Chapter 98: Cecile IX—
"Come on! Come on! Gumper!"
Cecile opened her eyes, squinting in the darkness, trying to find the voice that had awakened her. Within the moment, she could see the outline of Jana’s tiny body, sprawled on her tummy, as she peered under the shelf. The yellow cut of a flashlight beam was shining in the room.
"What are you doing?" she said with an irritated yawn.
Jana sat up, scratching at her head. "I’m sorry!" she gasped. "I didn’t want to wake you up but I was trying to get into Mommy and Daddy’s bed and Daddy told me to find the Gumper that he was in here and I wasn’t supposed to wake you and I was supposed to wait but I couldn’t wait!"
Cecile yawned again and sat up, stretching. The girl sounded sincerely sorry. "It’s OK," she said. "Did you find him?"
Jana tucked the flashlight into her lap and shook her head, her bottom lip sticking out. "No," she said. "He’s being a poo! I don’t see him anywhere."
"Oh, I’m sorry," Cecile said.
"I miss him!" Jana said with a plaintive edge to her voice. "I don’t know why he ran away and not come back. But I brought down Cheerios, he loves Cheerios and some water, he’ll eat that. So now I know he won’t die of not eating."
"Well, if I see him again, then I’ll see if I can catch him for you, OK?" Cecile said with another yawn. "What time is it?"
"Still dark," Jana said. "Sun’s not up yet but the cartoons are gonna come on!"
"Oh that’s good," Cecile said.
"Do you like cartoons?" Jana asked. "Big people don’t like cartoons except Alex, he likes to watch Powerpuff Girls with me but I’m not supposed to tell anyone that but I can tell you cause you’re a girl."
Cecile laughed and pictured Alex in her head. Was he that doughy-faced guy with that cute, round shaped mouth? Of course he looked like the type that would watch stuff like that. "Honestly?" she giggled, "You don’t force him to watch that?"
"No!" Jana snipped, suddenly sullen; "I’m not lying! He laughs at Mojo Jojo."
"Too funny!" Cecile said shaking her head.
Jana shone the light on her face, grinning with tiny teeth. "Hehehe I made Peter too."
"Peter?" Cecile asked, thinking of those impossibly pale eyes. "Forsberg? You made him watch that? How?"
"I said ‘He would break my heart’," Jana replied with a haughty voice, "Just like this," and then she trembled her bottom lip to perfection and batted her big, blue eyes, "B-But you’ll break my heart if you don’t watch it with me! Hehehe and then I started crying and he said, ‘OK’ and watched it with me."
Cecile smiled but felt a little in awe of the girl. Was it natural for a child so young to be an accomplished flirt? "And does Peter like the PowerPuff Girls?"
"Nah," Jana said shrugging her shoulders. "I don’t think so he said that he thought Mojo Jojo was too deee-truck-tive for kids to be watching and I would get bad dreams."
"Oh," Cecile said. "Well that’s nice of him."
"He’s boring," Jana said. "All he does is play with his hair and try looking down ladies dresses."
This time Cecile laughed so hard she could feel the tears in her eyes. These kids were just too much. "Goodness!" she said. "You’re sharp!"
"Eh?" Jana asked and then she shook her head. "I like Danny and Alex a lot better, they’re funner."
"Yeah," Cecile sighed.
"Hey!" Jana exclaimed. "Wanna watch cartoons with me?"
Oh dear! Cecile thought not knowing what to do now. It felt like five in the morning or earlier. "Oh," she said, "I..."
"Yay!" Jana cried grabbing her hand and dragging her out of bed, "Looooney Toons is gonna start!!!"
He had been looking at her; Cecile had been so scared at first, certain that she had glimpsed a mouse that she hadn’t noticed at first. She couldn’t stand mice or rats, long scaly tails, bulging eyes and little claws ready to climb up your leg, that it paralyzed her with fear at the mere thought of them. When he had announced that the object of fear was merely a little girl’s hamster with an absurd name, that’s when she relaxed, annoyed with herself and becoming more aware of the important things.
