Special Episode 3 – Every Cloud...
Thursday, 20th December 2001, The Samson Mansion, Morning
Chardonnay Samson smiled as she walked towards her fiancé’s car. She had already met some of Jean Luc’s family, but now she was going to meet the rest, and spend the holidays with them as well.
“Is that the last of your bags?” Jean Luc asked.
Chardonnay nodded, and smiled. “I can’t wait to meet the rest of your family.”
Before Luc could reply, Victor Samson cut in. “Take care of my daughter.”
“Dad.”
“Don’t worry, I will.” Luc said.
“I’m really going to miss you.” Leslie said.
“Don’t worry, I’ll call every day.”
“We better get going, not to miss the flight.”
Chardonnay gave her father, and then her mother a quick hug. She was going to miss them, after all this would be the first time she’d been away from them during the holidays.
“Don’t forget me.” Nate said, before Chardonnay could get into the car. The brother and sister shared a brief hug.
“Come on.” Luc said.
“Enjoy yourself.” Leslie said, as her daughter got into Luc’s car. He sat in beside her and turned on the ignition.
Chardonnay turned and started to wave at her family as the car started to move down the driveway.
“I hope she’s okay.”
“Don’t worry, she will be.”
“I hope so, it’s her first Christmas without us.”
“Celia and Henri will look after her.”
“Remember the first time they met.”
“How could I forget?”
***
Friday, 21st December 2001, The Laurent Cabin,
Midday
“I’m so tired.”
“We didn’t get much sleep last night, did we?” Luc said, with a smile.
Chardonnay took her head off her folded up coat, which she’d propped against the headrest, and turned to Luc. She tutted, before smiling. Last night they’d spent the night in a motel, rather than drive out to the cabin following their flight.
As she looked out the window, Chardonnay spotted a quaint wooden cabin. It looked rather large. The roof was covered in snow, with a pile of wood beside the house also covered over by the snow. Chardonnay smiled to herself, it was so perfect.
The rented car pulled up outside the house. Chardonnay zipped up her coat as she got out.
“We’ve spent all but a few Christmases here, since I was born. Mom got this piece of land years ago, and there was an old cabin on it. They knocked it down as it was so small, with only one bedroom and built this instead.”
“It’s lovely. It’s perfect.” Chardonnay said.
“Hey, look.” Luc said, turning around. She looked around, seeing the view from the front of the cabin, and saw some large mountains, covered in snow. It was so beautiful.
“Luc, Chardonnay.”
Both turned around as their names were called. Celia Laurent was standing on the steps of the cabin, dressed in a light coat with a green scarf. Standing behind her, in the doorway, was Henri. Chardonnay and Luc began walking towards them.
“Luc.” Celia said, as her son reached her. They shared a quick hug before she turned to Chardonnay. Henri smiled at Chardonnay. “Chardonnay. It’s great to see you again. How are your parents?”
“They are great.”
“And Nate.”
“Oh, the same as usual.” Chardonnay said, smiling.
“Come inside, before you get cold. Yasmin, Adrienne and Bryan are all here.”
Chardonnay walked through the front door, Celia beside her. Behind her Luc and Henri caught up on business. Inside the door was a large kitchen and dining area. Beyond the large wooden table was a large white sofa. Seated on the sofa were two people.
Bryan Welsh sat on the sofa opposite Yasmin Laurent, and looked up as the two new arrivals entered the cabin.
“Hello.” Bryan greeted warmly. Yasmin left down her mug of coffee and stood up to look at Chardonnay. “Hi.” She greeted, coolly.
Celia led Chardonnay, by the arm, over to the sofa. “Now you just sit down there and talk to Yasmin and Bryan. Henri, why don’t you help me with the tea.”
“I’ll go and get our bags.” Luc said.
“Okay.” Chardonnay said, smiling up at him. She turned back to Bryan and Yasmin, and shifted nervously as she felt they were glaring at her.
“Did you have a nice journey?” Bryan asked, trying to be friendly.
“Yeah, it was great. I’m tired after the long journey. And then last night I didn’t get much sleep either.” Chardonnay said, the words slipping out of her mouth before she realised what it sounded like she was saying.
“I bet you didn’t.” Yasmin said under her breath, but still loud enough for Chardonnay to hear. She didn’t like Chardonnay that much, after all Luc was her baby brother and she got the feeling that Chardonnay might hurt him.
Chardonnay coughed. “So Bryan, looks like we are the minority around here. Choosing our partners over our families.”
Bryan’s face fell, as Yasmin seemed to be giving a look of disgust. Chardonnay knew she’s said the wrong thing.
“Actually my parent’s died years ago, when I was twenty.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry.”
“And Bryan and I aren’t actually going out. We’ve just been best friends for years. He’s always advising me on everything. I would be with him except, well…” Yasmin drifted off. Chardonnay realised what she meant.
“Oh, so you’re…” Chardonnay began to say gay, but was interrupted by Adrienne Laurent. She entered the room, dressed in a short pink towel.
“Hi. I’m Adrienne.”
“Chardonnay.”
“So, you’re Luc’s latest girlfriend. Pleased to meet you.”
