by Corine Gantz
“I’m not going to cry. But, I’ll give you a hug. I just hate goodbyes.”
Annie was now laughing and crying at the same time.
“Get over here!” She gave Lola a big old hug. Lola wiped her own tears.
“What a pain in the ass you are,” Lola sniffed. “I can’t believe it!”
And they went back to cooking, sniffing away all afternoon.
“Am I clownish in this dress?” Annie asked Lucas over the sound of Lady Gaga’s music. Lucas took her hand and led her into a twirl on her pole dancer’s heels. Her Flamenco-style dress, a low-cut, ruffled, black-and-red polka-dotted thing that seemed sewn to her body, twirled along.
“Clowns have never given me erections in the past,” Lucas said seriously.
The atmosphere was getting raunchy. Women were showing a lot of skin, and Annie was sober enough to notice joints popping from pockets.
“I better take the children out of harm’s reach,” she told Lucas. She swayed her hips to the music as she walked away from him. Cutting through the dancers, she began searching for Lola. She went upstairs and quietly opened her bedroom door. Six little kids, including Simon, were fast asleep on the bed and on the floor. Lola wasn’t in the room. She went down the stairs and said a few words to people she knew only vaguely but had invited anyway. Maxence, Paul, Laurent, and a dozen other children were running wild throughout the house. It was past midnight.
“Kids, we need to settle down. Come to the salon in five minutes. I’ll put on a movie.”
She went back outside. Under the canopy, couples danced to a reggae beat, while others sat on pillows around the low tables, drinking, eating, and talking. The party, as far as Annie was concerned, was fabulous.
Mark alone did not seem too happy. He sat alone in a corner, watching the dancers. She had observed him from a corner of her eye and saw that he was mostly watching Lola, who turned out to be an indefatigable dancer. But where was Lola now?
In another corner of the tent, Althea and Jared were huddled like conjoined twins. Althea spoke in Jared’s ear, who in turn put food in her mouth. Hey, who was she to judge. It worked for them.
She found Lola involved in a whispered conversation with a gorgeous guy. She waved at Lola who left the man to walk toward her. Together they entered the tent.
“And who might that be?” Annie asked. “He looks good enough to eat.”
“That,” Lola said proudly, “was Gunter!”
“The Fuckenator?”
“Shhh! I’ve been trying to reach him for days. He was in Nepal. I just about fainted when he showed up. Anyway, I just told him all about my husband.”
“What did he say?”
“That he wasn’t jealous! The break-up was as satisfying as the affair.”
“Lola, we need to create a diversion, gather the kids, and put them in front of a movie. People are smoking pot, and some of the salsa dancers are getting borderline R-rated.”
As if to illustrate, a couple was slow dancing and the man’s hand was surreptitiously creeping under the woman’s skirt.
“You’re not kidding.”
They gathered the children and put on a movie in the TV room, then closed the door.
“You’re having fun?” she asked Lola.
“Yes, but it would be a hell of a lot better if Mark wasn’t around. He’s not dancing or drinking. Meanwhile I have the urge to rip off my shirt and show off my sexy top.”
“What’s stopping you?”
“Mark’s definitely the stern parent in this relationship.”
“You allow him to take on that role. You don’t have to shiver under his disapproving glance, hand him your life, and then blame him.”
“Now you’re defending Mark?”
“Well, he does look absolutely miserable at the moment. Save him from himself.”
“But what if he won’t--”
“Make him!”
Annie watched as Lola walked to the bar and mixed vodka with orange juice in two glasses, took a big gulp of one and coughed. Then she proceeded to remove her shirt to reveal her black lace top, the one that propelled her breasts like missiles. She swooned languidly toward Mark, holding a glass. Mark looked up at her and stared at her cleavage uneasily.
“Are you finally going to get stinking drunk and dance with me?” Lola told him. She offered him a drink with one hand and reached out for him with the other.
“You know, I’d rather stay clear headed. We’re leaving tomorrow,” Mark answered without moving.
Lola put the glass in his hand almost by force. “It will be good for both of us if you just loosen up a little bit.”
Mark brought the glass to his mouth and took a long sip. “Not bad. I’m just not sure, you know, with the pills I’m taking.” He nodded toward the dancers. “How do you do that thing?”
“The salsa? Let me show you.” She gave him her hand and he got up. From there she grabbed his hips and showed him.
Annie thought she was going to burst before the night ended, and it wasn’t just the corset of her crazy dress. She was bursting with joy. She was bursting with sadness. She had been right about the party. It wasn’t a luxury; it was a vital necessity. Everything she thought she knew was on its head. Her old best friend was now her lover. The woman she had been so envious of was now her best friend. It had become perfectly legitimate to hate Johnny. And as much as she loved her house, it was not all that important to her anymore. The house was where her life happened to take place. She no longer needed the house to live.
She walked around, swaying her hips with the music, saying hello to old friends who, one by one, were thrilled to see she was back to her old self and told her so. She picked up empty cups and plates. A wild Latin beat came on. She saw Gunter dancing with a beautiful woman Lucas had once dated. Where was Lucas? She felt a pang of nervousness and scanned the dancing couples, searching for him. He was dancing indeed. With a woman. It was a frenetic salsa, and the woman was a great dancer. Lucas, stiff like a dignitary on a mission, was trying to keep up. Annie marched toward them, and in an instant, she had pulled Lucas away from the woman.
