Free Amanda's Guide to Love by Alix Nichols Page A

solidarity. My wedding is in a month and I don’t even have a dress.
I need your help.”
    Amanda shrugged. “I can’t imagine
you in a white dress, anyway.”
    “Who said it’s going to be white?”
Jeanne gave Amanda a wink and grew serious again. “You need money to pay your
bills. I need an extra pair of hands for the summer season. Our needs are
perfectly aligned.”
    “Even if I accepted your offer, it
would be temporary. I’d be out as soon as I find a proper job.”
    “Thirty hours a week over the next
two months—that’s all I’m asking for. Can you do it for me?”
    Amanda hesitated. “I’ve never
waitressed before.”
    “I don’t expect you to be a good
waitress, but I don’t think you’d be an awful one.”
    “Hmm.”
    “Besides, you have an MBA—you can
help me with the books.”
    Amanda cocked her head as an idea
struck her. “Was Didier good at it?”
    “Very.”
    “Was he paid more than the other
waiters?”
    “Yes.”
    “I’ll take the job if you pay me
what the previous owner paid Didier.”
    Jeanne raised an eyebrow. “Didier
was a headwaiter. You have zero waitressing experience.”
    “True. But I’m smart and good with
numbers.” Amanda grinned. “And you’re desperate.”
    Jeanne placed her beer on the table
and did some mental math. “I won’t be able to pay you what I’m paying the new
headwaiter, Manon. But I can get close.”
    “Text me the salary and the
estimated tips, and I’ll give you my answer.”
    Jeanne smiled. “You drive a hard
bargain.”
    “If I’m going to have to smile at
customers—some of whom might be my former colleagues—I need a decent pay.”
    “Your former colleagues don’t come
here,” Jeanne said. “You were the only one from ENS.”
    “How do you know that?”
    “I know my customers.”
    “Anyway,” Amanda said with a shrug.
“If I were to run into Julien Barre, I’d rather it were here.”
    “Really?”
    “Of course. I prefer to serve him
an overpriced cappuccino in a crowded café than a free Nespresso in a
minimalistic meeting room at some intercompany consultation.”
    “You think you’d bump into him if
another outfit hired you?”
    “The Parisian green energy sector
is a small world. If I become a PA to a director or CEO of another company, I’m
sure to bump into Julien sooner or later.”
    “I see.”
    Amanda pulled a face and mimicked
talking over the phone in a low-pitched voice. “Mademoiselle Roussel, could you
please bring six espressos into the meeting room? And some milk . . .
Oh, and do you mind printing out ten copies of my Strategic, Analytical,
Action-Oriented and Visionary Manifesto Memorandum Report?”
    Jeanne snorted.
    “Make it twenty,” Amanda said, her
voice still deep. “In color and laminated, please. Thank you—you’re a darling.”
    Jeanne chuckled, then drained her
beer and stood up. “My point exactly. I’ll text you the figures tonight.”
    “I’ll text you back tomorrow
morning.”
    “Can you start immediately?”
    Amanda placed a five-euro
bill on the table and smirked. “Of course. Provided I like your text.”
     
    * * *

Chapter Five
    La Bohème
    ~ ~ ~
    A Woman’s Guide to Perfection
    Guideline # 5
    The Perfect Woman lives in Paris.
    Rationale : There are many beautiful cities
in the world. Some of them are big and bustling, others are small and quiet.
Some are in France, others are elsewhere in Europe, and a few are oversees.
Some offer a great art scene, others are gastronomic delights, and yet others
are shopping havens. But all of them have one major flaw—they aren’t Paris.
    A
word of caution :
The only thing Paris doesn’t have is a beach (the fake riverfront ones don’t
count). If you’re a beach fan, there’s Deauville two hours away and Marseille,
three hours by train. But if you need your dose of sand, sails, and sunshine
every day, you’ll have to give up living in the center of the world. And being
a Perfect Woman.
    Permissible
exception :