He had been shirtless; perhaps he had been in bed and heard her scream? Or maybe in the kitchen getting water before he had come down. That in itself made Cecile uncomfortable, she couldn’t remember really ever being alone in a room with a shirtless man who wasn’t related to her somehow. And the very fact that he was made her aware of her own form in pajamas and feeling embarrassed she had crossed her arms over herself as they spoke. She caught his glance, his rather calm blue gaze following the direction of her arms, resting momentarily on her body. He was looking at her in that way she didn’t want him to.
It wasn’t animated in any way though, not like the boys at school would or younger men with that wandering eye. They always had that excited goofy, slobbering expression and grin when they looked at her that way. Patrick’s gaze had been an appraising one, cool, almost regal in a way. Like a bowl of grapes in front of a King, she didn’t feel offended as much as she suddenly felt worthless.
But then she wasn’t being honest with herself was she? Cecile could feel the prickles of shame there, of her own hypocrisy.
His body had been peachy, the skin soft looking; she had noted the curve of his back as he lay on the floor, looking at the hamster. He was in nice shape, not overly muscled or overly plump, and an almost graceful line to his arms and wrists. And when he sat up she had liked the curve of his neck and Adam’s apple, only a small, light colored patch of chest hair. The pain it all caused to flicker in her breast, that was not a pure thing knocking. And it frightened her, even more so than those glances he was taking to her body. She wasn’t used to feeling like this for someone flesh and blood in front of her, someone that wasn’t Danny or Tom Cruise for that matter. She had wanted him gone, up the stairs and in his own bed with his own wife.
The last thing satisfaction she wanted Michele to have was her suddenly casting glances at her husband. And Cecile didn’t want to grant Michele the sudden justice in her little fantasies with Danny.
"Eeeeee-yaah!" Jana squealed, cutting into Cecile’s disturbed thoughts. "WRACKIN FRACKIN RABBIT!"
Cecile jumped, holding her hand to her breast and she laughed nervously.
"Hehehehe!" Jana giggled through her teeth. "I like Yosemite Sam he reminds me of Mike."
"Mike?" Cecile asked.
"Keeeeeeaner!" Jana replied.
"Oh," said Cecile bringing to mind that Leprechaun of a man. Ugh! "Yeah I guess he does look a bit like him."
Danny was beautiful! He was perfect he was young, he was flawless and above all, he loved her. All of this washed over Cecile’s mind the moment she saw him walk into the kitchen, smiling with his big smile. What more could she ever want in someone she loved and was to spend the rest of her life with? At that moment, she knew that whatever had touched her about Patrick in that brief spell that she had talked with him was just a temporary bout of insanity.
She already knew what Father Mallory would say to her if she brought it up to her. He would more than likely say that her sheltered life and the novelty of her position in the room with him caused a little demon inside of her to rear itself. It had been some sort of test for her, and she hoped that she had passed. Danny was clean she decided, and that’s what she wanted, Patrick... well it wasn’t as if he had made any overtures to her, but he was definitely something different and she didn’t want to touch it.
"Oh hello Danny," Michele said in that high, almost sigh-like voice she seemed to reserve just for him, just to boil Cecile’s blood she was sure. "How are you doing this morning?"
"Just great," he said with that goofy sheepish voice he seemed to reserve just for Michele... just to irritate Cecile she was sure. "I lost five pounds!"
Now that was weird thing! Cecile thought.
"Aw," Michele said, cocking her head to one side. "That’s nice."
"Yeah," Danny said and he tackled Jana as she came running into the kitchen to greet him, swinging the squealing girl into the air. "How ya doin’ princess?"
Cecile withheld a sigh and put her chin in her hand. After splitting a box of Fruit Chewies with the girl she wasn’t about to be jealous of Danny’s affections to her. After all, when they had their own children wouldn’t she just love to see Danny playing with them like this? If there was one thing she loved about this family, it was seeing Danny’s true colors with children and they were brilliant.
