Paris - Chapter Twelve
FLASHBACK
Annie, JC and TJ boarded the plane early in the
morning and settled into the 1st class seats Johnny
had been kind enough to buy for them. (Lou would have
been appalled at all the money being spent. It didn’t
matter to Johnny, though; he figured he could always
find somewhere else to balance it out.)
Annie called the aisle seat before they even boarded,
so she’d have room to stretch her long legs. JC
didn’t mind, he liked looking out the window anyway.
TJ settled in nearby across the aisle from them.
No sooner had the plane lifted off, the former two
fell asleep. They’d been awake almost the entire
night before, talking and repeatedly apologizing to
each other. Not to mention that the past few days had
been extremely draining for Annie, both physically and
emotionally. Since they both had a habit of escaping
into sleep when the world got a little too big, and
this definitely qualified as one of those times, they
were out quicker than a string of Christmas lights
from the Wal-Mart bargain bin.
Annie eventually wound up cuddled with JC. Her head
rested on his shoulder, hair falling into her face.
Her right hand was splayed across his chest, where he
held it in his own.
Aside from getting one of those cool little blankets
that a passing flight attendant had been kind enough
to cover them with, the trip was fairly uneventful.
Nevertheless, they were grateful when they finally
landed at Charles De Gaulle airport. After going
through the usual rigamarole of customs and hunting
down AWOL luggage, they started towards the hotel.
Annie remained strangely quiet through most of the
ride. JC and TJ had been discussing plans when the
former turned to her. "Annie, is that all right with
you?" She was staring out the window and didn’t seem
to hear him, so he shook her gently by the shoulder.
"Annie?"
His touch seemed to startle her; Annie gave out a
little yelp. "Sorry." She laughed weakly. "My mind
was wandering. What was it?"
"I said, once we get to the hotel, we’’ll unpack and
try to get something to eat. Is that okay?"
"Yeah, sure." She had turned back to the window.
"Annie, is anything wrong?"
"Huh?" Annie pulled herself back from the window a
second time. "Oh, no. I’m just having a hard time
concentrating." She smiled. "Maybe it’s jet lag. I
have been crossing the Atlantic quite a few times over
the last few days, you know."
The trio finally arrived at the hotel and checked in.
In the elevator on the way to their rooms, JC turned
to Annie again. "When you get to your room, make sure
to unlock your side of the connecting door. Then we
can go back and forth without having to go into the
hall."
Annie seemed to be fascinated by the pattern of the
carpet in the elevator. She was staring at it
intently. JC shook her shoulder, once again drawing a
little shout of surprise. "Annie?"
"Yeah, unlock the door. Got it."
After unpacking JC knocked on the adjourning door
between their two room. Receiving no answer, he tried
the door. It opened right up, so he went in anyway.
"Annie, you should come see this view. It’s amazing!"
He trailed off when he came inside. Annie’s bags were
still by the door, unpacked. She was sound asleep on
the bed, her coat and shoes still securely on her
body.
"Annie," he whispered, shaking her gently. "We have
to call Jacques, and you haven’t even unpacked. You
can’t go to sleep yet."
Annie blinked awake. "What? Where? Oh right,
Jacques." She sat up slightly.
"His number’s in my purse. Why don’t you call him?"
"Are you sure?" JC certainly didn’t sound like he was
thrilled at the idea.
"Yeah." She settled down to sleep, then popped right
back up again. "Oh wait, you need the number." Annie
unceremoniously dumped the entire contents of her
purse on the bed, then tore through the resulting
chaos. Several minutes later, she came up with a slip
of paper, which she handed to him. "Here."
With that, she fell back on the bed, instantly falling
back to sleep.
JC sensed that it would be useless to try and wake
her, even more so to point out that he didn’t really
think that he should be the one making the call, so he
simply shrugged his shoulders. Something definitely
wasn’t right with Annie; he would deal with that
situation after the phone call.
JC dialed the number carefully to make sure he didn’t
get the wrong person. After only one ring, someone
picked up. ("Garçon’s Art Shoppe"), answered a very
familiar voice in a friendly manner.
"Hello Jacques, It’s JC."
There was a sudden clatter on the other end, then
Jacques speaking quietly in annoyed French. The phone
made several thuds before it quieted down. Still,
Jacques didn’t talk.
"Jacques?" JC asked, wondering what had happened.
"Are you still there?"
"Yes," the other man stammered. "Just dropped the
phone. Sorry" Jacques cleared his throat. "To what
do I owe the pleasure of this little call?" He was
trying to sound bored and self-assured at the same
time, a rare trick only the French are capable of
puling off. However, underneath the words he sounded
rather nervous.
JC chose to ignore his tone and continued. "Trust me,
it’s not that I really want to talk to you, but Annie
asked me to call you. Just to let you know, we’re
planning to come over tomorrow so you can give us
details about the service for Claude."
