Chapter 43: Cecile V--She Has You

Chapter 43: Cecile V—She Has You

"Hey, honey, it would be real great if you and Mimi could become good friends."

Cecile almost dropped the water she was drinking. That would have been great, to just drop the glass and shatter it all over, and scare the daylights out of poor Danny. Fortunately, she had more power of composure than that. So she merely held her breath for only a moment, held that mouthful of water in her mouth and then slowly, she swallowed. She blinked rapidly. "OK, what?" she said.

"Yeah," Danny said. "I mean it would be perfect. You two. I mean you need a friend, it would be great if you had a lady friend."

"Danny," Cecile said. "I’m OK, I have you."

Danny nodded. "I know, hon, but you must get lonely for...well female companionship?"

"Oh," Cecile said.

She tangled her fork in the spaghetti noodles on her plate. A thin, warbling, Italian voice was crooning a lonely love song from somewhere in the ceiling. It was a lovely restaurant, built in an antiquated, pseudo-European peasant house style and it was a charming touch to have the whole place almost exclusively candle-lit. The only problem, was that she could barely see her plate.

"I never hear you talk about any friends," Danny said.

Sliding a mouthful of noodles into her mouth, Cecile nodded. It was true, she was a bit lonely. Of course the Sakic children were lovely to have time with during the day, and it used to be her evenings were filled with Danny. Now that he had been taken from her for the most part, there were so many hollow periods in the evenings. Periods where her mom talked and talked and talked and preached to her. The time she did have to herself now, she barely knew what to do. Still, Michele was the last person she wanted to have as a friend. Not a woman with an agenda such as she had.

"I don’t think Michele likes me, Danny," she said.

"Funny," Danny said, "That’s what she told me the other day. She thinks you don’t like her. Cecile I think she heard you in the basement, and she hasn’t said as much, but it really hurt her feelings. I can see it."

Cecile clenched her jaw. "You know her that well now, hmm?"

There was a deep sigh from Danny, and Cecile gripped the chair she was sitting on. "Don’t start getting jealous again. Look, she’s a nice lady, and I think of her as a friend. She’s going through a bad patch right now, and could use a nice friend like you. And you could use a friend."

Oh Danny, Danny, she thought. Why are you so gallant? I love you but you’re killing me!

"A bad patch?" Cecile asked. "What kind?"

"Well, haven’t you seen the news?" Danny asked. "The whole intruder thing, and now the police are treating her like she’s the criminal. And, just between you and me, I don’t think her marriage has been very good for her."

Oh she has you! Cecile thought in a moment of panic. I hadn’t realized how deeply Michele was inculcating herself into you. Look at you! You’re sick with her! How can I stop this?

"That bad?" Cecile asked. "But it seems like she has so many friends. She seems happy."

Yeah, Cecile thought. Happy for your sweet behind!

"Yeah," Danny said. "I thought so too."

Absolute irritation filled her as she saw the suddenly wistful, forlorn look on his face as he began to dig into his pasta. She had to put an end to this. There was no way she could tarnish Michele right now in Danny’s eyes. She needed something else to go on, something solid to show him. Michele would have to slip up now big time in Danny’s face in order for him to see the truth, and Cecile didn’t think she would. She had to make her do it.

"Alright," Cecile said. "Maybe I was being a bit paranoid when I said all that stuff. Poor....Mimi...I’ll try to be closer to her. After all, she did make it possible for us to be together...you’re right."

The grin on Danny’s face was heartbreaking. "Awesome!" he said.

Alex Tanguay answered the door at the Roy house when Danny dropped Cecile off there. He had given her a sweet, quick little kiss on the mouth and they had said their goodbyes. Cecile took a deep breath and marched up to the door, it was a warm Friday night but she was trembling. The trembling stopped when she saw Alex’s doughy, friendly face. "Oh, hi," she said with a small smile.

"Come on in," he said. "You just missed dinner."

"Oh," Cecile said. "That’s OK, I just had some dinner."

Cecile walked into the house, and Michele came out of the kitchen wiping a plate dry with a towel. "Cecile," she said with a smile. "So nice to see you. Do you have any bags? Do you need help?"

"No," Cecile said. "I left some stuff here, I’m fine. I’m just sleepy."

Michele cocked her head to one side and smiled. If she hadn’t known any better, Cecile would have thought that it were a genuine one.

"Poor thing," Michele said. "Well, hurry downstairs before the children see you, then you’ll never get any sleep."

The basement wasn’t what anyone would call a basement. It was furnished and as lovely as any other of the rooms in the house was. It was cozy; Cecile had to admit that it was a lot better than her room in the Sakic’s house. She flopped on the soft bed, and exhaled slowly. She was so ready for sleep.

She lay for a spell, listening to the thumps of the feet above her head. There were laughs and squeals from the kids. There were deep adult voices in French. There was the sound of the kitchen sink as dishes were washed. From this point, it sounded just like a normal family above her head. What danger could there be? What could she have been suspicious of? Then the activity above lessened, and then it was quiet. The sound of a house saying good night.

As she closed her eyes, though, she felt a sudden, cold draft pass over body. Goosebumps prickled all over her and she pulled the thick comforter tighter over her body. There was one thing that one could never change about a basement, and that was how drafty they were. She shivered again. Lord how she needed something to warm her up.

With a click and a creak, Cecile could hear the basement door opening. Her pulse started to race and she held her breath. She closed her eyes tightly. Someone with a light step was coming down the stairs slowly, quietly.

Almost immediately, she knew it was Michele. She could smell her. It was never a heavy fragrance on that woman, but there was always the scent of something expensive and it trailed behind and wafted in front of her. Cecile decided to keep still and pretend to be asleep.

When Michele came next to the bed, Cecile heard the clink of something made out of glass being put on the nightstand. And then the scent of flowers grew powerful as Michele smoothed another heavy blanket over Cecile’s body.

"Bon soir," Michele whispered and Cecile felt her soft, warm hand brush over her forehead lightly.

Cecile was asleep before Michele even went back up the stairs.

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