Gemini Rain (25 page)

The women returned loaded down with shopping bag
s, baby’
s clothes and toys and made an agreement to try to make it a weekly venture.

‘Just not as much shopping the next time, please!’ Joel said as he scratched his head in amazement at all the shopping bags. As he took them out of Lauren’s boot he quietly said thank you to both Gabrielle and Lauren.

The following week the day out consisted of a walk along the one of the many
pedestrianized
zones
Cours Julien near the Music Conservatory
but Veronique was more tired than usual.  Lauren re
gretted bringing Emma and Keith
the children were in a rush to see everything.  A beautiful dress caught her eye and she held back to view it in the shop window.

‘Mammy!’ Emma cried out, ‘Mammy there’s something wrong with Veronique!’ Veronique was bent over holding onto Emma’s shoul
der; she waved to them her face
half in pain, half-smiling.

‘Oh Mon Dieu,’ Gabrielle held her hands up in the air, ‘she’s in labour!’

************

‘Oh David, it was so funny,’ Lauren laughed down the line, ‘Joel was at the hospital before we were and he practically carried Veronique into the labour ward! But she’s gorgeous and My God!
She’s
got a mass of thick jet black hair, I never seen so much on a new born before.’

David half-laughed asking how Veronique was, in
her excitement Lauren didn’t notice his mood, ‘Oh she’s still flying high on the gas
they gave her, I’ll be visiting again tomorrow. Do you want to give her and Joel a message?’

‘No, I’ll telephone Joel now, I presume he’s having dinner with Maman and Papa,’ he said despondently.

Lauren then noticed his lack of enthusiasm, ‘What’s wrong?’

‘Nothing,’ he said lightly.

‘David, what’s wrong?’ she insisted, that detested little voice in her head started niggling at her.

‘I’m missing everybo
dy that’s all,’ he half-lied, ‘d
on’t mind me, I guess I’m counting the days ‘til I finish this hell trip
, the delays are ridiculous
, they keep changing the script
and I’m not concentrating the way I should.’ Deciding to cut the conversation short he could feel his throat tighten,
‘I’ll phone Joel now, I’m sorry
Mon
Amie
I’m not much for conversation this evening.’

‘Hey that’s ok,’ Lauren replied, ‘listen we’ll talk soon yeah? Take care mister.’

Chapter 24

Lauren woke up to silence, rubbing her eyes she strained
to see what time it was
.

‘
Christ, what’s going on
, its 10am
?
’
she looked around, n
o
Emma
and Kei
th jumping on the bed to wake her
up an
d no sound from the others too.
Getting up she heard a familiar giggle and the sound of little footste
ps running away from her door. Ah yes,
she forgot it wasn’t just another day
, smiling
she popped into her bathroom for a quick
shower.

Keith was given the respon
sibility of watching out for his mum
, a task he carried out as Action Man, spy camera ready. Seeing Lauren’s feet starting to descend the stairs, he reported into his walkie-talkie to
Emma
‘that the subject was coming down the stairway and nearly at HQ!’ Wanting to be the first to greet her, he jumped out from his hiding place, ‘Happy Birthday Mammy!’

‘Keith, no!’
Emma
came stomping
out from the kitchen, ‘That’s not fair! He wasn’t supposed to do that, Mammy!’

Keith playfully slapped his forehead, ‘I forgot.’

‘No harm done,’ Lauren winked at
Emma
and patted Keith’s head,
kneeling down she asked ‘am I
going to get a birthday hug from the best boy a
nd girl in the whole wide world?’
She nearly fell over as they battled to get the first hug of the day. Everybody was waiting and cheered as she entered the kitchen, hugs, kisses
, cards
and presents from everybody, Lauren blushed and said they were all being ridiculous, ‘after all it’s only another birthday.’

‘Isn’t it terrible when people want to call it just another birthday,’ Pat said aloud, ‘you always know they’ve just hit that
oh God
I’m forty
milestone in their life.’

‘Oh you remember back that f
ar, dear Patrick!’ Lauren joked
not letting him get away with that remark
even if he’s was only forty-one
.

Breakfast was quickly eaten and preparations were already beginning for the evening ahead. Opening her presents with the aid of
Emma
and Keith, Lauren felt extremely content; the most wonderful
people she could ever want to celebrate her birthday with were here
. When she picked them up from the airport there was so much luggage and musical instruments they needed to hire a mini-bus and for the past week every night was a musical night.

Peter’s family were blessed with the talent of music and song, not only could they sing they were naturals to every instrument they chose to play.
Even though her parent’s knew the Connolly family it
was
how Lauren
first met them
, Peter’s mother
taught piano lessons and it was one of the many hobbies Lauren attempted; thankfully she was good continuing for two years but then trailed onto something new.
But she remained close with the family because of
Debbie
and her sister Siobhan; they were in the same school, eventually Peter came onto the scene. And now,
Debbie
, Pat, their three sons, two daughters and Peter’s two other sisters, Margaret and Siobhan were here for holiday, yes it was a holiday she appreciated, it was precious to her. 

Even the Corvasieur family
were delighted when she invited them
to her party
, Gabrielle even volunteered to bake the birthday cake, Lauren warned them to be prepare
d for a night of song and dance and
Jean-Pierre promised to bring his violin and accordion. Her only disappointment came from David, filming was
constantly being
delayed, he didn’t know if he could make it back on time, pretending she didn’t mind she told him that maybe they could celebrate it another time. But she was bitterly disappointed thinking how he could fly over and just stay t
he night like he did for Claude;
everybody would be here tonight except for him.

After the call her mind started to play dirty tricks on her, maybe he’s with that actress he was so friendly with on the TV.
‘
Typical of him,
’
she fumed,
‘
Veronique was right all he wanted was a woman waiting for him here and then he could waltz off to the next attractive actress he worked with.
’
Lauren decide
d that the next time they met up
it was going to be a very cool and casual greeting.

Peter junior,
Debbie
and Pat’s eldest came in from the sitting room, ‘Who’s the guy coming up on the Harley?’ he asked Lauren excitedly. Peter j
n
r. loved bikes, his pa
r
ents were always amazed how his mind contained the knowledge of every model and make going, ‘now why couldn’t he do that with his schoolwork,’
Debbie
would often complain.

Lauren didn’t know anybody with a motor bike except for David and all his bikes were locked up in the second garage.

‘It must be a courier or somebody like that,’ curiously she got up heading for the front door with nearly everybody following suit.

Even though he still had his helmet on Lauren recognised David straight away; he was still sitting on the bike as he took his helmet off, grinning and waving to his audience.

‘Oh, this is one of my neighbours everybody, David.’ Lauren turned to her family, ‘Remember, I’ve told you about him and his constant teasing and he’s my landlord,’ nervously she laughed as suddenly she felt a little tense; it was only now she realised the awkwardness of the situation. This was her husband’
s family and with Peter only a little over year gone
, the idea of her and David being together in front of them was unthinkable. Walking down to him, she gave David a warning look, he copped it straight away.

After introductions were made, he proudly displayed the new toy he just bought himself.

‘Oh wow, a Harley Davidson Softail FXSTB Night Train,’ Peter couldn’t believe his eyes, immediately bending down to view the engine. ‘Is the engine a Twin Cam 88B?’ he looked up at David a realisation suddenly dawning on him, ‘Uh Lauren does he speak English?’

David chuckled, ‘Yes to your first question and yes to your second.’  

‘Hmm,’ Lauren’s eyes viewed the bike, deciding this was her chance
to get him back, lightly whisper
ing, ‘I’ve never seen something so powerful between your legs before David.’

David knew she got him for all the teasing he inflicted on her, it was now his turn to go red faced.

Asking the assembled if it was okay to take the birthday girl for a ride he offered Lauren the spare helmet. Lauren was hesitant; she was scared of bikes and the vulnerability of one’s body when riding on them, but
Debbie
jokingly pushed her forward, ‘Go on, you’re only in the way of our preparations!’

Waving goodbye, she held on tightly closing her eyes, keeping them closed for the whole journey, not knowing where he was taking her. Finally the bike slowed down coming to a halt, Lauren looked up gasping, ‘Oh Christ What a view!’ walking forward to the edge; it was nearly the highest point in the region. The view displayed before her was like two different windows, in one was the city of Marseille with it’s metropolitan expanse leading out to the sea, then the other window was the rural life of France, she could see neighbouring villages and the hill of Cassis. The rural scene reminded her of a view in the mountains of County Kerry and a poem she learned in school, ‘The Eagle’ by Lord Tennyson. She began to recite it in her head remembering how Peter thought she was crazy as she recited it aloud when they visited that beautiful region on their honeymoon.

David knowingly laughed, the last person he brought here was Francoise and the reaction was the same, foolishly he informed Lauren of this.

Not looking at him Lauren returned to reality with a big hard thump, with grim determination she reminded herself of her promise not to fall into his little trap, ‘So how come you’re back, I thought filming was delayed.’

‘I lied, well kind of. We did fall behind schedule but I wanted to surprise you,’ David put
his arm across her shoulders, ‘d
o you like the view and the surprise?’ he asked softly.

‘It’s fantastic, I never dreamt this was here, I must venture more afar,’ knowing he was waiting for more she walked away to see another vantage point.

David watched her, ‘now what’s happening?’ he wondered as he scratched his head, he knew the cold shoulder treatment when he got it.

Deciding to change the subject he asked was her previous problem sorted. Lauren looked at him angrily, why the hell did he have to bring up that subject today of all days, ‘I promised you I’d tell you when its over, didn’t
I!’ Turning away, ‘how could you remind me David
!’ she wanted to forget the predicament Peter left her in for these holidays and although it
niggling
interrupted her thoughts as she lay alone in bed at night, she did successfully p
ut it at the back of her mind
for this holiday
.
‘
Now
he
brings up the subjec
t as if it was of no importance
knowing full well how much it upset m
e, what is he trying to do now?
’

David couldn’t understand, ‘Mon Dieu, can I say anything right today?’

They glared at each other.

‘Well maybe if you stop comparing me to your ex-wife and reminding me of my problems, you might actually cheer me up!’ she retorted.

‘I didn’t compare you to Francoise! And you looked so happy I thought…Ah, forget
it!’ he got back on the Harley.
‘Come on, I’ll take you back you’re obviously in no humour for what I hoped would be a nice birthday morning for you.’ Starting up the engine he offered her the helmet, she turned away to look at the view one last time and sighed.