Paris - Chapter Sixteen
Flashback
On the ride back to the hotel, Annie remained very
quiet. All the emotions that had been evoked in her
by the funeral, combined with the most horrendous case
of food poisoning the world had ever seen (so it
seemed to her, at least) had finally caught up to her.
JC held her close, absentmindedly rubbing her arm with
his hand while she rested her head on his shoulder.
TJ, sensing with his usual uncanny accuracy that they
needed a little alone time, sat up front with the
driver.
When they reached the hotel, JC and Annie rode the
elevator up in silence to their rooms.
Later that night…
Annie sat on the bed, looking at the box and letters
she had taken out of her purse. She had taken a
shower, made a cup of tea and basically done as much
as she could without directly avoiding the articles at
hand. But now she had run out of ideas, but still
avoided opening them. To do so would mean that Claude
was truly gone.
She sighed, brushing aside a rebellious strand of
hair. Now she knew she was probably being slightly
unreasonable, but she couldn’t help it. Maybe having
someone with her would help.
"Hey, Josh!" Annie called; making sure he could hear
her in case he had his stereo turned up again. "Could
you please come in here for a minute?"
"Sure, just a second."
A moment later JC entered. He had changed into
flannel pajama pants and an old T-shirt. Oddly
enough, Annie was wearing almost exactly the same
thing. They looked at each other for a minute without
saying anything before they both burst out laughing.
When he had finished his good little chuckle at their
expense, JC smiled at her. "What can I do for you,
babe?"
Annie was now completely serious. "I’m going to open
Claude’s box and letters, but I don’t want to be
alone. Could you open them with me?"
He crossed the room and sat next to her on the bed.
"Sure. Are you ready?"
Annie looked into his eyes. "Yes, but first…may I
have a kiss for luck?"
"Funny you should ask," he whispered. He leaned over
and kissed her tenderly, then straightened and waited
patiently.
Annie’s hands trembled as she took three envelopes out
of a larger one. Two were addressed to her and one to
Josh. Of Annie’s two, the first said "Box contents’
description" while the other was labeled "Annie
only!" Annie quickly slipped the latter one back into
the big envelope before JC had a chance to see it.
‘I’ll just read that one later,’ she thought.
Annie handed Josh’s envelope to him. After putting on
his glasses, he opened it and read quietly to
himself. When he was done, he reread the important
parts aloud for Annie.
Dear Joshua,
I now know in my heart the truth about Jacques. I am
so very sorry for the pain that he caused both of you,
but it is something I shall have to live with. I can
only apologize that I didn’t pick up on it sooner and
I hope you can forgive me for that.
Joshua, whatever you have to do…do it to get Annie
back. You two are meant to be together, so don’t just
let her push you away. Fight for her. She loves you
so much…why else would she have spent days crying over
you? Why would she still want to send the portrait
she drew? Easy…because she loves you.
In so many ways, you two remind me of myself and my
Marie. Circumstances beyond our control tore us
asunder, and the obstacles you face are pebbles
compared to ours. All you have to do is pick them up
and toss them out of the way.
Josh; in the box I gave Annie you will find two wine
glasses. These are the glasses Marie and I toasted
each other with at our wedding. It is my deepest hope
that one day you will raise these glasses to each
other at your own special day. I probably won’t be
there to see that joyous event, but please think of
me. I shall be there in spirit.
I am getting tired, so I will close for now.
May God truly bless you and Annie. I love you both.
Claude
When he had finished reading, JC and Annie just sat
and held each other for the longest time. No words
would have been nearly sufficient enough to express
their feelings, so they didn’t try. Finally, Annie
wiped her eyes and broke the embrace. "Time to read
mine?"
"Yes," JC whispered, drying his own eyes.
My dearest Annie,
I have said in Josh’s letter the things I wanted to
say to you both about getting back together. I hope
and pray that you two have made up when these letters
are read. This letter is to explain to you the things
in the box. Don’t worry – I have also left family
heirlooms for Jacques. These can only rightly go to
you.
I believe I have already explained the glasses in
Josh’s letter. Next in the box, you should find two
cups and saucers. (Annie carefully unwrapped them.
They were green with lilacs painted on them. She
remembered Claude had said once that lilacs were
Marie’s favorite flowers.) These are "make-up" cups.
Whenever Marie and I had an argument, we would sit
down over a cup of tea, using these cups. Sometimes
we went through many cups of tea. Please use them for
the same purpose. Believe me…they work.
Next, you will find a white linen handkerchief with
the initial M embroidered on it. Marie carried this
on our wedding day. I hope that you will carry it on
yours.
The two books of poetry are ones we bought for each
other. The one in French was my gift to Marie. I
have marked some of her favorite poems. The other one
is Italian love sonnets which Marie gave to me.
