Trouble finding Blondie (6 page)

“Francois Andre.”

The second she said the name, Andre fell to his knees. It was like a knife stabbing him. He couldn’t breath. Reni started freaking out, rushing in with the Perrier bottle.
 

“Andre, please drink something. Breathe. Speak. Holy shit! Why the hell me? Don’t faint, just don’t faint, please!!! I will kill her!”

“NO, I will kill her!” He mumbled.

Reni panicking, running around him in circles, actually calmed him down. He was shaking his head, still in disbelief. They sat on the floor. The few minutes in silence felt forever.

“Andre, come on, you have to see something.” Reni grabbed him by the hand and started to pull him up. She pushed another sliding pocket door and walked into Simona’s bedroom.

Andre was still in shock when he walked in. Reni was still holding his hand. He wasn’t sure if he passed out and was dreaming, or if this was reality.

“You are the first man to walk into this room.”

It wasn’t a bedroom. It was a magical place. What did Marcello say? PURE LOVE.

Love was everywhere. The walls were ivory, so was the bed. The floor was the only contrast in the room. It was ebony wood with ivory splashes. The lighting was a piece of art itself. It was hundreds of tiny lights on the ceiling, like stars. The only other lights were two swing arm reading lights, mounted to the wall on each side of the bed.

She walked him to the left side where the bathroom door was.
 

“This is where the story starts...”

All the pictures were done in sepia finish, framed on canvas, in ivory bone frames. They were all different sizes, but were connected with a string of ivory pearls. The first picture was Simona, wearing only jeans and heels, from the back. She had the same bucket hat on, without the wig. He saw jeans, her naked back, and a bucket hat with short blond hair sticking out. There was a certain sexy beauty in the simplicity of it. Next was a picture of Simona pregnant with a little bump on the streets of Paris, and then a fully pregnant picture somewhere by the ocean. The back wall above the bed had just one large picture of Simona lying face down, sleeping, wearing only silk underwear, and baby Francois sleeping naked on her back. It was precious, peaceful, pure love.

The right side of the room had a big window. To the left of the window was a picture of their hands, on the right was a picture of their feet together. Then came a sliding door closet, floor to ceiling, and it finished with a wall which created a perfect corner for the crib.

After the panoramic turn and flow of amazing pictures came a magical corner. Andre stood there in awe. Above the crib was a colorful magical wall painting. He immediately recognized Maui. On the left wall was the ocean, then the beach, and it continued to the mountains on the right. When you looked closer, there were ‘life is good’ smiley face Jakes all over the place. One was on a bike on Haleakala, one was running on the Baldwin beach, one was kitesurfing and one was swimming with a rainbow above.
 

It was too overwhelming. Andre had tears running down his face since the moment he walked into this room, but this was definitely the thing that took him over the edge. He sat down on the bed, staring at all the Jakes when he noticed the baby music mobile with little hanging golf clubs above the crib. He started laughing. It was the cutest thing ever. He was pointing to it when Reni said, “Not a full circle yet,” pointing to the last corner.

There was a changing table with all the baby necessities and another amazing wall painting above it. It was the West Maui Mountains on Maui and the Kahili golf course below it, in the most beautiful, soothing green color. Another Jake was playing golf.
 

Reni looked at Andre. ”You are everywhere…”

When you entered the bedroom, you only saw a silky, ivory feminine world. But when you turned around, you entered ‘baby’s wonderland’. One room, two different creatures sharing their life... PURE LOVE!

Reni sat down next to Andre on the bed and laid down to watch the ceiling.

“I come here sometimes to suck up the energy and the love from this room. I don’t think there is a baby that is more loved than Francois.”

“Why? I love her. Why then?”

“She loves you, too. I didn’t know it was you, until today. But clearly, you were in here since the very beginning.”

“No, I wasn’t. On the walls? Are you nuts?” Andre was starting to get angry, and Reni sat up.

