Paris Was The Place I Met My Billionaire Lover (My Sweet Billionaire Love Story Series) (12 page)

Julien said to him, “Sometimes a man must fight, Robbie.  Come on, throw a punch at me, as hard as you can.”

Robbie thought it through and, all eyes on him, pulled his fist back and launched a clumsy assault upon Julien’s ribcage.  It was slow and graceless, but it was a punch.  Julien shifted until Robbie’s arm was fully extended.  Then Julien reached out, took hold of Robbie’s wrist and gave it a little twist.  Robbie fell to his knees.

Sabrina sprang to her feet.  “Robbie!  That’s enough, leave my son alone!”

“It’s okay, Mom,” Robbie said as Julien let go of his wrist and then extended his open hand.  Robbie took it and Julien helped him to his feet.  “That is totally awesome.  You can show me that?”

“But of course,” Julien said, repositioning Robbie to walk him through the series of steps the move entailed. “In truth, you don’t even need your adversary to extend his hand, but if he does it means he’s attacking, and it is an excellent defense, no?”

Caitlyn stepped over to Sabrina and both watched as Julien passed on life lessons that Robbie would take with him that would change him forever, and for the better.  Their smiles melted away to realize how fleeting these moments were, and how soon they’d come to a final end, one way or another.

* * *

Driving back from lunch with Sam, Harrison almost felt silly about what had happened.   Some counseling with his oldest and most trusted friend was just what Harrison needed for a little perspective.  And Sam had been right about everything.  A father of two kids himself, both older than Caitlyn, he had experience Harrison relied upon in these matters.

And Sam had put it well:  “You gotta let her go, Hal.”

And he was right, Harrison knew. 
What am I doing?
he had to ask himself, turning right onto Barham, heading south into the Hollywood Hills. 
This isn’t exactly the course I would have planned for Caitlyn, but who plans for a turn of events like these?  I wanted her to have a spring break worth having, wouldn’t this whole thing be a life’s adventure surely worth taking?  If it goes tits up, I’ll be there to pick up the pieces; that’s what she needs.  She doesn’t need some stodgy old fart telling her what not to do and who not to love.

Hadn’t she earned the right to make those choices for herself?  After all, she could have taken the easy road and left that Frenchman in prison and come home and risked nothing, but she stepped forward not because it was the easy thing to do but because it was the right thing to do.  And she was speaking the truth, saving an innocent man from unjust imprisonment.

What lawyer wouldn’t be proud of that?

Would I personally have done any less, would I have been able to make any other recommendation to her or Robbie or anyone else?

And what about this Frenchman?  Okay, he’s older than she is.  I’m older than Sabrina.  It also means he’s learned how to treat a woman well, to provide, something he can apparently do with considerable skill.  Okay, he’s got a past, but he’s won Caitlyn’s trust, and she’s won mine when all is said and done.  She’s a good kid.

No.

She’s a woman, a fine young woman.  And if this is a man she choses to be with, why shouldn’t I at least give him a chance?  Goddamned it, who the hell am I to be so judgmental of a person I don’t even know?  He presented himself quite well in my home, in fact he seemed very charming and likable.  I probably wouldn’t mind having a drink with him, hearing some of his stories about his escapades in art theft and the like.  After all, he did travel halfway across the world just to see to my daughter’s safety.

This Frenchman deserves better.  He at least deserves a chance.  And damnit, I’m going to give it to him. 

Harrison pulled into the driveway.  Sabrina’s Lexus wasn’t in the garage. 
She’s still with Caitlyn and the Frenchman,
he realized. 
Too bad, wish she were here now so he could tell her the good news.

No matter
, Harrison told himself, she’ll be home soon. 
No rush.  We’ve got all the time in the world.

* * *

Caitlyn took Julien to the UCLA campus, a beautiful collection of buildings, trees and walkways, recognizable from many appearances in film and on television.  Julien looked around, fairly unimpressed, his face a blank mask.  “I thought it would be... bigger.”

“I thought the same thing about Paris.”

“But, my dear, Paris
is
bigger.” 

“Are you two relocating to Los Angeles?”  Caitlyn and Julien turned to see the familiar paparazzo, chubby with shaggy red hair and wearing the same stained, ill-fitting denim jacket, holding his own video camera over his shoulder.  “Are you going to continue your education, Caitlyn?”

