Twice Upon a Time (22 page)

Gus was silent. Even though his and Perrette’s future was pretty much mapped out, it was still in pencil; nothing was a hundred per cent decided. There was no ring, after all.

‘Would you marry Ludo, if he asked?’ he blurted out. He wanted to know, but he also wished he could drag the words back into his mouth.

‘Marriage? God, I don’t know. I’m too young to think about that.’

‘You would be chatelaine of Chateau Avignon if you did.’

What am I playing at?
he wondered. He was supposed to be talking Cinda out of Ludo, not getting her to fantasise about a life together.

‘Chatelaine? Isn’t that a type of chocolate?’

He chuckled at that. ‘The mistress of the chateau, the lord’s wife, is called the chatelaine.’

Cinda laughed. ‘I’m not sure about being the wife of anyone, let alone the mistress of a chateau.’

He sat back in his chair, watching her across the table. ‘But will you marry one day? If you find the right person?’

Cinda was thoughtful for a moment. ‘I should say no, because my mother has had enough disastrous marriages for the two of us, but I would say yes to the right person.’

When she smiled at him his heart did a perfect flip, like a crepe in the pan of an expert chef.

They sat looking out over the rolling lawns and Cinda sighed. ‘So many types of green.’

‘Name them,’ he challenged.

‘Okay, I will.’ She paused and began slowly. ‘Teal, fern green, forest, grass, moss, shamrock, sea green, hunter green.’

She stopped and put her hand up to shield her eyes before continuing. ‘Emerald green, jade, lawn green . . .’ She looked at him. ‘Want me to continue?’

Gus shook his head. ‘Nope, you won,’ he said, and she laughed.

‘What do I win?’ she asked, laughing.

‘Anything you want.’ What wouldn’t he give this girl to keep her smiling like that?

‘I’ll have the house and the paintings, thanks,’ she said, as though she were on a game show.

And now he was the one who was green – green with envy. Sitting there with Cinda, he wished for the first time in his life that he hadn’t won the race to be born before his twin.

On the drive home, as dusk fell over the beautiful countryside, Cinda was quiet.

‘Are you okay?’ Gus asked her as they neared Paris, the streets once again congested with traffic.

‘I’ve been thinking,’ she said. ‘About the chateau.’

‘Oh yes?’

‘I was thinking that if Ludo is to inherit it, then perhaps we should set the painting there. You could pose out there, in the room with the paintings your great-grandfather collected. The past and the future, in the same room.’

Gus turned to her. ‘That’s a perfect idea,’ he said excitedly.

‘I’d have to visit again, take some pictures. I’d need to get the perspective right.’

Gus slapped the steering wheel, causing Cinda to jump. ‘Why don’t we move there?’ he cried.

‘Huh?’

Gus calmed himself down. ‘Why don’t we move there for the rest of your time in Paris? You can paint and have a holiday, I can work from there. And we can hang out, you know, get to know each other before Ludo comes back.’

Gus could barely believe his own words but somewhere, deep inside, it just felt right.

Cinda stared at him. ‘Live at the chateau?’ She was obviously thinking through all the reasons it wouldn’t work. ‘What about Jonas?’

‘He can come too,’ Gus said. ‘It’s not like there aren’t enough bedrooms.’

‘True,’ said Cinda, rolling her eyes. ‘But I don’t think he’ll want to be in the country.’

‘It’s only two hours from Paris, you can use a driver whenever you need,’ said Gus, warming to the idea even more. ‘Or Jonas can stay in Paris and use the apartment.’

Spending time with Cinda at the chateau made sense. Spending time with her anywhere made sense.

‘I’ll ask Ludo what he thinks,’ she said, and he felt his mood deflate.

‘Of course,’ he said with a nod.

Gus pulled up out the front of the apartment and Cinda opened the car door.

‘Let me get that,’ said Gus, moving to unstrap his seatbelt.

‘I don’t need to have my car door opened for me,’ she said lightly, gesturing that he stay in the driver’s seat. ‘I have been doing quite well with that for some time now.’

He laughed.

‘Thank you for today,’ she said and she leant over and kissed his cheek. He felt his eyes close. God, he wanted to kiss her, more than he had ever wanted anything.

‘It was almost perfect,’ she said and she got out of the car and ran inside.

He watched her disappear into the building.

Almost perfect
, he heard in his head. For it to be perfect she needed Ludo there in his place.

As though the karma police were on his tail, the phone rang and he saw Perrette’s number on the screen.

Sighing, he answered. ‘Hello, Perrette.’

‘Darling, where have you been?’ she snapped. Without waiting for a reply, she continued. ‘You’ve had your little sulk, made your point. I have organised an apology for Lucinda.’

Everything could be organised, scheduled in, for Perrette. Even apologies. ‘Where have you been? I’ve been trying you all day but your staff wouldn’t tell me where you were.’

‘I was out at the chateau.’

‘Why on earth did you go all the way out there?’

Perrette hated the region she grew up in; she was strictly a Parisian girl. She’d always made it plain that was where her heart was.

‘Do you think you’d ever be happy living in Sardinia, Perrette?’ he asked, out of the blue.

Perrette paused, and Gus could almost hear her brain scheming over the phone. ‘Why?’ she asked carefully.

‘It’s just, I know how wedded you are to Paris.’

‘I will live where I’m needed.’

Gus rolled his eyes. ‘I have to go,’ he said, staring up at the apartment lights, which Cinda had just turned on.

‘Come and see me?’ said Perrette in her pleading voice. ‘I’m tired of you being angry with me.’

‘Soon,’ said Gus, and he finished the call before Perrette could say another word.

