French Chemistry

by Sarah Kinsey

  A week passed in this manner, and Bessie again wondered if she could possibly be falling in love with everything else falling apart.

  “Bessie?” Marie’s voice interrupted her thoughts. She was currently sitting on the floor in Marie’s hotel room, her hand on her chin. “Earth to Bessie. You okay?”

  “Huh?” She blinked. “What?”

  “You’ve been zoning out a lot today, Bess,” Marie said. She sat down beside Bessie. “What’s on your mind?”

  “Is it possible to...” Bessie started, but the thought faded out before she could finish it. How silly would it be to admit that she thought she had fallen in love? With everything going on?

  “Possible to what?” Marie frowned.

  She had gotten her sister curious; this was not good. Now she would have to finish the statement and tell her sister what was going on.

  “Is it possible to fall in love when everything else is falling apart?” Bessie asked. She looked her sister in the eyes. “Can love happen when everything else has fallen apart and feels like it’s never going to be normal again?”

  “I would like to think so,” Marie replied. “Do you think you’ve fallen in love with Marc?”

  Bessie could only nod. She had had this thought so many times over the last week, especially with how much Marc was doing to give her some sense of a normal life despite all of the uncertainty with her mother’s funeral.

  “If you think you have fallen in love with Marc, then I would say congratulations,” Marie continued. “If he hadn’t stayed with you for this trial, through all of the ugliness that has probably reared its head with this, then I would say you could do better. But he has done so much for you in this last week. I’ve seen the little sparkle in your eyes when he pulls up to pick you up after a hard day. It shows, Bessie.”

  “It does?” Bessie frowned. “How can it show when I haven’t been completely sure?”

  “Because, sometimes, the heart knows what it wants long before the head can figure it out,” Marie stated. “Trust me. If you feel you have fallen in love, your head is probably just now catching up to what your heart is feeling. The fact that you have continued to turn to Marc in this time of need, and he has been there consistently when you need it, is a good thing.”

  “Thanks, Marie.” Bessie stood up. “But I feel weird saying that I have fallen in love despite... despite all of the crap hitting the fan over the summer.”

  “I know, but you have to say it at some point. If you couldn’t say it through all of this, then you wouldn’t say it at all,” Marie countered. “Come on. Let’s get out of the hotel room. I think Jessica and Naomi have gone to see some of the sights around Charleston. Why don’t we go get some ice cream? There’s a wonderful little ice cream shop nearby.”

  “All right.” Bessie nodded slowly.

  She was grateful for Marie’s willingness to talk to her about what she was feeling, and validating that even though it felt odd to admit it, love could happen anytime, anywhere. Her stomach churned a little at the thought of telling Marc that she loved him. He had done so much to show that he loved her, but neither of them had vocalized it yet. Neither of them had felt comfortable doing so.

  Perhaps it was the circumstances that had brought them together like this. She wondered if the love would no longer be there after the funeral, but she didn’t want to think about that. Marc had not said anything about it, and she hoped that was only because he felt the same way, that he wanted it to be true.

  She walked with Marie to the ice cream shop, and Bessie managed to push everything aside as they ordered the ice cream. With the funeral in a couple of weeks, it would be interesting to see how Marc handled it. Her mother had always wanted to be buried here in the east because she had family buried here in Charleston. She would get her wish.

  Chapter 10

  Marc started classes the next day, and Bessie woke up to find that she was lying on the couch alone. A piece of paper on the floor caught her attention, and she picked it up. It was a note from Marc, telling her that he had left her the spare key – it was sitting on the counter, as he had written – and that he didn’t know when he would be back because he also had to work tonight.

  She was free to have any of the macarons he had made, and she had free reign of the kitchen, dining room, etc. He only asked that she stay out of his room because it was a bit of a mess. That was understandable. As she got ready for another day of planning, standing in the bathroom doing her makeup, she wondered if she should say something to Marc. He was certainly the kind of man she wanted; the note had been a pleasant surprise this morning, even if she couldn’t text or call him and expect an immediate reply today. She respected that he had other things to do, but this was going to be an interesting day.

  She had been here for two weeks, and she was used to having him there in the morning for a hug and kiss before he left for work. It was nice. Though, she had woken up with a blanket around her, and she had not fallen asleep with a blanket wrapped around her.

  Instead of going out to work with Marie, Jessica, Naomi, and her father, she invited them all to Marc’s apartment. His note had said that she was more than welcome to do so, and she was going to take advantage of that. No longer would they all have to worry about where to meet at the hotel.

  When everyone was there, they started to plan who they would invite to the funeral and who they were going to tell of their mother’s passing. Of course, extended family was going to be invited to the funeral, without any pressure to come. Many lived in Utah and Pennsylvania. Only her mother’s estranged sister still lived in South Carolina, and she was not in Charleston from what Bessie knew.

  “Bessie, you look worse for wear,” her father said around lunch time. “Go take a nap. We’ll be fine down here for a couple of hours.”

  “I just need food.” Bessie picked up a piece of the pizza they had ordered. “I didn’t have breakfast.”

