Authors: Katherine Owen
Tags: #Contemporary, #General Fiction, #Love, #Betrayal, #Grief, #loss, #Best Friends, #Passion, #starting over, #Women's Fiction, #Contemporary Fiction, #Malibu, #past love, #love endures, #connections, #ties, #Manhattan, #epic love story
“It’s cute; isn’t it? Charming. I discovered it a week ago,” she says.
This is news.
Kimberley doesn’t discover anything. It is found for her, researched by others, and approved of by her. I must have this incredulous look on my face because she finally smiles, something she hasn’t done in the last hour and this serves as another clue as to how bad things really must be.
“Don’t look so surprised, Julia. We’re just having a chat.”
Kimberley doesn’t chat, either.
“Why don’t you just cut to the chase and tell me what the fuck is going on.” I haven’t invoked this particular tone with her since Evan died. It’s actually exhilarating to realize I’ve still got it in me to do it.
“Nothing is going on,” she says in this angelic something-is-so-going-on voice.
I recognize this tone. She’s used it only once in her life with her one and only heartbreak, when Peter Sayers broke up with her, while we were at UCLA and now. When things are at their absolute worst for Kimberley, she goes into her most protective mode. The worse things are, the more angelic she sounds. It’s completely out of character and we both know it.
I glance down at her left hand, the sapphire is still there. She sees me do this. A shadow crosses her features.
“Please don’t make me guess,” I say.
“I don’t know where to start.”
She raises her arms in this helpless gesture, somehow imitating what Stephanie does when she’s trying to cook something and it doesn’t turn out. I stare at her even more intently because Kimberley has never been helpless a day in her life.
“Start with this weekend and work backwards because, somewhere in there, I know this café has something to do with what you’re going to tell me.”
She beams at me. That’s the only way to describe this look she gives me. Somehow, I’ve set her free and she’s sitting in this coffee shop, drinking café au lait and
talking
. This Kimberley has a whole new magic show going on.
“I feel like I’ve been living in a room where there’s no oxygen and I’m just finding this out,” she says with a nervous laugh. “Can you imagine the incredible torture in discovering you’re going to die slowly because the air you’re breathing in doesn’t contain oxygen? I’ve been feeling this way for a while and the closer the date gets, the worse it becomes.” She nods and gets this anxious look. “Julia, I’m being fitted for a wedding dress that belonged to his mother. It’s
off-white
. I don’t
do
off-white, as you well know. Yet, here I am trying on this exquisite antique of a dress and I look in the mirror and think: this isn’t me; is it? And, I, literally, cannot breathe. I had to take off the dress and shut myself in the bathroom for a while. And all these Chantal family members and friends are looking for me, wondering where I’ve gone to and I’m hiding out in the bathroom, freaking out.” She gets this pained look and takes a deep breath.
“And, Gregoire is oblivious. He doesn’t even see it, or
me
. You always used to say that, after Bobby died, how you wanted someone to see you the way he did. I never understood that until now. Because when you finally meet someone who gets you, well, it’s an amazing thing to be seen.”
She smiles, this incredible smile. It lights up her whole face. Kimberley’s been touched by the magic she has always wielded for others.
“We’re not talking about Gregoire Chantal; are we?”
“No,” she says in a low voice. Her eyes fill with tears. “Gregoire is the nicest guy and I love him, but it’s not enough, you know?” She shakes her head side-to-side in disbelief. “We’re still in Nice, when I tried on the wedding gown again after my bathroom calamity and his mother comes up to me and says, “It’s just going to be wonderful, when you two live in Nice, full-time.” I’m nodding and wondering what she’s talking about and so I ask Gregoire when we’re alone that night and he says yes most of the business dealings with his father’s company are done in Nice and he’s been told he really needs to get back to it.
Told
, Julia, not asked. And, he wants to get back to it, leave Paris, and return to Nice.”
“What did you say?”
“I was floored. I mean I have this amazing job here, in Paris, where everyone dreams of living.” She shakes her head. “But I always thought I’d return to Manhattan, eventually.” She frowns. “And, it dawns on me that living in France for the rest of my life is not a part of my plan. You know, how you don’t know where you want to be, right now? Well, I feel that way, too. But, the one thing I do know is I don’t want to be married and live
here
for the rest of my life. Steph’s got it all figured out and it works for her. She has the fairytale chateau life going on here. And, Christian is amazing, but he
sees
her. He would go wherever she wanted him to go and she would do the same for him. There’s the difference, right there.”
“Sometimes, I think it’s not the place so much, but the feeling,” I say. “Wanting to share it with someone who sees you are everything and if you live in a great place that’s just a bonus. I would have followed Bobby anywhere he wanted to go. Place didn’t matter. Heart did. God, I sound like Dr. Stevenson, Mr. Hallmark Card himself.” I start to laugh and Kimberley gets this bemused look for a moment. “ What?” I ask.
“Well, Gregoire isn’t our dear Christian, who, by the way, runs his own company, and doesn’t work for the family business. When I told Gregoire we needed to discuss the option of living in Nice, he said, “Kimberley you can’t work forever; Nice will be our home.” She takes a deep breath. “And, that’s when I really felt like I couldn’t breathe. He’d already made the decision for me, the same way he orders for me when we dine out.” She gets this introspective look. “He wouldn’t be able to save me, if I was suffocating, because he doesn’t see me at all.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to have to tell him I can’t marry him.” Kimberley makes a face. “I feel relieved just saying it. I can breathe again. And, I’ve got to talk to David about this office and putting Frederic in charge.” She looks at me intently. “Because you and I need to go home.”
