The Sun and The Moon

Chapter Eight

There weren't many hair salons in Saint-Luc. By that, I mean there is only one; Hair Affair. It was run by Marie Francois, a sixty year old who gave everyone a bob. That meant that most people took a day trip to Montreal when they wanted a haircut. I hoped I would be able to find enough clients to make a living. I would, of course, be more affordable than Montreal, but some people liked the trip. When I applied to Marie, she hired me without a moments' hesitation. I was thrilled to be working again. After getting the job, I walked home, singing to myself. Outside, I ran into Paul.

"I was just on my way to your house!" He laughed.

"Late," I mentioned.

"Well so are you," he pointed out. I poked him in the side, giggling.

"Because I'm still in love with you, I wanna see you dance again," I sung, remembering the night we kissed. I felt like it was ages ago, but in reality it was only a few months. Paul laughed, reached down and picked me up, spinning me around. He planted a kiss on my mouth.

"I should have known this is where we would be as soon as I heard you singing that song the first time," he said.

"You didn't?"

"No, you always keep me guessing," Paul admitted. I smiled and took his hand.

"Marie hired me," I said.

"I knew she would, she is starting to get old."

"Paul!"

"What? It's true," he protested.

"But it's not nice," I reminded him. He laughed.

"Sorry, baby angel." He kissed the top of my head. When we got home, my dad was playing piano. I stopped inside the door, hiding behind the closet. I covered my mouth and put a hand on Paul to stop him from being seen. He looked at me confused. I closed my eyes, listening. Paul pulled me into a hug. It was Bethoven's Moonlight Sonata. We stood in the door, clasping each other and listening to my father play for the almost the full length of the song. When he stopped only part way through, I had tears in my eyes. I went around the corner, sitting down beside him. He also had tears in his eyes. I placed my hands on the keys and finished the tune. As the last notes faded in the air, I took his hand and squeezed it.

"Life is much easier now that you're back," he said. He kissed my temple and left, going into his room. I put my head down on the top of the piano. Paul came over, sitting beside me.

"Baby angel," he said, placing his hand on my back.

"I am not a nice person," I said.

"Of course you are," he argued.

"I hurt everyone and didn't even care."

"You clearly do care, and we all know it wasn't intentional."

"Do you know that?"

"Yes!"

"How?" I demanded.

"Because look how torn up you are about it! We're not idiots." We were quiet and he rubbed my back softly. I turned; hugging him and resting my face against his neck.

"I miss my mama," I whispered.

"Me too," he said. I played a few notes, but wasn't into it. I went into my room, bringing Paul with me. I lay down ontop of my blankets. Paul lay with me, and I curled into him, enjoying his presence. He rubbed my scalp, playing with my hair.

"Kelly was asking about you this morning," Paul said.

"What did she want to know?"

"If you would want to play koala family later," Paul said and I laughed. I sniffed away my tears and he kissed the end of my nose.

"Paul, I love you," I said.

"I love you too, baby angel," he said. A smile plastered itself on his face and it looked like it would never go away.

I started work the next day. When I got there in the morning, Marie was already there, answering the phone.

"It's going to be slow at first," she told me.

"That's fine," I nodded.

"No one knows your here yet, but I've spread the word through my circle. It'll get passed around quickly enough," Marie assured me. I sat in one of the chairs and spun myself around and around. She had the radio on and I sang along under my breath. That day, I only had three clients, but the next I had five. It was nothing like Ottawa, where I didn't even bother to count my clients, but it was a start. I spent the night at Paul's, and in the morning, we woke Kelly up nice and early, bustled her into the car and started our long drive to the zoo.

"Kelly, do you know where we're going?" I asked her.

"Fast!" Kelly clapped her hands.

"We're going to the zoo!" I cheered.

"Zooooooo," she echoed me and Paul laughed. I don't know if she had ever been, or if she even knew what the zoo was. I was thrilled to bring her though, because she loved it.