Paris Summer (9 page)

Janine continued wandering toward Jussieu and the
Faculte des Sciences in her unconcerned way, enjoying
the shops, and finally arrived at the lecture hall.

At first Janine had more trouble with the French at
the seminar than the math, but the situation soon
reversed itself. Halfway through the talk she began to
feel a bit discouraged since it was difficult to think in
French and math at the same time. The subject,
however, was one that interested her and when, at the
end, the professor announced that the talk would
continue the following week, she resolved to attend. As
the others filed out of the room, Janine went forward to
ask a few questions. The mathematician noticed her
and waited patiently. He was young, about thirty,
Janine guessed, with dark hair curling over the collar of
his dark green sports jacket. He smiled warmly at
Janine and did not seem to mind answering all her
questions. He had shifted to English almost as soon as
she began speaking, and Janine admitted to herself that
this was a relief. Afterward he asked her how long she
would be in Paris and if she knew anyone. His name,
she discovered, was Pierre and he was, of course, a professor at the university. Janine explained that she
was on vacation and was a teacher herself. “How did
you happen to hear about my talk?” Pierre asked.

“My sister lives in Paris and her fiance, Monsieur
Mark Renaud, mentioned it,” she explained.

Pierre paused for a moment to think. “Ali, yes. I
know Monsieur Renaud. He is a very good mathematician. You know him well?”

Janine shook her head. “I just met him last week.”

Pierre nodded. “Of course. Well, would you like me
to show you where his office is?”

“No, thank you,” Janine said hastily. “Thank you
for your help. I must be going now.”

Slightly puzzled, Pierre watched her leave. Then he
shrugged. It was no concern of his that
Mlle.
Halonen
did not like her sister’s fiance.

Outside, Janine gave a gasp of dismay. It was raining
and not with a gentle spring shower either-it was
pouring. She walked toward the steps, careful to stay
under the shelter of the building, trying to remember if
she had seen a Metro station when she had arrived.
Then she saw it, just across the street. Nothing to do
but run and hope she didn’t get too wet. As Janine was
about to step forward, she heard a voice behind her say,
“I’ve got an umbrella. I’ll walk you over to the station.”

Janine turned gratefully to find Mark standing
behind her. “Thank you. I’d appreciate that,” she said
honestly.

Smiling, he opened his umbrella as he said casually,
“I see you know the trick too.”

“What trick?” Janine asked suspiciously.

“Oh, you know. Rena’s trick for meeting men when
it’s raining. Okay, let’s go,” he answered, taking her
arm.

Janine jerked free and said, “Thank you, but I’ve
changed my mind!”

She hurried out into the rain. A moment later Mark
grabbed her arm. “Don’t be absurd. Just because I
happen to know a little about the sort of tricks women
use is no reason to get yourself wet. I’m not criticizing.
In fact I think it’s rather clever,” he said sharply.

Once again Janine tried to pull free, but Mark was
holding her arm too tightly. She loved her sister very
much, but that did not mean she wanted people to
assume they were alike.

“Blast it! What are you so mad about?” Mark
demanded.

Janine refused to answer. They were at the station,
and he would have to release her now. But he didn’t.
Instead he started down the steps with Janine in tow.
“You know,” he snapped, “you should take a lesson in
manners from Rena.”

He released her arm to close the umbrella. “I’m
sorry,” Janine said contritely. “Thank you for sharing
your umbrella with me.”

“You should be sorry!” he replied. Then more
reasonably, “We’d better catch our train. I suspect
we’re going in the same direction.”

When they were seated next to each other on the
train, Mark said calmly, “Now will you tell me why you
were so angry?”

Janine looked down uncomfortably. “It was your
reference to Rena’s trick. She and I aren’t at all alike
when it comes to men and, well, I resent it when people
assume we are.

“I suppose you’ll tell me you didn’t have an umbrella
to use,” he retorted sarcastically, “and that you never
play games with men.”

