“Shit,” Timmie said with an exasperated look, as they waited for the models to show up for rehearsal. Five were late so far, and one had arrived drunk. And the seamstresses weren’t through making the adjustments from the fittings. “Can anything else go wrong here? I’m expecting a herd of elephants to run through the room any minute.”
“Some shows are like that,” David said soothingly, but this one had been tough.
“Not in Paris, for chrissake. Oklahoma maybe. We can’t look like fools in Paris. The press will kill us,” Timmie said unhappily. She had looked miserable since they arrived. It was agony being in the same city with Jean-Charles and not seeing him. It ate at her night and day.
Their run-through the day before had looked like the Marx Brothers, and Timmie had insisted on a final rehearsal, even though the lighting wasn’t right, and the speed bumps weren’t out of the runway yet. They had managed to get rid of one, but there were two more to deal with. “What were those guys thinking when they built it? They must have been smoking crack,” Timmie said, looking aggravated. She had been on everyone’s back for days, and she could hardly wait for the show to be over. She wanted to go home and put her feet up. She hated being in Paris now. All she could think of was Jean-Charles, and when she walked into the living room of her suite where she had fallen in love with him eight months before, it made her cry. But she said nothing to the others. She didn’t have to. They could see it. All she wanted was to get the show behind her and go home the minute it was over.
They were ready for the final rehearsal at four o’clock. The lighting was almost right, but not quite. Close enough to proceed, Timmie decided. All the models had turned up, and the clothes were finally ready. She hadn’t eaten all day, and had been going through lollipops by the case, to keep going. And then one of the light bars went out again, and she climbed up on the runway herself to take a better look at it from below.
“Watch out it doesn’t hit you,” David said, only half-joking, as it literally began to fall from the ceiling, and Timmie took a step backward to avoid it. She managed to duck, but at the same time she fell backward over one of the remaining speed bumps on the runway, and fell flat on her back on the floor as everyone gasped and then rushed to her. Only David and Jade knew she was pregnant, but she had taken a hell of a fall, enough to frighten everyone around her. He wasn’t sure if she’d hit her head, but she looked dazed and gray when he got to her.
David knelt down next to her and looked into her eyes. She was lying flat on her back and hadn’t moved yet. She was winded. “Hey … are you okay? … Talk to me …” She looked up at him and seemed a little out of it for a minute as everyone stared at her and David left her with Jade.
“No doctor,” she whispered to her assistant. “Don’t let them call a doctor.” Jade nodded, but she had a feeling she knew what David was going to do, and she couldn’t leave Timmie to stop him. Timmie looked frighteningly pale, and when she tried to sit up, she was dizzy and let out a shout of pain when she tried to stand up. Her ankle was swelling to the size of a balloon as she grimaced and leaned against Jade. “I think I twisted it,” she said, and collapsed into a chair, while one of the light techs went to get her some ice, and an assistant manager showed up to check on her. Someone had called him, and he offered to call the hotel doctor. Timmie emphatically declined. She insisted she was fine, but didn’t look it.
“Maybe you broke it,” David said, looking worried, when he returned. He didn’t dare ask her about the baby, and he had seen her rub her stomach. “I think you should go to the hospital,” he said, as Jade ran to tell the models there had been a delay and they would start the rehearsal in a few minutes. The assistant manager went to report to the general manager then. He knew just how important Timmie was and it was obvious that she was hurt.
“I’m fine,” Timmie said, and tried to stand up again. “Let’s get started,” she said, looking like the ghost of Christmas past.
“You’re crazy,” David said, as she struggled to organize the rehearsal, looking like she might faint. Twenty minutes later, Timmie turned and much to her horror, she saw Jean-Charles standing a few feet away, observing her. Her worst nightmare had just happened. He was there. She had no idea who had called him, but someone had. She looked at David, and he turned away to say something to Jade, and avoided Timmie’s gaze. Jean-Charles didn’t look happy either. As soon as she saw him, Timmie looked panicked. And for a minute she looked as though she really might faint. Jean-Charles made her sit down and put her head between her legs, and when she sat up again, she looked at him with a tortured expression.
“I don’t need a doctor,” she said firmly, “but thank you for coming. I’m fine. Just a little winded.” He had already looked down and seen the ankle. And was taking her pulse while he listened.
“It looks broken,” he said, and then bent to look at the ankle, while Timmie looked frantically at David. But he would not help her escape him. This was fate doing its job, in his opinion. With a little help from him. “You need to go to the hospital,” Jean-Charles said quietly. This was the first time they had seen each other since April, and it was visibly painful for both of them.
“I don’t need a hospital. We’re about to start rehearsal.”
“I think we’ve had this argument before.” Jean-Charles looked as miserable as she did, when David interrupted.
“I’ll deal with the rehearsal. It’s just a run-through, for chrissake. You get that ankle looked at.” He helped Jean-Charles get her to her feet before she could object, and she pulled her draped top around her and fluffed it. She looked chic but deathly pale, and she couldn’t take a single step on the ankle. They produced a wheelchair from somewhere while she argued with both of them to no avail. And the manager looked relieved to see a doctor on the scene.
