Aurélie

Chapter Twenty Three

A few days later, Aurélie was having blueberries and muesli for breakfast in the front room when Lena came sprinting up the stairs.

"Relie I need you to get the back bedroom downstairs made up. We've got out first paying house guest staying. They're arriving this afternoon at three," her voice was excited and raspy.

"That's fantastic news! Is the linen in the cupboard downstairs?" Aurélie asked.

"Yes there's bed linen and towels, if you could lay them out on the bed and if you have time get some flowers from the market to put on the dresser. Is that ok? I'm not in this afternoon, I've got to drive out to Maynards farm to pick up fresh lamb for tomorrow's class - are you going to be around to greet them and get them settled?" she asked, dashing around the room collecting her purse, pashmina and bag.

"Absolutely! Ah Lena this is some exciting! Will they need dinner?"

"Probably not, they've just booked for bed and breakfast and a morning class for cooking. They've only booked for one night but it's a start!" Lena looked so happy, it made Aurélie's stomach do weird things.

"Let's make the one night count then!" Aurélie jumped up from the sofa and jogged past her godmother to dump her cereal bowl in the kitchen sink. "Better get started!"

"Thanks sweetheart, I'm going to clean the classroom and then head over to the farm shop," Lena called over her shoulder, as she made her way downstairs.

Aurélie opened the door to the back bedroom and shoved the waste paper basket out of the way to kick the wedge against the door. The room was slightly musty, having not been aired since they finished decorating it three weeks ago. The shutters were still closed outside the windows. Aurélie unlatched the windows and pulled them open, reaching forward to unhook the bar that kept the shutters secure and pushed hard, the shutters sticking where the heat and recent rain had swollen the grain. She heard the shutters connect with the brick wall and hoped they wouldn't bounce back.

Luckily they didn't.

As the sunlight came in, she took a moment to check out the view. This side of the house overlooked a private courtyard that was shared with the houses on either side and the houses on the adjacent back road. The courtyard was reached by a stone archway that had a similar angel guarding the entrance, a sibling of the one that occupied the arch over Lena's front door. As she turned in the room she could see dust motes moving and went into the hallway to retrieve the battered Henry Hoover from under the stairs.

She gave the room a quick once over before returning faithful Henry to his cubby hole. She had nicknamed him Henry Potter and drawn a lightning bolt on his stickered face when she first arrived. It was one of the first times she'd had a laugh with Seb as they'd joked that poor Henry had to live under the stairs like his magical twin.

She gathered the bed linen from the old farmhouse cupboard that stood in the hallway. It must have been one of the relics Lena had rescued from the goat-herder's house after she'd caught him in a predicament with slutty Agathe. Aurélie had no idea if Agathe was indeed slutty but she imagined her to be a milk maid, like one of those over the top costumes she saw girls wearing on Halloween. All bust and mini skirt and pigtails.

Returning to the room she made the bed and damp dusted the dressing table and chest of drawers. She left the windows open as she dumped the duster in Henry's den and headed out the front door, grabbing her keys and wallet from the trestle table.

The market was still on for a couple of hours so she could go and get some flowers for the hotly anticipated guest and perhaps swing by the bakery to pick up some fresh bread. Recently it felt like Lena was only interested in ordering food for the class to cook with and if she wasn't careful she'd forget to feed herself. Aurélie would make sure she at least had food stocked so Lena could sustain her energy. Mind you, Aurélie wouldn't be surprised if her godmother didn't live off energy from the cosmos.

It was swarming with people as they haggled for bargains and ordered everything from fresh fruit and vegetables to reams of materials and vintage fur coats and trilbies. Everything was here and it felt like the whole summer population of Paris was centred in this one square off the main avenue of the Latin Quarter. The volume was deafening as voices chattered animatedly and tourists yelled at each other to get the attention of their friends as they posed with flat caps and strings of onions draped around their necks or leant gingerly against bicycles. One particular market stall holder was enforcing a strict "you touch you buy" policy. Good on him, Aurélie thought. I don't want some grubby tourist's hands all over my onions.

She selected some vibrant pink tulips and subtle gypsophila to put in the guest bedroom. Moving on to the bakery she joined the queue of ogling tourists who were eyeing up the macaroons in the window. The smell wafting out of the door and along the street was heavenly. The staff of the bakery looked immaculate in pastel blue aprons with a gold insignia.

Aurélie stepped out of the queue and headed back up the street, she'd just had a fantastic idea, she could pick up the bread later, that way it would be fresher for Lena. She entered a department store that sold everything from discount books and make up to food and toiletries. Making her way to the kitchen department she jostled through the narrow aisles, clipping the backpacks and oversized handbags of the shoppers.

She saw what she was after right away, a row of them hanging on the end of the bakery aisle. They had six different colours of apron but Aurélie picked one that was navy with a subtle gold weave through the seam's thread. It would look lovely on Lena, and it would be a pick-me-up after the bad feedback she had received from the elderly couple. Lena had brushed it off but she could tell her godmother was still licking her wounds over that one.