“I don’t!” she said hotly. “As for the umbrella, I left
mine in New York. Otherwise I’d have used it today.
And Rena doesn’t own an umbrella.”

“Oh?”

“Well, she doesn’t. I looked.”

Mark was silent for a moment and seemed very
thoughtful. Finally he said quietly, “I’m sorry. Rena
did say you were very naive about men, but I didn’t
take her seriously, I’m afraid.”

Janine wearily decided to ignore the comment. After
all, it didn’t matter what he thought of her. They were
both silent then, both afraid of what they might say
otherwise. At Mabillon Mark got off the train with
Janine. “Do you live around here?” she asked.

“No,” he answered cheerfully, “but you do.
Seriously, I don’t want you getting drenched, and in
your present mood I doubt you’d agree to let some
stranger share his umbrella with you. Right?”

Janine laughed and admitted it was true. Mark
offered her his arm and then changed the subject.
“How was the talk?”

They discussed math until they reached the
apartment. Janine thanked him for escorting her and
asked if he’d like a cup of coffee. Mark shook his head
and left, leaving Janine puzzled as she climbed the
stairs.

She fixed herself tea and watched the rain, glad that
she did not have to go shopping for dinner this
afternoon. Tomorrow, she told herself as she watched
the puddles below, I’ll buy an umbrella.

Janine was settling down to enjoy some coffee after
dinner when the doorbell rang. Wondering who it
could be, she cautiously opened the door. “Oui?” she
said.

There was a burst of laughter as Sandy confidently
pushed into the room followed by Alan and a petite
young woman with red hair and freckles. “Surprise!”
Sandy laughed, brandishing a dripping umbrella.
“Betty and Alan and I have come to take you to the
movies. And, oh yes, deliver an umbrella.”

As Janine watched, mystified, Alan produced an
umbrella. It was clearly a woman’s umbrella with a
swirl of pink and gold on the fabric. “From Mark,”
Alan said off-handedly. “It’s Rena’s and he thought
you might need it.”

“But Rena doesn’t own any umbrellas!” she protested.

“This one she does,” Alan said significantly as he
flopped into the room’s one armchair. “Mark bought it
for her a couple of weeks ago.”

The red-haired girl giggled. “Such a scene! I was
there,” she explained to Janine. “Mark gave her the
umbrella and told her she wouldn’t have to depend on
passing men anymore. He said it kind of oddly, without
a smile or anything, as if it meant something. Rena said
she didn’t want an umbrella, and Mark said she had
better take it! So then Rena got very sweet and said
`thank you’ and took it.”

Janine looked at Betty suspiciously. “You’re not
going to tell me that was the end of it. Rena was never
that submissive.”

“Lord, no!” Alan chuckled. “That night, when we
left, Rena managed to hide the umbrella in his closet.
Since then it’s been a running battle. Mark returns the
umbrella and Rena hides it again in his apartment.
God, what a pair!”

Janine grinned in spite of herself. She could well
imagine what the last few weeks must have been like.
One quality the two sisters undeniably shared was a strong streak of stubbornness. “Well, at any rate, I
appreciate the umbrella,” Janine said firmly. “You said
we were going to the movies. What movie?”

They confessed that that had not yet been decided.
They discussed the merits of westerns, science fiction,
drama, comedies… Eventually it was decided that
they would see a comedy. It was an American film and
the week’s Pariscope indicated the original version was
being shown in a theater across town. They rode over in
Alan’s car. Alan was his usual gay self and regaled them
with funny stories. Janine sat next to Sandy in the back
seat, and he used the opportunity to put his arm around
her.

“What have you been up to since Sunday?” he asked
quietly.

“Well, yesterday I saw an old friend and met her
family. They’re French,” Janine replied.

“Helene somebody or other?” Sandy asked. When
she nodded he added, “Alan says she’s rather snobbish.”

“Yes, I rather think she might give Alan that
impression,” Janine admitted with some amusement,
“but she’s really quite nice.”

“Must have been boring for you to meet her family.
But I suppose you couldn’t very well refuse.” He
paused as a thought occurred to him. “Isn’t there a
brother’? Did you meet him?”

