Letters to Audrine

9- Tell Me Your Truth

A few days later, I return to Audrine and Silas's house to finish going through the cluttered room upstairs. When I enter the living space above the restaurant, I'm immediately greeted by the smell of cheese and butter.

"Come on in, Maisie," Audrine calls to me from the kitchen. "We're making croque-monsieur for dinner."

It seems like I got here just in time, because Silas has just finished setting the table with the very cheesy-looking sandwiches and Audrine is pouring red wine into three wine glasses alongside him.

"It looks delicious," I say as I place my purse on the living room chair and then join them at the small dining room table. "I think I've had more home cooked meals in the short time that I've been here than I have in the last year."

"We like to cook," Silas says with a smile and a small shrug. "And it's hard not to, we have a great market in town with the freshest ingredients."

"You should take her tomorrow," Audrine quickly suggests before taking her first bite of the steaming sandwich. I'm quick to follow, picking up my golden brown sandwich. I already know that it's going to be delicious before I even pick it up, and I'm proven correct. The melty cheese, the crunch of the bread, and the ham in there too all make for a really tasty bite.

"Sure, if you'd want to, Maisie," Silas agrees with his grandma. "I was planning on going tomorrow morning anyway."

"Okay," I am quick to say yes, and it's not really because I'm excited about going grocery shopping. I just really like spending time with Silas, and I'll take any chance I can get to do so. I like talking to him, I like the way that he makes me laugh, how he is patient with my French language journey. And I absolutely love looking at him. I could just look at him all day.

"Hopefully you won't be too hungover," Audrine says to him with a small laugh.

"I'll be fine, mamé," he assures her as he sits his sandwich down to take a drink of the wine.

"Is the wine going to your head?" I ask him curiously. This isn't very much wine that we're drinking, so I don't know why it'd make him hungover though.

"No," Silas laughs at my question, apparently the idea of getting wine drunk on just one glass is pretty funny to him. "I'm going out with my friends tonight, in a few hours."

"Oh, that makes more sense," I acknowledge. "I didn't know you're old enough to drink."

"I'm twenty," he tells me. "Drinking age for spirits is eighteen here."

"Spirits, like vodka and that kind of thing?" I ask him dumbly. He knows my relationship with my uptight parents, so I'm sure that it comes as no surprise to him that I know barely anything about alcohol and its terminology. I've had some sips here and there of champagne and wine at fancy dinners, but that's it.

"Yeah," he confirms. "I'll take you drinking sometime, if you want to try it. I can't invite you tonight though, it's boys only."

"That's okay, I want to finish going through the room upstairs tonight anyway. But yeah, maybe some other time," I offer with a shrug. I don't expect to actually go through with that though, because I don't know what being drunk is like and I'm not sure that I want to experience it for the first time here. I do really like Silas, but do I trust him enough to take care of me if I lose motor functions?

But then again, I never thought I'd ever get a tattoo either, so I guess I should never say never.

"You remind me so much of Charlie," Audrine tells me with a faint smile. "Such a goody two-shoes."