Fran pinned up the last lock of her hair, then checked her makeup one last time. She looked herself over as best she could in the half-length mirror, then shut off her bathroom light and went to grab her purse and her thin white button-up sweater. She left her room and walked up the stairs, and saw Max standing at the large island, changing the film in the camera Brighton had used earlier. He heard her come up the stairs, and looked over at her. He snapped the back of the camera closed and wound it as he looked at her, then pressed the shutter button and set the camera down. He smiled as she came closer to him.
"Well, now, don't you look lovely!" He said. She turned from side to side, letting her dress sway back and forth.
"Well, thank you very much! And you're looking quite handsome, too!" Max had shaved again and tamed his wind-blown hair, and put on a tie. His thin linen blazer sat on the counter next to the camera. Fran reached for his hand and they continued looking each other over, almost nervously.
"So, ah, well- ready to go? You have everything?" He asked.
"I am, and I do!" Max picked up the camera and hung it over his shoulder, then picked up his blazer and draped it over his forearm. He put out his other arm for Fran to take hold of.
"Well, then, let's!" He said, and Fran reached for his arm and they headed for the front door. Max opened the door for her, then they headed down the long walkway to the beach and waved everyone over. Niles got up from his chair, and the kids all stopped what they were doing to run over to them.
"You guys leaving now?" Gracie asked, her beach towel wrapped around her.
"Yes, we are, darling. Now I want you all to behave, and help Niles with dinner," Max said.
"Yeah, and with the cleaning up. Remember, Niles is on vacation, too, so don't make him work so hard. And Gracie, don't stay up too late, alright? I don't know what time we'll be back, but if it gets late, all you guys should get to bed. You have all morning and afternoon on the beach tomorrow if you want it!" Fran said, and the kids cheered.
"Really?" Brighton asked. "All day? We aren't gong anywhere?"
"Not if you don't want to. I think it would be nice for us to spend the day here, then maybe we can find a restaurant for dinner. What do you think?" Max asked.
"Yes!" Maggie cheered. "Let's do that!"
"Good! Now you guys, be careful with this sun. Go put on some more sunscreen now, okay? Before you go back out in the water. And Brighton, make sure you get your ears. You're always forgetting your ears! If anybody gets sunburn, I won't be happy about it!" Fran warned, and they all nodded.
"I'll check them, Fran, and make sure. You guys go have fun, and tell me if you find any cute shops!" Maggie added, then the children ran back to their chairs and dug out their bottles of sunscreen.
"Yes, you two go and have nice time tonight, and don't worry about us. I'll try to make sure they're good and worn out before we go back in, and make sure they all get showered, too. So, will everyone be sleeping in in the morning, or should I start getting breakfast ready at the usual time?" Niles asked.
"Oh, not too early. Let's say not before nine, and then we'll see how many of us are up by then," Max said.
"Very good, sir."
"Okay, then, if you've got a handle on everything, we'll be off. Just make sure you leave the door unlocked, would you? I'm not taking the keys."
"Yes, sir. Will do."
"Niles- that sunscreen thing counts for you, too. You know how you can burn. Oh, and can you mention something to Maggie for me? If it isn't too awkward?" Fran asked.
"Awkward?" Fran leaned toward him and whispered to him about telling Maggie to watch out for rogue waves.
"Oh. Oh! Yes, um, yes, I'll try to um, mention that. Yes. Okay."
"Well, now it is awkward. Well, tell her I told you to mention it, okay? Then hopefully that'll be less awkward."
"Oh, one other thing Niles- if you remember- could you call over to that shopkeepers' and see if they might like to have dinner with us? I'd really like to thank them somehow. Maybe Thursday evening, if there's a restaurant we could all go to in the village?"
"Sure, I can call them tonight and ask. Now you two, go on! Get to your date! We'll just be here playing on the beach, then I'll get them inside at dinnertime."
"Alright, Niles. And thank you again for helping out."
"Not a problem, sir! Now go!" Niles shooed them off, and Max smiled and reached for Fran's hand, and they made their way back up the walkway and then up the drive to the main road, where they headed off to the village center to see what shopping they could find.
"Look at the view from here!" Fran exclaimed, and pointed out towards the water from their higher vantage point closer to the center of the village.
