Hysteria: An Alexander Gregory Thriller (The Alexander Gregory Thrillers Book 2) by LJ Ross

Author:LJ Ross [Ross, LJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2019-12-09T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 18

Later, as night fell over the city, Juliette Deschamps took a taxi from her mother’s house back into the city centre, intending to meet up with Leon, or some of the other people she called friends. The interlude with her family had been a painful one, stirring up emotions she spent most days trying to suppress, and had left her feeling lonely and in need of solace. But, as the bright lights of the city centre approached, she found she didn’t want to socialise after all and walked back to the studio apartment she rented on the top floor of a mansion block—not far from the safe house where Camille Duquette was staying, in the 7th Arrondissement near to the Eiffel Tower.

It was a poky place and smelled of damp, but Juliette didn’t need anything fancy; not when she was working so hard to save money for the future. It was only somewhere to sleep and, if she ever grew lonely or sad, she could look out of her window at the Tower and feel uplifted. Its magnificence was something she remembered first seeing when she was a child, no bigger than Anais was now…

Anais.

Juliette brought a hand to her stomach, which was flat and unlined despite the baby that had once grown there. It wasn’t unheard of, for catwalk models to have babies—only, they usually had them once their name was established and they could afford time off, without the risk of being forgotten in an industry where people were replaceable. Consequently, most of the models she knew were childless; some even actively against having children at all, being firmly of the opinion it would ruin their blossoming careers. She supposed they were right to be wary; outwardly, things seemed to be getting better, with the fashion industry hiring curvier models in an effort to be politically correct in the age of spin. But inwardly…

Things hadn’t changed all that much, and “perfection” was still their stock in trade. Thanks to genes and good fortune, Juliette was naturally a very slim person, but there were some who went to extreme measures never to gain weight, putting their health at risk in the process. Against that backdrop, the idea that a fashion house would hire a girl who’d recently had a baby—one who had yet to make her mark as one of the profession’s rising stars—had seemed a bridge too far when Anais was first born.

And so, she simply hadn’t mentioned it.

Just then, a group of young men rounded the corner, laughing and jostling each other as they made their way out for the evening. Juliette ducked her head, hoping they would pass by without comment. On another night, she would have stalked past them with her head held high, uncaring of what was said or by whom. But tonight, her reserves were low, and she couldn’t seem to muster the strength to deal with an unwanted exchange.

“Eh! Salut, belle femme! C’est quoi cette Barbie?”

She folded her arms and quickened her pace, heels clicking a staccato rhythm against the pavement.

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