While her parents hadn’t been
able to stay very long, they allowed Vi and Dai to spend the night with Rose in
Domfront. Dai was ecstatic. She loved Rose and she loved
Domfront. Then again, Rose had a
hard time coming up with something Dai didn’t love. Vi was less excited, but she still loved her older sister
enough to put up with it for the night.
After they had unloaded their bags into the apartment, they headed out
for the evening. Leah had provided
Rose with money to treat the girls out for dinner, so she took them out to her
favorite restaurant, la crêperie.
They ordered a variety of
crêpes, both fruit filled and meat filled, and they all ate off each other’s
plates like sisters often do. Rose
even allowed Vi to order an alcoholic drink. She was only about a year away from the drinking age, and
they didn’t even ask when she ordered it.
Besides, she just couldn’t buy it at that young of an age and Rose was
the one who was paying.
After dinner they went window-shopping
through town, with Dai and Vi dragging her into shops to try on ridiculous clothes
and shoes they would never want even if they could afford them. She was caught off guard by the
revealing tops and dresses her sisters picked out. At one point, Dai made her try on flowered skinny jeans that
made her feel self-conscious about her legs. Rose preferred quieter clothing. They even went into a hat shop and tried on extravagant hats
that their ancestors might have worn at one point in the 1900s. It was so much fun to be with her
sisters. She couldn’t express how
wonderful it felt to spend time with them and feel like part of the
family. Having no friends around
her age made these times that much more special. Eventually all the shops closed and hey had to head
home. They changed into their
pajamas and sat on the floor in a circle talking and playing with each other’s
hair.
While Dai was braiding Rose’s
long waves, she asked, “How is the shop doing?”
“As good as it can. The summer season is over, so things
seem slow, but really summer was super busy.”
“Did you meet any cute boys
over the summer?”
“Oh, Dai, you are such a boy
crazy teenager.”
Vi chimed in from her spot
brushing Dai’s short vanilla hair. “Actually Dai has a very solid crush on one boy in
particular.”
“Too bad he’s seven years
older than me.” She giggled.
“Wow. Only you would have your heart set on
someone so much older than you.”
Rose laughed with her sister.
“Have you met the boys my
age? Fourteen year olds are so
immature. Besides, Mama et Papa have him set aside for Vi.”
Vi scoffed. “That’s never going to happen though. I wish they would just give up on
that. Anyway, I never told you
about Paul.”
“Ooh, Paul?” Rose teased.
“I met him when I went out
for lunch today. He’s a drummer in
a band.”
“Wait, weren’t you on a lunch
date?” Dai couldn’t stop laughing.
“Yeah, a date set up by Mama et Papa. That’s not even remotely romantic. Besides, he just ignored me the entire time. I don’t know what you see in him.”
“I don’t know what you
don’t! Il est très beau!”
“Ouai, well he’s also weird.
He thinks he’s so clever but he doesn’t have a real sense of humor and
he never even listens to anything I say.
I’m not going on another date with him.”
“Is he rich?” Rose asked.
“Loaded.” Dai replied.
“Then what more do you need?”
“He’s just not for me. I want to marry rich, but I also want
to marry someone who genuinely worked for his money than someone who was handed
fabulous wealth because he was born into a family with a certain last name.”
“Like Paul the drummer?” Dai interjected, still giggling.
“I bet he has a diamond stud
in his ear.” Rose laughed along
with Dai.
“Or a hoop earring?”
“Maybe he had a chain
dangling from his belt loops!”
“No! He must have been wearing suspenders,
but he left them hanging instead of actually wearing them.”
“Did he have long, unwashed hair?”
“Long, unwashed, black hair?”
Vi rolled her eyes in
irritation with the escalation of their laughter. “Tayez-vous!
You guys don’t know him like I do.”
“And how long exactly did you
spend basking in Paul’s presence today?”
Rose retorted.
“Two minutes?” Dai guessed.
“It was seven minutes,
actually.” Vi responded.
“Must be true love.” Rose said, nodding gravely at Dai
before bursting out into giggles again.
“Please, Rose. And exactly how many single men have
you talked with in the past month?”
“Well, one.”
“What’s his name? What’s his favorite color? Is it true love?” Dai interjected, her eyes as blue as
the English Channel laughing along.
“Definitely not true
love. Sorry, Dai.”
“So you can be definitive of
whether it’s true love or not, but I can’t?” Vi raised her eyebrows disapprovingly.
