Reynard said, in words that came out without hesitation, “I came here when I was seventeen. I attended school in New York and graduated from NYU. My family has been in art for six generations. They’re in New York City. I have three brothers and a sister.” As an afterthought, he added, “I wish I could see them more often.
Emily asked, “Do you know anyone who drives a Lamborghini Sesta Elemento?”
Reynard looked down and shook his head. “No. I wish I did. I’d ask to borrow it.” He rushed along to get to the next room.
Twenty minutes later, Reynard asked Emily to sit at her computer while he showed her the software for processing acquisitions. Emily noticed that Reynard hovered near her. She’s worn a very expensive fragrance that day in case he got close enough to smell her. She could feel his breath on her neck.
She, very carefully, turned her head to ask him a question about the software. He, just as carefully, turned toward her. Their lips were within an inch of each other. She glanced down at his lips. He began to lean toward her then, at the last second, turned his head toward the screen.
They played this game for a month. Emily did her job with admirable skill and dedication and tried to get as close to Reynard as possible. Reynard obviously enjoyed the game. But they never actually touched.
Chapter Three
Mignon and Alain continued mostly ignoring each other except when Mignon had a tantrum and Alain intervened
It all changed on a rare Saturday when Emily had to work.
She was walking down a stairway when she looked out a window and saw Reynard and the suspicious man who drove the expensive Lamborghini talking in the back yard. She snapped an image on her cell phone.
At three in the afternoon, Mignon finally got what she had been asking for all along. Everyone was feeling a little hungry and out of sorts because dinner was still hours away.
Mignon said, very bluntly, “I quit. I can not work this way. I am never paid the attentions. I am always pushed off to the side in favor of Emily. I will leave tonight. It must be done. My life can’t be lived under these condition.” She’d started her speech speaking shrilly and ended it in a full screech.
Reynard said, “No, my sweet. This office is more a home than it is a workplace. You will not leave. You are a member of the family.” He opened his arms and Mignon glided into them for a hug.
She left his arms and glared at Alain. She sputtered, “Here is a man. He takes me in his arms and tends to my feelings. Thank the Good God there is one man in the room.”
Alain threw his kitchen gloves on the table and turned around. He said, “Enough.” His voice was soft and the tone firm. He advanced on Mignon.
Mignon looked at him with concern as he towered over her. She said, “Alain? What are you going to do? Whatever it is, you can’t do it. I must have my dignities. You can not take those away from me.”
He didn’t answer. He grabbed her left hand out of the air and pulled. He bent over to catch her on his shoulder as she fell forward. He walked to his bedroom with Mignon limp, hanging down his back. She said angry things in French at the top of her lungs. He held her in place with his arm over the back of her legs, under her skirt.
Reynard called after them, “Bon Chance, mon ami. Bon Chance.”
Alain didn’t answer or turn around. He waved two fingers over his head. Reynard and Emily noticed that Mignon was pounding on his back and demanding to be put down.
Chapter Four
Alain placed an incensed Mignon on her feet by his bed. She sputtered, “What do you think you are doing to me? Why have you carried me off in such a way? Over your shoulder with my legs showing and my skirt up to my rear end.” She glanced down at his hands. “What are you doing now?”
Alain was undoing the buttons on her blouse. “I will not live with you the way you are, and I will not let you go.”
“And do you think taking my clothes off will make me pleasant and calm like some fat Provence housewife on a farm?”
“That and my touch on your skin. No man is touching you. No one is giving you good feelings. I think that is the cause of this constant temper” He opened her blouse and pulled it from her skirt. He pushed it off her shoulders. His hands moved slowly and carefully. He paused to study her lovely, lace bra and the breasts it contained.
Her voice gained volume and stridency. “Do you think I will change just because you roll me in the hay? Is that it?” She shook her finger in Alain’s face. “Let me tell you something, my friend with muscles. It will take more than that to make me cheerful.”