Janine smiled. “Yes. Jacques was very nice. He
showed me his gardens.”

“Be careful, Jenny,” Sandy said, frowning. “Jacques
has quite a reputation with women. Don’t fall in love
with him.”

Janine laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous, Sandy!
Jacques wouldn’t be interested in me…. I’m Ameri can, remember? I’m sure he’s only interested in dating
French women.”

Sandy shook his head. “There are other things
besides dating. He’d try to seduce you, and since you’re
American he’d feel he wouldn’t have to worry about
your reputation.”

Janine refused to take him seriously. “Maybe not,
but he’d worry about the fact that I was Helene’s friend.
I’m sure I have nothing to worry about.”

“Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you!” Sandy snapped.

Janine stopped laughing abruptly. “Seriously,
Sandy. I’m in no danger because I can’t possibly see
myself falling in love with Jacques.”

Sandy relaxed a little. “Well, I worry about you.
Don’t get angry with me, but I also think I ought to tell
you to watch out for Mark.”

“Why?” Janine was curious.

“Alan thinks he has a key to your sister’s apartment,” Sandy said, frowning, “and Mark’s also got a
reputation for going after more than one woman at a
time.”

“But he’s engaged to Rena,” Janine pointed out.
“Surely that makes it a different situation.”

“Well…yes,” Sandy admitted cautiously. “Alan’s
sure Mark will stay faithful to Rena. But I’m not. Of
course, I don’t really know him, but from what I’ve
heard and seen of Mark I can’t see him being satisfied
with your sister.”

Janine sighed. “No man, no matter who he is, is ever
dissatisfied with Rena unless she wants him to be. No,
I’m safe from Mark. Anyway,” she added mischievously, “I’ve got Ralph to protect me.”

“Ralph?” Sandy demanded. “Who’s he?”

“The cat Rena bought!” Janine answered, laughing. “Don’t you remember?”

“Oh, yeah. Well, I hope you’re right about Mark,”
Sandy said sourly. He made an obvious effort to shake
off his bad mood. “Tell me, what did you do today?”

“I went to a math seminar,” Janine replied.

“Good God!” Sandy exclaimed. “How awful! I’ll bet
you’ll be glad when you’re married and don’t have to go
to such things anymore!”

Hearing Sandy’s exclamation, Betty turned around.
“What things?” she asked.

“Math seminars!” Sandy said, grimacing.

“Ugh! Did Mark drag you to it?” Alan asked.

“No,” Janine answered in a small voice, “I went on
my own.

Alan shook his head. “The next time you’re that
hard up for something to do, call me. I’m sure I could
suggest something better than that! Hey, here we are,
everybody.”

Sandy bought the tickets while Alan was parking the
car. They had plenty of time since the sceance, or
commercials, had just begun. The theater was almost
empty so the four friends felt free to make comments
among themselves as the movie progressed. Sandy kept
his arm around Janine’s shoulder, and she felt
curiously secure with it there.

After the movie they stopped for coffee at a nearby
cafe. Later, in the car going home, Sandy’s arm was
around Janine again. Feeling happy and relaxed, she
let her head rest against his shoulder. Sandy’s free hand
stroked her hair gently. For once, Alan had the sense
not to joke about what he saw in the rear-view mirror.
At seventeen rue Bonaparte Alan waited with the car
while Sandy walked Janine to the stairs where, for the second time, he kissed her thoroughly. And for the
third time, she fled up the stairs to the apartment.

Janine’s heart was beating rapidly as she sat down
on the daybed. Ralph stared at her with green eyes that
almost matched Sandy’s in color. “Is this what I want?”
she asked Ralph. “Am I falling in love?”

Ralph was silent and continued to stare. Suddenly
Janine clenched her fists. “Then why do I feel like
running?”

Wednesday was sunny and over breakfast Janine
decided to spend the day at a park. She was trying to
decide which park when the phone rang. “Alto “she
said.