“C’est mon homme.”
“I feel very in demand, and I like it,” Lucas told the woman as Annie dragged him away.
Holding his arm, she took him through the house and out to the street. Outside, the air was clear, and the sounds of the party came muffled. The only light was that of an old streetlight. She stopped and faced him. In an instant, water was flowing freely from her eyes and onto her cheeks. “I’m sorry,” she said, as she stepped a couple feet away from him, shielding her face with her hands.
“Why? What?”
“I didn’t mean to come on so strong. It’s the kind of thing that has gotten me in trouble before. Johnny said I have a jealous streak.”
Lucas took her arm and brought her close, “Of course he did!” he said. “Johnny was a philandering bastard.”
Annie sniffed, wiped her eyes. “Yes, he was.”
“You’ll never have to worry about that with me,” he said and kissed her nose.
“By what miracle?”
“I’m not planning on being away from you more than three minutes at a time. How does that sound?”
“Terribly claustrophobic.”
“Tomorrow’s the happiest day of my life with everyone leaving. I can finally get some attention,” Lucas said. “Let’s take the kids to Saint-Tropez for a week or two.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. “Wow. Now you’re talking!” She was silent for a few breaths. “I wonder what they will be like,” she muttered in his ear.
“Who, what?”
“My future tenants.”
Lucas looked at her in horror. “Ah, non!”
About the author
Corine Gantz was born in France where she spent the first twenty years of her life. She studied Contemporary Art at the Sorbonne and worked in advertising and marketing in Paris, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
She is the author of the popular blog Hidden in France where she uses her particular brand of humor to meditate on relationships, food, décor and all things French.
She lives near Los Angeles with her husband and two sons.
Email her:
[email protected]
Visit her website:
www.corinegantz.com
Visit the blog:
www.hiddeninfrance.typepad.com
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
The author holds exclusive rights to this work.
This book and parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means––electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise––without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by the United States of American copyright law.
The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only electronic editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrightable materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated,
For information, email:
[email protected]
All rights reserved
Copyright © 2011 by Corine Gantz
Hidden in Paris
Carpenter Hill Publishing
eISBN-13: 978-0-98343-660-7
Cover Art by Robin Pickens
Cover copyright © Robin Pickens
[email protected]
www.robinpickens.com
A note by the author
Thank you for reading my novel. I hope you enjoyed your time in Paris with Annie, Lola, Althea and the gang. I’m thrilled you have found my book and that my book has found you!
I wanted to tell you a few words about my process in bringing this story to you. A book published through the traditional route is scrutinized by a vast array of professionals: agents, publishers, editors, proofreaders, designers, so that by the time the book comes before the eyes of the reader it is pretty much flawless. Flawless is what you’re accustomed to and flawless is what you deserve.
But things are different when you go the Indie route. I polished this manuscript to the very best of my abilities, but where was my crew of pros when I needed one? In fact, as I type those words I’m still reeling from the discovery of a few hair-raising typos, just when I felt confident they had been eradicated. Yikes! In other words, you still deserve flawlessness but I can’t seem to give it to you...
Please help me make this a better novel by sending me an email at [email protected] so that future versions of the book can be improved and future readers won’t have to put up with what you just put up with. I will credit you on my website if you’ll allow me.
If you loved the book, please by all means spread the word. And if you want to write a nice review on Amazon or elsewhere you will have my undying gratitude.
Thank you so very much beloved reader. You are the BEST!
By popular demand I am now thrilled to present the cookbook featuring all the recipes in the novel!
Twenty delicious French recipes with detailed instructions
Annie's no fuss approach to French cooking
Mouthwatering photographs
A leisurely stroll through Paris in pictures
Excerpts of the novel
Tasty bits of silliness sprinkled all throughout
This is a Kindle exclusive
Reviews for the Hidden in Paris cookbook:
"Aside from the mouth-watering recipes, Ms. Gantz has quite a lively sense of humor and her little stories are fun to read. The pictures are beautiful - I suggest you try to get this into a color ebook reader, but even in black and white I enjoyed the photos of Paris and the food. I ordered her novel based on this cookbook and look forward to reading that."
Lone wolf, Amazon reviewer
"Corine Gantz has done it again! She's transported me back to that delightful Paris house where there is always something yummy cooking on the stovetop or a delicious scent wafting from the open window onto the patio. I love that the book concentrates on fairly easy French comfort food. I also love the pretty pictures and the wit and wisdom of this author shine through the recipes."
Feng Sui by Fish Girl, Amazon reviewer
"I don't know when I've enjoyed a cookbook more. Corinne has a delightful, entertaining, droll way of telling the stories around the food as well as the recipes themselves! I was reading the cookbook part of the time while standing on the street waiting for a bus, literally laughing out loud and baffling the people around me. Then I read more while being driven somewhere, and found myself reading it aloud to the driver, laughing. Then pulling it out to show to our hostess at dinner, who kept chuckling under her breath as she read the Chocolate Mousse recipe..."
P.F Anderson, Amazon reviewer
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Robin Pickens for designing my gorgeous book cover. You can reach Robin here [email protected] and here:
www.robinpickens.com
Thank you Joe for making it possible for me to devote myself to writing, and for insisting I should self publish long before it was fashionable.
Thank you David and Nathan. You guys are my life.
Electronic edition produced by
www.antrikexpress.com
