The Black Onyx Pact (33 page)

Tarasque is speechless.

«You? In love?» asks incredulously.

«Yes, me. Absurd, isn't it? I thought I wasn't even capable of that feeling, which I always mocked. I've always considered love like a disease. But you know what, Jérôme? It is not a disease. Love is like death: it's inevitable and it affects everyone, sooner or later. And if you don't die it means that you've never been alive.»

Jérôme half-opens his mouth hearing his friend saying those things. He looks at him with different eyes now.

«Romain, you look so... human. You are scaring me. I didn't know you could fall in love, and even less that you were falling in love with Sibylle.»

«I am already in love with her, Jérôme. I am madly, hopelessly, desperately in love with that divine creature, damn it! And I won't show my face to a woman who does not reciprocate my feelings. For her I'm nothing more than a stud bull. And her stud bull I will be, if that's all she can give me. I take it, silently, as the faceless beast that I am. Now you understand why I cannot show her my face? Do you understand the pain I feel inside in seeing her wearing that wedding ring while I hold her in my arms? It's like holding a woman who is present only with her body, not with her mind. She cannot be mine and I don't know what I would give to be hers. I would be ready to do anything to have her, Jérôme.»

Tarasque takes a deep breath, running a hand through his soft dark hair.

«Wow, I don't know what to tell you, my friend. I suffer to see you in this way. You're a man who knows what he wants and you know what you need to do. Let her have her husband back, if she really goes back with him then you will return to your everyday life. Don't worry, you won't be alone: I will be next to you, my friend, laughing at you every day that God will send on Earth.»

They both smile, then Jérôme comes up to him to give him a strong hug. Drakkar holds him tight, closing his eyes and enjoying the warmth of their friendship.

«Thanks.» says Drakkar with a broken voice.

Jérôme holds him tighter in his arms
—
well, for as much as he can, since Drakkar is really massive and not easy to hug
— then pats his hand on his back and moves away from him.

«Don't thank me, please. How many times you saved my ass with those bullies at school when we were kids? Countless times.»

Drakkar grins.

«It was easy to protect you. It has been enough to spread the voice that you were my “
femelle
” and that I was so jealous of you.»

They laugh.

«Damn, you're such a bastard! Why you didn't just spread the voice that I was your best friend instead of spreading the absurd rumor that I was your boyfriend and you were ready to “break the bones” of anyone who dared to come too close to me?»

Drakkar's shoulders shake in laughter.

«Believe me, if there is one thing more frightening than a menacing taurine boy is a menacing taurine boy sickly jealous of his boyfriend.»

«Aww, how thoughtful. Too bad you ruined my life with girls!»

«Yeah, but all the gay at school craved for you.»
«Hmmm, I cannot complain then. No, wait, I can: I'm frigging straight!»

They laugh again, recalling some amusing anecdotes of the past.

Nathan enters suddenly with a big red mark on the left side of the face. Drakkar and Tarasque laugh loudly at him for the slap he received.

«Romain, you must teach to your newly acquired brother a little about women.»

Drakkar winks at Nathan.

«I'll teach you everything I know, Nat. And I tell you now that the first right move is: never directly approach a woman, but get closer to her and let her know your intentions. Let her decide if she wants to be yours or not.»

Tarasque raises an eyebrow.

«Nathan, remember that Drakkar can teach you everything he knows about sex, but about sex only; because when it comes to love he is the last person who can help you.» Then, clapping his hands he adds: «
Bon
, let's organize something for tonight, shall we? Are you busy tonight? No? Me neither. So, what about going out for a drink? I know a lovely place. Or maybe we can stay home. What do you prefer? You want to stay home, don't you? Fine then, let's stay at home. I come to you or you want to come to my place? No, I'll come to your house. I like your home, Romain. What time? Let's say at
9
pm? Is that fine for you? Yes? Ok, let's meet at
9
then.»

Tarasque phone rings and he answers turning to the side.

Nathan looks at Drakkar and smiles: he likes Tarasque, he is funny and blunt.

Tarasque closes the call, looks at them and makes a big smile.

«It was Saphir: Nymphe wants to see me tonight. Ha! Like hell I'm going out with you!»

Tarasque walks out of the room laughing loudly.

