10. Victoria in Paris (5 pgs.) – Champions Renaissance

ACT I - CHAPTER 10

VICTORIA IN PARIS

Sunday December 3, 2017

Hotel Nouvelle Garde

Paris France

The day before they had lost to the Les Ducs de Paris club, the best team in the city, but their chances of qualifying were still intact.

After the game, he and Victoria had dinner at the Eiffel Tower restaurant. Their eyes smiled as they looked at the lights from above, enjoying an elegant dinner that they had planned in detail. They drank champagne and dined on snails and mussels. The next day they left early for Versailles.

“I love going back to those gardens,” Victoria said, resting her head on his shoulder as a luxurious taxi took them.

After a brief tour of the Hall of Mirrors they went out and walked for hours enjoying the water fountains in the beautiful gardens. They liked to look at the façade of the palace from afar in the park.

On their return to Paris, they had lunch at the Café Robespierre, whose windows overlooked the Louvre Museum. They entered and went to see the enormous paintings in the same room where the little Mona Lisa was. They repeated the visit to the Louvre every time they went to Paris. There were no words to explain the pleasure of beauty they enjoyed.

At the hotel where they were staying, when Victoria got into the taxi that would take them to the airport, Alexandre asked the driver a question in a low voice so that she wouldn’t hear him.

“Do you know the Tour D’Cygne Fencing Club?”

“Yes of course.”

“Take us there, we’ll stop for a minute in front of the Club and then continue to the airport.”

“Alright.”

“It’s been a wonderful weekend,” Victoria whispered in his ear as they sat in the back seat, then asked him, “What’s in that club?”

“You heard me! Wanted to surprise you. It’s a very interesting historical building that I want to see,” Alexandre said, knowing that she hadn’t believed him and thought, I hate lying to you, darling, but I have to do it to protect you!

The taxi stopped in front of the building. Alexandre looked away surreptitiously, as if he were adjusting himself in his seat, and secretly looked to the other side where Boris had told him that Ronald’s photo was in the advertisement and, sure enough, there was Ronald’s image, just like Boris had told him. That was the place, in front of Ronald’s photo, where Lenel had told his followers that the fires had to be put out at the beginning, at the same time that he mimed that he was writing a book. I hope Victoria doesn’t see it! he thought and was relieved to see that she was looking away.

“There’s not much else to see around here, but I can take you to a museum nearby,” the taxi driver told them, resuming the trip.

“We better go to the airport or we’ll be late,” Victoria said, looking outside and Alexandre realized that something was bothering her.

“What is wrong darling? Why do you have that face?”

“Nothing, I’m just a little tired,” she said, making an effort not to collapse. She thought, What is happening? Why do you lie to me? I cannot stand it anymore!

Two days later, in Cambridge, England, Victoria was returning from classes alone on her way to her parents’ house, near the house where she lived with some friends, other girls who were also studying aeronautical engineering.

It was already night and she was walking slowly. Her anguish was so great that it made her cry. Why is Alexandre lying to me? He’s not like that, and recalled. Why didn’t he say anything to me when he saw Ronald’s publicity photo when we were in the taxi? What is happening? she thought as she wiped away her tears.

What hurt her the most was having found that note in his pocket. She knew that she wasn’t the type of woman to search her boyfriends’ pockets. She had never distrusted him, but that morning the day after Ronald’s funeral, when Alexandre was in the shower, she took his suit jacket from the couch to hang it in the closet. Seeing the pocket ajar, she reached in with the intention of taking out Franco Gambino’s card, and found a note with a kiss mark in red rouge that said:

“I’ll wait for you tomorrow. Come incognito, alone, on foot and without cell phones.”

She only read it from one side, because Alexandre was just leaving naked the bathroom at that moment, so she returned the note, and the kiss, to where it was and pretended as if nothing had happened. She turned red with embarrassment, and cold at the same time.

She left the jacket where it was just when Alexandre, as they usually did every morning, took off her pajamas, picked her up in his arms and carried her back to bed.

While he made love to her, she felt that her body was separated from her soul. She felt fear and shame. It wasn’t her intention to spy on the man she loved because she trusted him. But could she?

It didn’t take Victoria long to discover how that note and the kiss had gotten into Alexandre’s pocket. She knew they were empty because she had cleaned the suit before the funeral. It hurt her that the note was in a woman’s handwriting, but how shameless the kiss was! She knew it was that beautiful redhead from the funeral. She was stunned by all this and tried to hide it so as not to make a fuss or burst into tears in front of Ronald.

“Are you OK?” Alexandre asked her after dressing.

“Yes. I’m fine, it’s nothing. I just have a little headache,” she said, trying not to faint.

Since then, she lived in torment. Discovering the cheeky redhead’s kiss had been an accident, but how could she prove it to him?

When she was studying, sometimes was assaulted by questions that filled her mind with anguish, and thought: Who is that redhead? How long has he known her? Why does Alexandre disappear once a month without anyone knowing where? Why doesn’t he answer his cell phone all weekend? Is it to sleep with her? What tormented the most was that kiss with red rouge in her note. On occasions, she had nightmares and woke up sweating; in others, she cried alone in her room. She was determined to fight for the man she loved, but would never tell him that had found that note with that insolent kiss, because it would never sink so low.

However, despite the pain that tormented, she knew that he loved him, but the doubts killed her. She felt trapped.

You should tell him you found the note!” thought sometimes. Maybe the note was for someone else, she thought other times, but that was ridiculous.

Was there any chance he was cheating on her? Part of her mind said no, but the note and the kiss were compelling evidence. Sometimes she wanted to scream from helplessness. With Alexandre they were sincere friends and passionate lovers. They didn’t hide anything from each other, but the note, the kiss, and the fact that he left once a month without anyone knowing where overwhelmed her.

She knew he was hiding something from her, but she also knew she was hiding something from him.

Maybe things will clear themselves up, she thought sometimes. Maybe I’ll let you have a lover, but not behind my back, she thought at others moments. Maybe I could share you in bed with her if you asked me, but don’t lie to me. She couldn’t stop those thoughts, I know you’re not a liar, or maybe you are? It cannot be true! Three months had passed and she felt that her anguish was becoming unsustainable. Several times thought about leaving him, but didn’t want to because she loved him.

She would feel humiliated if Alexandre took her for one of those women who check pockets. She wasn’t like that and didn’t want to disappoint him, so decided to wait. If had resisted three months, she could resist three more.

The weekend in Paris had made her forget, but when they arrived at that fencing club, she received a fierce stab wound and had to make a great effort not to collapse when Alexandre hid Ronald’s photo from her.

To avoid thinking about Alexandre, next weekend she would go with some woman friends to London.