French Twist (21 page)

I started to chuckle.  “I’m sorry, Bluey.  I didn’t recognize you at first.”  I touched his face in amazement.  “You look like a teenager!”

He grimaced.  “I have such a baby face.  This was not intentional.  The razor slipped and there was no other way to fix it.”

I grinned.  “You’re adorable.”

He swatted me on the butt.  “Not funny.”

I put my arms around him.  “You look hot!  Meet me at my locker after school?”

He frowned at me.  “You suck.”

I reached up and kissed him.  “I know, but you still love me.”

“And you are lucky I do.”  He smirked.  “I have to run.  Have a good day,
mon coeur
.”

I turned on the shower and took off my pajamas while the water was warming up.  “You too, Bluey!”

Louis stopped and gazed at me for a moment.  “I will carry that image with me all day.”  He sighed and literally ran for the front door.

I threw my pajamas in the hamper and scanned the bathroom.  Sharing a bathroom with Louis was a unique experience.  He was neat in most other areas - his personal appearance, his car and the rest of the apartment.  He always put his dishes in the dishwasher, put his clothes in the hamper and picked up all his work papers.  However, he didn’t feel the need to clean up a good portion of the beard hair he had trimmed, the toothpaste he had dropped or even the few stray drops of urine which fell on the floor by the toilet.  (He sometimes sleepwalked into the bathroom in the middle of the night and I’m guessing sleepwalking interfered with his ability to aim for the toilet.)

Though this kind of behavior didn’t thrill me, I knew I was far from perfect.  And it was certainly true that different things bothered different people.  Louis and I were simply going to have to figure out what we could live with in terms of the other’s behavior.  In the meantime, I chose to focus on that while living with someone you believed to be your soul mate couldn’t be without flaws, the love you shared was more than enough to make up for it. However, I will absolutely admit, on a day-to-day basis it was a very tricky business...

Chapter Twenty-Six

On Saturday morning, Louis called his mother to broach our American wedding/French reception idea.  Thankfully, she was on board, as long as the reception wasn’t long after the wedding.  She was very excited at the prospect of a trip to the United States and was already telling all her friends that her son was going to have a lavish American wedding.  I was thrilled she was happy with our plan and told Louis she was more than welcome to do all the planning for the French reception.  Well, almost all the planning; I still wanted the responsibility of choosing my dress.

I would need a less formal wedding dress for the French countryside and after seeing many photos of Louis’ mom, it was clear to me we didn’t have the same style.  There were going to be many photos taken that day and I had no intention of having photographic evidence of me in a dress of her choosing.  Lest you think me overly judgmental, just picture Madonna circa nineteen eighty-five.  I wish I were joking.

Once this was settled, I knew I had to call my parents to break the news that our wedding would be in California.  Louis and I had found a beautiful hotel on the water in Monterey and had decided on the spot that this was the perfect location for the wedding.  The majority of my friends lived in the Bay Area and the rest of my friends, not to mention Louis’ family, would have to travel to either New York or California for the wedding, so we thought California was the better choice.

My father wasn’t going to be pleased; he was a hard core New Yorker.  He kept telling me California was going to fall into the ocean and I had better move back home before I drowned.  I was also sure many of my parents’ friends wouldn’t travel to California, so I knew they would be disappointed.  My parents had attended many of the weddings of their friends’ children and they wanted their turn to show off.  But ultimately, a wedding in Monterey was what Louis and I wanted, so this was what we were going to do.  None of this changed the fact that I was completely petrified to make this phone call.

I decided to avoid this task by checking in with Maya.  Or trying to.  She was becoming very difficult to pin down these days.  She was unquestionably up to something.  I was convinced her elusiveness had something to do with Jean, but she wouldn’t admit a thing. And despite Louis’ best efforts, he wasn’t able to wheedle any information out of his former roommate.  What the hell was going on between the two of them?

I dialed her cell phone and fully expected to get her voicemail instead of the rapid pick up she used to employ.  To my surprise, she answered on the first ring.

“Sydney Bennett!  Where have you been?”

I laughed.  “I could ask you the same question, my friend.  I’ve left you a bunch of voicemails.  What have you been up to?”

She sighed. “Nothing exciting.  Not all of us can live out a movie plotline.”

I rolled my eyes.  “Bullshit.  You’re up to something, Maya.  You’ve never been shy about filling me in on all the details in your life - even the ones I didn’t want to hear.”  Seriously, some images can never be erased.