~

The same morning Sibylle is driving her colorful and noisy Citroën
2
CV on the streets of Paris. She painted the car herself of many iridescent colors, making it a unique piece. She is driving for one hour, looking for someone to talk with, feeling the need to share her emotions.
Earlier she went to her father's mechanic workshop but she has been told that Guillaume didn't go to work that morning. So she went to his father's house; she searched for the door's key in the vase where he kept hiding it for twenty years, and she entered. But what she saw shocked her: her father and her friend Alma were taking a shower together, laughing and saying dirty things. They didn't realize she were there, so she stared at them for a while from behind the shower curtains with her mouth half open in astonishment.
She then went to Saphir's office but they told her that Saphir had her day off. Now she is heading to the cemetery where Nora works, and probably she is about to begin her daytime shift. She arrives and parks her car then she enters the cemetery, walking on the pedestrian paths among the graves. She arrives at a lovely bungalow almost hidden by the trees: the keeper's house.
Nora and Virginie are preparing dinner in the small kitchen sweetly lit by the sun. It's a room with big glass doors which overlook some beautiful trees.
The two women are arguing, like always.
«See? This happens because you are an idiot», is saying Virginie brushing aside her long black hair from her cute face, while looking at her friend busy stirring something in a pan, «everyone knows that vegetables must be added later! Gosh, you are such a mess, honey.»
Virginie sighs smoothing her purple sequin blouse long up to the thighs, above a pair of black opaque tights. At her feet she has a pair of purple pumps stiletto heels, a pair of lovely women shoes size
14
.
Nora is wearing a denim dungarees and a black T-shirt under it.
«Keep your hands off my lunch, Virginie! I don't want your fake nails to fall in my meal!»
«If they would it will just ameliorate the taste! And however they aren't fake, honey, these are my natural nails. I need them to
—
», she gently scratches Nora's arm with her nails, making an hilarious soft roar.
Nora growls at her, and Virginie roars. One growls, the other one growls. Sibylle enters the room breathing out.
«I wonder how much money I could earn making videos of your quarrels.»
«Sibylle!» exclaim them.
They forget about the cooking and go to sit at the table in front of Sibylle, who already took a seat. After some minutes of silence Nora and Virginie look at each other.
«I think all this sex isn't good for her.» observes Nora.
«It's ruining her language center.» affirms Virginie.
Sibylle smiles and shakes her head.
«No, sorry, I was lost in my thoughts
—
»
«Yeah, we know what you were thinking, honey. That's why we are sitting here: because we want to know every dirty detail about last night.» says Virginie
Sibylle beats her hands on the table in excitement.
«So, first of all I want you to know I knew a lovely girl. She is sweet and very nice. Her name's Sophie but her secret name in the Club is Nymphe. This morning I woke up early and Drakkar was already gone, so I stayed in bed thinking about the night with him. Then Sophie knocked at my door: her playmate left early too. So we spent some hours lying face-to-face on the bed and talking amiably.»
Nora's eyes shine hearing those words while Virginie makes an annoyed gesture with her hand.
«Yes, ok, but spare us your lesbian experiences, thanks.»
«Oh no no no!» complains Nora. «I want to know everything about it! It's about to get interesting at last! Go, Siba, tell us more, please!»
Sibylle chuckles.
«Sorry, Nora, we just talked.»
Nora makes a disappointed sound and Virginie one of relief.
«But we did talk about our desire to try a Sapphic experience, so we decide we'll do it, and we'll do it together! We exchanged some caresses and we realized that we do like each other. We talked a lot about it and we already planned something, so now», she raises her arms to the sky, «ta
—
dah!, we decide to have our first Sapphic experience in front of other men, including Drakkar and Tarasque. Tarasque is Sophie's playmate. Naturally it's a surprise, I still have to talk about it with Saphir.» She looks out of the glass doors and sighs. «But today it's her day off, so we must wait until
—
», she stops and widens her beautiful emerald eyes. «Saphir!» she yells, running out.
Nora and Virginie get up and look where she is heading. At the end of the path nearby there is an elegant lady dressed in a fine ivory women suit. The lady is laying some flowers on a marble grave. Sibylle runs among the graves yelling her name and Nora gazes out of a window shouting:
«For God's sake, Sibylle, don't scream like that! We are in a cemetery!»
«Yeah, sure, that's a clever thing to say screaming.» says Virginie.
When Saphir hears calling her name she turns to look behind her and as soon as she sees Sibylle she takes a deep breath, raising her eyes to the sky.
Sibylle arrives panting loudly but also smiling happily. She doesn't say a word for a while, stay silent looking at the clean shining white marble grave where there is a name written in black: Armand.
«Your husband?» asks Sibylle.
«Yes.» answers Saphir icily.
«He really was an attractive man.»
«He was, indeed.»
«What a nice smile he had and such a sweet gaze too.»