"That's nice! You can see both directions from here. Our beach house is up against that hill, so you can't see that other direction. Gosh, it's really beautiful here!" Max agreed.
They paused a moment to take it all in, then Max remembered he had the camera, so he snapped a picture before they started walking again.
"Oh, Max! I think I see some shops up there!" Fran said, pointing ahead of them. Max grinned at her exuberance, and then found himself looking forward to seeing what wares they might offer. "We need to remember about Ma's present, too."
"Yes, will do."
They made their way up to the first shops and wandered through, saying hello to the people inside, and saying goodbye when they left. They found a cute clothing shop for children, and Fran found a cute outfit for Gracie, then they moved further down the road. There was a nice, larger store with home furnishings and decor, and they decided to go in and have a look around. They split apart and wandered through the beautiful French furniture- Fran ran her hand over the backs of the soft chairs, and Max stopped to look at the handcrafted wood bureaus and tall shelving units.
"This furniture is really nice, don't you think, Fran?" He asked.
"I do! It's like fancy penthouse apartment furniture. Really pretty!"
"Fran, look over there- right behind you! On all of those shelves-" Max pointed across the room behind her, and Fran turned around. On the shelves behind her were shelf after shelf of beautiful, ornately designed picture frames, in different sizes and colors.
"Oh! Max! Come here! Let's look!" Max walked over to her and they headed for the shelves, looking over each one of the frames closely. Most were ornately hand carved wood, with paint and gold gilt, some were metal, also ornately designed.
"My, they're very well made, don't you think? Do you think your mother would like something like one of these?"
"I do! I think these would be perfect. I'm just not sure which one."
"Well, if you want to get more than one, we can do that. And then decide later which one would be for her. But yes, if you see some you really like, then let's go ahead and get them, We may never see anything like them again. Alright?" Max gently rested his hand on her lower back.
"Okay, thank you, Max." Fran looked over each frame, picked them up and ran her fingers over the detailing. She narrowed her preferences down to three possibilities, but one was different. "Hey, what do you think about this one? I mean, not for Ma, but for us- if we had a nice frame from here to put a picture in, too."
"I think that would be lovely, Fran. And yes, I do like that one. Would you like to get the other two as well? You can always hold onto one to give as a gift later, if you want."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
Fran smiled. "Alright. These three, then. Do you see anything else in here you like?"
"Oh, I see a lot, but I can't fit that wood furniture in my suitcase," he smiled, gesturing back to the pieces on the opposite wall.
"Aw! Those are really nice. Maybe they've got brochures or something? In case you feel the urge to redecorate when we get back!" They both giggled, but Max knew that Fran couldn't possibly know his plans.
"Well, let's look at the rest real quick, and go find some more shops. It'll be getting close to dinner before long, and we still don't know where we're eating!" They chuckled again, and wandered through the rest of the store. When they went to purchase the frames, they did indeed find some brochures on the furniture, and Max asked the woman at the counter if they could ship overseas.
As they left the store, Fran reached for his hand. "So what did she say?"
"Oh, I asked if they could ship any pieces overseas, and she said they could arrange that, or work with whatever company we chose. They would crate it up themselves, then I think she said usually that crate would go into another crate. But yes, some of those pieces were really beautiful. I'm just not sure where I'd put them. But Maybe I'll have a look around the house once we get back, and see if, like you said, maybe we could do some redecorating!" Fran grinned and laughed, then they continued down the road a ways, not seeing anything they wanted to go look into.
Then Fran saw the shop. It was a short block ahead, on the high side of the street. The door was open, and there was a display with a dress on it right out front, and she could just see what looked like a window display of several other dresses. There were also several large pots of blooming plants flanking the door, making a very pretty scene.
"Oooh!" Fran squeaked, and she couldn't get out any other words. She didn't want to run, but she pulled Max by the hand behind her and moved as quickly and determinedly as she possibly could. Max saw the store with the dress on display, and understood immediately what Fran wanted. A big grin grew on his face and he hurried along with her, letting her take the lead. They stopped at the doorway, and Max took Fran's bags from her to let her explore. Her smile was so big, and her eyes were lit up. Max was getting such a kick out of it. She ran her fingers over the dress on display, feeling the material, and pulled out the skirt to get a look at the pattern. "Oh, isn't it the prettiest! Can we go inside?" She asked.
