The Cherry Blossoms by Denise Irwin Page B

me that you will stop trying to cover them.  They are a part of who you are.” 
    “When I was a little girl, I’d ask God every night, to blend them together, so that they would look like I had sun tanned skin.”
    “Did he listen to your prayers?”
    “No, so when I was old enough, that’s when I began covering them with makeup.”
     
    In the morning while eating breakfast, Michal asked her, “I have scheduled an interview with one of the designers, do you want to join me or bask in the sun?”
    “I would prefer to stay here.  I need to call Grant at some point or he’ll think I’m never coming home.”
    Michal laughed.  “Tell him you may not.”
     
    Daniella went back to the room and lathered her Irish skin in sunscreen, grabbed a hat along with a book, and relaxed in one of the chaise lounge chairs by the pool.  She started to dose off for a nap when a shadow crossed her body.  She looked through her dark sunglasses to see that a woman was standing beside her chair.
    The woman then asked, “Aren’t you Danny McPherson?”  It was clear this woman was an American, who knew her well enough to refer to her as Danny.  When she left for Paris, she left the nickname of Danny behind her, and took on her proper name of Daniella.
    “Yes I am.”  Daniella sat up.  “Do I know you?”
    This American woman had the audacity to sit on the lounge chair next to Daniella’s.  “We went to school together.  I’m Patty Becker.”
    Stunned that she flew half-way around the world to leave her horrible school years behind her, Daniella choked on the words, ‘I’m Patty Becker.’  “Of course, I remember you.  What brings you to France?”
    Patty Becker was a short stout woman with short cropped blonde hair.  Her grandfather left Germany just after the war to start a farm in Colorado near her own grandfather’s ranch.
    “Do you remember Mildred Pearson?  She and I stayed in touch after school.  We signed up for a ten-day tour of France and Italy.  I’d love to have dinner with you, but we have to be at the train station by 3:00 this afternoon.  I was on my way back to my hotel when I thought I recognized you.  I’m late, so I gotta run.  It sure was nice seeing you.”
    “Yes it was.  Enjoy the rest of your trip.  Please tell Millie I said hello.”
    “I will.”
    When Patty Becker walked away, Daniella thought that she was still the selfish little girl she’d known in school.  The short conversation was centered on Patty and no one else, which was fine with Daniella.
    Michal appeared just as Daniella watched Patty Becker disappear around a corner.  He sat on the chair that just minutes ago her horrible past had sat.
    “Daniella, you are turning quite red.  You need to get out of the sun.”
    When she stood from her chair, she asked, “How was your interview?”
    “Like most designers, she focused only on her achievements.  I’ve seen her failures, but what can I say?  Did you call Grant today?”
    “No I didn’t.  Shit, my phone is in the room.  I’ll call him later.  Let’s join everyone on the patio for a drink, and then I’ll call him when I go to take my shower before dinner.”
    She and Michal were standing by the bar waiting for their drinks when an older American woman approached them.  Daniella assumed that Michal knew her, so she stepped back.
    “I don’t mean to interrupt your conversation, but I must ask if you are Daniella McPherson.”
    Two American women in one day might be two too many.  “Yes, I’m Daniella McPherson.  Have we met?”
    “I don’t believe that we have.  My name is Edith Marshall.  I was at the Paris Fashion Show.”
    Daniella’s heart jumped out of her chest and fell to the ground.  She was on vacation, to get away from critics who hated her designs.
    “I’d like to ask you a business question, but I see that you are vacationing.  I can give you my number and when you return to Paris, I would tremendously appreciate it, if you