Naturally, I have marked my favorites in it as well.
The one on page 93 is what I read to her on our
wedding night.
One last thing. Annie…look inside your locket. I am
sure that you haven’t opened it since you asked me to
fix the loose clasp on that fateful day. If you had,
you would have commented on it.
Annie, I know that I have told you this before, but
you are the granddaughter I never had, so I feel the
need to say it again…I will always love you. I am so
very proud of you and love you so much. When you came
into my life, you renewed my heart and helped me to
heal old wounds.
Love forever and God bless.
Grandpere Claude
Annie went over to the mirror and opened the locket.
Inside was a picture of her and JC dancing at Pepe’s.
It was almost identical to the one of Marie and Claude
on the opposite side of the locket.
She turned and motioned him to her side. "Josh, come
here. You have to see this."
JC came up behind her, placing his arms around her
waist. Looking over her shoulder, he saw the picture
of them in the locket. "It’s beautiful, Annie." He
pulled back her hair, kissing her neck softly. "Now,
I have something for you. Come back and sit down."
Once they were both sitting on the bed, JC cleared his
throat and pulled a piece of paper from his T-shirt
pocket. "I want to read you a poem that I
wrote for you the other night." Putting on his
glasses, he fixed her with a serious gaze. "I worked
really hard on it, so you have to promise not to
laugh."
Annie put up one hand. "Scout’s honor."
JC took a deep breath and began.
I have been blind
Unwilling
To see the true love
You’re giving
I have ignored every blessing
I’m on my knees
Confessing…
That I feel myself surrender
Each time I see your face
I am staggered by your beauty
Your unassuming grace
And I feel my heart is turning
Falling into place
I can’t hide it
Now hear my confession
I have been wrong about you
I thought I was strong without you
For so long
Nothing could move me
For so long
Nothing could change me
Now I feel myself surrender
Each time I see your face
I am captured by your beauty
Your unassuming grace
And I feel my heart is turning
Falling into place
I can’t hide it
Now hear my confession
You are the air I breathe
You’re the ground beneath my feet
When did I stop believing?
‘Cause I feel myself surrender
Each time I see your face
I am staggered by your beauty
And I feel my heart is turning
Falling into place
I can’t hide it
Now hear my confession
I can’t hide
Now hear my confession
JC looked up to see tears streaming down Annie’s
face. He gently wiped the tears from her eyes.
Leaning close to rest his forehead against hers. "I
mean every word of it – you are the love meant for me.
My reason for getting up in the morning. The person
I want to build my world around." He kissed her
eyebrows. "You are my life."
Once Annie had finally stopped crying, they carefully
wrapped up the items and returned them to the package.
JC then snuck back to his room and returned with a
small box, which he handed to Annie.
"What’s this?" she asked, looking at the gift with a
more than slightly confused expression on her face.
"Open it and see." He smiled, motioning for her to go
ahead and open the box.
Annie opened it, then covered her mouth with one
hand. Inside were two sterling silver rings, one
sized for her hand and the other for his. They were
inscribed with the same Hebrew lettering that was on
her locket. It read: "I am my Beloved’s and my
Beloved is mine." It was taken from Solomon’s Song of
Songs, Chapter Two, Verse 16, and it was inscribed on
both of the posey rings.
Annoyingly bold-faced note from the author and editor:
A posey is a short poem inscribed on a ring. This
tradition dates to the Middle Ages and was a very
romantic gift. It further states that words which
touched the skin have a particular power. The
sterling rings were often given as betrothal rings and
replaced with the same ring in gold on the wedding
day.
"Annie," JC whispered, taking her ring out of the
box. "Will you wear this ring as a sign of our
commitment and love? It’s just a "Promise" ring right
now."
"Of course," she answered as he slipped it on her left
hand. Annie then reached in the box and took out his
ring. "Josh? Will you do the same for me?" she
asked, placing his ring on his finger.
"Yes." He kissed her softly. "I love you so much,
Annie."
"I love you too, Josh."
Just then, there was an insistent, paternal knock on
the door. "Hey, I realize that true love is endless,"
TJ’s voice came from the other side of the door, "but
it’s two in the morning and I need my sleep."
"Sorry, TJ," they answered in embarrassed unison.
"Good night Annie. I’ll see you tomorrow." JC kissed
her good-night, then returned to his room before TJ
had to drag him off, shutting the door
behind him.
Needless to say, Annie and JC slept with huge smiles
on their faces that night.
*Usual disclaimer* "My Confession" is sung by Josh
Groban (notice a
pattern here?) It appears on the "Closer" CD, 2003
Little Dume Music/Seven Parks Music
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