And, there it is, the sudden release of oxygen into the room for both of us. I can breathe again, too. She’s right. We need to go home.
“Are you going to tell me who can see you?” I ask.
But Kimberley isn’t paying any attention to me; she’s captivated by the person coming through the entryway of this charming café. Of course, it has to be someone who knows most, if not all, of my double down secrets already, just like she does.
≈
≈*
A
stonishment is defined as a state of surprise. Synonyms include: astoundment, awe bewilderment, confusion, consternation, dumbfoundment, shock, wonderment. There are others, but these are the ones that parade through me, like marching bands on Main Street. I’m merely a spectator watching Dr. Bradley Stevenson and my best friend Kimberley Powers drink café au lait drinks and
chat
, while I just sit here in, well, astonishment at this turn of events.
An hour later, we’re making plans for Le Bristol because Dr. Bradley Stevenson is starving and he made reservations weeks before. We’re dressing in Brad’s master bathroom at his hotel suite and changing into dresses from Kimberley’s suitcase she stashed in my car earlier. I begin to suspect her preparation for tonight’s event has everything to do with the handsome doctor rather than any trips she’s taken to Nice. I’m relieved just to see her put on one of her more chic black dresses and step out of the somber one she wore to work all day.
I grab my cell phone and check in with Lianne about Reid. My nanny assures me; he’s just fine. “Go to dinner. When is the last time you’ve been out, Julia? And, you’re in
Paris
,” Lianne says with a laugh. “Have fun.”
Fun? What is that?
I’m still reeling with shock that my former psychiatrist, Dr. Hallmark Card handsome man, is probably involved with my best friend.
I look over at Kimberley. Pure joy emanates from her. She seems to float instead of walk over to me. It’s magical. I reach out and touch her hand, so I can feel it, too.
≈ ≈
Le Bristol is one of the most exclusive restaurants in Paris. I haven’t been here before, well, I haven’t been anywhere in Paris. I’ve been drifting in a daze for the past few months in the City of Light. So, Le Bristol is a pleasant surprise combined with the astonishment that reverberates through me that Dr. Bradley Stevenson and Kimberley may be seeing one another. Him seeing her and her seeing him, literally.
Stunned by what’s taking place between them and watching it unfold, it’s as if I’m witnessing one of Shakespeare’s famous plays come to life. I’m still struggling with using my handsome former doctor’s first name and he seems to be in some kind of spell of his own making, as he beholds every word our dear Kimberley utters. When the waiter hands us the dinner menu, Kimberley looks at it, then looks at me, then looks at Brad.
“Brad, what are you going to have?” Kimberley looks unsure as to what’s she supposed to be doing with the menu. She fidgets with it, opens it, and closes it. I’m not surprised, since she’s been letting Gregoire Chantal handle these decisions for her for the past year. But it’s what Brad does next that assures my loyalty to him forever.
“Kimmy, just cruise the menu and order what sounds good. Just because we’re here and it takes forever to get in; it doesn’t mean it needs to turn into an event.” He bestows an amazing smile her way and she responds in kind.
I’m reeling from the fact he called her
Kimmy
. I’m the only one that calls her that. The only one she
allows
to call her Kimmy. But here’s Brad, using my favorite endearment for my most magical friend.
He sees her.
“What are you having?” Kimberley asks him.
“I was thinking of a hamburger, shake, and fries.”
“It’s a four star restaurant in Paris. I doubt they even have that here.” Kimberley laughs.
“They’ll figure it out,” Brad says. “Have what you want. That’s the point of eating out.”
The waiter comes over for our order. Brad shreds the French language and ends up asking in English for an American hamburger, shake, and fries. Somehow, he and the waiter get his order all worked out. I’m just enjoying the show. Kimberley is still considering the menu, so I order a gourmet burger, just like Brad, and a salad. And then, we wait for Kimberley, who seems to be negotiating world peace with the menu, at this point.
“Just have what you want, babe,” Brad says to her.
“Well, I don’t know what I want.”
“I think you do. I think you just want me to make the decision for you, but I’m not going to. She gets like this every time we go somewhere to eat,” he says to me.
I just nod. The dynamics going on at this table is fascinating. And, how many places have they been to eat together?
“Fine,” Kimberley says. She playfully tosses her hair and peruses the menu for a fourth time. “I’ll have the gourmet burger with blue cheese, a side Caesar salad, and an iced tea.”
Brad inclines his head. “See? That wasn’t so hard and now you get what you want.” Kimberley just radiates under his tutelage. I’ve never seen her like this. Then, he looks over at me and winks. I’m reminded of our needs and wants discussion from months before. Oh my God, he completely understands her magic. And, why not? He is the wizard of magic himself. I’m soaring high in the privilege of just watching this connection between them ignite.
“Do you want to keep a dessert menu?” The waiter asks in his best English. I laugh, knowing we have provided enough fodder for the kitchen staff to laugh about for weeks: the Americans ordering hamburgers at one of the finest restaurant in Paris.
“No. I have dessert all figured out,” Kimberley says with a suggestive look. Her eyes never leave Brad’s face and his fine lips curve into an unbelievable smile just for her.