"Of course, darling! Especially if it gives you that look!" Max smiled. She almost jumped through the doorway and right away started carefully looking through every dress on every rack. A woman stepped out from behind the counter and welcomed them in French, and Fran turned to Max, who spoke with her. He struck up a conversation, as best he could in his slightly broken French, and told the woman they were from New York and that they were in the village for a vacation. As Fran walked around, admiring everything, she found a rack of dresses that she went crazy for. She took one, and then another off of the rack and held it up to her.
"What do you think, Max? Aren't they gorgeous? Tell her they're gorgeous!" Max chuckled, and had to agree- he imagined they would be beautiful on her. He explained to the woman that Fran loved the dresses, and asked her if they were a designer label or something local, then the woman explained that all of the clothes in the store were designed and made by her and her sister. Max was in shock.
"Fran- she makes these! She and her sister design and make all of these!" Fran's jaw dropped, and she walked over to Max and the woman, not believing what she heard.
"Really? Oh my gosh! They're beautiful! They're all beautiful! Do they sell them in Paris? Surely they must have some kind of big store somewhere." Fran said. Max translated what Fran had just said to the woman, and she modestly said no, this was their only shop. They mostly sell their clothing during the tourist season in the village, and spend their winters designing and sewing more of them.
"This is their only shop, Fran. They mostly sell to the tourists here, then spend the winters making more. They really are talented, aren't they?"
"I'll say!" Then Fran froze a moment. Her eyes went wide, and she grabbed Max's arm. "Max- could you ask her if she's ever sold anything in New York. Like, do they ever work with other stores or buyers or anything." She was squeezing Max's arm hard.
"What are you thinking, Fran? You think- you think maybe-" He was starting to get the idea, and she looked at him and nodded.
"It's worth a shot, right? Even if I didn't get that job, maybe I could get some kind of kickback for introducing her to them…" Max nodded, and smiled, then turned to the woman and explained things, and asked her if she'd ever sold in New York, or if she might be open to the idea. The woman was clearly stunned. He explained that Fran had an important meeting the next week when they got back to New York, and would it be possible if she might introduce her work to the woman she was meeting with. The woman clearly looked like she might burst with excitement. She nodded.
"Oui! Oui!" She grasped her hands and tried not to start shaking, and then Max remembered that he hadn't made introductions.
"Oh!" He gestured to Fran- "Fran- Francine Fine, Maxwell Sheffield." They both reached out their hands to shake hers.
"Oh! Mon nom est Chloe- Chloe Beaulieu, et le nom de ma soeur est Juliette Beaulieu-Durand," Chloe said, nervously shaking their hands.
"Nice to meet you," Fran said.
"Ah, ravi de vous, ah, rencontrer," Max said, stumbling over his French. Max turned back to Fran. "Fran, would you like to try those on? They are really beautiful."
"Could I?"
"Ah, how do I say… ah, peut-elle essayer ces… robes?"
"Oui! Oui! Par ici!" Chloe said, and led Fran to a changing booth behind the counter. Fran was so excited, she could barely contain herself. She quickly slipped off her dress and put on one she picked out and fastened it up. It fit her perfectly. She stepped out of the booth to show Max, and walked back and forth for him.
"What do you think?"
"I think it's perfect. It's like it was made for you. Now try the other one- I want to see that, too!" Fran grinned, and hurried back into the booth to change again. Max turned to Chloe, "Cette robe est tres jolie! Tres jolie!"
"Oh, merci! Elle est très belle!"
"Oui! Oui!" Max agreed. Fran stepped out in the next dress, a summer dress with straps on the shoulders instead of short sleeves. "Oh! Fran! I like that one, too! That fabric is fantastic!"
"Isn't it? Gosh, they're so pretty! I wasn't expecting to find anything like these! But I want to look more- is that alright?"
"Of course! But we're getting those dresses. That is, if you like them…"
"Of course I like them. But we might need to figure out how much they cost first. But let me go change change back real quick, so I can look some more!"
"Alright," Max chuckled. Fran hurried back to the booth to change, and Max turned back to Chloe. "Elle… Elle veut regarder plus… de robes!" They both chuckled.
"Je suis tellement contente qu'elle les aime!"