  “You need to be eating better than this,” he argued. “Does Marc have any fruits or vegetables in the house?”

  “I think so...” Bessie frowned.

  Then, she realized that she had not been paying attention to how much she ate or when she ate. She ate when Marc ate, and that was it. Her stomach growled at her, for the first time in she didn’t know how long.

  “You, sit down,” Marie added.

  Bessie sat down, but she wasn’t sure what she was going to accomplish by sitting down for now. Everything they needed to do was online or on the phone, and Jessica and Naomi had those handled respectively. Marie and her father found a fresh pineapple and cut it up for Bessie. Bessie had to admit, fresh pineapple sounded amazing. Marie went to buy another one in case Marc was going to use it later, and her father made sure she went upstairs to take a nap afterwards.

  Perhaps her mother’s death and planning the funeral had hit harder than she had thought it would. It didn’t matter in the long term because she would eventually find a way to get back to normal, but she wasn’t sure what to do in the meantime. As she slept, it was not the happy kind of sleep. It wasn’t easy, not like when she would fall asleep on Marc’s chest at night. It was full of what she could have done differently. If she had stayed in Charleston instead of going home. If they had decided to stay home instead of coming to Myrtle Beach and Charleston for the summer. If she had decided to go abroad instead of staying home to help plan all of the details for the funeral.

  “Bessie’s asleep upstairs, Marc. I apologize if you were not expecting us to be here so late,” her father’s voice echoed.

  Bessie sat up. How long had she been asleep? It didn’t matter; she got off the bed and carefully walked to the stairs. She wondered how long Marc had been home.

  “It’s all right. I told her she could invite you over for as long as you needed,” Marc replied. “It’s actually a good thing you’re still here. I haven’t had a chance to ask Bessie for your number.”

  “Why would you need my phone number? Bessie has it, and she’s the one I us
ually speak to...” She could hear her father furrowing his eyebrows.

  “Mr. Olson, I have gotten to know you and your family very well over the last couple of weeks. Especially Bess.” Marc stopped for a moment, and moved away from the stairs. His voice carried well enough that she could still hear him clearly. “I would like to take her to France this coming summer. My father has paid for a ticket for me to come home for the summer, and I honestly believe I could marry her, Mr. Olson. This may not be the best time to say it, but I have fallen in love with your daughter.”

  Bessie could not help but feel her cheeks heating up. He loved her? He... he loved her...

  “That is a decision for Bessie to make, Marc, but if she wants to go with you, I will not stop her,” her father replied. “I do not know if she has plans for next summer, but if you ask her soon, she may not have other plans to make.” Her father laughed. “You’ve almost a year to ask her, though.”

  “Yes, I’m aware of this. However, after today, I’m not sure I’m going to stay in law school for long. English is my second language,” Marc continued.

  “I could tell by the accent, but you speak it beautifully for someone who had to learn it the hard way,” her father said. “Is the school giving you trouble?”

  “I do not understand the nuances of the language well enough yet,” Marc said. “We will see how I do in a couple of weeks, but I’m afraid I will not be a good lawyer here. If worse comes to worse, I can attend law school in France. The time difference would be horrible for a relationship, though, and I wish to make it work with Bessie, regardless of where we go to school.”

  “She dropped out of her study abroad to come plan her mother’s funeral, Marc. I think she would jump at the chance to go to France. She may not be able to attend anything at the culinary schools, but she would absolutely love to go just for a chance to have French cuisine in France,” her father said. “As far as your own struggles in school, I’m sorry to hear that. May I make a suggestion? If you feel that you are not going to survive it here, don’t waste your time. You’ve a job here, yes?”

  “Yes, sir. I just came home from work, in fact.”

  “Then continue working for now. You speak English well enough for that. It pays your bills, and you’ve been doing well on your own,” her father said. “What would you do if Bessie wanted to continue her schooling back in Utah?”

  “I believe I could teach French well. I have heard there are counties out there struggling to find enough teachers; they would be willing to pay me to finish a teaching degree while I spend a year teaching, I believe,” Marc replied. “I speak it fluently, and I speak enough English to be able to translate. I could be a translator if I needed to be.”

  She could imagine Marc’s shrug. Bessie ventured downstairs as her father spoke, continuing to see what Marc’s plans were if he were to drop out of the law school. While Bessie was not sure she was ready for marriage, nor that she ever would be, she knew that if he was willing to drop out of law school entirely so that she could finish her own schooling without having to worry about long distance, it would only be fair of her to be willing to do the same.

  And going to France... if she could spend a month or two in France, that would be amazing.

  “I think going to France with you this coming summer sounds like a wonderful idea, Marc,” Bessie said. The conversation stopped dead.

  “I didn’t think you were awake... how much did you hear?” Marc’s cheeks turned bright red as he turned to her.

  “I heard all of it.” She took his hand. “And... and...” She leaned up to his ear. “I think I love you, too, Marc.”

  His cheeks turned even redder, and she felt her own heating up.