Adrienne walked over towards Bryan, and slipped past him to sit down beside him. As she did this, her towel seemed to come slightly undone, but she caught it just before it fell.
“Oops.” She laughed, looking down at Bryan. “I nearly flashed you there.” She brushed back her damp hair, before sitting down, her eyes focused on Bryan.
An hour later Chardonnay and Luc were in their bedroom, following lunch. Chardonnay lay down on her bed, tired from the journey. She looked at Luc as he unpacked his clothes.
“They hate me don’t they?” She said, breaking the silence. Luc turned around and looked at her.
“What gave you that idea?” He asked.
“Nothing.”
***
Sunday, 23rd December 2001, The Laurent Cabin,
Morning
“I’ll do the washing up.” Chardonnay said, picking up some of the plates after breakfast.
Celia interrupted. “You are a guest.”
“No, it’ll give me something to do.” She answered. The last two days had gone past pretty slowly. There was no cellphone coverage, and no television. The nearest major town was half hours drive away, while there was very bad reception for the radio. All she could get clearly was a country radio station. Adrienne and Nicole’s magazines, plus one of Celia’s books had helped passed the time but it was getting rather boring.
“I’ll give you a hand.” Luc said.
A few minutes later they were stood at the sink, Chardonnay doing the washing up with Luc drying. “Are you sure you are enjoying this?”
“Yeah, it’s brilliant. So relaxing.” Chardonnay answered. She couldn’t bear to tell him the truth.
“Really. You’ve just been very quiet. Yasmin, mom and Adrienne have all said it.”
“So Bryan, maybe you and me should go out for a walk sometime.” Adrienne said, with a wicked grin. She seductively slid her little finger in between her lips. Bryan looked nervous as he felt something rub against his leg. It moved up and up…
“They’ve all been talking about me haven’t they?” Chardonnay asked.
“No, they haven’t.”
“Yeah, I bet they haven’t.”
There was an awkward silence between the couple. Yasmin interrupted.
“Was that a car I heard?” She asked, standing up. Bryan also quickly jumped up. They walked over towards the door, as Chardonnay and Luc looked out the window. A car had indeed pulled up outside the window. Outside a blonde haired man stepped out and walked around to the passengers door. He helped his pregnant wife out of the car. With his arm around her they walked down towards the front door of the cabin. Yasmin and Bryan made their way down to them and smiled as they caught up with the couple.
Ten minutes later everyone was seated. The washing up had been forgotten about as Carrie and Philippe Laurent revealed they had an announcement to make.
“What is it? Is everything okay with the baby?” Celia asked nervously.
“I’m afraid it isn’t.” Carrie said.
“Oh my god.” Celia said. She grabbed Henri’s hand. Everyone’s face went serious, as all wondered what was wrong. Carrie turned to her husband. “Why don’t you tell them?”
“I can’t. You do it.”
“Can someone just tell me. What is it?” Celia shouted.
“We’re not having a baby.”
“What, but…?”
“This March, if everything is okay, we’re having twins.” Philippe said. He tried to finish, as everyone jumped up and laughed. “We’ve known for a while, but wanted to tell you all together. We did call Nic and Just though, to let them know since they are at his dad’s place.”
“That is great news honey.” Celia said. She threw her arms around her eldest son, and then his wife. Chardonnay smiled to herself, as she watched Luc embrace the rest of his family, even Bryan. They talked for ages about twins in the family, as neither Henri nor Celia’s sides had twins in their families. And Carrie’s side didn’t have twins either.
***
Tuesday, 25th December 2001, The Laurent Cabin, Early
Morning
The tension between Chardonnay and Luc was still there over Sunday and Monday, but neither of them mentioned it. They had a few short arguments, but nothing major. Chardonnay was really missing her family and she’d been on the phone to them a lot over the past few days. This had wound Luc up, as every time he suggested doing something, she always seemed to want to talk to her family.
On Christmas morning, Chardonnay opened her eyes. She reached for Luc, but he was gone. Chardonnay pushed back the sheets and sat up in the bed. She yawned before getting out, and slipping her dressing gown on over her nightdress.
She then walked over Luc’s side table, and picked up the telephone.
“Hi mom, it’s me.” She greeted. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
Luc entered the room, to get Chardonnay up for the exchanging of presents. “Hey, sleeping beauty.”
She turned around, and looked up at him, the receiver to her ear. Neither spoke, as Leslie talked on the other end of the phone line. Luc’s face fell and he walked out the door.
“Yeah mom, everything is brilliant.”
***
The Laurent Cabin, afternoon
“I thought you’d changed Adrienne.” Yasmin said, her glass of wine in her hand. She was sitting on the sofas, opposite her sister. Everyone else was either in their bedrooms or gone out for a walk. Yasmin and Adrienne had agreed to stay
“What are you talking about?” Adrienne asked, looking up from her magazine.
Yasmin ignored her sister. “I was so wrong.”
“I don’t you what you are talking about.”
“You, all over Bryan. You are only going to use him, like you use everybody. The only person in this world that you love is yourself Adrienne.”
“What? Me and Bryan are just friends, that is all.”
