Karen Aldous - The Riviera

‘Thierry, I’m so proud of you. Good boy.’ Lizzie knelt down again and stroked his hair as he continued stretching out his arms.

‘Will you come swimming, Mummy?’

‘I’m sure I can manage an hour, darling.’ She glanced back at Marie-Claire. ‘When will you go again?’

‘We can go late morning tomorrow. Eleven-thirty or twelve, before his playschool at two.’

‘Yes, sounds perfect. I can’t wait. You can show Mummy tomorrow.’

‘Then can we go to the park?’ Thierry asked getting up and sliding up to his mother.

‘Well, you’ll want some lunch before playschool so we won’t have time.’

‘Thierry, your dinner is ready,’ Marie-Claire announced.

‘Come on, clever boy, let’s go wash your hands,’ Lizzie said clasping his hand and leading him to the cloakroom.

After dinner and puzzles, Lizzie followed her usual bedtime routine and read to Thierry after his bath. She insisted she would bath him as Marie-Claire was going out with her new boyfriend, Patric. It was the first time Lizzie had known her to have a proper boyfriend and after the trauma with Anton last year, she was thankful Thierry’s nanny was seemingly unaffected and now happy. Patric was twenty and just a year older than Marie-Claire. His family lived locally too, just a few miles along the coast in Antibes where they also had an automobile business. Lizzie had only met him briefly twice, but he seemed a really nice lad and they were well suited; they both loved sport and music. It was just after eleven-thirty when Marie-Claire returned and had just made a coffee in the kitchen. Lizzie was on the sofa reading.

‘Lizzie, your phone is ringing.’ Marie-Claire picked up Lizzie’s phone from the worktop where it was charging.

‘Oh quick. Can you answer it? It might be Cal.’ Lizzie swung her legs off the sofa and leaped towards the kitchen.

‘Yes, it is Cal.’

Swopping roles, she took the phone whilst Marie-Claire took over the sofa.

Her heart warmed just hearing his voice echo down the phone. Marie-Claire whispered ‘Goodnight’ and pattered off to her room.

‘Lizzie. Hi. So sorry. I’ve been with, sorry, I’m with Jack. Just popped to the men’s room. How are you?’

‘Fine. Missing you of course and hope all is well with Jack?’

‘It’s slow, but making progress. I think!’

‘Well, I won’t keep you, I wanted to mention something. Two things as I don’t suppose you’ll be back for Friday to look around the house. And, I’d really prefer you were with us, so I’ll ask Jean-Luc and Annatia if they wouldn’t mind holding off until you get back. Is that OK?’

‘Yes. Absolutely, whatever you prefer. This may take a few more days,’ he said.

After the initial sinking, Lizzie warmed as she imagined the smile in his voice. ‘And, I’m not interfering. It’s just that your mother was in the salon earlier, and obviously I told her you’d flown out to Jack because he was upset. She mentioned Jack saying something to her about a girl being nasty to him. I thought it may be relevant. That’s all. She didn’t know any more.’

‘Oh shhh-it. I should have rung her. Did she get panicky?’

‘Concerned. I didn’t dramatise if that’s what you’re wondering.’

‘Mmm, OK. Thanks. It may be significant. I’d better get back. I’ll call you tomorrow.’ He paused. ‘I love you, Lizzie and, give Thierry a big hug from me.’

Lizzie would have preferred to sit and talk longer but Cal sounded occupied. Jack, it seemed, was still volatile. If only she could be there to help.

‘Cal, will it help if I came over? Business is manageable. Just a few days,’ she blurted. It wasn’t really the right time but she didn’t know how long she’d have to wait to speak to him again.

‘Give me the weekend and…actually, no. Having Thierry around might be just the tonic for Jack. I’ll sort somewhere for us to stay. I don’t really want to stay here. Maybe Jack could come and stay with us. Yes, why not? There’s no rush. Maybe early next week.’

‘I’ll sort out some travel for Tuesday or Wednesday and let you know. I’ll text you details. I’ll take Thierry back on the ferry this time. It will be more of an adventure for him.’

‘Great. All being well, I’ll come over to Boston and meet you.’

After saying their goodbyes, Lizzie’s heart wrenched as she picked up her coffee. He’d been gone just twenty-four hours but she really needed to hold him and snuggle into his chest. But then elation muscled in. It seemed a long way off, but she would be with him in less than a week and suddenly she wanted to dance. To see him and touch him, just to be there for him and support him was making her heart sing. Glancing momentarily at Thierry’s toys, she only hoped Jack would be in a better place emotionally.

She understood so well the traumas of being a teenager. God, she’d had her share. Having to suddenly face grown up problems she didn’t really understand or know how to deal with. Believing she was adult enough to make choices and decisions which she just wasn’t emotionally equipped to deal with. It was a very lonely place.

Sipping her drink which was now luke-warm, she recalled the torment and humiliation she’d suffered when her first love, Hugo, two-timed her during their relationship in her first year at university. It was excruciatingly painful. She’d imagined every student was sniggering and talking about her behind her back. She’d dreaded facing people for fear of ridicule. She couldn’t even trust her friends. She swore they must have hidden the truth from her or worse, lied to cover up. It was so embarrassing. How could she ever have trusted them again? And she couldn’t ever imagine trusting a man again, not after Hugo. She’d just wanted to curl up and die.

Instead, she’d hit on an alternative. Her defence mechanism was to flee. Just seven months into uni, she had taken flight to free herself from people she could no longer trust. Fortunately for Cal, Jack hadn’t run. He’d cried for help and Cal had acted immediately. He’d listened. That’s what a parent should do. Unlike her mother who was always quick to judge. Or so she imagined at the time. Nonetheless, she’d run, not just from Hugo, her friends and uni, but from her family. Her mother and grandfather. She didn’t even have the sense to tell someone; well, she’d posted a note to her mother from England before landing in France. She’d believed her mother would have been angry and shamed. Angry because she’d always said Hugo was no good and shamed because her daughter had failed her. Her promise of being a vet fell at the first hurdle. And then there was Anton. She downed the last mouthful from her mug.

She’d been so glitzed with Anton’s glamour when she’d arrived in Cannes. Thought herself so madly in love. Such a charmer and then, whoosh, she’d discovered yet another cheat. The worst playboy in Cannes in fact. And, unfortunately, a drugged-up control freak who could never have been a father to Thierry. Well thankfully, that was all in the past. Now, as a mother, it was impossible to conceive the notion that her child would disappear and not get in touch for five years. How did she never realise her own mother’s heartache? Thanks to Cal, in the last twelve months she’d grown up faster than ever, just by taking time to get to know her mother and find an amazing man she could trust.

‘Fuck,’ she burst out, crashing back to the moment. Cal at Kelly’s!

By ten o’clock the following morning at the office, Lizzie had looked up the flights. Most flew via London, so she rang her mother so she could make a visit on her return then booked her and Thierry’s flights to Boston. She was just reading through a few CVs Josephine had forwarded for the new male grooming section when a whoosh of energy flew into her room.