it was extra, but so worth every penny. The Tonifying Indian Ayurvedic massage we were getting was not only relaxing, but the hot oil smelled amazing, promising to tonify our muscles.

Heidi had been amazing throughout this entire experience.

She advised that we get waxed first, and then enjoy the pampering. I had been waxing all the hair below my neck for years now, so I didn't mind. What shocked me was the fact that the aesthetician waxed me bare. I had told her I wanted a bikini wax, but somehow it got lost in translation. The poor woman had apologized profusely, but what was done was done. I honestly didn't mind, I'd had that done before, I just wasn't expecting it.

After that, we got our full-body exfoliation wrap. Heidi and I were in the same room, so while we waited until we could be unwrapped, I asked my questions. I began by asking the same first question I'd asked the other girls, "How and when did you meet Madame Esme?"

"I met Madame when I was twenty-one years old. I was in university, studying business, but feeling no real passion for my career. I had always wanted to be an event planner, but the money side of things had always given me a headache. When I first met her, I was actually working for the catering company Madame used to employ for her parties. One of Madame's girls was wearing a beautiful white blouse, but had spilled red wine on it. She was devastated and was on the verge of crying, so I asked her to take off the blouse and promised her that I would fix it. I took the blouse to the kitchen, filled a pot with red cooking wine and then submerged the blouse in it."

I gasped, "What happened to it?"

"Oh, the wine works as a dye and the blouse ended up with a beautiful rose-wine color. I hand-washed it and put it in the dryer. It looked amazing after that."

I shook my head, "That was very clever!"

Heidi nodded. "Madame thought so too, and then she asked me to work for her. Ever since then, I have planned all her events. She had first taken me in as one of her girls, but I never really clicked with any of the men she introduced me to. I'm a very realistic and independent person, Isabella. I never dreamed of my own fairytale. I just wanted someone who grounded me, someone I could share my life with and not depend on, someone to walk next to me and not for me to follow."

I understood that because that was how I felt myself.

"Are all the girls obliged to go to university?"

Heidi shook her head. "School is something some of the girls do because they want to. It's a goal they wish to achieve, but they don't do it for Madame or anyone else but themselves. We all take the etiquette classes, because it is the only thing Madame asks us to do for her; but other than that, we all have our studies and little hobbies we enjoy."

"But you do learn things for the clients. Madame said that one of the girls knew all of Mr. Gardien's horses."

Heidi laughed. "That's Irina, but only because she is a horse racing aficionado. You forget Madame's rule number one, to know the target. Sure, we probably learn more about these men than any other woman on a first date would, but that is more to see if we are compatible. We don't change for them, we are who we are and Madame accept us like that, why wouldn't anyone else?"

"So you are saying that Madame might not find a girl for one of her clients?"

"You forget Madame handpicks her clients, she will never give false hope to a man if she doesn't have a girl already in mind for him. Whether she chooses to take him as a client or not, that is a different story."

Our conversation was interrupted when the aestheticians came back to unwrap us and then escorted us to the rest of our treatments, ending with the glorious massage we were now getting.

After our massage was done, and several more marriage proposal from my part to Gustave's hands, we were sent to take a relaxing bath to wash off the oil. Afterwards, we took a cool-down shower, and then we were ready to go.

On the drive to Madame's apartment, I asked Heidi more questions, curious to know more about her.

"You have been with Madame for more than ten years, has she tried to set you up many times?"

Heidi nodded, looking out the window, one of her hands playing with her modest yet beautiful three-carat diamond engagement ring. She had showed it to me earlier, it was an antique that had been IN Demetri's family for generations, and Heidi valued it with all her heart.

"I always attended her parties, and many men showed interest, but it was fickle. I never really tried to hold their interest. It wasn't until Madame had set up a private introduction that I asked her to please not set me up anymore, that I wasn't meant to find love this way."

I gaped. "What happened?"

Heidi smirked and turned her head to look at me.

"Madame failed."


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