"To-tomorrow?" Jacques seemed infinitely confused.
"But how is that possible? I just talked to her in
America the other day. Where are you two?"
"Checked in at the 4 Seasons Hotel in Paris about two
hours ago."
Jacques voice suddenly seemed filled with hope. "Can
I speak to Annie?" Is she there?"
A very evil and not nice idea came into JC’s head,
which he decided to go with. "Sorry." he confessed
with his best
`I’m-the-most-innocent-boy-in-the-whole-wide-world’
voice, "but she’s asleep in bed next to me and I’d
really hate to wake her. Plus, it’s probably a whole
lot more restful for her than the night before, what
with her tossing and turning half the night."
JC looked at his watch and realized what time it was.
"I hate to cut this short, but I think I’m ready to
nod off as well." He smiled at the thought of the
look on Jacques face. "Long flight, you know how it
goes. Anyway, we’ll see you tomorrow at around 10.
Bye." Without giving Jacques a chance to answer or
say anything, JC hung up. He realized that it had been
a rather nasty thing to do, but also Jacques didn’t
really deserve a lot of courtesy at the moment.
"JC wait!"
Jacques tried desperately to keep JC on the phone, but
was rewarded with only a dial tone. He had no idea
how long he remained standing there, still holding the
receiver to his ear, when he heard someone clearing
their throat.
Startled, he dropped the phone a second time and
turned to see a little old lady standing in front of
the counter, a small painting in her hand.
Quickly, he tried to compose himself. ("May I help
you, Madam?")
She smiled back at him. ("Girl trouble?")
He was caught off guard by the comment. ("What?")
("The person you were talking to on the phone.") The
woman gave him a knowing wink. ("Seems like she’s
playing hard to get.")
Jacques cleared his throat nervously and tried to
smile back at her. ("Well, you know how it goes. Can
I help you with that?") he asked, indicating the
picture she carried.
("Thank you.")
As Jacques went through the usual run of completing
the sale; his thoughts turned themselves over and over
in his mind. ‘This was a
nightmare! Not only did I lose Grandpere, but now JC
and Annie are back
together. Worst of all, they’re here!’
("Are you going to be paying with cash or credit?")
‘What should I do?’
Jacques waited while the register connected to the
bank, checking on the woman’s credit card.
‘Are they angry? Do they know what I did? No. They
couldn’t. JC seemed perfectly civil on the phone.
Maybe they really are just here because of their love
for Claude.’
He handed the receipt to the woman to sign, waiting
while she searched for a pen in her purse.
‘Still Annie lying in a bed next to JC.’
("Young man.")
Jacques jumped and turned to the woman. ("I’m sorry.
What was that?")
("I asked you if you had a pen I could use.")
("Oh, of course.") He quickly found one and handed it
to her. ("Here you go.")
The woman signed the receipt and left, leaving Jacques
alone in the shop. He heard a beeping and looked down
at the floor where it was coming from. There was the
phone; he still hadn’t hung it up yet.
As he reached for it, his thoughts once more rang out.
‘No, Annie and JC are here to support me in my hour
of need. They couldn’t possibly know exactly what I
have done. A small smile came to his lips. And
Babette
can’t tell them anything now. ’ He hung up the phone,
then turned with a smile as his next customer entered.
JC hung up the phone and then turned his attention to
Annie. Not wanting to wake her again, he gently took
off her coat and shoes. As he reached for her socks,
JC’s hand brushed her skin. He was surprised at how
warm it seemed.
JC put his hand to Annie’s forehead and almost jerked
it back. Her skin felt like it was on fire! Was it a
fever? Worried, the young man left to find TJ. No
sooner had he left, Annie awoke. "Oh crap," she
thought, putting a hand to her face. "What’s wrong
with me?" A rising, bitter taste started building in
her throat. "I’m going to be sick!" With shaky legs,
she managed to stumble into the bathroom, somehow
shutting the door behind her.
JC and TJ entered just in time to see the door
slamming closed. The former ran to the door, knocking
on it with his palm. "Annie! Are you all right??!
Answer me!" The only answer he received was the sound
of vomiting.
After what seemed like an eternity, the sound of a
toilet flushing and then the sound of water in the
sink, Annie opened the door looking absolutely
horrendous. Her hair was plastered down with sweat,
brushed back from her pale face. Her hazel eyes
looked like they had sunken into her skull, giving JC
the eerie impression of black holes in a white
hospital sheet.
"Josh, please help me," Annie gasped, pleadingly.
"The room is spinning and I think I think I am going
to" Before she could finish the sentence, her eyes
rolled up into her head and she began to fall.
JC rushed forward and caught her before she hit the
floor, then carried her over to the bed. As he set her
down on the bed, JC placed one hand on the side of her
face. Her skin felt like she’d been locked in a
tanning bed for three days with the setting on
"Jamaican."