“D’accord, you got me there.
But if next time you come to visit you start going on about an Albert or
a Dimitri, you have to buy me my favorite Richart chocolate bar.”
“And if in the future you
admit that you were wrong about that single man you met and you two fall madly
in love, you have to buy me my favorite Richart chocolate bar. Deal?”
“Deal.”
Dai chimed in, “And if I end
up with the man destined for Vi, then you both have to buy me my favorite
Richart chocolate bar!”
All three laughed as Vi and
Rose agreed to the deal.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The
next morning, all three sisters were exhausted after staying up late. Rose did not want her sisters to leave,
but she was excited to see her parents again. She was planning on asking about Vi working in the shop again
because she really wanted to be closer to her sisters. When she had mentioned it the night
before, Vi had brushed it off while Dai changed the subject. She was hoping her parents would listen
to her this time.
When they arrived that
afternoon, Rose found herself losing her determination. She didn’t want to get shut down
again. Sometimes it really
bothered her that she was the random outcast of the family. Not that she felt her family didn’t
love her, but she just didn’t always fit in with her sisters or her
parents. Convincing herself that
she was just imagining things, she hugged both her parents. “How long are you staying?”
“No
longer than an hour. We have to
get back fairly soon.” Leah hugged
her daughter. “Did you girls have
fun?”
“Oui, Mama!” Dai said before yawning. “We might have stayed up too late though.”
“But
it was worth it. We had fun.” Vi added.
“I’m
glad you had fun, Vi.” Rose
decided to continue before she lost her nerve. “I still think you should stay here with me and work in the
shop.”
“Rose,
we’ve talked about this. Vi has to
stay and finish school. Then we
might discuss things further.”
Leah’s tone was an odd mix of warning and anxiety.
“Mais,
Mama...”
“Non,
Rose. This discussion is over.”
“Besides,
Rose, there are not cute boys here anyway.” Vi winked and squeezed her older sister’s hand.
“No
drummers named Paul.” Dai
corrected.
All
three sisters giggled at the reference to the previous night, much to the
confusion of their parents.
“Alright
girls, you stay here in the shop while we go talk with your aunts in the
back.” Leah left with Stéfan
following behind.
The
girls were left alone in the modest shop.
Dai and Vi tiredly wandered through the racks of clothing while Rose sat
on the counter staring out the big window at the sun reflecting off the
cobblestone street outside. “I
still don’t understand why you don’t just move here. Life is wonderful here, and cheap.”
“Rose,
Mama et Papa are going to keep doing
whatever they want to do.
Sometimes it’s best not to question them too much.” Vi responded softly.
“It
just doesn’t make sense.”
“It
doesn’t have to make sense for you, Rose.” Vi’s voice started to climb. “You act like you know so much about our situation, but you
don’t even know what life is like at home. You just don’t understand. Things are so much more complicated that you know. You don’t see the things they have done
for you because your head is so caught up in this ridiculous, ancient town in
the middle of nowhere. Maybe if
you lived at home and knew what they knew you’d have a right to say and act
like you know everything, but you don’t know everything, Rose. Just leave it be.”
“I’d
love to live with you guys if you’d ever let me. I’d gladly offer better advice if anyone would let me know
what was happening at home. Maybe
if I was ever a part of your family, things would be different!”
“Rose,
I didn’t mean it.” Vi instantly
regretted her words as she watched the tear slide down Rose’s cheek.
Both
parents came into the shop when they heard the sounds of shouting. “Is everything okay?” Leah asked, noticing Rose’s tear, Vi
biting her lip, and Dai’s stunned silence.
“C’est très bien, Mama.” Rose’s voice seemed extra quiet.
“Chère,” Leah tried to put an arm around
her daughter, but she pushed it off.
“Au revoir.” She whispered as she ran out of the store, another tear
falling. Taking the back route to
her favorite spot, she curled up under the pear tree at the back of le château. The bitterness of her own words filled her gut, making her
feel worse than just thinking it had felt. She was a horrible person for treating her family like
that. She loved them, but she
missed them so much. She had
missed out on everything. Her
sisters had grown up without her.
Every time they came to visit, she realized how well Vi and Dai knew
each other, while she had no idea what they were really like. Shopping had only revealed how they
were from her. Reminding herself
how much they meant to her, she resolved herself to keep her opinions to
herself. She had a part to play to
help her family and she needed to keep at it. Nothing could get in the way of helping her family anymore,
even if that meant not knowing her family.
