fin de siècle ; mixte 1963

chapter 16 ; i heard that you fell in love, or near enough

"I refuse to think that these two aren't together," mumbled Gisele to Charles as the two of them were watching Michele and Laubrac sneaking glances at each other. "It's simply impossible."

Vergoux looked at her with amusement.

"I agree," he said, taking a drag of his cigarette. "But they remind me of someone."

Gisele turned to her friend with curiosity.

"Really? Who?" she asked. "I mean, Simone and Jean-Pierre would be fitting, but now that they are out and about-"

"It's not about them," interrupted the boy. "Try harder."

"Uh... Pichon and Annick?" she tried once again. "But it's one-sided, because Annick does not like him that way."

"Nope."

Gisele was thinking over every possible candidate, but she came with nothing. And then, as soon as the vague idea appeared in her mind, her eyes widened.

"Is my brother sneaking around with someone?" the girl asked, looking at Charles with expectation. "I mean, it would be great if he was, but why would he-"

"It's not about Jean, Gigi," said Charles with a sigh, seemingly having had enough. "It's about you. You and Joseph, in particular."

What. The. Fuck.

Since when did he know about her and Joseph? Were they really that obvious? If Annick knew and Charles knew, then it was already two too many people for the secret to stay hidden. And Jean was not going to like it, once he realised everybody apart from him knew, even if it was nothing serious. What should she do? Should she act stupid? Should she admit the truth?

Gisele let out a nervous chuckle.

"What about me and Jo?"

"You two have that stupid arrangement going on," replied Charles, taking out another cigarette. "And I'm certain that it will do no good. To both of you."

Gisele pursed her lips.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she said, playing with her fingers. "There's nothing between me and Jo. Nothing other than genuine friendship, that is."

"Gigi..."

"No, Charles," she interrupted, looking in his eyes stubbornly. "Why is everybody acting as if they know better than us two? I'm tired of all those assumptions and questions and everything else."

"Maybe they see things that you don't?"

"Not possible," said Gisele, irritated. "I'm a very self-aware person, thank you very much."

"Really?" asked Charles sceptically. "Then why is he the only person who can truly calm you down? Why are you the only one to see him without his eyepatch? Why are you two always so touchy after drinking?"

"Stop it, Charles," murmured Gisele, choosing to stare at her own shaky hands rather than at her friend.

"Why is it him that you're showing your vulnerable self to? Why are you the only one he listens to? Why did you tell Yves and the others that you are together? Because yeah, they did tell us about that and-"

"I said stop it!" Gisele's irritation turned into anger, for some reason, and she physically couldn't listen to anything Charles had to say. "You think you are so smart, so observant and so- I just can't listen to all that bullshit!"

"That's just because you know it's the truth," pointed out Vergoux, his gaze fierce and not ready to retreat.

"No, it's not," said Dupin through gritted teeth. "And I'm going to fucking prove it."