"Great!" Jana smiled. "Cecile painted my nails!"
"Oooh," Danny said looking at her nails, "Pretty! Like a lady!"
Jana grinned and Danny looked over at Cecile giving her a little smile. That was enough to feed off forever. It was a smile meant just for her, one that wasn’t meant for Michele or anyone else to see.
They had decided on an early morning movie, three times already they had tried catching the new movie that everyone was talking about and each evening it had been sold out. A morning movie, who went to morning movies? They were guaranteed a seat there! It was close; the movie was almost sold out.
"Man alive!" Danny exclaimed as they found a pair of seats in the back. "This one must be good!"
Cecile really couldn’t tell how good the movie was. The beginning credits certainly seemed expensive, the costumes looked extravagant and realistic. And right off some dangerously handsome villain who had a patch on one eye kidnapped some skinny, corseted French female with dangerously heaving breasts from her bedroom. And that somehow kicked off a confusing plot about the fate of the kingdom that led all the way to some lusty Cardinal in the Catholic Church. That part annoyed Cecile, why were Catholics always the bad guys in the movies?
That was all within the first half-hour of the movie and by that time, Cecile felt completely alienated from the plot. She tried not to sigh too loudly when the French female who was conveniently named Michele, shrunk from the touch of the villain declaring her delicate femininity or some other tripe all the while smiling over her shoulder. Who was the bad guy here?
Lifting an eyebrow Cecile looked at Danny who was slurping Coke from his straw. He had a nice neck! She thought to herself, there was absolutely nothing wrong with him. And his nose was still intact too! At first she was just gonna lean her cheek against his neck the way she did when she was sleepy but purely on impulse she kissed him there. She felt Danny flinch in surprise but there was no objection.
"Aww," he said his smile gleaming in the dark.
"I love you!" she whispered and she kissed him as hard as she had ever dared on his mouth, looking for that feeling she had the night previous, proving to herself what she felt for him.
"Wow," Danny breathed as they left the movie theater, "I never woulda guessed that Michele was the villain! I mean WOAH!"
Cecile rolled her eyes and sighed.
At first Cecile wanted to object that evening when Michele met her and Danny at the door and begged that they watch the children because of a sudden engagement they had. But Danny was so quick to wrestle both of the boys to the couch and pin them there; that there wasn’t a way she could refuse. And Michele had smiled her cat-like smile and promised to pay Cecile for her time. That was tantalizing, because Michele paid a helluva lot more than the Sakic’s did for a lot less time. With Danny there, the children would be a lot less troublesome too.
By eleven o’clock Danny was snoring on the couch with the boys and Jana was rubbing her eyes and getting weepy. She already had brushed her teeth and everything but she was determined to stay awake until her mother came back home.
"I really think you should go to bed," Cecile said. "You can see Mommy in the morning OK?"
"But..." Jana moaned and yawned. "I can’t sleep if she doesn’t talk to me before I go..." another big yawn.
"Come on," Cecile said, lifting up the girl and carrying her out of the room. "Danny!" she called behind her.
"Yeah?" Danny gasped sitting up.
"Get the boys to bed," she said.
"Are you and Danny gonna be a mommy and daddy someday?" Jana asked as Cecile pulled the fat, fluffy goosefeather comforter up to the girl’s chin.
"I hope so," Cecile said frankly.
"That means you haveta have sex!" Jana whispered in an almost awestruck voice.
Cecile raised her eyebrows. Kids said the weirdest things. "I don’t think you should be worrying about that now, you don’t even know what it is."
"I do too!" Jana said in an earnest, suddenly vibrant voice. "It’s what they do when they make the babies! It’s like a lot of kissing."
Cecile smiled and patted Jana on the head. "Go to sleep," she whispered.
"Oooooh pretty!" Jana exclaimed grabbing hold of Cecile’s dangling crucifix. "It’s greeeeen! Where’d you get it?"
