Chapter 513 - Business trip - Paris (1) (2/2)

They had lunch in the restaurant in Eiffel Tower. Great view, great food, great company. JoAnna missed Jeff and sent him few photos of her and Bridgette, view, food, and sad emojis as well as few others, to show him that she is missing him.

…

Few miles away, Jeff was having lunch with Steve, and his business partners. His phone was on silent, but everyone could see that the screen was getting lit up with icons of hearts, emojis sending kisses and crying. Jeff smiled seeing messages from JoAnna and took his time to respond. Steve helped him to master the emoji-texting, so he sent few of those as well.

His business partners didn't mind. They explained that it's normal for a man to show extra care for his mistress.

Jeff frowned at these words, not understanding why they think he has a mistress.

French business partners didn't believe that the girl on the other side is not a mistress. They all had wives and girlfriends and mistresses. They are proud to keep the reputation of French people as great lovers.

Jeff and Steve only glanced at each other with silent understanding that they will not mention that to JoAnna and Bridgette in order to avoid any potential misunderstandings.

…

JoAnna was happy to see Jeff's responses. She kept her phone away. ”I don't want to disturb him. I know he is in a meeting. How come you didn't text Steve?”

”We agreed not to contact each other during work hours, unless it's urgent.”, Bridgette responded. ”Besides, I'm having lunch with my Boss. How can I text?”

”Oh? You decided to be my assistant?”, JoAnna smiled.

Bridgette smiled back. ”Look at all this… I already went to Brazil and I'm in France, and I didn't even sign a contract… being your assistant has a lot of benefits. I would be crazy to refuse. Also, I can be close to Steve.”

”Well, we should order something to celebrate!”, JoAnna waved to the waiter. ”I will get Jeff to prepare documentation for you to officially become my assistant, as soon as we get back to Los Angeles.” They ordered desserts.

”You will be busy right away, I'm looking for a house, and will be planning a wedding… but after that we will take month long honeymoon. You can treat that as one-month long vacation.” JoAnna explained.

Bridgette could not hide her thoughts, ”House shopping, wedding and then one month off. I like it already.”

They both laughed.

”I got a task to find out your opinion on one thing…”, JoAnna spoke over a delicate chocolate soufflé. ”Sophia wanted to ask you, but Felix is always around so she thought that I might get a chance to talk about this with you without Felix eavesdropping. It's related to their wedding.”

Bridgette took a bite of chocolate dessert and waited for JoAnna to talk.

”As you know, Sophia wants to invite your mother… and Felix is against it… what do you think?”

”I don't have opinion if my mother should attend their wedding or not.” Bridgette responded.

”Not that…” JoAnna shook her head and explained. ”Sophia wants to hear your opinion why is Felix so against it. He does not want to talk about it, and Sophia is trying to understand. How she sees it, this is once in a lifetime event, and it would be pity not to have mother of the groom attending. Do you think that she will cause a scene? Ruin a wedding? Sophia hopes that if your mother comes and sees them in love, surrounded with friends and family that she will accept them as well.”

Bridgette listened to JoAnna carefully and nodded. ”My mother is a difficult person. I don't know exactly what happened when my brother took Sophia to visit maman, but I know that she had someone else planned as a perfect partner for my brother. And I can assume that from start, Sophia had no chance in maman's eyes… because she is not that other woman. Now… is maman capable to cause a scene? Yes. Ruin a wedding? Maybe. But maman likes to maintain image of a lady in public, so I don't think that she will do anything openly. Scheming? Yes, especially if she finds allies. But openly, she will at most ignore things she disapproves of.” Bridgette finished her answer and added before JoAnna could ask more questions: ”This is only my opinion. I believe that my brother will have similar thoughts. It is highly probably that he does not want maman there because he does not want Sophia to have any stress. If maman gets a chance to do something without being noticed, she will not hesitate… Felix brought Sophia, and maman opposed. Felix ignored her. Maman is angry, she will not let it go.”

JoAnna thought for some time. ”It does not seem you like her, do you?”

Bridgette showed a bitter smile, and her eyes became sad. ”Maman? I grew up in her house… but my brother raised me. Without him, I don't know how things would turn out. As I said, she is a difficult person. There is a reason why I moved all the way to Los Angeles as soon as I finished my education and I had enough savings.”

JoAnna nodded in understanding and didn't want to probe more into the topic. It seems that their mom is not a person who is easy to get along with. Two of them didn't speak much while finishing their desserts, each with her own thoughts.