The Greatest Mind I Ever Knew

Chapter 33: Manipulateur

The last two days of our honeymoon were paradisiacal. Lotan and I woke up high on life after our long talk in Grigny, and to my delight the next night, our last in Paris, brought Lotan another hour of sleep! He'd sworn blind he wouldn't sleep again for a week after a record 8 hours of rest, but something inside him was at peace. Something inside him had fended off the demons for now, so even during the rest of the night while I slept, Lotan entertained himself with reading and watching me. We didn't feel any demonic activity in our honeymoon suite all night long! I woke up smiling, thinking to myself, 'So it's not my fault after all. I'm not the problem. Thank you, God!'
               And so the last day of our honeymoon sadly arrived. We had to get back to England relatively early because Lotan had a show to perform that night, which he needed to fit in some last minute practise for, and he needed to help Jasper organise the orchestra in time. So by 12pm we were back in my home country, back in our home.
               Lotan and I cooked a nice lunch together before leaving the house again to go and collect Joshua from my parents. But when we stepped out onto the sunny driveway, we began to bicker.
'Olivia,' Lotan said curiously, moving towards my little car while I moved towards his. 'Why you are, er, not get your keys?'
'Because we're taking the Bugatti!' I said happily, leaning against his driver door. Lotan frowned.
'Pardon? Olivia, dear lady, is only two seats! We must taking your car.'
'But my car's not exciting like yours.' I pouted, sticking to my guns. 'How come I have such a boring car, when yours is so nice and expensive?'
'Because you asking for this car, Olivia!' Lotan whined back. 'I say to you when I buy my Bugatti, there is no much room, only two seats, so you say I must buying you a car also, for you! And you choose this, er, Fiat, remember?'
                I groaned and folded my arms.
'Fine. You make a good point.' I accepted. Lotan rolled his eyes. 'But still, I've never driven your car, and I want to. Come on! Open it, and I'll drop you off at work before picking up Joshua.'
'What!' Lotan laughed. 'No, my love! I'm want to seeing my little baby, first, and also, you can't driving my car without me! Is mine!'
'Hey!' I cried, straightening up again. 'I'm your wife now, Lotan! I get half of your Bugatti - that's the law. Come on, please? Let me drive it, just this once!'
'No.' Lotan said, more stubborn than I'd ever seen him before. My brow rose.
'Excuse me?'
               He fidgeted.
'I, er, said no.'
               Shocked, I slowly walked towards my husband, looked up into his nervous eyes and murmured,
'You said in your wedding speech that you wanted to give me everything. Were you lying?'
               Lotan's eyes widened and he quickly stammered,
'No, my love, no!' But when he saw my cheeky grin, and realised I was teasing him, he groaned loudly. 'You are cruel! Why you make me feeling bad of this, Olivia?'
               I giggled and slid my arms around his waist.
'Please let me drive your fancy super sporty fast car, Lotan.' I asked again in my sweetest voice. My tall husband looked down at my batting eyelids, groaned again and said,
'Go away, manipulateur. I get my key.'
               Then he nudged my arms off him and stomped inside. Cheering happily, I victory-danced over to his Bugatti again and waited for him to return. He soon did, still feeling grumpy. As we climbed into the luxurious seats he grumbled, 'I divorce you if you break my car, Olivia Dufont.'
               I only giggled again and started the engine. The roar made me squeal! But soon Lotan was the one squealing, because I finally realised that I had no idea how to drive a supercar.
               'Olivia, no, no!' he cried when I made the car jolt a few times. 'You break the clutch! Stop! Stop!'
'Wait, Lotan!' I whined back. 'I'm starting to get it now. So I have to knock the gear stick over that way, and that puts it in drive, right?'
'Yes.' Lotan moaned into his hands.
'So how do I put it into first gear?'
               Lotan's hands fell and he glared at me.
'Are you try to make me cry, Olivia?' he asked very seriously. I snorted.
'Sorry. Just tell me, how can I make it go?'
'Accelerate!' he cried.
'Alright! Don't get huffy with me, Lotan Dufont. It's not my fault everything in your car is wrong! I've never driven on this side of the car before, and there's a stupid 'dual clutch' - what does that even mean!? And the speedometer is in kilometres per hour - wait, what do these buttons do?'
'Zut alors.' Lotan sighed as if he was in pain. 'Tu vas me foutre dans la merde -'
'No, no, hey, don't start talking about me in French, meanie.' I said with another pout. 'I'm trying my best here.'
               So Lotan willed some more patience into his gut and explained everything again. But once I'd actually managed to make the car move he began to fidget.
'Okay, now, Olivia, go faster.'
'What!' I cried. 'But this is a narrow track! This car is like ten metres wide!'
'No is not.' he grumbled. 'Go faster! You driving like a, er, a, a snail, right now.'
'Don't be an arse, Lotan!'
'I am not this 'arse', Olivia -'
'You are 'this arse'! Stop criticising my driving! Why do the French have to criticise everything, hm?'
'Because everything is very wrong right now! This is a Bugatti, not a, a, er, er, what is car for old people called, on the pavement, with the basket?'
               I gasped.
'Hey! How dare -'
'Ah, wait!' he suddenly cried, so I slammed my foot down on the brake, terrified of marking his car with a single scratch. Lotan's head flew forward, and he clenched his jaw. '...Why?' he asked me dangerously. I pulled an apologetic smile.
'You said 'wait'.'
'Because you must lift the car, for the stones.' Lotan growled. He pressed a button which raised the car a little. '- Not brake very fast! Ay-yai-yai.'
'Sorry.'
'Fine, is fine.' He took a deep breath and rubbed his face. 'Is fine.'
'Can I try again?' I asked him, a little humbled now. Lotan sighed heavily.
'Yes. Only drive faster, please, my love.'
'But what if I scratch your car?'
'You won't, if you drive faster!' he said exasperatedly. 'But if you drive very slow again, you will falling asleep and drive into a tree!'
               After that ridiculous comment I could only stare at Lotan. He looked back at me, but then a smile twitched at his lips, and I giggled, and soon we were both laughing.
               By the time we reached the town Lotan and I felt like we'd been married for years. Oh, and I was back in the passenger seat where I belonged.
               'I like bickering with you.' I told Lotan while he drove. He smiled.
'I think, me too.'
               Just then he drove straight past the orchestra house, even though our little Bugatti-battle had already made him ten minutes late for work. I smiled to myself.
'Hey.' I said. Lotan glanced over at me. 'You're late for work.'
'I know.' he shrugged. 'But I want to seeing little Joshua again. And I want to be with you, er, er, more, as possible. Piano can waiting for me.'
               That was the sweetest thing I'd ever heard him say. So when we pulled up outside Mum and Dad's house, I quickly kissed Lotan, stroked his hair back, and said,
'Thank you, my eternal love.'
               For once Lotan looked pleased with himself. He walked to the door with me, hand in hand, wearing his full, broad smile.