"Are you sure this was all necessary?" I asked hesitantly.
"What?" retorted Lexy, annoyed, staring at me from behind her little round sunglasses with orange lenses. "Victoria wanted a more rock 'n' roll burial, right?"
I crossed my arms, looking up and down.
"Your leather jacket under this overwhelming heat, as well as the fake ring in your nose, isn't it…isn't it a little too much?"
"No, it's rock!" she replied, clicking her tongue.
I turned my head to Asarys, who resumed chewing her gum while glaring at me. Exasperated by their sassy biker looks, I rolled my eyes, then pulled my phone out of my pants pocket for the hundredth time.
"Still no calls or texts?" Lexy asked me, who seemed sorry for me.
Disappointed, I shook my head and pursed my lips.
"Maybe he needs time," Asarys tried to reassure me. "You two almost died there. It's not nothing, and then there must be a mountain of things to settle with the city authorities as well as the FBI. "
"Yes, well, a text costs nothing!" replied Lexy abruptly, placing her hands on her hips.
"You're right, his silence is unbearable. I really need him right now. L.A has become peaceful again, we finally have a truce. Why is he ignoring me like this? He and Ray no longer talk. I don't know if his change in behavior towards me is because of that."
"Go see him tonight at the loft and ask for an explanation," suggested Asarys.
"That's what I planned to do. Okay, let's continue the ceremony!"
"Come on, dude, blow us up!" Lexy exclaimed to the young man standing at the base of the grave.
The guitarist, with his face pierced by numerous piercings and dressed in leather, took a deep puff on his cigarette before switching on a machine that served as an amplifier, which he plugged into his instrument. The rocker then made his electric guitar resonate throughout the cemetery with the famous sound of Joan Jett's, "I Love Rock 'N Roll," accompanied by Lexy and Asarys, who began to sing the words of the famous song loudly. At the chorus, I allowed myself to be carried away, too, forgetting for an instant the pain that howled in the bottom of my heart.
FAÏZ
At the mansion of the Seventh Earth, William savored the freshness of this great stay, a glass of Martini in his hand, until Julio burst into the room. The grave air on his face indicated nothing good.
"Can I serve you an Americano?" suggested William, who was going to a small shelf.
"No, thank you," Julio replied uneasily. "Faïz came here this morning."
William stopped to turn to his brother and immediately questioned him.
"He left a letter for you on the library shelf."
Julio ran a hand behind his neck and continued,
"He's leaving L.A. and doesn't intend to return, unless—"
"Unless The Maestro forces him to. Asshole!"
He violently threw his glass of Martini against the wall, which exploded into a thousand pieces, then began to walk the living room, grumbling, mad with rage.
"What about Zoe? He thinks he can throw her away like that! Who does he think he is? She will never get over it. I knew it, I knew he would break her."
The young man went to get the envelope at the other end of the room and, without bothering to open it, tore it, dropping the confetti on the floor.
Meanwhile, not far from Santa Monica, Rachelle was filling a glass of lemonade to serve it to her guest, who was standing on the porch.
"Do you want to sit down?" she proposed politely, pointing to the rattan bench.
Faïz shook his head no.
"Listen, you can't reappear and ask me that," said the young woman calmly. "I haven't heard from you for weeks, do you realize that? You and your group supposedly had to go to this country near China to do a project that the university gave you, and you almost came back with a foot in the grave. I'm tired of all these secrets. You think I'm a fool. What about Zoe?"
A heavy silence then settled between the two of them and Rachelle ended up sitting on the bench, nervously waiting for the young man's answer.
"It's over."
The young woman raised an eyebrow, unconvinced by what he said, then raised her hands in the air.
"I can't follow you to New York! I know you're leaving tonight, but I want to be happy."
"You won't be unhappy. Rachelle, look at me. We need each other and you know it. You can't imagine living your life with someone else, and I—"
Faïz paused to find the right words and then said,
"In life, we have to make choices. You're the only one who can help me move on. The truth is, I'm not made for her, and vice versa."
