Gemini Rain (14 page)

Claude was the modern member of the family, university educated, single and working in the big city of Marseille. Up-to-date, excitable and charming, he bounced as he spoke and definitely the owner of the sports car sitting in his parent’s driveway, it looked so out of place in among the tractor and farm machinery, she thought. But Lauren could see he didn’t consider it an obligation to return home every weekend; he thoroughly enjoyed the company of his parents and family, perhaps it was his little retreat from the fast
-
lane. When Lauren found out he was a computer engineer she dived in asking him about a pro
blem she was having setting up her broadband and a
web site
she was trying to develop
, but the language barrier came into play so he agreed to call up some day during the week to help her. Lauren let out a sigh of
relief explaining to the family that
at least she wouldn’t have to struggle over the phone with some French technician
or even some techie guy in India or somewhere like that.

Then there was David. She couldn’t work out if he was younger or older than Claude
trying to remember if Gabrielle had told her during their many chats.  David is
definitely an enigma. He didn’t want to be there she felt, soon making that pretty obvious b
y his disappearance,
he wasn’t as boastful or vain as she expected
but
then
again
it was hard to read him because of his sultry mood. Throughout the evening he was polite and
a bit
authoritarian on any subject that was discussed,
that is
when he was pressurized into being involved
in the many conversations
. Then there were the occasions when he was in another world, laid-back and letting it all pass before him. Polite, elegant and yet when she discovered his little secret on speaking English she felt he was belittling her and being inhospitable.

Definitely t
he most handsome of the three brothers, even though he looked like he’d been dragged through a bush backwards, she could see why he was popular with women. ‘Definitely
come to bed
eyes and that smile when he did smile
, oh Lord it was so seductive
’
– it made his chiselled features
glow like the Mediterranean evening sky and his tan set off his perfect white teeth.
‘
Typical movie hunk stuff,
’
she giggled wondering what was going through his head now; did he regret his adultery? A lover you could never trust as far as you could throw him, she concluded.  

Not that she would have the strength to throw any of them; they were all so bloomin’ tall and well built. Gabrielle was the only member of the family who was the same height as her. Even Veronique was close on hitting the six feet figure and Lauren, at 5
½
feet felt a little inhibited when they all stood around her. But she soon forgot and relaxed, with thanks to the Pineau and
of course
when they sat at the table.

‘Was it in t
he country air?’
her eyelids drunkenly drooped as she fell asleep.

Chapter 11

It was close on 3am when Davi
d entered through the back door
hoping not to be heard but Jean-Pierre was sitting in his fireside chair smoking his pipe
, he reached over to turn on the fireside lamp
. His long body was stretched out and his soft but weather-beaten skin showed no sign of tiredness even though he would commence work on the farm at his usual 6.30am.

‘Your mother and brother are gone to bed,’ he was to the point showing David how annoyed the family was at his rudeness.

David unlike his father, did feel exhausted, his tall muscular body lurched over the kitchen worktop, with every bone in his body creaking and moaning he used the
counter like a support frame.
Today he got the news that the Colombian film could be postponed or even cancelled. ‘Political difficulties,’ he was informed,
once the Italy job was finished he would
be redundant until the next offer came along if it arrived
, it
was a lifestyle he didn’t need at the moment. Then there was the call to Jaqueline to tell her he was finishing their relationship, screaming at him down the phone line,
he just sat there accepting
all
she screamed at him
alt
hough he needed to hold the phone
away from his ear so as not to get an earache. It was like he needed it, needed the abuse, the name-calling it was his form of punishment.

Not wanting to get into a heated debate with his father he tried an apology, ‘I’m sorry papa but I needed some fresh air. It won’t happen again, I promise.’

‘I know it won’t, this evening cannot be repe
ated,’ Jean-Pierre was solemn
‘oh there will be many more
dinners
with Lauren and her children I hope. But the first is always special, and for your mother it was extremely important,’ he pointed his pipe in David’s direction, ‘Lauren was so kind listening to your mother’s worries while you were in Paris. And why did you want to hide the fact that you could speak English? I noticed that bit of rudeness when Claude and she were tryin
g to solve her computer problem, you could have helped with the language barrier!
’

‘I’ll apologise to all tomorrow, especially Maman and Mme. Connolly,’ David wanted to end the conversation, holding up his hands in mock surrender. In a way he was glad he came home but still had that feeling he was lost, that all was running ahead of
him and not with him anymore. 
He couldn’t talk to anyone about what was going through his mind,
and wished
everybody would stop looking at him so sympathetically, constantly asking if he was alright. Twice he tried to talk to Jean-Pierre while sketching in the studio but he didn’t kno
w where to start. ‘Where do I
start?’
it was
a phrase that was constantly repeating in his mind.