«He was a man who loved to laugh and his heart was as good as an angel's.»
«The exact opposite of you.» observes Sibylle.
Saphir turns to look at her for a second, a second long enough to admonish her from saying stupid things like that.
«Forgive me, Saphir, I never understand when it's better to shut up.»
«Yeah, I can see that.»
«Those flowers are beautiful. Is it a particular occasion today?»
«Yes, it is.» answers Saphir arranging the flowers on a big vase.
«Oh, is it... uhm, the anniversary of his death?»
«I tell you something,
madame
Améthyste: I always found extremely stupid to remember and honor the day of someone's death. I mean, I know more than I would the date and even the exact time when my husband died. And
— unfortunately for my poor heart
—
I remember even better the pain of his loss; the desperation of conceiving a life without him; the frustration and the tremendous sense of guilt for being still alive when he is not anymore. No, I promised myself I would never ever honored that grievous day. To me that day is everyday.» She touches the photo of her husband and smiles despite the tears. «But yes, today is a special day, today it's our wedding anniversary.
That
is a day I want to remember and honor forever.»
Sibylle sobs once involuntarily stepping back a bit.
«I
—
I wait for you outside, okay?»
Saphir looks at her and smiles.
«No, stay here with me,
madame
Améthyste. You know, it's strange, I never talk about him with anyone, but telling you these things makes me feel better.»
Sibylle steps closer again.
«Tell me more, please. I want to know anything about this special man. He must have been a wonderful person if he left this emptiness inside you.»
«He was, indeed.»
Saphir begins to tell her of her husband, of that husband of whom nobody knew nothing. Of that immortal husband that no other man could ever replace. She tells Sibylle how they met, how he proposed. She even tells her of their first time, of their incredible passion. Saphir's voice is firm but emotional; sometime she laughs remembering something funny of the past, other times she seems about to sobs at the thought of not being able to see him anymore. The sun rays filter between the branches of the trees, stroking gently the graves all around.
«Now I tell you a funny thing,
madame
Améthyste. For years a black cat wandered here around, a beautiful black cat I often seen sleeping peacefully on Armand's grave. I was happy about it, he looked like a guardian or something. But now it's a year I don't see him anymore, probably is dead and this makes me sad, you know? I liked the idea of my husband having that big black one-eyed cat watching over him.»
Sibylle takes a deep breath.
«His name's Chocolat, Saphir.»
Saphir looks at her and Sibylle gives her one of her sweetest smiles.
«His name's Chocolat and he lives with me. Apart my own association, I am also patroness of the association that takes care of the cats of this cemetery. Chocolat lived in this place for long time, but last year he got sick and
— s
ince isn't easy to find a family for an elder cat
—
I adopted him. He is very well, you can come to see him whenever you want, in fact, I wanted to talk about that as well. A part a Sapphic rendezvous I want also book one of the Club's services. I want to organize an “all girls” evening at my place. It will be fun and you are formally invited too. Chocolat will be happy to see you again!»
Saphir smiles. She is happy to know the
‘
guardian cat
’
is doing well.
«Well, you know I never accept to see members outside the events, but this time I cannot decline. I want to congratulate with you for your commitment with your associations. It's a great thing and I'm happy to know there are people that take care of those creatures in need.»
«Come, Saphir, I want to show you something.»
Sibylle leads her in a path among the graves.
«One of the many volunteers lady who take care of the cats of the cemetery died some months ago. It has been a great loss, believe me. That woman was amazing: she lived in a small house, she never married and didn't have any kids, she didn't have a family. The cats were her only family. For twenty years
— can you image Saphir? F
or twenty years!
—
she took care of them always with a smile upon her sweet face. Sunny, rainy, snowy, windy, she never missed a day. The cats loved her, and she loved them even more. She couldn't afford anything, but she always refused economical help from me or any other person. She said she had all that she need. The only thing I did for her is this little mausoleum. The statue is a work of one of my friend, a sculptor, and I painted the ceiling of this mausoleum.»
She stops in front of a breathtaking tomb. Four columns hold a ceiling painted with a
trompe l'oeil
depicting a window from which one can see a forest; there are also four stairs of white marble that lead on a marble slab on which there is an incredible statue of a old smiling woman seated, and dressed in a tunic, like one of those of the angels. Two real cats are resting on her lap while three others take a nap at her feet on the marble warmed by the sun. Sibylle smiles emotively.
«We don't know why they come to this tomb, it seems that they understood that Aurore is resting here. You should have seen the surreal image of when we laid down her corpse here: there were cats everywhere! They all stayed in respectful silence for all the time.»
Sibylle shows the epitaph and Saphir is touched by what she reads: