Paris Summer (12 page)

Janine nodded, thinking that Mark could be very
pleasant when he wanted to be. His next comment
startled her. “Have you ever had Greek food?” Mark
asked.

Janine shook her head. “No. Why?”

“There’s a good Greek restaurant around here.
Would you like to try it?”

Janine did a quick mental calculation. She had
changed a traveler’s check on Friday and had enough
left if the place wasn’t too expensive. “Okay,” she
replied.

The streets were crowded and Mark held Janine’s
arm to guide her. “I think you’ll like this place,” he was saying when he suddenly halted. Then, just as
inexplicably, he started walking again and, to Janine’s
question, said, “For a moment I was worried that
maybe you wouldn’t like the place after all since the
food tends to be fattening. Then I remembered you said
something about wanting to gain weight.”

Janine laughed. “You’ve got a good memory.”

The menu was posted in the window of the
restaurant and Janine noted with relief that the prices
were quite reasonable. As the waiter seated them Mark
suggested, “Should I order for both of us?”

“Please,” Janine answered. “I have no idea what
anything is.”

She leaned back as the waiter led Mark to the front
of the store to choose the main dishes. The restaurant
was small and dark and Janine felt much more at ease
than she had in the restaurants Sandy had taken her to.
When Mark returned he explained the various dishes
he had ordered. “I also ordered wine. I hope you don’t
mind,” he said.

“Of course not,” Janine replied.

Mark leaned back and said, half apologetically, “It’s
not as fancy as the places Sandy takes you to but it’s
rather nice.”

“I think I prefer it,” she said honestly. “I always feel
slightly awkward in fancy restaurants. Besides, I feel
guilty that Sandy is spending so much money on me.”

Mark snickered. “Sure you do. But you manage to
soothe your conscience by telling yourself Sandy can
afford it. And by being nice to him.”

“That’s not fair!” Janine said hotly.

She broke off as the waiter appeared at the table
with a salad. She glared at Mark silently while he watched her with amusement. When the waiter left he
leaned forward. “The solution is simple, you know.
You can always pay for your half of the meal and you
could ask to go to less expensive restaurants.”

“Don’t you think I’ve tried?” Janine demanded.
“Sandy won’t let me pay for anything when he’s
around. The one time I succeeded it was because we
were going to take a tour boat and I ran ahead and paid
for the tickets before he could stop me. He’s got this
thing about women paying for things-claims it looks
bad. And since he pays for dinner he says he has the
right to choose the restaurant.”

“Well, if you can’t help it, why not relax and enjoy
yourself?” Mark said reasonably.

“Because I feel as if Sandy is trying to buy me bit by
bit!” she exploded.

“I see,” was all Mark said as he regarded Janine
steadily.

Troubled, Janine began eating quickly, avoiding his
eyes. After a moment, Mark joined her. For a while
they talked about neutral subjects such as the food. It
was sometime later that Mark said, “You know, maybe
I was wrong after all. Maybe you and Sandy wouldn’t
be suited. In which case you should ease off a
little… see less of him.”

“I wish,” Janine said quietly, “that you would keep
your nose out of my relationship with Sandy. I don’t
know which is worse: you telling me how to attract him
and how much he likes me or you telling me Sandy and
I are not suited. What concern is it of yours anyway?”

“Well, I am your future brother-in-law,” he said
jokingly.

“Just like a man!” Janine said in exasperation. “Marries a woman and feels responsible for all the
female members of her family. Thank you, but I can
take care of myself.”

“Actually,” Mark said calmly, “I was thinking more
of the fact that Sandy would be almost my brother-inlaw. That would be rough even if you two were suited,
but unbearable otherwise. To answer your question,
however, I should point out that it was Rena’s idea, not
mine, that you needed taking care of She asked me to
keep an eye on you before she left Paris.”

“I see,” she acknowledged the point, “but you’re not
being fair to Sandy. He’s kind and gentle and
intelligent and usually considerate. And he loves
children. And…”

“And he’d make you a princess in his father’s castle,”
Mark said, staring at her. “You could have everything
you wanted, couldn’t you? Somehow I just can’t
picture you being happy that way. Or have you
forgotten that princesses tend to be lonely?”

“Not if they’re loved or in love!” Janine snapped
back.

“Well. Are you?”

They glared at each other and after a moment, Mark
looked away. “Okay, it’s none of my business. After
all, I don’t know Sandy as well as you do. And as you
say, being in love is what matters.” Suddenly he grinned
sheepishly. “I do tend to put my foot in my mouth,
don’t I? Especially with sisters. According to mine,
anyway.

Janine laughed. “And I’m oversensitive. Tell me
about your sisters.”

“There’s not much to tell. Both are older. Barbara is
twenty-eight and Sheila is thirty. Both are happily
married with a couple of kids, and both are slightly bored with being housewives. I’ve never had a younger
sister. It’s kind of a nice change.”

Janine laughed again. “Well, it’s a new experience
for me too. Having a brother, I mean. I must admit that
as siblings go you’re not bad.”

“Thanks!” Mark said witheringly.

They were interrupted by the waiter again. He
seemed to approve of their laughter. He also seemed to
think it was an auspicious moment, for he immediately
said, “Dinner is good, yes?”

“Yes,” Mark and Janine answered in unison.

“More wine?”

No.

The waiter shrugged philosophically and took away
the empty plates. As they waited for the next course,
Mark talked about Greece. “You’d love it,” he teased,
“all sorts of old ruins and things. And you’d like the
islands…that is, if you don’t mind boats. That’s how
to get to them, and the sea is sometimes quite rough.”

Janine was amused at the notion. “I’ve been in small
boats ever since I can remember! Every time we went
on vacation my father found a chance to go fishing and
he’d take me with him. By the time I was eight I was
even baiting my own hook.”

“And cleaning your own fish?” Mark interrupted.

“No,” Janine admitted, “I’ve never gotten to the
point of doing that. I can’t explain why, but I find it
much easier to bait a hook.”

“I’m glad to see you have some weaknesses,” he said
wryly. “So what did you do, let the fish go?”

Janine was shocked, “Of course not! The reason we
went fishing was that we love fresh fish… something
you can’t get in the supermarkets. Besides,” she said
mischievously, “my mother established the rule that we had to eat all edible fish we caught. I think it was her
way of keeping the length of our fishing expeditions
reasonable.”

“You can get fresh fish here, you know,” Mark said.
“At the Buci market in fact.”

“I know,” Janine said, slightly embarrassed. “I’ve
been getting up my nerve to buy some, only the thought
of cleaning them…”

Mark burst out laughing, startling the waiter, who
set down the plates and hurried away. After a minute or
two, Mark was merely chuckling. Catching sight of
Janine’s flame-red face he said, “Look, I’ve got an idea.
We both like museums and Sandy doesn’t, so next
Sunday why don’t I stop at the market on my way to
your apartment? I’ll buy some fish and we’ll leave it in
the refrigerator while we go to a museum. When we get
back I’ll clean the fish if you’ll cook it and the rest of
dinner. How does that sound?”

“Very nice. Only…”

“Only what? Sandy?”

“No,” she replied biting her lower lip, “it’s just that I
know it’s so absurd, my phobia about cleaning fish. It’s
embarrassing.”

“Why? Nothing says you have to be rational about
everything. No one is, you know,” Mark replied
seriously. “So, is it settled about next Sunday? Good.
I’ll call you before I start over, just in case you’re still in
bed.”

Janine searched for a suitable reply to this taunt and
finally said in mock despair, “Brothers!”

Both smiling, they attacked their food. Neither
spoke again until they had been served coffee. Then
Janine asked, “Why did you come to Paris to do your
research? Is there someone you wanted to work with?”

Mark grinned sheepishly. “You could say that and I
did on my fellowship application. But the truth is I
usually work completely alone. But there is a professor
here who is interested in my work. The real reason,
however, is that I wanted to be in Paris to be in Paris.”

“Why?” Janine persisted.

“For the same reason you would, I think,” he
replied. “When I was ten and fifteen my parents
brought my sisters and me to visit Europe, including
Paris. I fell in love with the city and wanted to come
back. But it’s not just that. I want to travel; to see as
much of the world as I can. And it’s a lot easier and
cheaper to visit Europe and the Middle East from Paris
than from the States.”

“Do you plan to stay in Paris?” Janine asked.

“I don’t know,” Mark said honestly. “My fellowship
runs out in a few months and it’s hard for foreigners to
get jobs here, so I won’t be in Paris next year. I’d like to
come back later, but I don’t know for how long. The
idea of living in one place for the rest of my life, even
Paris, is still pretty frightening.”

“And next year?”

Mark looked uncomfortable. “I’ve had two job
offers I’m interested in. One is from a university in
Switzerland and one is in Nigeria.”

“Hmm,” Janine said quietly. “I don’t think Rena
would like Nigeria.”

“I know.” Mark sighed. “And even if she weren’t
worried about things like the unrest in Africa there
would still be her career to think about. It’s easier to
find publishers for articles about Europe than about
Africa. Especially since she may get that offer from
Mademoiselle. No, the choice will have to be Switzerland.”

“But you’d rather go to Nigeria?” Janine asked
shrewdly.

Mark laughed ruefully. “Is it that obvious? I like
Switzerland and I’d like to go there. But, well, in
Nigeria I’d at least feel I was needed,” he explained,
choosing his words carefully. “There they’ve just
opened a lot of new colleges and high schools. They
need teachers, mathematicians even. It’s one of the few
places where there is such a shortage of mathematicians. You know how it is in the States. And I’d like to
be teaching students who want to learn.”

Janine stirred her coffee thoughtfully. “You weren’t
planning to get married immediately, were you? Why
not go to Nigeria and marry Rena when you get back?”

“Won’t work!” Mark snapped. “Do you think I
haven’t considered that? I’d be there at least a year,
maybe two or three. Do you really think Rena would
accept that? Or that I’d ask her to, knowing how she
felt? Whatever you might think, I’m not a male
chauvinist pig. A wife has a right to a voice in where she
lives. Nor am I about to ask her to give up a career to
follow me when I wouldn’t be willing to do the same for
her. If it was my only job offer I might be justified, but
it wasn’t. Besides, I told you, I like Switzerland.”

Janine was silent. She wondered if Rena realized just
how unusual a man she had found. And Janine had
thought him unreasonably autocratic! Strong, yes.
With a wall of apparent callousness to hide his
vulnerability. But clearly not unreasonable. For the
first time in her life, Janine found herself worrying, not
about Rena, but about the man in Rena’s life. Mark’s
voice cut across her thoughts. “If you’re worrying that
Rena will walk all over me…don’t. I understand
Rena. If she thinks she can get away with it, she’ll try to run everything, including me. But if she knows she
can’t, Rena will be reasonable. Now. Tell me why you
came to Paris.”

Startled by the abrupt change of subject, Janine
began to chatter. “Ever since I can remember I’ve
wanted to come to Europe and especially Paris.
Whenever I was unhappy I’d tell myself that someday
I’d walk along the Seine and frequent small romantic
cafes where a handsome young man would come and
sit beside me. We’d talk and he’d see all the wonderful
things about me that no one else ever had and…”

“And you’d live happily ever after,” Mark finished
for her.

“Not always,” she said quietly. “Sometimes it
seemed it would be enough if I could just be happy for a
while. And sometimes, yes, we’d live happily ever after.
Childish dreams, but that was only at first. Later it was
the city itself that drew me: cobblestone streets and
ancient churches; bookstalls and open air markets and,
well, yes, always a sense of romance. Rena came here,
and that was another reason to visit. Then, this spring,
I found I had made a fool of myself over a man, a
married man, and I needed to get away. Sol ran…to
Paris.”

Mark waited a moment, then said carefully, “Are
you still running?”

Janine opened her mouth to deny it, but found
herself saying, “I don’t know.”

To her dismay, Janine found herself on the verge of
tears. She had calmly told Sandy it no longer mattered
and had been sure it was the truth. So why, now, did
she feel like this? Mark watched her, hesitating. Finally
he said, “From him or from yourself?”

Janine looked up, startled. After a moment her mouth twisted into a wry grin. “Me, of course. He
doesn’t matter any more except as a reminder of my
stupidity. I guess I’m still afraid of falling in love. But I
want to. Maybe that’s what holds me back sometimes
with Sandy.”

“That or your common sense,” Mark muttered
softly.