Love And War

Chapter 01: "The First Meet".

When you hear the word "French", many things pop into your mind, wine, cheese, The Eiffel Tower ,and of course, fashion, or perhaps that's what Catherine planned for when it came to building a new project. "Who is she?" You may ask, well, let's break it in for you, shall we?

Catherine Aubert, daughter of the late french general "Achille Aubert" was born to a wealthy and noble family, Catherine spent the first years of her life with her younger sister Elisabeth in her father's family estate in Marseille before moving to Paris to start her education, at 11 years old, she attended The maison d'éducation de la Légion d'honneur de Saint-Denis, after finishing her secondary education, she joined the french army to serve in world war II when she was aged 18 and returned to France shortly after the end of the war, only to attend a fashion school a year later. After her father's death in 1953, Catherine inherited her money from her father's fortune and decided to move with her sister abroad and find a job before her life turns into turmoil, she contacted her old friend "Olivine Depasse", daughter of a renowned businessman; who'd recently moved to Algiers to work as a lawyer, to help her in the situation, Olivine suggested that in order to become a fully independent woman; she'd have to build a project in the profession she studied, and that's what Catherine exactly did, she created her clothing brand after readying her migration papers, eventually, she settled in Algiers on December 1st, 1954, a month after the early start of the Algerian war, also known as "The
Algerian Revolution", she was 27.

After arriving in Algiers, she went to Olivine's apartment to pay her a visit, and when she got there, she and her sister were greeted warmly by Olivine and got invited for lunch, after eating the delicious food and having a good laugh, it was time for them to get very, very drunk and have things discussed, it was more of a " tell the truth or sink in misery" game for two people who almost had the same tragedy, the two of them sat down and began their drinking game after pouring wine, " What made you come here?", Olivine posed the question first, "To make change", said Catherine after taking her first sip.
"wouldn't it have been safe if you had stayed there?".
"safe? if it only wasn't for my greedy uncle who wanted all the money for himself; he didn't care about me or my sister; it was wealth that he most demanded. Good thing that I'd fought my way back".
"But don't you know that people who live here are at war with us?".
A moment of silence broke between them.
"War?"asked Catherine, confused.
"They say that war is upon us and that a brave heart is needed, but what you must know is that one of the two parts is wrong, a better choice is made when justice is seen with the right sight, take that as an advice from me".
"I'll sure do, how is your work so far?".
"It's going well, even smoother; in fact. Lawyering isn't as easy as I expected it to be, but it's worth the effort if you're looking for a better purpose in life".
"I bet. now it's your turn".
Olivine took another shot and made a wild move.
"What have you seen during the war?".
she added.
"Is it the curiosity or care that drives you to ask such  question?".
"Cause doesn't matter, what matters is the truth, and if any of us reject to speak fact, then it may sign weakness and failure".
Catherine drank her glass and asked for another one.
"And that is what we cannot deny, and to answer your question frankly; to have it all imagined in one scene, it's not the Eden of glory, nor hellfire, You wouldn't want to see them dead with their blood flushing around, would you?".
"Is that how it made you feel?".
Said Olivine smirkingly.
"Come on, I know you better than that, blood doesn't disgust you, it was their death that terrified you, you know what to do...".
Catherine drunk up her glass and began to get affected, and after a few rounds, she ended up being the loser in the game, when it was time to go, Olivine asked Catherine and her sister to stay over for the night , so she can assist them with the apartment pick the the next day, the two sisters declined but Olivine insisted, Catherine didn't want for her old friend to get upset, so they stayed in for the night.

In the next morning, they went to the apartment agency and bought the one that was fit for the two sisters to live in, Elisabeth was happy that she's broken free from her mother's chains and told her sister on the way to their new home that all what she ever wanted was to spend more time with her and that she was proud of her for being brave enough to have fought for her country in the war, when they got to their apartment, Catherine asked her sister about what happened during her absence.
"You don't want to know".
said Elisabeth with hesitation of whether to tell Catherine the truth or not, knowing that she won't be satisfied with what she's about to hear.
"I do, and I insist that you tell me immediately".
Catherine demanded.
"Alright, when you left with our father for war, Maman didn't show me any love; she hadn't been kind to me; she only asked me to write to him to send more money; it was then that I'd realised that she'd not married for love but for wealth".
Elisabeth was about to sob after uttering these words, but Catherine; being the tender sister she is ;wiped her tears and assured her that she'll give her the love she'd long craved for.
"I'll love you, and keep loving you until you get tired of me".
Elisabeth laughed and smiled at her sister and embraced her tightly in the arms.

In a few days, Catherine builds her clothing brand and becomes the first woman in Algiers to ever own a business in her own name, making the change that she wanted, but what she didn't have in my mind is how things were different there, one time, when she was on her way to the central library to get book that went viral, she didn't think that she'd see soldiers holding their arms with their trained dogs wandering around the streets and how people were treated unfairly , forcely taken to their own death, she didn't think of it as odd but wrong, and when she got to the library, she got bumped by a girl who seemed to be young but not French, she was curious enough to find out who she is.
"Sorry, I didn't mean that".
Said the girl.
"T'inquiète pas, ma chére, it happens all the time, when one is in lust for reading, you can't imagine yourself doing anything but bump in, you look like an avid reader".
Said Catherine, in an attempt of making a conversation with her.
"Well, I do enjoy reading, it feeds me with what I need to learn".
The girl replied.
"I see. do you like novels?".
"Oh yes! And literature too!".
And then, they began having a conversation.
It appeared that they shared many things in common, despite their racial differences, and when they got acquainted, it was time to get to know the names.
"I'm Catherine Aubert, head of the Èlise brand, and you?".
"My name is Dalila, Dalila Gasem".
And that was their first meet.