Guillaume, Her French Husband

“Actually, make that seven,” he thought to himself when he looked at his watch.

“This is really nice of you to do this for us,” she said in a soft voice. “I mean you even gave us first class tickets. Most people would just make us fly coach and just meet us there.”

Guillaume smiled at her.

“I told you that I was not going to leave the States without you,” he said. “And that was a promise.”

She smiled and took a sip of her wine.

“I hope you like the wine. I asked them for a Dom Perignon because I didn’t really know what you liked.” He smiled. “But you can never really go wrong with a Dom Perignon.”

She took another sip and shrugged.

“I have never tried the Dom Perignon before,” she said. “I must say, it’s perfect.”

“Good. I want nothing but the best for you,” he pointed out.

“So, tell me more about you Guillaume,” she said as she looked at him. “What do I have to know about this French director who liked me in my first audition?”

He shook his head.

“I am not sure there is much to say really,” he started. “I’m just a man who loves making romantic films.”

“That’s a short biography,” Lara said and he shrugged.

“But really that’s all I have to my name. My entire life is about filming and films…I like showing a world where love and romance are not only a possibility but reality. Granted, sometimes I try to rewrite history and show a better world which was not consumed by hate and greed.” He took a sip of his water and turned to look at her. “I just try to show a world I would have loved to see growing up rather than the one I saw.”

“And which world was that?” she asked and Guillaume smiled.

He wanted to tell her everything. Everything about his past. Everything about the painful childhood he had tried so hard to forget but it was like the more he tried to keep his mouth shut, the more he wanted to tell her.

“We will have enough time to get to know each other’s biographies,” he said in a soft voice.

“Oh, come on,” she said smiling. “Now you really got me interested.”

“Let’s just say that I lived a life of constant fear for a couple of years when I was a kid. For some reason people in the area I lived thought that they needed to kill off a certain population to ‘cleanse’ the country,” he said. “It is not something I like thinking about. Or talking about for that matter.”

“I’m sorry…I’m sorry I asked,” Lara said and he suddenly felt guilty of the way he had spoken to her.

“But I did make a film about my past…based on my past. At least what I remember and also some diary entries of people I know,” he said quickly. “You are more than welcome to watch it with me. It was my third film. The one that earned me my credibility.”

She looked at him and nodded.

“I would love that,” she said in a soft voice.

“That’s great because there isn’t anything I would love more,” he said and she smiled before sipping on her wine again. “What about you? What’s your story?”

She shrugged.

“I am one of those boring people without a story.”

Guillaume shook his head.

“That’s where you are wrong. Everyone has a story.”

“Yes, maybe but perhaps you have met the one person in the world without one.”

He raked his fingers through his hair and leaned forward, angling his head just a little bit so that he could look into her eyes.

“Maybe I am just not asking the right questions,” he said. “Maybe you think you don’t have a story because you have never felt the need to tell it.”

She had the most adorably confused look in the world.

“Explain.”

“Alright. How does a gorgeous woman who is obviously very, very talented end up being a waitress and hostess instead of starring in film after film.”

She bit her lower lip and shook her head.

“Now that’s a story right there…and a long one too,” she said.

“I’ve got nothing but time,” he said. “Besides, didn’t I tell you that everyone had a story?”

She took a long deep breath and sighed.

“Alright but to answer that question I have to start with my parents,” she said and he nodded.

“I have no problem with that.”

“Okay. I never really knew my biological father. The only man I ever knew was Myka’s father who married my mother when I was twelve,” she started. “And he was perfect too. I never felt like I had missed out on anything…I mean, he was a father in every way. Very focused on my well-being, my education, my passion in the arts…I thought everything was great but it all changed when I was nineteen. We were coming from a party at my father’s company and we had an accident…drunk driver. Myka and I were lucky to be pulled out of the wreckage alive but my mother died on impact and my father died from the complications of his wounds.”

She took another sip of her wine.

“We thought we were fine…taken care of but dad had defaulted on his life insurance so the bank came after everything including the house and I was too old for foster care but Myka wasn’t. But she was too old to be legally adopted since most people prefer them younger, mostly under six years of age which meant her being in a group home.” She shook her head. “I knew that this was going to be a culture shock and if I showed that I could take care of her then the people at child protective services would let me have her and take care of her. So that is exactly what I did. I got a job and got night schooling at the local art school.”

“You had a story under there alright,” he said and she nodded.

“And I told you it was a long one too.”

“Yes you did,” he said, nodding. “Is that how you found yourself busing tables?”

She shrugged.

“Well, yeah. Eventually I got to meet Ashley in one of the night classes. We became friends and began working at the same bar…four years later, the owner was looking to sell the bar so we pooled together everything we had and got someone to front us the rest of the money as an investment. The man turned out to be Ashley’s future husband and voila, I found myself working at The Broken Elbow and a few shifts at the Exotic Terrace while having my ear on the ground for every audition job I could get.”

She looked at him and forced a smile.

“So, when I say that I am Myka’s only family, I mean exactly that,” she said. “I am her only family. And Ashley and Michael of course but they have their hands full with their baby and weird in-laws…”

Her voice trailed off when she felt the warmth of his hand on hers.

“You have quite the story,” he said in a soft voice. “Why do you say that you have no story?”

She shook her head.

“Maybe it is because I would rather not remember the two or three years I had to live in pain and destitution as I thought of how I was going to get my sister and I out of that hell.”

Guillaume nodded.

“You and I have more in common than you think. I can assure you.”

“Apart from the story you have promised to share with me in film,” she started as she looked at him. “Is there something else you need to tell me? Maybe something about a Mrs. Laurent?”

A smile played on his lips.

“I am not now nor have I ever been married,” he said in a low voice. “Although, in the last couple of weeks I have met someone who has made me reconsider a lot about my being a bachelor.”

She laughed and he noticed her cheeks flushing a beautiful shade of rose. He was already beginning to get her where he wanted her.