“You’re allowed to do this on a college campus?” Julien asked, stepping angrily toward him.

“Are you kidding?” the paparazzo said.  “This is the most legal thing happening on this campus!”

Caitlyn asked him, “I get it that they were interested in this back in Paris, but you’re in Hollywood, man.  Somewhere out there, Britany Spears is buying something!  Lindsay Lohan is crashing her car, and you’re missing it for us?”

“Hometown girl becomes art heist mall?  You bet.”
             
Julien lurched toward him, ignoring Caitlyn’s call of, “Julien, no!” went ignored.  And the paparazzo wasn’t fast enough to evade him, tripping over his own feet and tumbling to the ground, the video camera rolling out of his hands.

“Get lost,” Julien said as Caitlyn pulled him away and across the quad toward the student union, a bustling and unremarkable cluster of shops, offices, a cocktail and snack bar with a pool table, pinball machines.

“I have to admit something,” Caitlyn said to him as she looked around the room, the twin scents of popcorn and stale beer thick in the air.  “I have an ulterior motive for bringing you here.”  Recognizing Jennifer and a few others across the room, Caitlyn wrapped her arm around Julien’s.  “I thought you’d like to meet my friends.”

Caitlyn arrived at their table with Julien on her arm.  “Jennifer, Sarah, Michael, this is Julien Cherierre.”  To Julien, she said, “Julien, my friends Jennifer, Sarah and Michael.”

Julien bent slightly with a courteous nod.  “It is a pleasure.”

They nodded and smiled, gesturing to two empty chairs.  Julien held Caitlyn’s out for her and she sat.  He sat afterward, Jennifer and Sarah drinking in his casual elegance, his off-hand sophistication.

Caitlyn watched them watching him, and she relished their admiration of him.  She tried to hide her smile, from Julien more so than from them.  She was showing him off, she knew it and they knew it; she only hoped Julien didn’t know it.

Jennifer said to Julien, “I like your accent.  You came all the way from Paris?”

“
Oui, mademoiselle
.  Most tourists, they bring home replicas of the Eiffel Tower, eh?”  As they all chuckled, Julien looked fondly at Caitlyn with a gentle smile, his fingertips lightly caressing her chin.  “But my Caitlyn is so much more that most tourists; she is more than more, more than all.”

Caitlyn felt his words as clearly as she was hearing them; they sank down to her heart, and down further, to her quivering stomach.

And lower still.

One glimpse at Jennifer and Sarah, their mouths little pouts, eyes fixed on Julien, assured Caitlyn that he was having the same effect on them.

Michael seemed lost.  “So, Caitlyn, we haven’t seen you around.  I heard you weren’t going here anymore.”

Caitlyn scratched the back of her head.  “That’s about right, Michael.  I really should go into the office and fill out some form or something.”

Jennifer asked, “What are you going to do?”

Sarah nudged her with her elbow, Jennifer twitching with an annoyed, “Ouch, stop it!” followed by an awkward pause wherein Sarah nodded in Julien’s direction to Jennifer’s own feeble, “oh, right.”

Michael said, “I was just about to get another pitcher, you guys in?”

Julien looked around at the dark clang of the place, the hum of the television on the wall, the clack of the billiard balls, the ring and ping of the
Happy Days
pinball machine.  He pulled out a few bills and said, “We were just on the way out, but enjoy it with my compliments.”

“Wow, dude, thanks,” Michael said, Jennifer and Sarah looking up at Julien as if mesmerized.  He reached down and took each of their hands, gently kissing them on their fluttering knuckles.

“Please stay,” Jennifer said.  “Maybe you’d like a private tour of the city?”

“Jennifer!” Caitlyn said.

“What?  No charge this time.”

It didn’t come out sounding the way she intended.

With a low, sexy, “
Au revoir, jeunes dames
,” Julien led Caitlyn back through the little bar and out into the quad.

Once outside, Julien said, “How was that?”  Reading her uncomfortable pause, he explained, “I hope I was suitably impressive.”

“I... well... um, yes... I... I’m sorry about that, but.... yes, you were marvelous.”

They shared a bemused chuckle.  “I hope you won’t miss them too terribly when we’re gone.  Or that your fondness for them would give you pause to leave.”

Caitlyn stopped turned to face him, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him, long and deep and loving.  “No, Julien, I don’t have any pause at all.”

“No doubts, no second thoughts?”

