The One (118 page)

Julian
’
s name was all Frances needed to recall why
she was there driving a Rent-A-Car Chevy and wearing a jet black wig,
metamorphosing her face.

“
What do you need me for?
”
Frances asked coolly as she was driving
to the airport.

“
Well, since you asked so nicely
…
I need two things, your money and yourself.
”

Frances had looked at the woman, starting
to wonder if she had picked up a mentally deranged person, but Belinda added,
“
I need your money because we are going on
a trip to Paris. That
’
s where Julian is at the moment and for
the foreseeable future. And I need IDs, passports, a place to stay, some
ammunition, a particular car,
etc
,
etc
,
etc
,
…
and these costs money and I
’
m running low, but you are flushed. And I
need you because you will distract Julian in the flesh, when the sport
’
s car
I
’
ll be driving runs him over, ending once and for all
his pitiful existence on this planet.
”

Frances has stopped the car on the first
exit ramp to examine Belinda
’
s face.

All she saw was fierce intent, and
determination. The woman would go ahead with her plan, with or without her, she
realized.

As she restarted the car, feeling her
Cheshire cat grin creep up, she asked,
“
So, where are we flying to when we leave
Phoenix?
”

“
Chicago. I need to get in touch with
certain people and pick up some of the things we
’
ll need.
”

“
Chicago, here we come!
”
Frances said, as she pressed on the
accelerator.

Getting to see Julian pay in the flesh was
worth all this trouble!

Revenge was definitely sweet she had
thought.

CHAPTER 110

Take me home

Vi

A year later.

October
2012. Paris. Père Lachaise
Cemetery
.
France.

It had been raining. A classic Parisian autumn day.

As they existed the Limousine and he had
adjusted his cane and helped her to set the stroller up, so the three of them
could to go through the lanes to their final destination, she had looked at the
fading grey sky, and as timid rays of sunshine were lightly coming through, so
did a double rainbow.

She had smiled, recalling the last time
she had seen one.

A long time ago, in Langkawi, the day she
was reborn.

((~~!~~))

It had been exactly a year.

The longest of her life.

When she had arrived at the hospital
following the ambulance in a taxi, she had been in total shock. In a nearly
catatonic state, carrying her daughter with her, she had silently
prayed. The event of the previous minutes playing over and over in her
mind.

She had asked about Ethan and Julian
’
s condition, and was told, both were
unconscious due to the injuries sustained, and the next few hours would be
critical.

Doctors had advised and warned her: only a
sheer miracle would allow any of them to come out of this alive. In fact, it
would be prudent to prepare herself for the worst, and start making the
necessary arrangements.

Damage was extensive on both counts.

She had asked about the driver,
remembering the woman at the source of her personal tragedy.
“
Dead at the scene.
”
she had been laconically informed.

As she sat in the hospital waiting room
holding her blissfully unaware daughter for dear life, an intern had come to
ask her if there was anyone he could call for her.

Her brain didn
’
t seem to understand the question until he
had repeated it three times, when she finally said,
”
No, these two men are my family.
”

It was only an hour later, with the
persistent ring coming from her trench pocket, which reminded her she had a
cell phone that she had recalled she was not alone in the world, and life was
still continuing outside the walls of that room.

“
Allo
?
”
she had whispered upon seeing her brother ID on the
screen.

“
Mami!
”
he had screamed with relief,
“
You
’
re ok? There are news reports all over the
TV and radio about what happened in your street!
”

“
I
’
m ok. Deric,
”
she had replied with a broken voice, as
she felt her sleeping daughter move against her.

“
Where are you?
”
he had asked in a calmer voice, adding,
“
Everyone is already on the road back to
Paris, we just don
’
t know which hospital to go to
…”

“
L
’
hôpital
Americain
,
”
she had replied, before dropping the
phone, as her daughter was awakening, and starting to cry.

((~~!~~))

Melissa, Marcus, James, and Deric were seated, and all
had cups of coffee in her hands. They were unable to drink up or even speak to
each other, and just blankly stared into space, waiting.

Charlie was on his way, as he had to drop off
the girls in the hands of a babysitting service, not wanting to expose them to
any of whatever else was coming, on this fateful afternoon.

Todd was standing up, pacing, and on the
phone with the Paris police commissioner, as one of his uniformed men had
appeared out of nowhere to keep an eye on her and be immediately apprised of
new developments. The Australian ambassador had sent a personal envoy to ensure
the hospital administrator knew to allocate adequate resources and treatment to
the two prominent patients. The French department of foreign affairs had also
an attaché present in the premises to coordinate all information, and closely
monitoring the situation. And most importantly, keep the press at bay.