“Come on, Syd!  You
love
my stories.  I used to provide the much-needed excitement in your life.”  She chuckled.

I scoffed.  “I had plenty of drama of my own, thank you very much.”  I took a deep breath.  “Just promise me that you’re alright.  I’m not used to being kept in the dark where you’re concerned.”

“Syd, I’m fine.  I appreciate your concern, but there’s no need to worry, OK?”

“Maya, you know me.  I’m going to worry until you tell me what’s going on.”

She was becoming exasperated.  “It’s a good thing, trust me.  I want to keep it to myself for a little while longer.  I don’t want to jinx anything.”

I thought for a moment.  “Fine.  But tell me one thing - does it involve Jean?”

She laughed.  “Bye, Syd!”

“Maya!”

She actually hung up on me!  How rude!  I sat and weighed my options.  I knew I should respect her request and allow her some privacy, but this was such a foreign concept when it came to Maya.  She had always been an open book.  I felt a massive sense of frustration at not knowing what was happening and recognized I was in no state of mind to call my parents.  This unpleasant task would have to be put off for a little while longer.  I wondered what movies were on cable...

By late afternoon, I decided I could procrastinate no longer.  I took a deep breath and called my mom at the store.  Of course, my dad picked up right away.

“Duck, I’m so glad to know that you’re still breathing.”  Great.  This bodes well for the rest of the conversation.

I silently cursed myself for not speaking with him earlier in the week when I checked in with my mom.  This call would be so much easier if I didn’t already feel guilty.

I sighed.  “I’m sorry, Dad.  Work has been insane over the past two weeks and then I got...distracted by Louis’ return.  I’ve missed you though!”

“We’ve missed you too.  How’s Louis?”

This is new.  He doesn’t usually ask about him.  Could this be a good sign?

“He’s doing well, Dad.  He’s happy to be back in California.”

He chuckled.  “More than likely, he’s happy to be back with you.  Who could blame him?”

OK, this is good.  He sounded happy.  I tested the waters further.  “How are you, Dad?”

He sighed heavily.  “The usual.  I can’t get used to these crazy teenagers who come into the store.  They have these huge spikes and piercings all over their bodies.  Oh!  And the tattoos!  This one fellow had tattoos covering his entire face!”

“Wow, Dad, that must have been bizarre for you to see.”  He knew I was mocking him a little.

He scoffed.  “You don’t sound too surprised, Duck. Do you have piercings I don’t know about?”

I laughed.  “Of course not!  I’ve just seen all the things you’ve described pretty often.”

My father pretended to be shocked (Very little actually shocked this man.)  “Where have you been spending your time lately?”

“The Bay Area is a lot more progressive than the suburb you live in, Dad.  I’ll take you out to a few places to observe the next time you’re in town.”

“Sounds like a date.  Now how’s the wedding planning coming?”

I filled my dad in on the plan to have the wedding in the US (Yes, I’m a coward) and then a reception in France.  I had told my mom about our plan a couple of days ago, but I had been too stressed to tell my father (Especially since I didn’t tell my mom that the wedding would take place in California.)  I knew he would have plenty to say about his having to take this particular trip to Europe.  It didn’t bother him; in fact, it seemed he was looking forward to it, but he couldn’t resist pushing my buttons.  It was one of his favorite things to do. And no matter how hard I tried to resist, I
always
took the bait. I had to find this man hobby.

“You mean I have to enter that godforsaken country?”

I sighed.  He really enjoyed putting on a performance.  “No, Dad, if you’re that uncomfortable, I’m sure Mom would be fine going without you.”

My father sighed dramatically.  “No, I couldn’t do that to her.  She needs me.  I’m her emotional rock.”

I spit out the water I had been drinking and started to cough uncontrollably.

“Are you OK, Duck?”  My father was laughing his ass off.

It took a couple of minutes, but I was finally able to speak.  “You’re amazing, old man.  Even after all these years, you’re still able to catch me off guard.”

He chuckled.  “I’m the master, Duck.  One day you may be able to rise to my level.”

I took a deep breath.  “Dad?  Is Mom around?  I have something to discuss with both of you about the wedding.”  I could already feel my heartrate starting to pick up.  Why was I so freaked out about telling them the wedding would be in California?  I was nearly twenty-eight years old.  It was time to grow a backbone.

“Sure, Syd.  She’s up front cashing out the drawer.  I’ll give her a yell.”  And this is exactly what he did.  Unfortunately, most of the yell ended up in my ear. (Seriously, my dad is LOUD!)  I had to remember to hold the phone away from my ear when he said that.  I mean, he did give me fair warning.