25

Cinda, napping after coming back from the chateau, was dreaming she was the chatelaine of Château Avignon when her phone rang. She answered it without properly waking up.

‘
Bonjour?’

‘
Bonjour?
So you speak French now?’

‘Ludo?’ she said, sitting up in surprise.

‘Of course. Who else has been calling you?’ he teased.

‘How are you?’

‘Hot but happy,’ he said. Cinda could hear talking and laughing in the background.

‘I saw the picture of you on the elephant,’ she said, wondering if he would mention Valentina. As soon as she’d gotten back to the apartment, she’d found a copy of the image online and had stared at it for ages.

‘Did you? I haven’t seen it,’ said Ludo, as though it meant nothing.

‘You were with a girl, Valentina?’

‘Ah yes, Tina is a riot. We haven’t seen each other since were children but she knows Africa very well,’ he said. ‘She was very brave on the safari, nothing worries her.’

Cinda paused. She was unsure whether to ask more, whether she was being unreasonable.

‘I miss you,’ said Ludo suddenly, and all her fears disintegrated.

‘Oh, I miss you so much,’ said Cinda.

‘What have you been doing?’

‘Painting. Gus has been posing in your absence.’

‘Poor you, is he boring you stupid yet?’ laughed Ludo.

‘He’s actually been okay,’ said Cinda. ‘He took me to Avignon today to show me your family’s paintings. He thought it might inspire me.’

‘Maybe you need me to inspire you,’ he said in a low voice.

‘Maybe,’ she giggled.

‘Was Avignon as boring as ever?’

Boring?
Cinda frowned as she thought of the incredible house and the lush gardens. She thought of the walls, dripping in the best European art. And she thought of the company, too – of Gus. No, it hadn’t been boring in the least, but she had the feeling Ludo didn’t want to hear that.

‘It was fine,’ she said diplomatically.

‘I hate that place. I need to be by the water.’

‘Tell me about Africa,’ she said, figuring it was time to change the subject.

‘It’s actually really great,’ he said. ‘I mean, I hate being away from you but I think we are helping people. I want to show that we can do more than just wave from cars. We’ve also done a few endangered animal safaris, which were awesome.’

Cinda could hear someone calling Ludo in the background.

‘Who’s that?’

‘Oh, no-one,’ Ludo said, a little too quickly for her liking. ‘Hey listen, I have to go, but I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?’

‘Okay,’ said Cinda, and Ludo hung up before she did.

All her doubts rose to the surface again and she wished she could rewind the last few weeks. She shouldn’t be in Paris, pretending to be someone she wasn’t, waiting for a guy she wouldn’t end up with and living a life she was never meant for.

She would ring Gus and tell him it was all off. There was no point going to Avignon, no point pretending he was Ludo, no point in anything.

There was a knock at the door and Jonas walked in.

‘What’s up, sad sack?’ he asked, seeing her glum expression.

‘I don’t think I’m meant to be here. I’m going to head home,’ she declared. ‘I’ll find somewhere to crash for a while.’

‘No you are not,’ said Jonas, wagging his finger at her. ‘You are not leaving now.’

‘Why not? You can stay if you want.’

‘No, you said you would stay and we are all pulling out the stops to make you an insta-princess. You can’t chicken out on us now.’

‘Ludo’s not into me anymore. I just spoke to him and it was weird.’

‘Long distance is always weird,’ said Jonas. ‘Remember when I thought I was in love with that guy from Singapore? Our conversations were always awkward. Relax, it’ll be fine when he’s back.’

Cinda sighed. ‘I don’t know.’

Jonas was silent for a moment and then he took her hand. ‘Don’t give up yet.’

She laughed. ‘You just want to stay in Paris with cute Gideon.’

‘He makes me giddy.’

‘That’s a bad pun, but he is cute.’

‘Speaking of Gideon, he’s here. We have things to show you.’ He dragged Cinda off her bed, and they entered the living area, where Gideon was sitting on the sofa patiently.

‘Hello,
ma chérie
,’ he said, getting up and kissing her on each cheek.

‘Hi,’ she said. She liked Gideon and his easy, relaxed charm. And he seemed to like Jonas a whole lot, which made him even more likeable.

‘We have a few pieces for you to try, so we can see if they are right for you,’ he said. He reached out and touched her jumper. ‘I like this,’ he added.

‘Alex got it for me,’ explained Cinda as Jonas wheeled in a rack of clothes from the foyer.

‘A
few
things to show me?’ cried Cinda, looking at all the items on the rack. ‘Looks like a new wardrobe.’

‘Not everything is finished, but we want to see if we are on the right footpath.’

‘Track,’ corrected Jonas.

‘Track,’ smiled Gideon.

Cinda sat on the sofa as Gideon showed her the pieces. ‘A cocktail dress, a little black dress, some pants, a jacket, some winter skirts, a winter dress.’ Cinda’s head was spinning with all the items, but she knew they were perfect.

Jonas and Gideon had created looks that were somehow both classic and modern.

‘Seriously? You two should do this together full-time,’ said Cinda as she changed out of a skirt that Gideon had pinned to get the perfect fit.

Jonas looked at Gideon, who then looked at Cinda, who then looked at Jonas and Gideon.

‘What?’

‘We are thinking of making this a permanent collaboration,’ said Gideon, his face reddening.

‘What, the work or the personal?’ Cinda teased.

Jonas put his arm around Gideon’s waist. ‘We know it’s fast but it feels right, you know?’

Cinda smiled, but inside she wasn’t so sure she really did understand. Maybe she would have, a few weeks ago. But now? After her phone call with Ludo, she was rethinking everything.

26