TJ put a hand on JC’s shoulder. "Stay here with her.
I’ll call the front desk and see if they can hunt down
a doctor."
After a rather rushed phone conversation and several
minutes of anxious waiting, there was a quiet knock on
the door. TJ opened the door to find a severe young
man with very ordinary features carrying a small black
bag.
The man nodded once. "Hello, I’m Doctor Smith." He
walked swiftly in as soon as TJ moved aside, looking
around the room. "What appears to be the problem?"
JC looked up from the side of the bed, a wet cloth in
his hand. He had been mopping Annie’s forehead with
it. "Well sir," he said, rising and moving aside.
"She’s been sleeping almost the entire time since we
checked in, about two hours ago."
The doctor knelt at Annie’s side and took her wrist.
"What are her symptoms?"
"She threw up a few minutes ago, then she fainted."
JC paused, his voice worried. "I think she’s running
a fever."
Dr. Smith put a hand to Annie’s forehead. "She is."
He glanced at his watch. "And her pulse is racing."
He reached into his bag and retrieved a thermometer,
which he placed in her mouth. "You said you arrived a
few hours ago. How did you arrive?"
"We flew in." JC stuttered, caught slightly off guard
by the question. "Flight 821 from Orlando."
Dr. Smith turned to him. "Did the young lady have
anything to eat on the plane?"
"Well, let me think., She had the fish, I think, but
only a little. She took a few bites, said it tasted
funny and didn’t eat anymore."
The doctor nodded. "That fits the profile. A number
of passengers from that flight got sick." The doctor
took the thermometer and looked at it. "Seems the
fish was bad." he turned and gave JC a half
reassuring grin. "She just has a bad case of food
poisoning."
JC felt slightly disturbed by the doctor’s
nonchalance. "What should we do for her?"
"There’s not really much you can do." Dr Smith packed
up his things. "It basically has to run its course.
Keep using cool towels to keep her fever under
control, but don’t let her get chilled." He took the
cloth JC had been using earlier and placed it on
Annie’s forehead. "Also, see if you can get her to
drink some water. The last thing we need is for her
to get dehydrated."
Dr. Smith stood up. "Call me in the morning and let
me know how she is. However, I don’t anticipate any
problems." He placed a hand on her head. "She seems
like a healthy girl."
Annie eyes fluttered open at that point, and she
looked blearily around the room. "Oh doctor," she
whispered quietly.
He looked at her expectantly. "Yes, miss?"
"Come here," she motioned to him. "I want to tell
you something."
Dr Smith leaned closer to her. She whispered in his
ear, causing the young man to blush. He straightened
up and turned to JC. "Uh, is is she known for telling
off-color stories?"
"Of course not!"
The doctor nodded. "Then, she might be delirious as
well. With this high of a fever, it’s quite possible."
His blush deepened. "She just told me a very raunchy
joke in French."
JC’s mouth practically dropped open in disbelief.
"She what?" TJ put a hand over his own mouth to
stifle a laugh.
The doctor looked at JC. "I take it such behavior is
unusual for her?"
"Yes, very much so, I’d say."
Dr. Smith shook his head. "Just watch her and call me
tomorrow." He went to the door, turning before he left
to say "Good Luck" over his shoulder.
"Thank you." TJ said to the doctor as he shut the
door, then turned to JC.
"TJ," the latter said, dabbing Annie’s face with the
cloth, "I think I’ll stay here with Annie for awhile.
Why don’t you get some sleep?"
The large man nodded. "Okay. Just let me know if you
need anything." He left the room closing the door
quietly.
JC had just sat down on the bed when he felt an arm
fall across his shoulder. "Hi sailor," Annie’s voice
purred in his ear. "New in town?" She leaned in
closer. "Want to hear a joke?" She proceeded to tell
him something very quietly and seductively in Spanish.
At least, he thought it was Spanish. He had no idea
how to tell different languages apart. Besides, the
only Spanish he knew he had learned from eight grade
language class; so his only real use of the language
was that he remembered how to say "I like the beach"
and that Speedy Gonzales always went "Arriba, arriba,
andela!" right before he took of. `Man, that mouse
was fast.’
JC roused himself from his thoughts. "Sorry," he
smiled at her. "I don’t understand Spanish."
Annie grinned at him maniacally. "Then how about one
in Italian? They have the very best and some of the
sexiest stories."
"Nope, sorry again." He kept the smile going somehow.
"Afraid I don’t know that one either."
She stuck her tongue out at him. "Well, what do you
know?" she pouted.
"Just English."
"Oh, how very boring." Annie smiled devilishly.
"Want to hear a rhyme about a guy from Nantucket?"
