Saved by the Woman Behind The Door

Today was my day off I lay in bed feeling like there was no reason to get up as Jojo was gone, Coco was depressed and Tiah was just not sane enough to have a conversation with. I lay in bed thinking about my world and the burdens that had been thrust not just upon me, but it seems everyone in my entire group. How can we be regarded as kids a few months ago and now are supposed to consider such our social and business choices for our entire lives. Jazz rang me when I was in the shower and I was just about to ring her back when Mother did something totally uncharacteristic and burst into my room unannounced startling me into nearly dropping my towel.

For a second she got her words jumbled and while she stood there trying to make a coherent sentence I stared at her as if she has lost her mind, perhaps she the gin had caught up with her and she had one too many. Finally she was able to gasp out the terrible news and it was not terrible news, it was news that filled me with dread, it was not that Gervais Dubois was waiting downstairs, in our house, a Dubois and not just a Dubois but that he had brought flowers. I think it was the flowers that did Mother in for this was beyond a nightmare, a Dubois on the pretence of social nicety, it made me shudder.

Mother looked as if she was about to faint and I moved over so she could collapse on the end of the bed where she sat there staring at me expectantly waiting for me to explain why the nightmare of Bishop Vale was sitting in her drawing room holding flowers. Maybe she was afraid he was coming to court her and her pale face told me she was not exactly pleased with him being here so I told her not to panic it was just Gervais amusing himself as he was probably bored but in my heart I was as worried as she for he had suddenly changed the rules of engagement. I continued smoothly that he tended to annoy me by dropping in on me to inflict his presence, it was his way of annoying me for leaving Liselle. Instead of being appeased Mother became even more alarmed, asking me if he had taken to following me about a lot and I told her I believed he was piqued that I had been rude to him when I worked for Liselle and this was how he was amusing himself.

I could see her relax as if this information had eased her mind then she urged me to rush downstairs and get rid of him as quickly as possible. She fled into her room leaving me and Maritka to deal with the devil that came to visit, shouldn’t there be some rule in hell that kept the demons in at least until night. I came down a few minutes later to find our wonderful housekeeper glaring at Gervais from the doorway just daring him to move. Maritka might have not been as tall as him but I bet one blow from her meaty hands would have sent him flying, and the thought of this delicious treat would have kept me laughing for years. Gervais had the grace to stand up when I came in and handed me the flowers as if I had requested he bring them to me, I stared at them as if he had handed me a bouquet of dead animals before handing them off to Maritka who grabbed them from my hands and stomped out viciously leaving no mistake of her opinion of him.

Gervais sat down again, lounging in his most languid man about town fashion, as if he had nowhere else to go and I watched him guardedly waiting for whatever malice he was going to spring on me. He asked me a few aimless questions about work and how long I had lived at this house and then he told me it was such a nice day that he thought he would take me to lunch. As he said this he stared at me with such a fixed cold gaze I knew he was daring me to turn him down and I was going to say I already had plans to lunch with Jazz which might have been true if I knew why she was calling me but fate decided to intervene and something I never dreamed of happening happened, I was saved by Mother of all people.

She had been standing quietly in the doorway unnoticed by both of us and before I could reply she came forward beaming and thanked Gervais for his kind offer as we would love to lunch with him. I gazed at Mother with a new found respect because there was no way she was included in this invitation but she managed to slip one past Gervais and it was such a sweet moment, to have the prince of this town thwarted by a fluffy socialite. As Gervais opened his mouth I folded my arms and glared daring him to say a single word, he might torture me but if he so much as breathed towards Mother I would stab him where he stood. Knowing he was never going to get what he wanted he decided to take what he could get and became the urbane man about town as he smiled warmly at Mother saying he was honoured that she was free to join us. I was so grateful for her intervention that for a fleeting moment I considered telling her the entire story of what happened between Gervais and me but I wasn’t sure if she could do more than save the occasional social moment. Mother was after all just Mother.

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