Faced with the dismay of the young man who seemed to be trying to convince himself of his words, Rachelle preferred to look away.
"I don't know. All of this is so fast. You understand, I have no guarantee that you won't abandon me once again at the first opportunity that comes along."
At that moment, Faïz approached Rachelle and, with the tips of his fingers, lifted her chin slightly to force her to defy his gaze. At his touch, the young woman startled and immediately lost her calm in the face of his unreal beauty. He then put a knee on the ground. Now at her height, he plunged his eyes to the bottom of hers and asked in a calm and determined tone,
"Rachelle Connor, will you marry me?"
Epilogue
Five years later…
Sitting in the back of my chair, knees bent over my chest, I gazed at Malibu's superb sunset. These reflections, which engulfed the ocean, offered breathtaking light variations. Suddenly, the clicking of stilettos on the wooden bridge disturbed the fabulous spectacle I was witnessing.
"I knew I would find you at home!" Lexy said in a disapproving tone. "You're not answering any of my calls."
I pulled my little blanket up to my neck, staring into the endless abyss of the horizon. Below the house on stilts, the repeated noise of stones hitting the pillars of the villa began to annoy me. Lexy sat next to me, taking a glass of white wine, and sighed.
"I know today is a very sad date. It's been exactly two years since William died, and, like the year before, you're shutting yourself out to avoid everyone."
I look at her with a black gaze as the only answer. She raised her hands in front of her as if to defend herself.
"And we respect this twenty-four hour long exile, but now, the situation is urgent."
Her odd tone forced me to question her with my eyes.
"The shell brought back from Eros opened this morning."
My surprise was beyond comprehension.
"The shell gave us the ruby?"
"Yes. Do you know what that means?"
"That Athanasius has returned," I whispered with a growing lump in the back of my throat.
Lexy nodded, looking just as distraught.
"They've just told him about it," she said, looking down. "I'm sorry, Zoe. Faïz is arriving from New York in the evening."
Furious, I jumped up from my seat.
"No way!" I protested, walking up to the edge of the terrace. "We did without him for five years. We can do it."
"Zoe, I may hate him even more than you after what he did to you, and I assure you that my desire to murder that man is immense. But we won't be able to defeat The Maestro without him."
I raised my head to the sky to try to find my calm, but the noise of the stones that continued to click just below didn't help me. My friend approached me and put a hand on my shoulder.
"You'll have to tell him about—"
"No! I decided."
Lexy twisted her mouth to force herself to remain silent. Patience at that moment left me and I leaned over the railing, exasperated by the din below us.
"Georgia, please, stop that! The noise will drive me crazy."
"Yes, mommy. As soon as I finish fighting the sea monster."
I turned again to my friend, who grabbed her bag from the chair and said,
"One day or another, Faïz will know that he has a daughter. He's com
ing tonight, and it's going to be hard to hide this secret from him any longer. After all, he's her father."
"She already has a father!"
"William is dead!" Lexy replied, trying not to raise her voice. "He kept his promise by taking care of both of you and loved Georgia as his own daughter, but now is the time to confront her father. I hope that day you will find the strength to forgive him. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to the restaurant. My shift starts in thirty minutes and it ends late tonight."
She turned and added before leaving,
"Tomorrow, I will take Georgia to see the dinosaur exhibit at LACMA, and Lily and Charles will come and get her for an afternoon snack."
To be continued…
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To my family, Leclerc, Catta and Simoes. Thank you for being by my side. Your encouragements, your support is so touching and precious.
To my readers, this novel would not exist without you. You are my light when I get discouraged in writing. Thank you for following me on this adventure.
Thank you to my mother and Marine Derache (M'Corrections) for your help and your reading beforehand. You have spent a lot of time correcting this novel in order to offer my readers a prose of quality. I am so grateful to you.
To my children and my husband, thank you for supporting me during the writing of these novels. I often hide in my bubble, but you're still there, showing me that the world continues to turn. You are my greatest strength.
DARK FAÏZ Book 2: Nothing will ever be the same again Page 19