“I’ll drive you if you like,” Jean-Charles said drily. He had been at his office when David called him and he had come immediately.
“I can take a cab,” she said, avoiding looking at him. Her heart was pounding just knowing he was there. She didn’t want to see him, or be in a car with him. She didn’t want to be anywhere near him. Just feeling his presence made her heart ache. She knew she would be in love with him until the day she died. She didn’t want to see him again. She had already resigned herself to losing him. That had been hard enough. Seeing him was worse. She would have been angry at David for calling him if she weren’t in so much pain. David’s guilt for making the call was all over his face. But he knew he had done the right thing. Someone had to step in, for both their sakes and the baby’s. So he had.
“You shouldn’t be alone,” Jean-Charles said practically. “I don’t mind. I have to see a patient at the hospital anyway.” She said nothing, and one of the light techs rolled her through the lobby and out the front door as Jean-Charles followed.
The doorman brought his car around, and Jean-Charles helped her get in. She was obviously in a lot of pain and nearly cried while he did it. She was trying to be brave.
“Sorry,” he apologized, and they said nothing to each other on the drive to the hospital in Neuilly. It brought back old memories for her, as she avoided looking at him and stared out the window. The ankle was killing her, but she said nothing. And she was relieved to feel the baby kick her. At least it was still alive. And then finally Jean-Charles said something to her. “I know this is awkward for both of us. I’m sorry you got hurt.” He looked as handsome as ever, and she tried valiantly not to notice. She just wanted the ride to end.
“I told them not to call a doctor,” she said firmly.
“You would,” he smiled, “even with an ankle like that.” He was happy to see her again, although he knew it was painful for them both. “I think you broke it. What happened?”
“I fell backward off the stage onto my ass, while trying to avoid being hit on the head by a light bar. It’s been a bad day.” And worse now, after seeing him.
“Occupational hazards,” he said as they drove through Paris. H
e thought her face looked fuller, and it suited her. In spite of the accident, she looked very pretty. “You’re in a dangerous business,” he said to distract her, and she didn’t comment. And at last, they got to the American Hospital in Neuilly. He had someone come out with a wheelchair for her, and then took her to X-ray himself. “I called an orthopedic surgeon before I came to the hotel, just in case. He’s on call, and he’ll come down to see you after they take the X-rays.” She remembered perfectly how he had held her hand in surgery a year before. And if things had been different, she would have asked him to do it again, or he would have offered. As things were, he didn’t. And she didn’t want him to stay.
The X-ray technician wheeled her inside, where the radiologist on duty was waiting. She turned back to look at Jean-Charles, and saw that he was watching her. Their eyes met, and then Timmie looked away. His gaze had been agonizing on hers. It was hard to say which of them looked more wounded.
“I’ll come back to check on you in a little while,” he said, and she nodded. She knew there was no point telling him not to. He would anyway, whatever she said. Jean-Charles disappeared, and the radiologist asked her how it had happened. She told him, and then he wheeled her into the X-ray room, and put her on a table to take some pictures. She knew she had no choice but to tell him.
“I’m pregnant,” she said softly, as though Jean-Charles were standing just outside the room, which she knew he wasn’t. He had gone off to see his other patient. He could have taken her to the Pitié Salpetrière too, but he thought this would be gentler for her.
“You are?” The radiologist looked surprised by what she’d said, and she pulled back the draped jacket then and showed him. He was impressed. She had concealed it very efficiently, but he could see that she was at least six months pregnant, perhaps more.
“Please don’t tell anyone,” she said as she lay down. “It’s a secret.”
“Are you a movie star?” he asked, looking impressed, and she shook her head and smiled. He put a heavy lead blanket over her then to protect her. The ankle was excruciating, but he was nice. Jean-Charles had told him only that she was a good friend. The radiologist would have been stunned to know she was carrying Jean-Charles’s baby. So would Jean-Charles.
The X-rays only took a few minutes, and then the orthopedist came to look at her. He checked the X-rays carefully. Jean-Charles was right. It was broken. He said she would need a hard cast, and by the time Jean-Charles came back an hour later, she was on crutches, with her ankle in a cast, and she was even paler than before. She was feeling sick but didn’t want to admit it to him. He could see how shaky she was, and trying to hide it from him.
“You were right,” she said politely. She could tell that he had lined up good people for her, and told them to take special care with her. They had all been exceptionally friendly, attentive, and efficient. She could sense his hand in the arrangements he’d made for her.
“I’ll take you back to the hotel,” he said, thanking both the orthopedist and the radiologist, whom she could tell he knew well from the way he talked to them and thanked them.
“You don’t need to take me back,” Timmie said, and then noticed she hadn’t brought her bag with her. She had forgotten it at the rehearsal at the hotel. “Well, maybe you do.” She looked embarrassed. “I don’t have any money with me for a cab.” The doorman would have paid the fare for her, but it seemed easier just going back to the Plaza Athénée now with him. She was feeling dizzy from the pain, and the shock of seeing him. “Do you mind?”