"My mom," she said, "and her mom gave it to her."
"And did her mom and her mom?" Jana asked.
"Maybe," Cecile said. "I’m not sure."
"My mom has a pretty ring she’s gonna give to me," Jana said in an important voice. "She said when I get married I can have it."
"Good night," Cecile whispered.
"Night!" Jana peeped and her teddy bear sneezed as the girl gave it a tight good night hug.
Danny left soon after the boys were put to bed, and again as he was leaving Cecile couldn’t resist throwing her arms around him and kissing him. Her heart actually lifted when he picked her up some and she kissed him more.
"What’s up?" he asked with a tired, happy laugh.
"I don’t know," Cecile said. "But go with it OK?"
Danny left and Cecile sighed and flopped on the couch, as the lone caretaker in the house, she knew she was obligated to stay in an accessible place in case the children needed someone. She glanced at the clock, it was after midnight now.
"........little whore I swear I’ll never do that again it.."
".....shhhh, she can speak French."
Cecile opened her eyes, the clock said it was after two. She must have fallen asleep and she could hear Patrick and Michele’s voices, talking in French.
"I don’t care what she can speak," Michele snapped. "I’m too tired to care what some little..."
"Mimi, calm down!" Patrick said calmly.
"I will not!" she snapped and by that time, Cecile could hear some liquor on her voice. "I am in noo mood to be ordered around like some mindless...."
Cecile peeked up from the couch and she could see that Patrick had his arms around her, kissing her. She could feel the blush overcoming her cheeks and a stop to her pulse. She had never seen anyone kiss like that before outside of a movie. It was a tight, open mouthed, punishing looking kiss and suddenly, Cecile felt ashamed of the ones that she had given Danny. Then, she noticed Michele’s fingers tighten on Patrick’s arm, almost as if she were clawing him and then Patrick pulled away from her. "Ow!" he snapped. "What was that for!" He dabbed at his lip, checking his fingers for blood.
"Piss off!" Michele snapped and she stormed away, her shoes stomping and echoing on the wood floor.
"Yeah you wait up there!" Patrick growled. "I’m not going anywhere!"
Cecile tried to disappear into the couch, thinking of the bruises she had seen on Michele and wishing that Danny hadn’t left so early. Almost immediately, Patrick looked at her, his fingers on his lip again. She wanted to scream she wanted to run. As soon as his eyes went to her though, the expression changed to an amazingly soft one.
"My apologies," he said with a casual smile. "A little too much to drink eh? Is the devil no?"
"I guess," Cecile whispered.
He smiled bigger, his eyes opening to an almost childlike quality. Was this the same person? "Thank you very much for watching the children, they were not a problem?"
"No," Cecile said quickly sitting up straight as he approached her. There was something not right about the way he looked and in the glow of his skin, in the tousled state of his hair. "They were fine."
"That’s a first," Patrick said, sitting next to her on the couch, an incredible charge of heat emanating from his body. Cecile wanted to scoot away from him but didn’t know how polite that was. "Usually a babysitter needs a patron saint to survive them."
Cecile smiled thinly as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. She knew exactly what the ripped blue packet that fell out with the wallet and landed on the floor was and it caused her heart to pound intensely. Was it fear? It had to be fear, what else could she be feeling. She didn’t want to know... She didn’t want to know...
"Here," he said, seemingly oblivious of what he had revealed to her. "This should cover it, yes?"
Cecile inhaled and looked up at him. He smelled like a different perfume, a strong one, his cheeks were flushed. She didn’t want to touch that money.
"What’s wrong?" he asked in a concerned, sweet voice. "Are you tired."
"Yes," she whispered.
His hand closed lightly on her wrist and it sent a jolt through her as he coaxed her fingers open and slipped the money in them. She didn’t know how much it was.
"Go to bed," he said quietly. "We’re all tired."
His lips touched the back of her hand and as soon as they did, Cecile yanked away from him, running down into the darkness of the basement and trembling in her bed.
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