"Oh-" Max remembered, "Puis-je demander… quel est le prix?" He asked Chloe how much the dresses were, and she grabbed a calculator from the counter and hurried over to the rack where Fran got the dresses, then checked the prices. She asked Max what exchange rate he was using, then calculated the prices. Fran stepped out of the booth and carried the dresses back with her, hugging them.
"I love them! Max, how do I tell her I love them?" She asked.
"Oh, ah, 'je les aime,'" he said.
"Je les aime!" Fran said, cuddling the dresses again, and then she set them over the counter.
"Fran, the dresses you picked come out to about sixty dollars apiece- if my French is correct."
"Sixty? You're kidding me! Oh wow! Can you tell her- can you tell her they might sell for twice that in New York. If that's a possibility- to get things like this in that store… depending on what it costs to ship, and however customs handles all of that. But, Max, do you think- if things go well with my interview- and if… I know it's a long shot, but if it was possible…"
"I totally get where you're coming from. There would be some things to figure out. But yes, if these sold for twice the price in New York, she and her sister could see a nice bump in profits." Now they were both wide-eyed at each other, then Max turned to Chloe and tried to explain that the dresses might sell for twice the price in New York.
"Vraiment?" Chloe was astonished.
"Oh, gosh, Max! I wish I had business cards! What should I do? Should we exchange numbers?"
"Oh, yes. Here, I have some of my cards on me, would that do for now?"
"Yes! And a piece of paper… does she have paper? Uh, Chloe?" Fran made a writing gesture while Max got out his wallet and looked for a business card. Chloe grabbed a notepad and pen and handed it to Fran, and then Max handed his business card to her. Fran showed the card to Chloe, then pointed to Max, "Maxwell Sheffield," then wrote her name on the back, "Francine- Fran - Fine," and wrote down the house phone number. "Um, Max? I'm gonna write a bunch of stuff on here, do you think you could translate it? I basically want her to know that I can't promise anything, because it might all depend on that interview next week. But tell her I'll work hard to get something going, and either way, I'll call her next week, okay? If she feels okay with giving me a phone number. And let me write some things down here that we need to figure out, so if she needs to talk to her sister and see what they'd be willing to ship over." As Max tried to explain things to Chloe, Fran wrote as fast as she could on the notepad and made a list of things to figure out prices for. When she finished, she handed the notepad to Max to translate into French. Fran looked over at Chloe, and they were both so excited. Fran grabbed her hands and shook them again. "Oh, I wish I knew French! How do I tell her this is good?" She asked Max. Max looked up from the notepad.
"C'est bon."
"C'est bon!" Fran said to Chloe.
"Oh, oui! C'est bon!" Chloe agreed. "Ah- juste en moment-" Chloe tapped on the dresses on the counter, then took Fran's arm and brought her over to another display and rack of really cute half-sweaters, some in a thinner soft yarn, and others thicker for cooler weather.
"Oh! Gorgeous!" Fran said, as she flipped through them.
"Ma mere les tricote!" Chloe tried to explain.
"Max?" Fran looked over, to see if he heard.
"Ma mere lest tricote-" Chloe pointed to the sweaters.
"Oh, her mother! Her mother, ah…" Chloe made a knitting motion. "Her mother- I think she's saying her mother makes them?" Fran looked at the motion Chloe made with her hands.
"Oh, she knits them! Her mother knits them!" Fran looked at Chloe and imitated the same motion. "Knit?"
"Oui! Knit!"
"Oh my gosh, Max! They're so talented! What a talented family!" Fran continued looking through the sweaters- she knew she was going to have to get at least one of those, too.
"Elle dit que… ah, tu as une famille talentueuse!" Max translated.
"Oh, merci! Merci beaucoup!" Chloe blushed. Fran pulled out first a white and then a blue half-sweater and brought them over to the counter to compare to the dresses.
"So pretty!" She would ask Max if she could get both.
Max finished translating as much on the notepad as he could, then handed the notepad to Chloe, trying to explain to her the things they would need to figure out. Fran walked back around the shop and found another dress she had to have and added it to the pile on the counter.
"So, did you find enough? Or are you just trying to stop yourself from getting more?" Max grinned.
