First Sight (35 page)

She finally decided she had to go to New York to sort it all out in person. It had been three weeks since her last visit with Jean-Charles by then, and both of them were going crazy. And then she realized that her problems on the East Coast were an unexpected blessing, although her time there might be harried or even stressful. She called to tell him about her unexpected trip. She was flying to New York the next morning. She also knew how hard it was for him to leave his practice on short notice.

“I’ll probably have to be there for three or four days,” she explained, which would take them to the weekend. “Do you think there’s any chance you could come for a couple of days?” Until then, she had been trapped in California, dealing with a different set of problems on the West Coast, and he had been completely swamped in Paris, and his primary assistant who usually covered for him had broken his leg skiing. But Jean-Charles had just recently reported that he was on the mend.

Jean-Charles was instantly delighted to learn that she was coming East. It was theoretically easier to meet her in New York, which was only a six-hour flight, than go all the way to California on an eleven-hour flight, and where he lost a day traveling each way. New York was a great deal simpler for him.

“I’ll do everything I can. My assistant is back to work again, and he can get around in his cast.” It had been a nightmare for Jean-Charles when the younger man had been flat on his back, and unable to work. “I’ll call you tonight,” he promised. She told him he could let her know at the last minute. She was hoping to stay in New York, and spend the weekend with him. It had been obvious for several weeks now that they both needed it. Staying apart too long depressed them both, and made them both anxious and unhappy. This trip was good news for both of them. It had been an agonizingly long three weeks, without physical contact with each other, although they talked constantly, and e-mailed many times daily, to report on events in their lives, and say they loved each other. He was the most affectionate man she had ever known.

He called her back at midnight that night—nine o’clock the next morning for him—and he had worked it out. He was leaving Paris after work on Thursday night. There was an eight
P.M.
flight he could be on, which would land him in New York at almost the same time, local time, and he could stay with her till Sunday night and take the red-eye back. His assistant had agreed to work a three-day weekend, despite the broken leg and the cast. Jean-Charles was elated. And so was Timmie. It would give her much to look forward to as she met the challenges of the week, which would surely not be easy. But the reward at the end of it would be great, for both of them.

She slept fitfully that night, thinking of the week ahead, and the excitement of another visit with him. She took the first flight to New York the next morning, which meant she had to get up at an ungodly hour to leave for the airport at five
A.M.
It was a businessman’s flight, and she was one of two women in first class. The rest were all men who looked extremely corporate, and as always David came with her, while this time once again, Jade stayed home to hold down the fort. And once again, she, David, and their attorneys managed to resolve their union problems, which were always a powder keg ready to go off. There was no quick or permanent fix to their problems, but she thought they had bought a year or two of peace with the compromises they made. They even figured out how to cover their tripled orders by increasing production in Taiwan, and adding more employees. By the time Jean-Charles arrived on Thursday night, Timmie had her business life in order, although she looked exhausted and he was worried about her. She had lost weight since he’d last seen her, and he made her eat frequently while he was with her. She always relaxed when she was with him, and this time was no different. They made love the moment he got to the hotel, and although they went out to dinner every night, they spent an inordinate amount of time in their room as well. It rained hard for all three days, and all Timmie wanted to do was lie in bed with him, cuddle, and make love, which suited him perfectly, since it was what he needed from her as well. Aside from the excitement of the sex they shared, and the generosity of their loving, they also gave each other enormous comfort, which shored them up for the days alone and buoyed them. She was relieved to know that he would be moving out of his apartment in two months by then. He said he thought his daughters were resigned to it now, and they had several potential purchasers of the apartment circling over them. Jean-Charles continued to believe he would have his domestic situation worked out in early June, and Timmie could hardly wait. It meant that they could stay together in Paris, once he was living alone, and he wanted her to help him find an apartment, and decorate it with him. He wanted her in every aspect of his life now, and hoped to introduce her to his children within the next few months. It all sounded good to her.

On Saturday night, they canceled a dinner reservation at Cipriani, and stayed in bed at the hotel instead. It was pouring rain, and they were both relaxed and unwinding, making the most of the days they had together. Timmie didn’t want to get dressed up and go to a fancy restaurant, she said. So they stayed home in their little cocoon, dozing and talking, and when they made love that night, Timmie felt a closeness to him that even they had never felt before. Theirs was such a passionate love story, but every now and then, they seemed to reach heights that were almost frightening, their feelings for each other were so profound. It was as though for a span of time, not only their bodies merged, but their minds did, and their hearts and souls. He felt it too that night, and there were tears in her eyes after they made love. She had never felt anything like it with anyone before. What they did together defined making love, and afterward when she lay spent in his arms, she felt as though her whole soul had opened up to him and would never separate from him again. Each time they made love was different and better than the time before. And this time, she lay in his arms all night, pressed tightly against him, his arms around her. She drifted off into a deep sleep, as he looked at her sleeping, and his heart melted again. She touched places in him that he hadn’t known existed, and she had done that that night. She had given him a gift of herself and taken something from him that he offered. And all night long as she slept in the safe circle of his arms, she dreamed that they were one.

Before they woke in the morning, they lay sleeping, facing each other, and smiled when they first saw each other the moment they woke up. Their noses were touching, and almost their lips. He kissed her, and they lay for a long time before either of them got up. She hadn’t moved from where she lay the night before. He ordered breakfast for them, and even then she didn’t want to get up. She just wanted to lie there forever in his arms and doze. She got up finally to have breakfast with him, and did him the honor of brushing her teeth and combing her hair. She looked beautiful as she sat down to breakfast with him. They each read sections of the Sunday newspaper, and discussed what they’d read. She always devoured the business section, and he liked the supplements on science. It made for intriguing breakfast conversation and an interesting shared life.