Luckily, JC was already familiar with that one, so he
knew better than to accept. "No thank you," he
replied, the smile plastered to his face like a mask.
Annie cuffed him lightly on the back of the head.
"You sure are an old stick in the mud." She sighed.
"Well, what do you want to do?"
"I’m thinking that maybe we should try and get some
sleep."
"Do you mean sleep or," she licked his ear. "sleep?"
"Annie, please," the smile had dropped from JC’s
voice as well as his face.
"Please what?"
JC was actually starting to get slightly annoyed with
the riddles Annie had decided to speak in. Suddenly
her hands were lifting up his shirt, slowly.
He jerked away from her. "What are you doing?!"
"I just want to look," she whispered, a dreamy look
in her eyes. "I promise not to touch."
"Annie, you don’t know what you’re doing. Please
stop."
She stuck out her lower lip. "But I need you." She
leaned closer. "I want you." She put her hand on his
thigh. "I want you to do bad things to me."
"Annie, you’re not thinking clearly." JC plucked her
hand off his leg. "You’re feverish right now, and I
think it’s clouding your judgment."
"Oh, I’m feverish all right." Annie tried to put his
hand down her shirt. "Can’t you feel how hot I am?"
JC pulled his hand away, cradling it to his chest.
"Annie, as tempting as your offer is, I will not, I
repeat, will not take advantage of you in this
condition." He looked desperately into her eyes.
"Besides, our promise-"
"Promise, shomise," she interrupted, her hands going
to the top button of her shirt. "Let’s do it!"
JC grabbed her hand firmly. "Annie! Stop right now!"
Annie stopped, staring blankly into his face for a
brief moment before fainting dead way. Relieved
beyond words, JC got her back under the covers, then
laid down beside her. It turned out to be a very long
night, but at least there was no more incidents like
this one.
The next morning, JC woke to find that Annie was cool
to the touch. It meant her fever had finally broken,
filling him with a deep sense of relief.
"JC?"
Annie was awake! JC turned to her. "Hey."
"Could I have a glass of water please?"
"Sure."
JC got her a glass of water and helped her drink half
of it. "How are you feeling?"
"Much better. But I don’t remember a lot of what
happened after we got into the room. It’s a big blank
until just now when I woke up." She looked at him
over the top of the water glass. "What happened to
me?"
"You had a pretty bad case of food poisoning and were
running a very high fever." He set the glass down.
"That reminds me, I need to call the doctor and let
him know you’re feeling better."
As he reached for the phone, JC felt Annie’s hand on
his shoulder. "Oh no, not this again."
"Did anything else happen?" she asked quietly.
"No, not really." He turned to her. "Why do you
ask?"
"I’m not sure. I just have vague images, nothing
concrete." Annie looked into her eyes. "Did I try to
seduce you??"
"Well, if you want to know the truth."
"I do."
"Then yes, you did." JC held up one hand
reassuringly. "But I resisted. You didn’t succeed."
He smiled a bit at the memory of it, now that Annie
seemed to be getting better. "Actually, I turned you
down and then you passed out."
"Oh, that must have been attractive." Annie rolled
her eyes, then caught a look at herself in a mirror.
"Holy hell, look at me!" she whispered in awe. "In
this state of ‘attractiveness’, I don’t think even an
inmate in solitary would have the guts to lay me
down." She shooed him away. "Now get out of here
while I try to fix this little train-wreck."
About 45 minutes later, Annie reappeared. She was
showered, shampooed and had changed into fresh
clothes. Her face was still pale but didn’t have the
same "I’m dead, bury me now" look it had carried the
night before. "Did anyone think to call Jacques? We
should have done that last night as soon as we checked
in."
"I called him last night."
Annie gave him a look of surprise. "You did? Well,
how did it go?" A smile curved her lips. "Was there a
scene?"
JC shook his head. "No, I thought I was rather polite
and civil." He returned her smile. "Although, to be
honest, I felt like reaching through the phone and
throttling him."
"Well, that mature." She stuck her tongue out at him.
"Shall we go see him now?"
"No," He placed both hands on her shoulders. "You’re
going to stay here."
"But why? I need to go, act as referee. Besides,"
the grin returned to her face. "I might want to
throttle him too."
"Which is exactly why you’re not going." JC touched
her hair reassuringly. TJ and I can handle this. And
I promise not to hurt him."
"I’ll see to that."
Both of them jumped at the sound of a third voice and
turned to see TJ standing in the doorway, arms crossed
over his chest. They had been so absorbed in their
conversation, they hadn’t even heard him open the
door.
Annie looked at the bodyguard seriously. "You sure?"
JC nodded, touching her face. "Of course. You stay
here and rest." He kissed her softly on the tip of
her nose. "We’ll be back in a little while, okay?"
After making sure Annie would be fine and had
everything she needed, JC and TJ went out the door to
Jacques’.
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