“No,” Caitlyn said, looking straight into his eyes so that they’d both know she was telling the truth.  “I admit, I did have ... concerns, but that’s to be expected, I think, when a girl’s getting ready to take the biggest step of her life.”

“Yes.”

“But I
am
ready to take that step, Julien, with you...”

They kissed again, tongues reuniting in their familiar dance, a ritual exchange of promise and pleasure, memory and anticipation.

The little digital coo leaked up from Caitlyn’s purse.  It sent a wave of dread up her spine, limbs numbing at the potential for conflict the harmless little beeping represented.  There was so much weight on the other end of that phone, so much power and pride on both sides of their conversations, she knew by the sound of it that it wasn’t going to be good news.

Who knows?
Caitlyn wondered as she reached for the phone. 
Maybe he’s changed his mind, maybe his old friend managed to talk some sense into him after all.

She let it ring twice more before checking the number and answering it.  “Hello, Dad?”

“Caitlyn, it’s your mother!”

The urgency in her voice sent a bolt of cold electric panic shooting through Caitlyn’s body.  “Mom, what is it?

“It’s your father, I think he’s had a heart attack!”

It was too late to meet them at the house, where Sabrina and Robbie found Harrison Haliwell stretched out on the kitchen floor.  She’d called the ambulance before calling Caitlyn, who ran with Julien back to the car. 

“Good Samaritan hospital.  It’s downtown, we gotta hurry!”

They snaked and turned through the city; east on Sunset Boulevard, south on Western, east on Third.  “No, turn here, turn, turn!” Caitlyn shouted.

“Caitlyn, it won’t do anybody any good if I get us both killed on the way there!”

Finally a siren leapt up behind them, familiar red lights flashing.  They sat in the car, waiting as two uniformed policeman slowly climbed out of their car and strolled up to them.

“I’ll handle this,” Julien said.

“No, let me.”  As one leaned into the driver’s side window and glared at Julien, Caitlyn pre-empted him with, “My father just had a heart attack, he’s being taken to Good Sam downtown.  We’re trying to make it there before we lose him.”

The officer glanced at Julien, then at Caitlyn, then at the other officer, who offered a quick nod.  “Not sure what it’ll do with this traffic, but just hang onto my tail, I’ll get you there quick as I can.”

The two officers returned to their squad car, still idling behind Julien’s rental.  They hit the lights and sirens and pulled out, waving for Julien to follow behind them.  It was still slow going, pushing through the thick, sluggish stream of cars, but it helped.

“What if he dies?” Caitlyn said, thinking out-loud more than she was actually asking a question.  “What if he dies and the last time we spoke, it was a fight, a terrible fight, the worst we’ve ever had...”

“Your mother said he was alive, no?”

“That’s what she said, but -- ”

“Then if that is what we know, that is what we know.  Anything beyond that has no meaning. 
Il est dans des mains de Dieu maintenant.
  This situation is in God’s hands now.”

“You know I don’t believe in any of that,” Caitlyn said, choking back her tears, sniffling, her face already getting red and swollen.

“Then I will pray for the both of us.”

“Pray all you want,” Caitlyn said, “just keep driving!”

When they arrived at Good Sam, Caitlyn rushed into Sabrina’s arms.  They hugged and cried into each other’s shoulders, bodies trembling with fear and sorrow. 

“I’m so sorry, Mom, I’m so sorry...”

“No no, don’t be silly.  You have nothing to be sorry about, Caitlyn...”

“Yes, Mom, I do.  The fight we had, it was my fault, I was wrong...”

“Shshshsh, baby, that’s enough now.”  Sabrina squeezed Caitlyn, who squeezed back even tighter; years of budding maturity and divergent interests having wedged their way between them, now blasted to dust by the sudden power of shared tragedy.

Sabrina noticed Julien standing behind Caitlyn.  Sabrina nodded her greeting, mouthing her thanks for Julien’s presence.  Julien nodded back, his gentle gaze reassuring Sabrina that he was ready to do whatever he could, knowing in his heart how little that would or could possibly be.

But the offer meant everything.

“How is he?” Caitlyn managed to ask between gasps for air and the sniffling retraction of her tears.

Sabrina wiped her tears away, setting her palm tenderly on Caitlyn’s cheeks.  “He’s all right, hasn’t woken up yet, but the doctors think he will any time.  They don’t think there’s any brain damage -- ”

“Brain damage?”  The horror in Caitlyn’s shocked voice cracked against the quiet, solemn walls of the hospital hallway. 

