Paris - Chapter Thirteen
FLASHBACK
TJ and JC arrived at the shop just as Jacques was
finishing up with a
customer. He looked up when he heard the bell on the
door ring and was
rewarded with his first impression of TJ. The man was
easily over six feet
tall and built like a wrestler; he took up most of the
store’s doorway.
With light hair, dark eyes and nondescript clothes, he
seemed the type of
man who could come out of nowhere, pummel someone to
within an inch of their life and then fade back into
the crowd with no trouble whatsoever.
This idea made Jacques’ throat very dry. Had JC
brought this mountain of a man to beat him up?
"Merci ma’am Please come again," Jacques squeaked
out as the woman left the store. Now he was
completely alone with JC and this behemoth.
Nonetheless, he cleared his throat and came out around
the counter to meet them. "Hello JC It’s good to see
you." He came towards them with hand extended.
JC just stared at Jacques’ hand for a moment, then met
his eyes. "Is it?"
Jacques lowered his hand, a nervous smile wavering on
his face. "Of
course it is." He peered over J’s shoulder. "Where’s
Annie?" The fact that she wasn’t here with him might
be a good thing.
"She’s back at the hotel." JC answered mildly,
glancing around at some of the newer paintings. "She
wanted to come, but she wasn’t feeling too well." He
moved closer to a landscape that hadn’t been in the
shop last time. "Something she ate."
"I hope it’s nothing serious." Jacques seemed
genuinely concerned, but it
was more than a little disconcerting to have a
conversation with someone
when they weren’t facing you.
"No, she’ll be well enough by tomorrow." JC turned
around again.
"Actually, that’s why we’re here. What time is the
service tomorrow?"
"One o’clock. We can meet here, then head over there
together. Afterwards, everyone is gathering at Pepe’s
for a celebration of Grandpere’s life." Jacques eyed
TJ suspiciously. "Of course, Your friend is more than
welcome to tag along."
JC caught the edge in Jacques’ voice. "Oh, I’m
sorry. Where are my
manners?" He moved aside to let the two men shake
hands. "This is TJ, my bodyguard."
Jacques stiffened visibly. "Bodyguard?" A sardonic
grin spread across his face. "What, did you bring him
along to beat me up?"
"No. He’s here to keep me from pounding the living
crap out of you."
A crazed look flashed in Jacques’ eyes. "C’mon, I’m
not afraid of either
one of you." He raised his fists in an almost comic
parody of a small child
on a playground standing up to a bully. "Let’s go."
JC just stared at him. "No," he said after a few
silent moments.
"Chicken?" Jacques jeered.
He took a deep breath, hesitating for a few moments.
He knew that TJ was tense, ready to leap in at the
slightest advance on Jacques’ part. JC let out the
breath, focused on Jacques. "No. I made a promise to
Annie that I wouldn’t hurt you."
The crazed look only seemed to grow in Jacques’ face.
"Then she does care!" He clenched one fist. "I knew
it!"
"Listen Jacques." JC took a step forward. "I hate to
burst your little
fantasy bubble, but Annie was considering whacking you
herself."
He seemed confused now. "But why?"
"She knows."
Jacques face went a deadly white as he slowly lowered
his fists. "You
mean?"
JC nodded. "Everything. Babette’s faked pictures,
the phony engagement photo, even the bracelet." He
couldn’t contain a mean-spirited smile. "Which by the
way, is at this very moment on her wrist." The smile
dropped away. "It’s over." His face grew
contemplative. "The only thing we can’t figure out is
how Babette managed to take the pictures, but I’m sure
it’ll come to us eventually." He looked at Jacques
hard. "Do you have any ideas?"
"Of course not. Why would I?" His anger spent,
Jacques slumped into a
chair by the counter, holding his head and staring at
the floor. He looked
so pathetic that JC’s irritation left him. Softer
now, in a more gentle voice, JC questioned him.
"Jacques, why?"
Jacques’ shoulders convulsed; he was crying. "I loved
- love - her," he
sobbed. "I always have, but she didn’t love me the
same way." He ran a
hand through his hair. "I was hoping to convince her,
but you showed up." He sighed. "I realize now that
it was always a losing battle. And that old saying
‘All’s fair in love and war’ just isn’t true."
A measure of anger came back into JC’s voice. "No,
especially when one of the injured parties is the
woman you supposedly love."
Jacques straightened in his chair, wiped his eyes.
"Grandpere was right,
you two belong together. I was a fool thinking
otherwise." He looked up at JC. "Can you forgive
me?"
JC came forward and extended his hand. Jacques took
it slowly, then shook it. "It may take a while," the
former said, breaking off, "but I’ll try.
To do anything else would be to dishonor Claude’s
memory."
Jacques managed a shaky smile. "Thanks."
JC turned to leave. "We’ll see you tomorrow at
12:30."
"Sure. See you then."
"Bye." With that, he and TJ left the shop, the bell
ringing softly to mark
their passing. Jacques remained seated, staring at
the floor. After a few
moments, his shoulders started shaking. Anyone walking
in at that moment would have thought him to be
crying. But then, a chuckle could be heard in the
room, very soft.
"So," Jacques whispered, humor tinting his words,
"They haven’t really
figured everything out yet. They don’t know what I
really did." The laugh
escaped his lips. "Babette was so easy to play.
Delusional, paranoid,
stupid little bitch." Another laugh, louder. "Easy."
***********************
As JC walked into the room, Annie got up from the bed
where she’d been
reading. Going over to him, she wrapped one hand
around his waist. "Do I need to inspect you for
bruises?"
JC chuckled, kissing the tip of her nose. "No need, I
believe I was quite
civil." He grinned at her devilishly. "Although the
idea of an inspection
is very tempting."
She cuffed him lightly upside the head. "C’mon, be
serious for a moment.
What happened with Jacques?"
"Well, aside from the fact that you have one of the
most obsessive people
I’ve ever met stalking after you, we managed to clear
quite a few things up between us." JC grew
thoughtful. "I think I got through to him, at any
rate, he apologized and told us the time to show up
tomorrow."
"That’s good I guess." The idea of Jacques being
obsessed with her didn’t sit too well in her mind.
"Anyway, I guess that’ll make things less awkward
tomorrow at the service. Now." Annie put on her best
pouty look. "Why were you so late getting back?"
"We had an errand to run." he replied, nimbly
avoiding giving away the
surprise he had planned. "I’ll tell you more about it
tomorrow." He smiled
at her, loving how cute she looked when she was
pouting. "Okay?"
Annie smiled back. "Sure."
TJ cleared his throat, drawing their attention. He was
standing in the
doorway, which made them wonder when he’d shown up
there. For such a big man, TJ was very stealthy.
"Well, we have the rest of the day free. What would
you like to do?"
JC and Annie grinned at each other.
"Art Museum?"
"Art Museum."
"Guess that settles it," TJ muttered with a shake of
his head, smiling.
They gathered up their things and spent the rest of
the day at the Louvre.
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