Rêveries

Chapter 39.

Charles suggested at breakfast that the five of us go to Gallinara over the day. It's a small island outside of Baba Beach and you can take the boat from Alassio. Pierre, Charles, Arthur and I had gone when we were kids, when Hervé and Pierre's dad, Jean, took us there. It's many years ago. Pierre agrees because he'd like to show Evie, I agree because I want to spend time with Charles, Arthur has promised to take the kids go-karting with Nicolas and Cyril, so he declines. A part of me worries he actually feels left out when it's the five of us, because will that make him against Charles and I?

Pascale, our Monaco one, asks if we want to bring lunch but Charles tells her that we'll buy something in town before getting on the boat. We pack our bags and we get dressed and then take Charles' car into town. We shop for some fruit and sandwiches. We buy juice and bottled water before we buy our tickets for the boat and get on it. We sit on the second floor of the boat, letting the sun shine down on us while the wind rips in our hair and letting us smell the saltwater in the air.

Gallinara looks like a turtle. The big part of the island is like a big hill, then there's a part going out to look like the head. Its sides are filled with trees and there are mostly cliffs around it, but there are some large stone buildings at the top, but there's a steep hill you need to climb to even see them.

The boat drops us off at the dock and we begin climbing up the damn hill. At least the tree shields us from the sun, but we're sweating as we walk. We get to the place where we stopped to take a swim when we were here as kids. We weren't allowed to cliff jump back then, but Charles pointed out that there was nothing stopping us this time.

So we get undressed, wearing swimsuits under our clothes, but keep our shoes on to not hurt our feet. Charles is the first to jump as he was so excited to do it. We watch him jump into the blue water and then come up just as we start worrying about how long he's under the surface. Pierre is next, because he can't let Charles be tougher than him so he doesn't want to wait too long. Evie and I jump together, because none of us want to be the last one to jump. We grab each other's hands and jump in, the cold water surrounding us but the adrenaline making it very difficult to mind the cold.

The thing is that we have to get up there again. Pierre takes Evie along with him to show her the rest of the island while they're wet and cooled off by the water. Charles and I have already seen it and I swear, it's not that much to see, so we go back up to our stuff and get our food out, eating some of the fruit and the sandwiches for lunch. When we've eaten, Charles lays down for a bit, relaxing in the sun and letting it tan his body. I sit up next to him, reading my book. After a while he starts to trail his fingertips up and down my spine, ever so carefully, it almost tickles.

"Ce que tu lis?" What are you reading? he asks. I turn to him and he's starting to sit up next to me. I shake my head and I close it to put it away, he's not interested anyway.

"N'a aucune importance," Doesn't matter, I shake my head.

"Pourquoi ne me dis-tu pas?" Why won't you tell me? He chuckles, poking my side. I frown over at him and shake my head.

"Ce n'est pas que je ne veux pas te le dire, je ne pense pas que tu t'en soucies," It's not that I don't want to tell you, I just don't think you care.

"Alors je n'aurais pas demandé," Then I wouldn't have asked, he shrugs. I look down at the cover of my book and I hold it up for him.

"Chiamami con il tuo nome," Call me by your name, I reply, "C'est en italien, juste pour s'entraîner," It's in Italian, just for practice.

"De quoi s'agit-il?" What is it about? he asks. I chuckle again and I turn away, shaking my head. He definitely doesn't care, even if he says he does. Even if he's interested now, he wouldn't be when I tell him what it's about. He pokes me again, twice this time. "Dis-moi de quoi il s'agit," Tell me what it's about, he demands and I sigh before glaring at him while he glares back expectantly.