“They don’t think so, but they won’t know until he wakes up.  Until then, we’re going to have to be brave, wait and see and hope for the best, okay?”

“Where’s Robbie?”

Sabrina turned slightly, a sad recollection fresh in her memory.  “He... he didn’t take it well.  They gave him something to quiet his nerves.”

“Quiet his -- ?”

Sabrina said, “He’s asleep in a room down the hall.  Doctors said it was a mild form of shock, that he’ll be fine in the morning.”

Caitlyn could barely stay on her feet, her mind was screaming with thoughts that fried her brain and turned her stomach.
Dad’s unconscious, still hasn’t woken up; could have brain damage, probably does.  He may never wake up.  Robbie’s freaking out, they’ve got him doped up in some corner room somewhere, probably fitting him for a straightjacket as we speak.  My mom is alone and terrified and expects me to be the next one in the family to disappear.

No.

Caitlyn turned to Julien, her cramped and aching brows arched high and helpless on her forehead.  Her head shook slightly, her mouth a sorrowful gash across her face. 

“Julien...”

“I know, Caitlyn, I know...”

“I want to go with you, I really do...”

“You cannot leave your father’s side now, not now.”

“But... you...” Caitlyn glanced back at Sabrina, and then at Julien.  “Isn’t there any way that you can ... ?”

The slow, solemn shake of his head answered her question before his words even had a chance.  “Would that I could, I would stay here with you forever.  But for me to do so would destroy everything I have built, everything that our future would be built upon.”

“I know, I know... I can’t ask you to give all that up, I wouldn’t... I just... I can’t believe this is happening.  Not now, not ever but, definitely not now.”

Julien raised his hand to her face, their eyes meeting in tender intimacy. “What hold does time have on us, really?”

Caitlyn remembered the words, their familiarity tearing a chunk out of her heart and dragging it down with them into the pit of her stomach, there to remain forever and never again see the light of day or feel the glow of love.

“Misses Haliwell, Miss Haliwell?”  Caitlyn, Julien and Sabrina turned to see a middle-aged nurse approach them, a clipboard in her hands.  “Harrison Haliwell is awake, if you’d like to go in?”  The nurse peered at Julien,  “And you are?”

“Julien Cherierre,
madame
.”

The nurse checked her clipboard, flipping through the pages.  “Oh, well, it’s just immediate family, I’m afraid.”

“Quite right,
madame
,” Julien said.  “In this case that is most certainly for the best.  For him to wake up and see me would not be good for his health.”

Caitlyn turned back to face Julien, knowing that she was about to walk away from him, probably forever.  “Will you wait here for me?” she asked.

He nodded and kissed her hands, cupped in his, their eyes locked on each other.  “
Oui
, Caitlyn.”

Caitlyn stood in the glow of his love, the bittersweetness of what would almost certainly be his parting gesture and farewell kiss.  Caitlyn turned and joined her mother, stepping into the dimly lit private hospital room where her father lay on the bed, tubes running into his arm and nose and neck.

He seemed so small, so reduced, so weak and helpless in that bed.  Sabrina took his hand and Caitlyn crossed to the other side to hold his other hand.
             

Harrison looked up at Caitlyn and smiled.  He tried to speak, but only the dry smacks of his lips and tongue managed to escape. 

“It’s okay, Dad,” Caitlyn said, “everything is okay.”  Harrison shook his head, frustration and disagreement finding their best expression in his hand, squeezing hers even tighter.  “I know, Dad, I love you too, and I’m sorry.  It was my fault, I won’t disappoint you again, I promise.”

Harrison shook his head and squeezed his hand tighter, looking to Sabrina for some kind of relief which she could not offer.  “We’re all together again, Harrison, everything’s going to be just like it was.  You’ll see.”

Those words tore through Caitlyn like razors, blood pouring into her heart, filling her lungs, nearly suffocating her right there in the hospital.  But her father would be okay, and that was what mattered.  She’d see to that personally.

The rest would heal in time, even if there’d never be enough of it.

* * *

Caitlyn had Julien follow her to the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX, stopping first to drop off his rental car.  Once at the gate, they could only stare into each other’s eyes, neither entirely sure what to say or entirely ready to face the truth.