My mom picked up the phone.  “Syd?  I’m so happy to hear from you, darling.  I’ve missed you!”  I couldn’t help but smile.  My mom always made me feel special.  It was going to make it that much harder to tell her our decision about the wedding location.  Here goes...

“I’ve missed you too, Mom.  How are you?”  Come on!  I can’t tell her without going through some pleasantries first.  She raised me to have manners.

“Well, business is going very well.  We have booked a bunch more parties - and not just birthdays!  Anniversaries, going away parties and even one retirement party.”  She sounded really excited.  I silently hoped I wouldn’t kill her mood.  Maybe I was overreacting?  Maybe she would be fine with having the wedding out here.  Oh, to hell with it. Just tell them, Sydney!

“That’s great, Mom!  I’m so glad to hear things are going well.”  I paused.  “Listen, there’s something I’d like to speak to you both about concerning the wedding.”  My voice started to shake a little bit.  Why was I so nervous?

“Is everything alright, Syd?”  My mom sounded concerned.

I cleared my throat.  “Everything’s fine, Mom.  Don’t worry.  I just wanted to let you know that Louis and I have decided to have the wedding here.  In California.  We found this gorgeous hotel in Monterey overlooking the water.  We can have the wedding out on a big, beautiful terrace.  And there’s a long staircase leading down to the terrace.” I sighed.  “It’s breathtaking.”

I paused, hoping they would have something positive to say.  I mean, it was my day, right?  Well, technically, it was Louis’ day too, but he didn’t care as much about the details as I did.  Besides with my family, it was
my
opinion which mattered the most.  This is what I wanted and I expected them to back me.  OK, I hoped they would.  I desperately wanted this.

My dad was the first to break the silence.  “First you tell me I have to go to France of all places and now you tell me I have to go to California?  Where I might fall into the ocean?  Duck?  Are you trying to kill your poor father?”

I paused for a moment.  Wait.  What just happened?  Suddenly, I was cackling until I could barely breathe.  My dad may have been a gigantic pain in the ass, but he loved me and he understood me unbelievably well.  He knew exactly what to say to release my tension.

My mom was giggling as well.  “Teddy, you’re incorrigible.  Sydney, a wedding in California will be wonderful!”

I breathed a sigh of relief.  I often forgot how much my mom loved California.  She had lived in San Francisco for a few years in her early twenties and would have settled there if it weren’t for my father - my biological father.  She definitely would have moved back to California once Kate and I moved out here, but there was no way that my father (my real father) would have moved.  She told me once that she was tired of being separated from her true home by penises.  She actually said, “penises.”

“Which hotel did you decide on?”  My mom was bursting with excitement.

I grinned.  “The Monterey Plaza.  Have you ever been there?”

“I’ve never stayed there, but I did have lunch with a friend there once.  It’s gorgeous!”

I started jumping up and down.  I felt like a five-year-old who had just gotten a hot fudge sundae. (But honestly, you would still get the same reaction out of me for a hot fudge sundae.)

“We have a lot of planning to do, Mom!  I hope you’re ready.”

“Are you joking? I can’t wait.  Have you picked a date yet?” I could picture my mom dancing around her store.  She always did that when she was happy about something.  It used to embarrass me to no end, since she had no qualms about doing this in public.

“We’re looking at next September, which gives us a full twelve months to plan.”

“Oh, Syd.  It’s going to be beautiful!”  She had now entered the weepy stage.  That was a quick transition!  Could this be a little residual menopause?  Focus, Sydney.  This is a topic for another conversation.  One that did not involve my father.

My dad coughed.  “OK, Lyn, I think it’s time to get you home.  It is closing time and the customers don’t need to see you have an emotional...thing.”

My mom laughed through her tears.  “You’re probably right, Ted.  We love you, Syd.  Promise me you’ll call soon so we can talk details.”

“Of course, Mom.  We have a lot of work to do!  We’ll have to bring Kate up to speed.  Though I think in her current state, she’ll serve us best in an advisory capacity.  No hard core work for her.”

My mom sighed.  “Poor Kate.  I hope her morning sickness goes away soon.”

“Me too.  I love her very, very much, but she’s one cranky pregnant woman.  I want my sister back.”  I frowned.

My mom snorted.  “Cut your sister some slack, Syd.  It takes a lot to create a life and for some women, it takes a whole lot more than we’d like.  You’ll find out for yourself someday.”