That same evening, I went back to the house completely soaked. The rain had been cold, but it did not bother me.
Laurent looked at me with a worried expression.
"Ileyar, are you alright? Hurry, you need to change into some dry clothes. We don't want you to catch a cold."
"...I'm fine, but I'll go change. Thank you for your concern."
I went upstairs to the room I was staying in and rummaged through my drawers. I found a regular blue T-shirt and white gym shorts.
"Good enough."
I changed in absolute silence. Normally, I would hear the faded echo of Marcelle's music playing from the next room, but she wasn't home.
She was with him.
I won't go into details, but I asked her more about this boyfriend of hers.
His name was Cyrille Lagarde, and he liked to paint abstract works of art. He dressed in lots of black and white, and his jet black hair covered half of his face.
He had piercings in his ears, eyebrows, nose, chin, tongue...
And he had a few colorful tattoos on his arms. He had a giant one on his back. It was a raven, I believe.
"...He sounds like a really interesting person, Marcelle."
"Yeah, he is. But... Sometimes he has a short temper."
"Is that so?"
"Mhm..."
Marcelle had a sad look, and it worried me. She was always so cheerful... I couldn't bear it.
I grabbed a hold of her hands and looked her in the eyes.
"...Is something wrong?"
"Ileyar... He is just so sad sometimes... And I try to comfort him, but it doesn't work... I feel like I'm a failure..."
My eyes narrowed, but not in anger. Just seriousness.
"That's ridiculous. You are anything but a failure."
"...What?"
"Marcelle Chastain. You are not perfect. You can't do everything. I know you want to, but it's not possible. But... You're such a spirited person. I've never met anyone with as much enthusiasm as you. You're... You're like a bright light illuminating a dark room."
She smiled a little, and that made me smile a lot.
"...Thanks, Ileyar."
I wanted to say "you're welcome", but I had something else I had on my mind...
"...Does Cyrille appreciate you? Does he treat you like royalty? He should. It's all you deserve. If he doesn't... He does not deserve you."
"...Huh? I mean... Yeah, I think he does."
"Does he make you smile? Does he make you laugh? Does he make you so happy that you bounce and squeal? Does he do these things?"
"...Ileyar..."
"Does he tell you how wonderful you are? Does he tell you that you're his everything? Does he tell you..."
"Tell me what?"
"...Does he tell you that he loves you more than anything?"
"...Why are you asking me these questions?"
"...Because... That's what someone like you deserves."
"Oh... I see."
"Well... Does he?"