 Due to the personalities involved,
authorities across the board were nervous this peculiar accident could
degenerate into an international diplomatic incident.

Kevin had been holding
Christabella
stroller, softly singing to her.

Lily was tightly holding her hand as the
two of them were lying up against a supporting wall, when the head of the
surgery department had come and asked if he could speak with her.

She had looked at the man, unable to
reply, her entire body starting to shiver.

Lily had said in a hollow voice,
“
Please, just tell us.
”

The doctor, never leaving her eyes, had
whispered apologetically,
“
I
’
m sorry, we did everything we could
…”

Her legs gave out, as she heard the end of
the sentence,
”…
But he
’
s gone. My condolences.
”

A stunned silence accompanied his exit.

Then, a wailing cry came out of her lungs
as she slid to the floor, her body wrenched by uncontrollable sobs, and she
cried and howled like a wounded animal.

((~~!~~))

The same chief of surgery had come hours later to find
her, silent and prostrated, in the same waiting room.

Everyone was still there waiting for news
on the fate of the other man in her life.

Each of them unable to contemplate the
consequences of the possibility of losing him
…

The doctor had informed them, nothing more
could be done for him that evening. His condition was still critical, his
ultimate prognosis could not be determined as of yet, but he was in a coma,
otherwise stable. He had asked if the patient was religious, maybe a priest or
a pastor could attend him to overnight, just in case, even if the medical team
did not foresee any change of his condition for the next 24 hours. In the
meantime, they could all go home and get some rest. Tomorrow would be a new
day.

As well as the day after, and the next,
and the next.

She was at his side every day for five
months before he finally opened his eyes.

When her green ones met his blue ones, a
range of emotions was communicated in silence.

He was alive, his memory intact.

He recalled every detail.

He didn
’
t ask what had happened after he was run
over; he already knew by just looking at her. There was no need for words. Not
when she was holding his hand so tight he thought his fingers would break, and
looking at him the way she was.

He didn
’
t need to hear it, her face said it all.

They were alone.
He
had left them. Ethan
had died. He lost his life saving his.

He had just said, sadly,
“
We
will
survive this. Together.
”

And they would. The next six months were
made of multiples surgeries and physical therapy to allow him to regain a semblance
of himself, until he could walk on his own again.

Finally, he was deemed
‘
recovered
’
in medical terms. Only a cane and a
slight limp, the constant reminder of that fateful day in October when their
life changed forever.

As the anniversary date approached, he
made plans to visit the cemetery with her for the first time, even though he
knew she went to visit
him
every day.

Seeing the grave would make him accept the
one thing he still couldn
’
t.

He was alive, when
he
was dead.

((~~!~~))

“
We found a way when there was none...We
’
ll do it again.
”
he said, caressing the headstone.

He was thinking of his friend, his brother
from another mother, buried under, and the extraordinary set of circumstances
that had brought them back into each other
’
s lives and eventually led him, here, to
this cemetery.

It was her. The
One
. It all started
and ended with her.

Their eyes met, and he sensed she was
equally thinking of the circumstances, the twist of fate, that made him die
while
he
was alive.

It had taken a full year to accept the
Fates
’
choice.

“
It
’
s my last visit
…
for a while
…
I need to move on.
”
she said to the gravestone, as she
kneeled and gave it a light kiss.

“
He
’
d want that for you, for us
…”
he took hold of her hand tightly as she
stood and met his gaze.

He pulled her into his arms, kissed her
forehead and lowering his gaze so their eyes met again, he asked,

“
Where do you want to go?
”

She left his embrace and looking at the
gravestone at their feet, she thought about the man underneath and his last
words to her.

A small smile broke on her tear-stricken
face, as she looked at her one-year-old daughter fast asleep in the stroller,
and she said the only thing that made sense, the only thing that signalled a
beginning.

“
Take me home.
”

She was sure he would appreciate the
irony.

References

[1]
Hello, in Arabic.

[2]
Holà
: Hello, in Spanish.
Mamì
:
baby, sexy girl, little mother in Spanish.
Chica
:
girl, sexy girl, little girl in
spanish
.

[3]
“Fools in love, doing crazy things…” extract of a famous Spanish song, “
Tu
y
yo
” by Julio Iglesias.

[4]
Quote from Josephine Hart in her book ”Damage”

[5]
Latin for: all other things remaining
equal.

[6]
Latin for: I came, I saw, I conquered, Quote attributed to Julius Caesar.

[7]
Spanish for: the heart wants what it wants.

[8]
French for: morning of leisure usually spent in bed doing nothing.

[9]
Shadchan
:
Hebrew for a professional matchmaker.  Yenta: Yiddish for a
person who is gossipy and loves meddling in the affairs of the heart of others…