“Yeah, right. You are only treating him like a toy, just like you do with most of the men in your life. You’ve only been trying to get into his bed so that you can keep yourself amused for a few days. You don’t care for anyone.”
“That really is an ignorant thing to say Yasmin. You really hurt me.”
“I thought you were different now, you’d stopped being so god damn manipulative. But you are worse than ever. Whatever you want, isn’t it Adrienne?”
“This is really hurtful Yasmin. You really shouldn’t speak to me like that, I am just your baby sister.”
Yasmin sneered. “Yeah, right.”
“Sorry, did I interrupt something?” Chardonnay said, entering the room.
“No, you didn’t.” Yasmin said. She stood up and headed towards her room. Chardonnay walked towards the sink, and reached for a glass.
“I don’t think she like’s me, does she?” She asked. Adrienne didn’t reply, so Chardonnay turned around to see an empty sofa. She sighed.
A few minutes later she was all alone, sitting by the main telephone talking to Nate. He was telling her about all her family, the family she was missing so much.
Luc walked in through the front door, back from his walk with Celia and Henri. They had decided to sit and wait for a while, to enjoy the scenery.
Chardonnay looked up. “I have to go now.” She put down the receiver and turned to Luc. “Did you enjoy your walk?”
“It was fine.”
“Where are your parents?”
“Outside. They wanted to look at the scenery for a few minutes.”
“Oh.”
“Another phone call home, I see.”
“Well, I wanted to see how they all were.”
“The phone bill will be massive at this rate.” Luc joked, though Chardonnay didn’t laugh.
“What does that mean?”
“I’m just stating the obvious.”
“What is wrong with you? You’ve been acting like this since we arrived.”
“You haven’t even bothered getting to know my family, have you?” Luc said, raising his voice.
“You know how much I’ve missed mom and dad. This is my first Christmas ever away from them.”
“Why did you agree to spending Christmas here if you weren’t even going to bother with my family, if you miss your own family so much?”
“I really don’t know. In fact I think I’ll go home right now.”
Luc remained silent for a minute. “What?”
“I said I’m going home.”
“Look…”a Luc started, but Chardonnay turned around and walked away from him. She didn’t listen as he talked, as he tried to plead with her to stay. Chardonnay pushed past Yasmin and walked straight into her bedroom, into her and Luc’s bedroom. She banged shut the door, and lay against it. Tears started flowing, she felt so angry, so upset.
She walked over to the bed, and continued to cry as she started picking up her clothes. She threw them into a suitcase, too devastated to tidy them in properly. The door opened, Luc entered the room.
“Please don’t go. I’m sorry.”
“I can’t. I have to go.” Chardonnay said, continuing to pack. “Can I take the rental car?”
“Chardonnay…”
“I said, can I take the rental car?”
“Yeah, okay.”
A few minutes later Chardonnay was packed and ready to go. She walked out of the bedroom and into the kitchen and sitting area. Celia, Henri, Adrienne, Yasmin, Bryan, Carrie and Philippe were all sitting there, wondering what was going on. Chardonnay looked at them for a moment, before speaking.
“T-thank you. It was lovely meeting you all.” She said, confidently as she could. She tried to hold back the tears.
“Chardonnay…” Celia began, but Henri took her by the arm.
“Don’t, let them decide themselves.”
Chardonnay walked towards the door. “Goodbye.” She continued outside, down the steps and over to the rental car. She threw her suitcase into the back seat, before turning around. Luc was behind her, holding the rest of her things.
“There you go. Are you sure?” He asked.
“Yeah, I’m sure.” She answered, before turning and getting into the car. She put on her seatbelt, and took a deep breath before starting the ignition. She started down the long track, towards the nearest town. She looked in the rear-view mirror, and saw Luc standing there watching her go. A single tear flowed down her pale cheek.
***
Wednesday, December 26th 2001, The Samson Mansion, Evening
“I’ll get it.” Lila Davies said as she opened the door of the mansion. “Oh my god.”
“Hi Lila.”
“Oh, Chardonnay, love. What is it?”
“It’s all over. Me and Luc are finished.” She said, beginning to cry.
***
Friday, January 4th 2002, The Samson Mansion, Afternoon
Chardonnay tried her best to get over Luc. She soon found out he’d moved back to Boston, leaving his job at the hotel. He arrived the day before he left town, with some of her things which were at the apartment at the hotel where he’d been living. It had been a short exchange of words. Chardonnay confided in Lila about what had happened, but couldn’t tell her parents how everything had went so wrong.
A few days after New Year’s Chardonnay was at home. Victor was also at home, having decided to stay at home and not return to work again until Monday. He did have one person coming to see him. They were starting at Samson Enterprises on Monday, and would be working closely with Victor so he wanted to meet them.
Chardonnay approached the door. She’d spent the morning out on her horse, so wasn’t looking neat or even clean. She had a tiny bit of straw in her hair, and was wearing old jeans and an old shirt. She pulled open the door, and smiled.
“Hi, you must be…” She began, instantly finding the man attractive.
“Gabriel McLoughlin. I’m very pleased to meet you.”