They went to the Metropolitan Museum that afternoon, and then went back to the hotel in the rain. She was profoundly happy and sated. They made love for a last time before they had to get up to leave, and Timmie still looked sleepy. She had been so tired when they met this time that she never quite caught up on her sleep. She dozed as she lay against him in the cab going to the airport, and he held her tightly. She loved it when he did that. And then they did the agonizing dance of saying goodbye to each other again. She promised that she would come to Paris in a few weeks. She was going to try and shake up some of their textile mills so she could do business there as well. But even if not, nothing pleased her more than Paris in spring. It was April now, but she was hoping to get to Paris to see him by the first of May, which would be even better. And once there, there would only be one more month left in his somewhat absurd living arrangement. But she wasn’t even thinking of that now. She was drifting, floating beside him. And when he kissed her goodbye this time, she felt slightly less sad. What she felt instead was total harmony with him, total synchronicity of thought and movement. She felt as though the two strong, independent people they were had finally become one.

She still felt that way when she got back to California. She was feeling strangely peaceful, and more in love with him than ever, although even days after they left each other, she still hadn’t been able to organize the trip to Paris, but she was working on it. She was determined to have a reason to get there, although he was reason enough. She wanted to kill two birds with one stone. She was going to Paris, or wanted to, for their romance, but she also wanted to address the local business issues wherever she was. And it would give her something to do while he was busy working.

She had just set up a series of meetings with a new textile mill outside Paris, and was waiting for confirmation, three weeks after his last visit, when she got violently ill one afternoon. Jade had ordered them all sushi for lunch, and it was obvious to Timmie that whatever she’d eaten hadn’t been good. She had rarely been so sick in her life, or been so frightened by how ill she was. She called Jean-Charles to discuss it with him, and he suggested she go to the emergency room. He wanted her to get an IV for dehydration, but she hated hospitals so much she waited, and she felt better by that night, so didn’t go. But she still felt weak the next morning, and was annoyed that the textile mill had sent no confirmation. It was the first of May, and she wanted to come to Paris to see him. Their months of waiting were almost over. He was moving out in a month, when the school year ended, and he was starting to look at apartments. Everything was beginning to happen, and then she got sick again. She felt ill in rolling waves, and she called him again to say how sick she was. He said it sounded more like a gallbladder attack than food poisoning, or maybe some virulent kind of flu. And this time, she finally called her doctor and met him in the emergency room. She was so pale when she got there, she looked translucent, and he decided to run a series of tests on her. She didn’t want them, but Jean-Charles insisted she have them, as she was throwing up again.

She had spent a truly miserable two days, and then Jade called her at the hospital on her cell phone to say that the textile mill had finally confirmed. She had appointments with them the following week, and Timmie was pleased to report it to Jean-Charles. But he was far more worried about her health.

“Never mind the textile mill,” he scolded her, “just get the tests your doctor ordered. Do you want me to talk to him?”

“No,” she said, sounding calmer. “I’m feeling better. I think it really is the flu. I feel stupid having a bunch of tests for nothing. I’m sure I’m fine.”

“Thank you for the diagnosis, doctor. Just get the tests. And we’ll talk after you get the results.” Jean-Charles wanted her to make sure she didn’t have something like hepatitis. She drove herself so hard and traveled so much that it could have been anything, including an ulcer. So she let them do whatever they wanted. They took samples of blood and urine, and by then she felt better anyway, so she went home, feeling slightly stupid for having made such a fuss over what was probably nothing. But she was touched by how concerned Jean-Charles was about her. He still wanted to talk to her doctor when the results came in, if anything significant turned up.

“Stop worrying. I’m fine.” She went home and went to bed, and fell asleep, exhausted. The next morning, she was slightly queasy, but infinitely better, and she was back in her office, feeling decent again when the doctor called. Jade told her he was on the line, and Timmie took the call. She was looking distracted, and had convinced herself that she was fine. Whatever it had been in any case was gone.

“Hello, Timmie,” her doctor said pleasantly when she took the call. “How are you feeling now?”

“Fine,” she said, sounding faintly embarrassed. “A little queasy, but I think I got it out of my system. I don’t know if it was food poisoning or the flu, but I can tell you I won’t be eating sushi again anytime soon.” She had never felt as sick in her life, except maybe when her appendix ruptured. This had been nearly as bad, though not quite.

“I’m not completely convinced you got it out of your system. I’d like you to come in this afternoon, so we can go over some of your tests.”

“Is something wrong?” Timmie sounded suddenly worried.

“Not at all. I just don’t like giving results over the phone. I thought if you had some time this afternoon, you could come in. Or tomorrow morning. It can wait. Everything is fine.” It didn’t sound right to her. If it was so fine, why did he want to see her? She was instantly concerned.

In fact, she had two appointments waiting for her, and unless she canceled them and sent them home, there was no way she could get free. But after what he had just said to her, she was tempted to skip her appointments and go in.

“Is it anything serious?” She was beginning to panic.

“Timmie,” he said, trying to reassure her. He had been her doctor for years. “I agree with your diagnosis. I think you had food poisoning. But some of your blood levels were high here and there, in the panels we did. I’d be irresponsible if I didn’t go over them with you.” He made it sound simpler than she had first feared, and she started to calm down.

“It’s not cancer or anything, is it?” She always assumed the worst.

“Of course not. It was just a good idea to get those tests, given how sick you were two days ago. And as I recall, you haven’t had a checkup in a while. It’s time for you to come in.”

“I’ve been busy and traveling a lot,” she gave him as an excuse, and it was true.

“That’s also why it’s a good idea to check on things. Doing these blood panels was a good idea. You could pick up a number of things on your trips.”