The Mask of New Paris ✓

VI. New Paris

The first day of my marriage I try to make up for my nosey questions. I wake up at a somewhat decent hour and spend the next thirty minutes in the bathroom to make myself presentable. When I head downstairs, the ground floor already smells like toast and eggs and Reed is silently sitting at the table, drinking coffee. The radio in the living room is turned on, but the reception is pretty bad.

After breakfast, Reed cleans up his dishes and leaves for his study only to show up again around noon. Until then, I have the chance to wander around the entire house, looking at all the details and memorising where everything is standing. I even find the time to prepare a simple sandwhich for lunch as I still haven't really figured out how the stove works.

During the afternoon, Reed leaves. The jetty is awkwardly empty and I have never felt so alone before in my life. I try the phone hanging on the wall in the hallway. It rings once, twice, even a third time before a dry click ends the connection. So far, nobody at the Sallow household has the decency to pick up the phone.

I rummage through the bookcase, make a selection of interesting books and pile them neatly on the coffee table. I decide to pick one up and sit on our front porch to read it. This lasts for about half an hour until I catch an alligator eyeing me suspiciously. Remembering Reed's background story on his scar, I decide that perhaps I could read inside.

It takes me the entire day to convince myself to use the toilet inside the house over which Reed and I had our first true argument as a married couple last night. Being used an outdoor toilet stall, the thought of having one inside causes my nose to instinctively crunch. No matter the arguments Reed has – it is open, it won't smell or alligators can't fit through the whole – it takes a lot of courage for me to actually squat down on that porcelaine atrocity.

When Reed finally returns a bit before dinner, he has brought fresh flowers and freshly baked bread with him. We eat in silence until I finally dare to ask the next question that I have been practising the entire day.

"Am I allowed to take the skiff?"

Reed looks up from his corn casserole and frowns in confusion.

"You know how to navigate one?"

"Not really, but perhaps you can teach me. It proves very uneasy to be stuck here." I add.

He sighs and I can see he's terribly tired. He must have gone to the Papineau Plantation today, which means he had to cross some distances and was probably a bit stressed to make it home in time for dinner. I start to feel a little guilty but then remember I was in fact stuck in this house without much to do.

"I just don't know how I will spend the rest of my days, looking through the window until you come back just so I have a bit of company."

"I see." He replies shortly, folding the napkin on his lap before he uses it to wipe his mouth. The scar on his left cheek seems to stretch along with his movements.

"I failed to keep your busy schedule in mind." He excuses himself, but the words don't seem sincere as he is absentmindedly refilling his glass. His dark brows are frowned and not once has he smiled this evening. The dark clouds that are absorbing his mind are almost visible floating around his neatly combed hair.

I place my own napkin back on my lap and inch a little closer. "Is everything alright at the plantation? You seem a little worried?"

Perhaps I shouldn't meddle in his affaires but he's the sole companion I have in this part of the bayou. He can not expect me to turn myself into isolation.

"Nothing that will affect this household if that's what you're asking." Reed replies and his hard words, turn my heart to stone.

"I was just wondering how you were." I reply shortly and stand up, shoving his empty plate over mine and striding down the hallway straight into the kitchen where I angrily start the dishes. I ignore the confused look on his face as I make my departure to the kitchen and leave him all by himself in the dining room. I hear his slow footsteps approach and when a sudden popping sound makes me turn around in confusion, I see him standing there with a bottle of wine. Uncorked.