Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Hours left until the wedding: 0
Miles left until Venice: -

Mercedes was unable to stay still in her room, though. After a few minutes, she got up and went down the stairs to take a short walk. However, she halted in her tracks when someone else came to her direction.

"Kurt!", she said "How are you?"

Kurt looked excited and quickly came up the stairs to her. "How I am?", he asked. "Phenomenal!"

"That's…great", Mercedes stammered, wondering what had cheered him up in the meantime.

"Come on. I told the lady from the reception to serve us Eggs Benedict in the dining room. I have great news." He held a newspaper in the air and motioned her to follow him.

"Kurt? What happened?" Mercedes laughed.

"You are hungry, right?"

"Yes", Mercedes nodded eagerly "I'm starving."

"Let's go, then."

To be honest, she hadn't eaten proper food in days. And when she devoured the delicious belated breakfast the waiter served them, she noticed that Kurt must have noticed as well. He, on the other hand, seemed to be too excited to eat his food. Instead, he was smiling from ear to ear.

"Tastes good?", he asked.

"Oh, yes", Mercedes answered with a sigh. "Thanks."

"Are you ready for seeing something great?"

"Who wouldn't be?" Mercedes put down her fork and wiped her mouth with the napkin, laughing.

So Kurt retrieved his exemplar of Le Monde and folded it apart so that Mercedes could see it. "Voilà!"

Mercedes looked at the photo of the front page. "That's unbelievable!", she exclaimed. "That's him!" The photo showed Antoine Décoste yesterday who threateningly pointed at Kurt with a mad face expression.

"My former employer has been exposed", Kurt said happily "That's the top story of lots of newspapers."

"You are kidding" Mercedes put her hand in front of her mouth. "And what are they writing?"

But then, Kurt's phone rang. He checked his display. "Another one? Please excuse me, I need to take that."

While he strutted away to have a phonecall, Mercedes took the newspaper, trying her best to translate the French article. The article said that Antoine was a fraud who pretended the collections of someone else were his own. Mercedes squealed excitedly. In the back, she read something else about an anonymous source:

A reliable source- who called our reporter my petite chère and worked within the House of Décoste for years - confirmed that Mr. Hummel's version of the story is true.

Geneviève, Mercedes immediately thought. What a sweetheart!

"Pardon", Kurt said when he returned "And, what do you think?"

"That's awesome!" Mercedes got up to hug him. "Did Antoine comment what had happened?", she asked.

Kurt shook his head. "Of course not."

"No surprise at all", Mercedes said and rolled her eyes. "He got a lot of nerve, that's for sure."

"But that's what made him get away with his acting all the years." Kurt grimaced. "I wish I stood up for myself so much earlier, but I don't know…I guess I felt like I had no other choice. He offered me the job when I just graduated from college, and I was so thrilled. He knew a lot of powerful people, and I looked up to him. But now?" He shook his head sadly. "That's over."

"Maybe, that's for the best", Mercedes commented tentatively.

Again, Kurt's phone rang, and he looked at her with an incredulous smile. "My phone just won't ring for hours now. My customers want me to keep designing pieces for them -under my own name! That's a dream come true!"

He jumped up and took the call. "Mademoiselle Delphine! Comment allez-vous?", he piped and left again to talk to her, and Mercedes watched him amusedly.

Apologizing, he returned a couple of minutes later while she bit into another slice of toast. "And what is the great Kurt Hummel going to do now?", she asked him and picked up a bread crumble she put onto her tongue.

"Isn't it obvious?" He shrugged. "I will open my own label."

"I hoped you would say that." Mercedes smiled. "You are a genius, Kurt. It's about time you get the limelight you deserve."

"You are too kind." Kurt smiled goofily. "But maybe, you are right."

"It's good to hear good news for a change", Mercedes sighed earnestly and smiled.

Kurt's face fell. "My luck is clouded by the sorrow of your family", he said sadly.

"Hey, don't dare to say that!", Mercedes berated him. "That's your great moment, you need to enjoy it. We all know you empathize with us and that means so much to us, but seriously, Kurt, you need to start making plans for your bright future!"

Kurt nodded. "I always wanted to own my own atelier one day. Maybe in a small side street within the Marais…"

"And that's where?"

"That's a Parisian quarter my mother grew up in, it's full of wonderful stores and restaurants with interesting people. I love that part of Paris. It's different from Antoine's address – do you have any idea how much he needs to pay for the rent?"

Mercedes shook her head.