Although he really wanted to pour his soul out to his father, he couldn’t.  Did he feel too proud or too stupid, he wasn’t even sure of that. The pressure was mounting, the divorce, losing
free
access to his children, finishing with Jaqueline and now the Colombian p
roject was about to collapse, David
felt like he was having some sort of breakdown.

Jean-Pierre watched his son,
‘
he
’s putting himself through hell
maybe we should give him more space to get his thoughts together.
’
Knowing David wasn’t sleeping at night he thought about suggesting a visit to Dr.
Silvestre
but changed his mind, pills were not what were required here. Talk to me son, he wanted to say but instead he asked David what his plans were for tomorrow. David shrugged
giving a disinterested response he still had
n’t take
n
off his jacket so Jean-Pierre tried to lighten the conversation by asking was he going to go out for more fresh air
now
. 

David’s head jerked up,
misunderstanding his father.  With d
isbelief written all over his face he immediately stormed back out the door, slamming it behind him.

‘Why did I say that, we’re losing
him and all you can do is attempt a
joke about the
whole situation?
’  Jean-Pierre quickly got up hurrying towards the door
and called out
several times to David, but in the darkness of the night he couldn’t see him.

David ran, sometimes falling and clambering up to The Rock, it was his hideaway when he was in trouble as a young boy now it was his solace. Hidden by the hedgerows and trees, he could stare into the ni
ght sky and when he sat up on the rock
, through small gaps
in the tall trees
he could watch all around him.

Nobody knew of his Rock, as a child he didn’t even share it with Claude or Joel.  Many times it was his fort protecting him from the surrounding enemy, battles fought and won he was always the victor. But not feeling very victorious now as he watched 3 torchlights going through the small forest, knowing it was his family searching for him, but he couldn’t find the strength to call out to them.

‘Apologies, Apologies. I’m saying sorry to everybody lately, to Francoise, to my children, my family, to a judge and now to a crazy Irish woman I hardly know. When will it all stop David? What’s gone wrong?’ he felt alone, desperate. Eventually when the lights disappeared he knew they had given up on their search, he curled up on the ground falling into a torturous sleep.

Chapter 1
2

Ensuring her cell
phone was in her pocket, Lauren commenced her run. She loved exercising through the fields and small forest here, it was so different to jogging in Dublin, there she had her set urban route never trailing off course, but here even if she took the same route because of the time of year the scenery and countryside was constantly c
hanging.  But having a set route
here
was
also
a way to reassure herself as sometimes she was afraid that if she changed
her daily route
she wouldn’t find her way back, occasionally Lauren was brave but preferred to concentrate on the terrain rather th
an worrying about getting lost. 
Every
thing to Lauren was changing from autumn to winter
, the different aromas, the trees
and plant life now starting to hide from
the coldness of winter.

Of course Dublin has its beauty spots too she admitted. The magnificent sandy dunes and Velvet Strand in Por
t
marnock, the wonderful heritage town and fishing port of Malahide, the panoramic views of Dublin Bay which Howth offers, even that jewel of a town called Skerries with its insurmountable abundance of wildlife and offshore islands. These were but a few she could recollect b
ut just like many a city person
she never gave herself time to appreciate the natural beauty in her own home
town
. 

Having started
out as a nice sunny
morning Lauren looked up
to
where she could see dark clouds starting to form. ‘Don’t rain until I’m finished,’ she warned
them but the skies
didn’t take heed as only half way through her normal route it started to downpour.

Detesting the idea of jogging in the rain, she decided to turn back taking a short cut past the large rock
centred in a small clearing within the forest
. Other than Jean-Pierre Lauren rarely came across life of the human type
within the small forest
,
so
she stopped with fright as she noticed somebody was there and by the size of the body it was a man.  Hunkered down his face was covered by his arms, slowly he looked up to her. Slight panic was exchanged
between them
as they instantly recognised each other.  Lauren could see the desperation in his eyes as she remembered seeing them before, in Peter’s eyes the night before he died.  David’s dark eyes followed
her as she walked towards him, k
neeling down she put her hand on his shoulder, ‘Ca va?’ she asked softly.

He tried to speak but in the end he just wrapped his arms around her small waist, resting his head on her shoulder and cried. They were big sobs of grief and desolation. Lauren nearly fell over with his weight but eventually she settled into a comfortable supporting positio
n. 
The f
eeling that he was releasing everything locked up inside him
was so plain for her to
feel and
see. 

‘
I’ve never let myself do that for Peter and I didn’t give Peter the chance to either,
’
regrettably she confessed to herself.

Not knowing whether to say something or not she decided her best option was to
stay silent and
wait until he finished.  It seemed like an eternity with her arms aching and the rain pouring down on both of the
m.  They were there for only
five
minutes
or so
but
it seemed
like an eternity to Lauren as
she held on tightly to him, afraid for him. Eventually he stopped
with some sigh
s then there was silence, neither moved.