But whatever their words, the subtext was never far from the surface, the painful truth lurking behind the trembling veneer of each fragile lie.  They’d already said everything there was to say, and felt everything there was to feel except for the aching heartache and uncertainty that they now confronted.

But at least they were facing it together, thought that was cold comfort to Caitlyn’s breaking heart.  It was still a nice opportunity for a lucky group of paparazzi, chronicling their ill-fated romance.

“Have a good trip back,” Caitlyn said, really meaning,
Please, don’t go.

“I will call you as soon as I land,” Julien replied, actually saying,
I wish I could stay.
  When he added, “Do not worry, Caitlyn, I’m sure your father will be okay, especially with you near him, nurturing his recovery,” he was really saying,
We both know his time on this Earth is limited.  Enjoy it now, while you can.

Ignoring the bustle of travelers and security guards around them, Caitlyn said, “As soon as he’s better, I’ll come to Paris.” 
I will not leave my father’s side now, not until he dies.  I have no choice, and I don’t want one.

“You will always have a place by my side,” Julien said, meaning,
You will always have a place by my side.

Caitlyn put her hand on his cheek.  “Take care then, my love.  I’ll see you soon.”  Goodbye, my love. 
We’ll never see each other again.

“
Oui
, Caitlyn,
oui
.” 
I know, Caitlyn, I know.

Caitlyn and Julien kissed once more, lips almost afraid to touch, knowing that they’d never touch again; hearts afraid to love, knowing the pain that love can bring, feeling it to the utter zenith of pain’s own power to hurt.  His tongue and hers said goodbye, a final embrace in that sweet, warm chamber of their mutual memory.  Their hands met again as well, fingers entwining for one final caress, twenty intimate strangers in one last group hug.

Everything they’d experienced, life and death, ultimate freedom and eternal imprisonment, both figurative and literal; all of it came to this sad, empty moment of lies born of truths, pains born of pleasures, separations born of unions, happenstantial meetings authored by the fates themselves.

None of it matters now,
Caitlyn realized. 
Nothing remains of our love, of our experiences, of all that love and death and faith and fate; just two sad people who started off sad and lonely and wound up the same way.  In between there’s just a blur, a memory, a series of things that seem to have happened, but left hardly any trace all.

Except the scars on my heart,
Caitlyn realized.

Caitlyn and Julien pulled away slowly, Caitlyn unable to move as she watched him hand over his boarding pass and step down that long ramp, a final wave his only offering before disappearing.

Back to Paris.

Gone.

Forever.

And once Caitlyn pushed her way through the last malingering photographers, ignoring their wretched questions, Caitlyn did indeed return to life as it had been, even before she left for the dorms.  She moved back into the family house to help nurse Harrison back to health.  She was out at UCLA, but she did start taking a few classes at California State University, Northridge, about a half-hour into the San Fernando Valley.

Harrison got stronger every day, until after only a few weeks we seemed irritated at all the extra attention.  He was back up and about, driving and even doing an hour or two of work at the office every day.  He’d lost a few pounds and the color had returned to his complexion. 

His entire manner seemed more relaxed, his voice softer and more calm, less flex and clap than before.  And the sentiments behind them also softened, tempered, humbled.

Not for the first time, he said to Caitlyn, “You know, it’s not just the heart attack.  Sam talked sense into me that day, about your Frenchman -- ”

“Julien.”

“Julien, yes.  I... I want you to know in no uncertain terms that I’m doing better now and that, if it’s your interest to go back to France and be with this man, I will do everything I can to make that happen.”

Caitlyn kissed his forehead.  “That’s sweet, Dad, and I do appreciate it.  But I’m fine, really.”

Harrison shook his head.  “You don’t seem fine to me.  You’re quiet, listless, you float around here doing chores and looking after me like a nurse.  That’s no life for you.  That’s not the person I want you to be.”

“Dad, I -- ”

“Listen to me, Caitlyn.  You’re an honorable person and a devoted daughter, and I’m very proud of you.  But you don’t have to sacrifice yourself for me.”

Caitlyn forced a smile, then waved him off with a casualness it took ever bit of her strength to muster.  “I’m not, Dad.  Why should I run off to France?  I’ve been there.  Julien was great, but...”  Caitlyn really had to wrestle to finish her lie in any convincing manner.  “But sometimes these things just don’t work out.  That’s part of life.”