  “What do you think of everything else?” Her father interrupted the moment. “Of him giving up schooling here to go to France, of teaching here instead of going into law?”

  “As long as we don’t have to do long distance, I don’t care who finishes school first. Since I’m here now, I think it would do you well to give Charleston Law a few more weeks to see if it really is as nuanced as you think it is,” Bessie said. “If you still believe it will be easier to be a lawyer in France, then we will discuss our options at that point.”

  Marc nodded slowly. “That was what I was thinking. You are here, and for now, we have made it work around classes,” he said. “I think you have the right idea.”

  “As long as you two are in agreement, I do not see the problem with what you plan to do,” her father said. “What do your parents think of this, Marc?”

  “They know I have become quite smitten with Bessie and they want to meet her,” Marc replied. “My father was always skeptical of my ability to learn law here, but he would want me to give the semester a chance. More than one day, at least.” He laughed. “He has every right to tell me that he was right if I must attend law school in France.”

  “If you attended a French school, what would the costs be like?” Bessie questioned.

  Marc then went on to explain that it certainly wouldn’t be as much as it would be to finish out here at Charleston. Even his father had been aghast at the price of schooling in the United States, and would have been surprised if he could get by at one of the most expensive schools, let alone a mid-grade school like Charleston Law.

  Bessie, her sisters, and her father all laughed. They had all grown up with the price tags of college being insanely expensive, and they knew it was weird compared to how other countries did higher learning. Marc laughed with them because he knew it, too.

  Bessie admitted to herself that it felt good to laugh. Her mother may have had one thing right in life, and that was that spending time with those who made you laugh, like laugh really hard and loudly despite everything else and not feel bad about it, in the worst of times was the right way to spend life. Marc had helped her with that the entire time she had been here in Charleston after her mother passed away. It was another testament to how powerful love could be.

  Chapter 11

  The next day, Bessie woke up in the bed in the guest room. Though she had taken a long nap after lunch, and had actually woken up when Marc came home, she had fallen asleep easily when Marc held her on the bed. She had had nightmares during her nap, and she didn’t want to fall asleep.

  This morning, she was alone. But she could smell the croissants downstairs. Marc was awake. She walked down the stairs, the blanket wrapped around her shoulders. It didn’t matter to her that he had woken up first; what mattered was that he was there when she needed him. Indeed, he was standing at the oven, whisking something in a bowl.

  “Morning, Marc,” she said with a soft smile. “What time are you leaving for class?”

  “I do not have class today. I stacked all my classes to be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday,” he replied as he turned to face her. “I do have to leave for work in about thirty minutes.”

  “Oh...” She frowned. “Will you be home the same time as normal?”

  “Yes, I will,” he said with a soft smile. “Are you doing all right after last night?”

  “I-I think so...” She pursed her lips. “I don’tt know for sure. I suppose we won’t know until I try to go back to sleep tonight.” She sat down at the little table off to the side.

  “That’s all right,” Marc said. “Would you like a chocolate filled croissant?”

  “Yes, please,” she said, perking up a little. “Is that what I smell?”

  “Yes. The filling is ready and I’m just about to put them in the oven,” he replied. “You’ll love them. They’re amazing. My father used to make these when I was having a hard time, and I thought you would like them, too.”

  “You’re wonderful to me, Marc,” she said. “How did I get so lucky to find you?”

  “I do not know, but I know that I’m the lucky one. I have found a woman I love, even if she is not the kind of woman I once thought I would fall for,” he said. “I always thought I would fall for a French woman, or perhaps a Spanish woman. When I was a kid, I
had a thing for Spanish actresses.” He laughed a little.

  “We’re all entitled to our celebrity crushes, Marc,” she said. “I used to have quite the crush on a British actor... he’s fallen out of the spotlight now, but he used to be a popular actor.” She laughed a little as she spoke.

  The topics they talked about surprised her sometimes. They could range from as silly as celebrity crushes to something as serious as what they thought their plans would be for the next few months. Months. Bessie could hardly believe they were thinking about everything like that. They wanted to stay together, despite all the hardships that had hit them over the last couple of weeks. It half surprised Bessie that Marc wanted to do this, especially after they had talked it out last night.

  “My father has gotten us tickets to go to France when the semester ends,” Marc stated. “I know it’s last minute, but... he wants me home for Christmas, and he would like to meet you. My mother, too.”

  “Well, you’ve met my family. I suppose it’s only fair that I meet yours,” Bessie said with a smile. “Have you told my father?”

  “No. My father only texted me last night... the time difference is hard on him, and he forgets sometimes that I can’t answer for a few hours,” Marc said. A small laugh escaped his mouth. “Christmas in France. How’s that sound?”

  “That’s a change, I can tell you that.” She smiled a little. “What airport would we fly out of?”

  “From Charleston to Dallas, and into Paris from Dallas,” he replied. “There will be a bit of backtracking from here, but the service internationally is better out of Dallas than anywhere else I’ve flown in and out of.” He shrugged.

  “How many times have you flown to France since coming to the United States for school?” Bessie furrowed her brows.