L'Etoile Rose

Chapter 25

Lucie had taken the trouble to meet everyone, and around the newcomer, the alchemy of the group had felt as though regenerated. She was comfortable without taking too much space and her job had visibly taught her to listen and to make others talk. And then one has to also keep in mind that it was Lucie we were talking about, the one we had all heard about so often, the heroine of the soap opera which Serge had told us the different episodes!

Throughout the meal, I had kept watching her, admiring her know how in conversing and her ways of doing, so neat and delicate. I understood why she had made such a strong impression on Serge, he who was sensitive, because she seemed to be a well-educated, well-raised girl who had an appeal not only for her physique but also for her manners and politeness. The whole conversation had rolled over topics sea and water sports, our adventures during this course, and she seemed to enjoy it, even if she had confessed to having no experience in the field, and only just knowing how to swim.

At the end of the meal, while we were bringing the plates and dishes back to the kitchen, Dominique had offered her to participate in our afternoon sailing session, and she willingly agreed, as Serge took her by the hand leading her somewhere quiet to have a side-tracked talk. 

I helped clear the table and then I had let myself drop into the grass in the garden, on the side of the house, near the lavender foot, and while watching the bees foraging, I was lazing in the sun. It was two hours before the start of the afternoon sailing class, and everyone took the opportunity to do what they desired. I could hear in the distance the chords of the piano where Laurent sat every time he was free, and his music told me something.

"Show me ...", he had said, ceasing to laugh, and suddenly feeling his finger on my lip and the peculiar perfume of the poppy in my mouth. I had this gesture myself so often in my childhood, but the silent initiative of Laurent surprised me every time these images came back to my mind. How had we suddenly gone from laughter to silence, to that moment when we our breathing had ceased?

To stop thinking about it, I got up and headed to the dormitory, with the plan of reading a moment on my bed. But there was a whole crowd of girls around Sophie's bed, who, her red face and swollen eyes, seemed to have cried. At her sight, I had suddenly realized that she had not been there with us during the meal. She must have escaped as soon as Lucie appeared, as soon as she realized that all her work of seduction in recent weeks had all went down the drain.

"Don't beat yourself up over it, it's not your fault, said Chantal. He loved this girl before getting to know you and he had said it. He couldn't forget her so fast!"

"Yes, but he kissed me anyway the other day, and I thought ..."

"Listen, Sophie, don't be ridiculous," Anne said sternly from her bed where she had stretched out. It was only a game for you. You have to know how to lose! Plus you turned around him so much that he was almost forced to kiss you!"

I thought she was a bit harsh, even if she was right and my reaction was immediate and spontaneous. I didn't like anyone being uncomfortable, and publicly accused, even if  guilty:

"Sit down," I said, grabbing Sophie's huge hair brush that was sticking out of her still-open toiletry bag, prominently on her bedside table. "I'll do your hair. I'll use a little monoi?"

Sophie had obeyed with a sigh. She had so often taken care of me as her little sister, every time we had to go out at night, styling and makeup! My turn had come to return the favor. I had begun carefully disentangling her long black hair using the brush at first, then when the oil had begun to take effect, with the comb, at length, undoing all the knots one by one. Muriel had turned on a small radio that poured into the dormitory all the oldies of the nineties, enough to put some balm on Sophie's bruised heart, who hadn't taken long to hum.

When I had rested the hairbrush, her head was covered with small African braids, and had retouched her makeup. She was ready to leave for new adventures.

That afternoon, Lucie had climbed with Serge and Chantal in the leading sailboat. For her first outing at sea, all of nature seemed to have done her best to make the day a party, the sun adorning the sea of ​​sparkling colors, the sky looking bluer and the foam whiter than ever. I had embarked on the orders of Dominique with Delphine and Marc, who both maneuvered the boat with ease. As for me, I watched the foam forming around the keel, and the way the water sometimes spurted to cover the box where I was sitting in a burst of water. Maybe because I didn't speak enough and didn't ask questions but only counted on my sense of observation to learn, that I hadn't made much progress in sailing and I would have been quite incapable of getting out of it alone.

I had, in fact, during this training course,  spent more time observing people and their relationships than the effects of the wind on the sails.

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I like observing people too! I call it "people watching"! I can spend hours doing it! And no im not weird( just a tiny bit maybe)

Thank you for reading❤