"Oh, I'm totally trying to stop myself! I haven't see anything like these in New York. These could really be a big deal. Can you tell her… tell her that if this is something we can do- to get their clothes in a New York store, that I want to make sure they get a really nice profit from it without working a lot harder. I want them to still enjoy making the clothes, okay?"
"Oh, sure, ah…" Max had to think first before he translated back to Chloe.
"And tell her we would have everything under contract, everything needs to be by the book."
"'By the book'? Do they use that expression in French?" He asked.
"You're asking me?" They both laughed, and Max did his best to translate, then picked up the notepad again and wrote 'A contract/ un contrat' and Chloe nodded.
"Oui, oui, je comprends."
"Wow, Fran! I think we covered everything, at least for now. Look- she has business cards, do you want me to ask her if you can call that number next week? And we'll work out somehow how to do the translations."
"Oh, yes! Yes, please. Thank you!" Fran gestured to the stack of propped-up business cards as Max asked Chloe if Fran could call her at the number listed on them. Chloe said yes, and handed Fran several cards from the stack, and Fran tucked them into her purse. "Max! Your camera! Could we ask her about taking pictures? Just a few, to show at my interview. And I won't show them to anyone else if she isn't comfortable." Max asked Chloe about taking a few pictures, and Chloe said a few more oui's, smiling as she said them. Max grabbed the camera on his shoulder and asked for Fran and Chloe to stand together, and they clutched each other like they were old family. Then Fran had Chloe pose with several dresses, with the racks of clothes behind her.
"Merci beaucoup!" Max said, when they finished, and Fran gave Chloe a hug. "Elle best tres excitee a ce sujet!" He added, as he pointed at Fran.
"Moi aussi!" Chloe said, and she and Max laughed. Fran looked over at him, wondering what they said.
"I said you were really excited about this, and she said she is, too!"
"Well, you got that right! Gosh, I hope this works out! This could be a big deal!"
"It sure could, your biggest ever," Max grinned at her.
"Well, I dunno about that!' She bumped his hip, making him laugh.
"Well, is that everything? I guess we need to pay for all this, if you're sure you're done shopping here…"
"Yeah, I think I might be done shopping for the day. This wore me out! And I sure worked up an appetite!"
"Oh, speaking of which, let me ask her- Chloe? Nous devons payer pour tout cela, et par chance, est un bon restaurant a proximité?"
"Oh, oui!" As Chloe rang up their purchases, she described to Max how to get to a nice, small restaurant at the top of the hill, and said they usually have music, and the view was beautiful.
"Fantastique!" Max said, then paid with his credit card. Chloe brought out a thin garment bag and put the dresses and sweaters inside of it, then closed it up and handed it to Fran. She draped it over her arm, almost protecting it like a baby.
"Now, how do I tell her I'm so happy?" Fran asked, as she clutched Max's arm.
"Um, let's see… 'Je suis tellement heureux'?" He tried pronouncing the last word, then Fran tried to repeat it.
"Je suis… tellement… heureux…" she said, and Chloe clapped.
"Moi, aussi!" Chloe said, smiling from ear to ear.
"Okay, now tell her I will try to learn some French…"
"Elle a dit qu-ell… essaierait… d'apprendre le français," Max said to Chloe. Chloe laughed.
"Me- English!" She replied, pointing at herself, and they all laughed. Chloe gave Max the receipt, and Fran hugged her again, and promised to call the next week. Chloe thanked them both profusely, and then they said their goodbyes and headed out the door.
"Would you like me to hold that, darling?" Max asked.
"Oh, that's okay, you have the other bags. I want to protect these with my life! They're so beautiful! And hey-" She stopped them both on the sidewalk. "Thank you for getting them, and for translating, and everything. It really means a lot to me."
"It was my pleasure, Fran. And I have to say I'm really very impressed with you. You recognized an opportunity, and you didn't let it pass you by. That was pretty spectacular."
"Well, it wasn't the first time. But I felt that same kind of importance, so I guess I had to do something about it. I'm glad I did." Fran smiled, and Max reached for her hand with the few fingers he had that weren't carrying bags.
"I'm proud of you, Fran," he said, then lean towards her and gave her a kiss.
"Aw… thank you, Max. That really means a lot coming from you."
"You're very welcome. So, now, you done shopping? You want to go find that restaurant?"
"Yes! The restaurant! I'm getting hungry!"
"Alright, then, let's go!"