"You would be surprised. Antoine claimed that such an address is essential to demonstrate the boutique's value. But I think: If I design beautiful clothes, the costumers will come to me either way."

"I totally agree with you", Mercedes said quietly. "Quality is everything that matters. Especially yours."

"Thank you." He threw her a scrutinizing glance and straightened up as if he wanted to tell her something important. "How about you come to Paris and work for me?"

"Sure, why not?" Mercedes laughed, happy about his good mood. She took a sip of her orange juice.

"Mercedes, I'm serious."

She almost would have spat out the juice and stopped laughing.

"Do you know what I have done this morning?"

Mercedes shrugged, not knowing the answer.

"I googled you."

"Oh, did you?"

He nodded. "You were among the best graduates in college and I have seen the photos of your last fashion show. I even read some parts of your thesis about Antoine." He cocked his eyebrows.

"Oh…that." Mercedes blushed.

He smiled. "There is nothing that hasn't been properly researched, don't worry. And your passion and enthusiasm for fashion is beyond question."

"I don't know what to say", she answered. She was convinced that Kurt acted like a gentleman and didn't mean what he said; that he just wanted to spread stardust onto her horrible day with dreams about something that would happen in a couple of years.

"I'm serious, Mercedes. In the past three days, I got to know you very well. I know that quality is important to you. You are going to be wonderful for my boutique. So are you coming?"

"I would love to", she answered, feeling kind of flattered like on a first date where the guy said nice things to her that weren't true. "But I kind of feel as if you just want to be nice to me."

Kurt frowned. "Yes, I only meant well with the breakfast, that's true. But this is a job offer. That's not nice. That's business."

Mercedes knew that he took his work more than serious. He never would offer her a job because he wanted to be nice, right?

"I just don't want to disappoint you", she explained softly. "But I am afraid that's exactly what's going to happen."

Kurt exhaled and was thinking for an instant before he answered: "Yes, there certainly are a couple of things I can teach you. And I am sure you are going to make some mistakes, too. But there is no other person that would be more perfect for that job than you. I want you by my side at the beginning of this new…adventure."

Mercedes put down her glass of orange juice. "Oh my, you really are serious, right? Kurt…I…"

"Do you want to work for me, Mercedes Jones?"

She felt anxious. Anxious and…thrilled. "Yes…Yes!" She cleared her throat and went on in a calmer tone: "Thank you so much. I'm going to work hard, Kurt, really, I will…" She gulped so that she didn't start crying out of happiness. "Oh, did I already say thank you?"

"Great. That's settled, then." Kurt smiled. "And yes, you did."

"Kurt…you sure?" Suddenly, she feared he would change his mind.

"Oh, yes, indeed. I love your style, Mercedes Jones, stardesigner of the future."

"Well", Mercedes said "Hearing these words from the one who creates the most wonderful pieces of the entire world is the greatest compliment I ever got. Thanks again."

Mercedes' head was full of what had happened that day so that she feared it was just going to explode. That was the biggest opportunity of her life!

"We are going to make plans", he smiled as if he just read her mind "As soon as that wedding chaos of your sister is history and your mother feels better. We don't need to hurry things."

"I would have to move to Paris", Mercedes realized - and shook her head because of stating the obvious.

He nodded. "Would it be that bad?"

Again, she shook her head. "It's the opposite, actually. I love Paris." Suddenly, she couldn't help but think about Sam, and she had no idea, why. Until... "Only one more thing", she said confidently. "Fair trade and faire production conditions. Well paid workers who work under the best conditions." She needed to think about Jasmine. "You know the places I am talking about."

Kurt nodded seriously. "For years now, I insist on those conditions as well. But not all big fashion boutiques share my opinion, sadly."

"That's unbelievable, right? Oh…" Something else came to her mind.

"Yes?"

"Sustainability, natural fabrics – Ahimsa silk – you know, produced without…"

"…killing the silkworms? I am ahead of you concerning that, but only a few steps."

Mercedes was ecstatic. She wished she wasn't so disturbed about the trip and about what had happened in the past hours. Ever since she was little, she always wanted to work in one of the fashion capitals – as a glamorous designer. Kurt just made her dreams come true – even though she had dark circles under her eyes, her clothes were wrinkled up, and some of the bread crumbles were still on her chin.

Kurt must be good at seeing the inner values of other people, she thought. Yes, that was the man she wanted to work for.

Again, she thanked him, got up, and hurried up the stairs to tell her mother and her sister the great news.