The Pepper in the Gumbo (Men of Cane River #1)(29)
“Nice to meet you, neighbor,” he said and smiled.
Chapter Nine
Technological progress has merely provided us
with more efficient means for going backwards. ―Aldous Huxley
Alice let Charlie’s excited chatter wash over her. She felt numb. She’d learned she might lose her store, made a fool of herself online, met the most infuriating man, broken up with her boyfriend, sold an incredibly expensive manuscript, met the man whom she was fighting to keep out of the historic district, and met her new renter. One person was responsible for almost all of those dramatic happenings. One clever, stubborn person.
She stared at the counter where he’d been standing minutes before. She’d never met anybody like him. She told herself that it was a very good thing her life had been devoid of anybody like Paul Olivier, but a little part of her disagreed. That little part was in no way connected to the logical, rational side of her, and had everything to do with the romantic she truly was.
“I wonder if his friend is just as cute.” Charlie chattered. “I can’t believe we’re going to play together. He’s so nice, too. The way he helped me out, I felt like my heart had like an extra layer of frosting on it or something. And sprinkles.” She smiled dreamily at Alice. “And oh my gosh, he’s so much hotter in person. The pictures I’ve seen are from some convention or whatever and there so many girls all over him that you can’t really see him, but obviously the guy spends a lot of time in the gym. I mean, did you see his arms? They’re like―”
“Charlie, I still need you to take over for an hour so I can get some lunch.” Alice really didn’t want to talk about Paul’s gym habits and she seriously hoped he wasn’t going to be hanging out with her barely eighteen-year-old employee.
“Sure! And so sorry about Eric.” She paused, looking up at the ceiling. “Ok, not really. He was kind of a baby. Such a whiner.”
“Yeah, he was. I hate to say it, but he was.” She sighed. “He had his good points, though.”
Charlie leaned over the counter. “Yeah? Like what?”
“Well, for one…” Alice paused, searching back to when they first met. “You know, aside from having a job and not being an ax murderer, I don’t really know,” she admitted, laughing.
Charlie giggled, covering her mouth. “I think Paul Olivier is hot. Like, really hot, not just geeky hot. And he’s from around here so you guys will have so much in common.”
The momentary sense of sisterhood evaporated. Alice rubbed the gold rings between her fingers and shook her head. “Nope. Nothing in common. Except we might actually have to see each other face-to-face a few times if he signs the lease.” Then again, she wondered if he was just saying that. A billionaire couldn’t possible want to live in her outdated apartment. At least, she sincerely hoped he wouldn’t. Now that she’d sold that Rackham portfolio, it didn’t matter if she left that apartment open indefinitely. It wasn’t near enough to pay off Mr. Perrault’s niece, but it would buy her some time.
The bell tinkled and Bix came in, the bright sun illuminating his old straw hat. “You’ll never guess who I just saw,” he called out.
“June LaTraye? She’s showing the apartment upstairs,” said Alice.
“Nope, I just saw Paul Olivier, the billionaire tech genius.” He beamed at them. “I shook his hand. I told him I was his biggest fan.”
“Me, too,” crowed Charlie. “And we’re gonna hang out together sometime.”
“How do you know him?” Alice asked. “I mean, you don’t even have a computer.” The better question might be how someone with Bix’s eyesight managed to recognize the man.
“How did you know it was him?” Charlie asked. “Was there a big crowd around him?”
Bix chuckled. “Mais, no. He was sitting on the bench outside and had the Arthur Rackham portfolio on his lap. I recognized the box. I been dusting the case around that thing for twenty years. I know it cost a pretty penny, so I stop to introduce myself. I tell him that he shouldn’t open it in the sun and he should have some climate controls on the display case. He tells me his name and says he’s having it shipped back to New York City today.” He paused to wipe his forehead with a red kerchief. “That’s when I thanked him on behalf of my sister Betsy and myself.”
“Betsy?” Alice prompted.
“He invented this computer gizmo that keeps my sister able to live on her own, instead of in an old folks’ home across the river.” Bix took off his hat. “See, she could never remember when to take her pills and which pill to take. Lots of phones have alarms, but he made something that is an alarm and a picture together. The alarm goes off on her cell phone, she looks at the picture, finds the right pill, and stays on schedule. Genius!”
“I didn’t know he’d invented more than games,” she said, almost to herself. But one or two small inventions for the greater good couldn’t erase the fact he was luring a whole generation into willful ignorance. She felt like the world was in love with Paul Olivier and she was the only sane person left.
“Miss Alice broke up with Eric while Paul Olivier was standing right there,” Charlie said, pointing to an approximate spot near the counter.