“Not at all,” he said formally, glancing over at her. Something about her looked different, but he wasn’t sure what. It wasn’t her hair, maybe it was her face. It was not only fuller, it looked softer to him somehow. She didn’t seem as sexy, but she was even more beautiful than he had remembered. He helped her gently into his car, and they drove off, toward the hotel.
“I’m sorry this happened to you, Timmie,” he said on the way back. “It really is bad luck.” He knew it must be hurting a lot, but she didn’t complain. They had offered her pills for the pain, but she wouldn’t take them because of the baby. She insisted she’d be fine, and put the bottle of pain medication in her pocket, without taking any. Jean-Charles thought she was foolish and very brave.
“It’s all right.” She shrugged. “It could have been worse.” She could have hurt the baby, and was glad she hadn’t. It had been kicking like crazy for the past half-hour, and she was relieved. All she wanted to do now was go to bed. Rehearsal would be over anyway. She hoped it had gone well, but really didn’t care anymore. All she could think of was Jean-Charles, as he drove her back to the hotel. She thought she’d never see him again. And then he startled her, as he glanced over at her when they were stopped at a light. She was still looking very pale, and he didn’t mention it to her, but he was worried about her.
“I’m sorry about everything that happened between us. You were very patient, and you were right. It was inhuman to ask you to go through all that with me. I’m sure you waited longer than most women would. I never expected all those things to come up.”
“It’s all right,” she said softly. “It wasn’t your fault. Shit happens, as they say.” He smiled in answer. He still loved her, and knew he always would. She noticed that he wasn’t wearing his wedding band, he saw her glance at his hand and met her eyes.
“It was time. I finally moved out last weekend. I wanted to do it before, but I just couldn’t. I figured my kids will survive. My wife is doing better. I did my job. I had to get out.” Timmie sat staring at him as he said it.
“You moved out?” He nodded. “How did they take it?” She was stunned.
“Everyone’s angry right now. It turns out no one thanks you for what you did. They just remember what you didn’t do. The children will be all right.” He seemed very calm, and very quiet, and when he looked at her again, his eyes were sad. “I’m sorry I got so angry about your seeing someone else. It was a terrible blow. But you were right. Why would you wait around forever for me?” She felt like she had missed the train, and only by minutes. He had moved out. He had taken off his ring. He had finally moved on. She was having his baby. And she had told him she was seeing someone else. “You look different,” he said, to change the subject. She was staring at him, and had no idea what to say.
“I gained some weight,” she said vaguely, as they drove through the Place de la Concorde. Her ankle was throbbing, and she was feeling sick.
“It suits you,” he said, as they headed toward the hotel. “How long will you be in Paris?”
“I’m leaving day after tomorrow,” she said, and then smiled, remembering when he invited her for a drink in February. He had asked her the same question at her dinner party, and she had answered the same thing. And the next day, they had fallen madly in love. Love at first sight. “I think I’ve already seen this film,” she said, suddenly laughing, as he turned to smile at her. He had been thinking the same thing. The words had echoed in his head as well.
“Maybe we should go to the Eiffel Tower,” he said then, “and pretend it’s the first of September … but then again, I suppose not. The new man in your life might not be too pleased.” She sat staring out the window for a long minute and then turned to look at him. It was too late to play games with him. She never had until the end, and had regretted it ever since.
“There is no new man in my life, Jean-Charles. There never was. Only you.” It had the ring of truth.
He looked puzzled. “Then why did you say it? Just to hurt me?” It wasn’t like her to be cruel, but she had been in the end. Perhaps she thought he deserved it, but he didn’t. He had been stupid, but never cruel with her.
“I had more complicated reasons. It’s a little hard to explain. I wanted you to think I’d been unfaithful to you,” she said with a sigh. She felt like a lunatic trying to explain it to him now.
“Why would you want me to think that you were unfaithful to me?” he asked with a stupefied look as they stopped
at a light. She was not making sense. They had loved each other, and been faithful to each other. Why try to turn it into something else in the end?
“Because if you weren’t coming back to me, and staying with your wife, as I thought you were, I didn’t want you to know that the baby was yours.”
Jean-Charles stared at her in amazement. He looked shocked by what she had just said. “What baby?” He had no idea what she was talking about, and with a graceful hand she pulled back her jacket, and he saw what was there.
“Our baby,” she said softly. “The one I didn’t tell you about because I didn’t want to put pressure on you. I only wanted you to come back if you loved me, not because you thought you had to come back, or felt sorry for me.” As she said it, tears slid slowly down her cheeks.
“You’re insane … oh my God … you’ve been pregnant for all this time and you never told me? … oh my God … Timmie …” He reached out his hand, touched her belly, and felt their baby kick, as he began to cry too. “How could you do something so crazy as not tell … I love you … I wouldn’t have felt sorry for you … what a brave, crazy girl you are,” he said, as he took her in his arms and held her, and then he kissed her, as horns blared, drivers screamed, and traffic eddied around them. He looked down at her with more love than she’d ever dreamed. “I love you. How pregnant are you?”
“Six and a half months.”
“I can’t believe you kept it from me,” he said in disbelief as he moved forward in the traffic again, much to everyone’s relief.
First Sight Page 36
