Guillaume, Her French Husband

“Lara King-Laurent,” she thought to herself. She thought the name had quite a good ring to it.

A smile played on her lips when she thought about it.

She had always wondered what it felt like feeling so strongly for someone you decide to commit yourself to the person on paper and finally, she understood exactly what it meant. She had just walked out of the bathroom when she heard her phone alert go off. She secured a towel around her and walked to the nightstand. Her heart was racing as she picked up her phone. She was hoping it would be a message from Guillaume but as soon as she picked it up, she felt her heart sink. And almost immediately, she found herself regretting why she had been so fast in coming out of the bathroom.

*****

Guillaume

As Guillaume sat there looking at the final cut of his latest drama, he was concerned that it did not really bring out what he needed to bring out. Thanks to Lara, he was finally telling the story of his life as he always meant to. But as he sat down looking at the work, he couldn’t help but wonder if presenting it as a docudrama was the best way to do it. He kept on wondering if it was easier to just interview survivors and experts about the genocide rather than hire an actress to play the role of his mother. It was not that Lucienne Moreau had not done well. It was that he was not so sure if he could have done more to show his mother’s true character.

He was still lost in his work when he heard a knock on his door.

“Come in,” he said, his eyes still fixated on the computer screen.

“Hey, Mr. Laurent.” It was Tammy. “Lucienne is here to see you.”

He turned around and looked at her.

“She is still here?” he asked.

“She just cleared her trailer and she is supposed to leave for Switzerland tomorrow,” Tammy explained. “But she insists on seeing you before she leaves.”

Guillaume took a long deep breath.

“Fine,” he said. He pulled his chair back and stood up but as he made his way towards the door, he could sense that Tammy still had more to say. “What is it?” he asked. “I can tell that you have something on your mind. Spit it out.”

Tammy pushed a lock of hair behind her ear.

“Well,” she started. “Ever since you got the new phone I have tried everything I could to track down Lara’s number and I have to give it to them, those people are tight lipped. They protect her identity and secret with so much zeal…” her words trailed off.

“You haven’t managed to track her down yet?” he asked and she shook her head.

“I’m sorry, sir,” she said in a soft voice. “I think I would have done so much better if I was running point on the ground.”

Guillaume held her shoulders and smiled.

“I’ll get to her soon enough. I am leaving for the States in a week anyway,” he said. “So, where is Lucienne?”

“She is waiting in the main studio,” Tammy said and Guillaume nodded.

“Thank you, Tammy.”

He slowly made his way to the studio as he stretched his limbs, undoing the knots that had formed in the hours he had spent slouched over his chair. But as soon as he got to the main studio, he felt like there was something he should have known. Lucienne was all dressed up in a pair of blue jeans and a long white top coupled with a long flowing royal blue jacket and a pair of strapped ankle boots. Her long wavy auburn hair fell loosely on her shoulders and for a minute, he found himself staring.

“I thought you were gone already,” he said and she shook her head.

“I leave tomorrow but before I left I wanted to spend some time with my director and producer. Maybe have one last meal together. Who knows when we are going to have a chance to work together again,” she said and he nodded.

“Yeah, I guess you are right,” he said and then shrugged. “But I am hardly dressed for going out.”

“We will just be having dinner. Nothing fancy,” she said in a soft voice. “There is absolutely nothing wrong with what you are wearing.”

She looked at him and shrugged.

“Besides, I bet you look amazing in anything you wear. Rags…sack cloth.” She smiled.

He was not very if the way she had talked to him was her attempt at flattery or flirting. After all, Lucienne was well known to be a flirtatious woman. But then again, she had absolutely no chance of winning his heart. He was taken. And he was proud of the fact that he was taken.

“I guess this will do then,” he said as they began walking out. “So, what did you have in mind?”

She smiled and shrugged.

“I know of this little Italian place not far from here. Their specialty dish is chicken served with sweet and sour fennel…” she kissed her fingers. “To die for.”

“Alberto’s,” he said nodding.

“So you know of the place?” she asked and he nodded.

“It is one of my favorite places to visit when I am in France. Something about the food takes me back to my childhood,” he said. “And the green wine they serve is a big plus.”

“Then I chose well, didn’t I?” she asked as he led her out of the studio.

“Oh yes. Yes you did,” he said nodding.

“But what is this about green wine? I have never really tried it….or understood the concept thereof,” she said and he smoothed his hair back.

“Well, the vineyard the green wine grapes comes from doesn’t use any machinery whatsoever. They hand pick the berries, transport them on wagons to their factory where everything is done by hand…somehow and then use rowing boats to transport the barrels of wine to the packing center,” he explained.

“And let me guess,” Lucienne started as he opened the car door for her. “They hand pack it too?”