“Look, I have no idea what you did, or didn’t do. But you do deserve some answers. It’s not going to be me who can give them to you, though.”

“I’m sorry, Reni. You are right. Where is she? Where are they?”

“I’m sure Marcello will know...”

“Marcello? You mean, he is still waiting downstairs?”

Reni just smiled. She was used to Simona’s world. It had become her world, too.

Andre washed his face, hugged Reni, and took one last look around the apartment. Reni handed him a small blanket. “It was in the washer. Could you take it to him, please? It’s his favorite.”

Andre took it as if it was the most precious, fragile thing in the world. Reni smiled.

He walked out. The fresh air felt good. He looked at the small blanket and started to run to the car. “Marcello, do you really know where we are going?”

“Yes, Andre. Are you ready?”

“I was born ready. I wasn’t prepared though. I am now. Bring it on!”

Marcello smiled as he was starting the car. He was relieved to see him well. He wouldn’t be able to take him if he would be angry at her.

“You were right. It’s a magical place, full of pure love.”

The drive was almost two hours, partially because of the traffic out of Paris. The country side was beautiful, and the scenery and the afternoon sun created some magnificent pictures. Andre was holding the small blanket, smelling it, trying to suck up the love out of it. The ride was like an emotional roller coaster. Andre was trying to process it all. The puzzle was finally clicking into the right places, all the reactions, expressions finally made sense. He was smiling, laughing, and even had tears in his eyes.

Marcello was a very smart man, trained well, too. He drove in silence, giving Andre complete privacy. He liked Andre. He felt his heart was in a right place.

“Marcello, do you know little Francois?”

“Of course. He is the happiest baby on the planet.”

“He is my son.”

“I figured that much. You will be proud. He is amazing.”

“I met him. I didn’t know he was mine. You are right. He is amazing. The cutest baby I ever held, and he liked me, too.”

Marcello was laughing. He couldn’t believe Simona fooled him like that.

“She is an amazing mother. That baby is loved and gets the best. Not stuff, but attention.”

“Where are we going anyway?”

“It’s Mr. Bouchard’s country house. It’s very peaceful, an old vineyard turned into a luxury chalet, but not over the top. It’s a true country style. Madame Simona loves it there. She writes there a lot.”

“She still writes? That’s great. She always used it as her therapy. Too bad she doesn’t let anybody read it, except one friend.”

Marcello looked in the back mirror to see Andre’s expression. He was being serious. It was confusing, but Marcello would never question anybody in the back seat, and thankfully the phone rang. He picked up, talked for a minute, then hung up.

“Monsieur Bouchard wanted me to tell you that Madame Simona doesn’t know you are coming. He is going to take the heat for it. Five more minutes, Andre.”

“Five minutes, and we are there?”

“Yes, sir.”

First he couldn’t get there fast enough, and now he was feeling the panic because in five minutes his life will change forever, and she doesn’t know he is coming.

Ok, calm down. You can handle this! This is your dream come true moment! What if she rejects me? What if she doesn’t want me anymore? Francois is mine! Francois makes no sense without her... Who do you want? Make up your Goddamn mind! What are you, stupid? You are here to get the woman you love. Francois is part of that package! Why are you agonizing over this? You should be pissed off! You should be ready to kill her! What the hell are you talking about? I don’t want to kill her. I want to hug her, kiss her. I want HER!!! And who the hell am I arguing with? How many people are talking in my head? Ok, calm down. What are you going to say?

Marcello opened the door, and Andre got out. He put his hand on his shoulder.

“You don’t need a speech, and you don’t need to be afraid either. Your heart is in the right place. The rest is up to God. God knows love. It will be fine.”

Andre didn’t question if it was God’s doing or an invisible destiny hand. He needed the pep talk. But out of all people, coming from a driver? Marcello was a wise man.

The house lady came out. Marcello asked about Simona. She pointed to the vineyards. Andre didn’t wait for more. He started running. The property was huge. He started to yell her name, the name that only the two of them understood....

“Blondie! Blondie, where are you? I love you!”

Simona had her picnic about half a mile away from the house, baby Francois crawling on the blanket. They were having a nice, peaceful afternoon next to a small pond. Then she heard someone yelling. First she didn’t understand what it was, but recognized the voice. She was in shock and grabbed Francois in panic.

He was supposed to be on the other side of the planet! What happened? How is he here? And most of all HERE?!!!
 

The voice was coming closer. She was contemplating running. She was moving side to side, confused. Francois thought it was a game and started to laugh.
 
She was protected by the trees, not for long though. The voice was coming closer and closer. She finally heard what he was saying.

“Blondie, I love you. I know you are here. I will never let you go.”

She stepped out into the open patch of grass, still holding the baby. He was a hundred yards away. She looked at him and knew. He had it written all over his face. He knew. She started running, so did he. By the time they met, both had tears running down their faces. He was hugging them, kissing her, wiping her tears with kisses. Neither of them wanted that moment to end. Finally Simona said, “I can’t.”

Andre squeezed her even harder. “What? I don’t give a shit about more arguments. Forget it!”

Simona had to smile through the tears. “I can’t hold Francois any more. My hand is numb, silly.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Come here munchkin.” He grabbed Francois, but didn’t let go of Simona. That was the gesture that said it all.

“You know that you deserve a real spanking, right?”

That childhood expression made her laugh. It loosened her up. She finally stopped guarding her feelings and was kissing him back, holding his face. Francois was tapping both of their faces with his tiny hands, demanding attention. They both started to laugh. Francois in one arm, Blondie in the other, Andre walked down to the pond. They sat down on the blanket. The baby found his toys, and they took advantage of the moment. The kisses were falling on every inch of their faces. They were sweet from love, spicy from passion and salty from all the tears.

It was getting hot and heavy when Andre said, “Shhhhh.”
 

Simona started to laugh. “Are you shushing me?”

“Blondie, we are going to take this slow. I want to enjoy and remember every minute of it. This is what they call sweet victory, and I have to agree that it doesn’t get any sweeter.”

❖ ❖ ❖

Back at the house, Madame Bonnet was setting the table for dinner. She was the best ‘Dame de la Maison’. You would never see her. She was never in your way, but everything was always done and ready. Simona introduced Andre to her. She was already made aware of the ‘situation’ by Marcello who left right after she made him coffee and her famous Apple Tarte Tatin.

“Madame Bonnet, I think you should take the next two days off.”

“Really? Are you sure?”

“Yes, very sure. It’s going to be a busy weekend for you. I want you to get some rest. We will be perfectly fine.”

“Bien, I’m going to have Marie-Laure come and give you a break with Francois.”

“No, that is not necessary either. I’m going to be Marie-Laure from now on.” Andre jumped into their conversation. It was as cute as it was rude, and they both started laughing.

“Well then, nanny Andre, you are on! Poopy diapers and all!”
 

It was time for Francois’s bath. It was going to be the first for Andre, and he was beyond exited. Francois picked up on his energy and got all giggly. He was naked, kicking his feet while Andre carried him to the bathroom. Simona was smirking, thinking evil thoughts.

It would be just classic, if only he would pee on him... His fancy Ralph Lauren shirt would be stained forever. Ok, you are evil Simona. Com’on, it would be perfect! The unexperienced nouveau papa, getting marked. Didn’t happen. Of course not! Classic. Men conspiracy. I got peed on…. I can’t even count how many times.
 

The after bath ritual got on the way. She showed him how to exercise his legs and how to massage him. Francois was all oiled up, smelling like a chamomile baby, happy and smiley. His pajamas were made from organic cotton, a natural off white color with a brown bear sticking his nose up from a pocket on his chest, another one on his sleeve, and a big one on his butt. Cute as a button.