Chapter 224: Danny XX—The Things That Don’t Leave Her Lips
Danny could tell something was wrong the moment Cecile jumped into the car. Her lips were tight and pale, her eyes seemed to glow that much more emerald, and in a dangerous way. All of that was evident for a brief flicker of a moment and then she closed her eyes, opened them and smiled. “Hey,” she said and she leaned forward for a kiss. It was warm and soft, as they usually were. “I’m starving!”
“Alright,”
Danny said as he pulled the car out of the driveway. “So am
“Yeah,” Cecile said in a high voice, “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You had those snake eyes before you got in the car,” Danny said. “Did the kids bother you at all?”
“Mm no,” Cecile said. “I’m fine, Danny.”
She wasn’t telling him something. Danny supposed that he could suddenly be a little paranoid, still nervous about his new fiancée. He had to admit he was feeling unsettled, sometimes in a good way but sometimes, it wasn’t so nice. He had never assumed that Cecile was the type to keep secrets from him, but certainly the way she had shielded him from her mother, it didn’t mean she wasn’t adept at it.
Her angry face, it wasn’t a helpless one, or a sad one. It was irritated, like a bothered cat. Whatever she wasn’t telling him it was something that she felt she could handle herself.
“Do you think that someday you would consider me as a mistake?”
“Cecile?” Danny said, looking at her in surprise.
After they had eaten they had gone to the aquarium. Danny had been there a couple times before but what he loved most about it was the way Cecile loved it, the way she gazed at the fish with such rapture. She wasn’t looking at him when she had spoken, she was staring at the huge tropical fish, her chin tilted up and one of her arms was outstretched, her finger tracing the path after a bright green eel.
The eel flitted away and she looked at Danny, leaned against the glass. “I mean, are there ever times when you look at me and you’re just tired of me. Do you ever think I’m, stifling you? I’m holding you back, and you could have had something else?” Her eyebrows were straight and pensive, Danny felt suddenly pinned.
“No,” he said quickly. “I wouldn’t have proposed if I had thought that. What brought that up?”
Cecile half grinned and she shrugged with one shoulder. “I don’t know. I was just wondering. I mean I don’t want to hold you back or anything. Am I boring?”
Danny shook his head. “Cecile stop it okay? What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
Cecile sighed. “No. Forget it. Sorry I brought it up.” She looked so fragile all of a sudden, almost younger than she was. It made him feel horrible about himself, as if he were the one that should be apologizing to her for stealing her, and keeping her.
Danny hugged her and kissed her. He smoothed his hand over her smooth, black hair. “Hey,” he said. “There isn’t a day that I don’t thank the powers that be for you. You’re so perfect, and beautiful like some goddess, like a movie star, sometimes I don’t even feel worthy of you. Honey I just want to keep you on a soft couch all day and feed ya grapes, how about that?”
Cecile laughed and shut her eyes tightly. “Ooooh no!” she gasped. “Danny no!” She laughed again. “I don’t want to be perfect, I want to be anything but that. Oh please don’t say that again, I’m not a goddess and I’m not on some pedestal ok? I don’t want to be worshipped.”
“Okay,” Danny said and he pinched her chin, “I’ll worship you in silence then, you never have to know.”
“Oh Gosh!” she said and rolled her eyes. “You’re impossible.”
A pretty young woman was on the sidewalk when Danny came home. She was in a slim fitting, silver fox fur trim coat. She also had a matching cap and the way her face glowed from under the trim made him think of the pretty models in the pages of fashion magazines. She grinned with pretty, pink lips.
“Bon jour, Daniel,” she said in a light, French voice that reminded him of Michele Roy. At that point he remembered who this lady was.
“Is there a problem, Mrs. Trepanier?”
Danny asked, “Um, not to be rude or anything but I thought you would be in
Jacquelyn frowned, “Ugh non! Pascal he is a poop and he is taking forever about it. You know how he is?”
Hoo yea, Danny thought.
“Have you been waiting for me?” Danny asked. “It’s getting dark, it’s cold honey, what’s going on?”
“It’s important that I talk to you,” Jacquelyn said. “I couldn’t wait any longer, and I haven’t been waiting long, not to worry. I just arrived hoping that I might catch you at home and then here you are.”
“Ok,” Danny said. He felt extremely awkward. It wasn’t that he disliked Jacquelyn, he just didn’t know her that well and he really didn’t know what to do. He reached out and patted her arm. “Do you want to come in?” He asked. “Warm up?”
“Oh so sweet buy no,” Jacquelyn replied. “Non, I just wanted a quick word with you about Mimi. It’s been eating away at me forever, and I can no longer keep quiet about it.”
Danny felt
a jump in his stomach. “Mimi? What about?”
Jacquelyn looked around
quickly and then she spoke. “I do not like to spread gossip, it isn’t how I am
but, she is my friend, and I care for her a lot yes? And I am feeling so bad
for her lately.”
“What’s wrong?” Danny asked, feeling worried. He thought again of finding her in tears, and of Jennifer and of so many other things. Did this woman truly have the answer, the key to everything he needed to know?
“It is you,” Jacquelyn said. “You’re what is wrong.”
“What?” Danny exclaimed.
Jacquelyn nodded, her cheeks blushed a pale rose pink. “Yes. Mimi has been so strong about everything and there are the things she won’t say, but her demeanor, it betrays the things that she wants to hide.”
“What things?” Danny asked, “What did I do?”
“You showed her kindness, Daniel, yes? Perhaps you even kissed her?”
Danny felt his skin blister and he knew the color must be showing on his face. “Uh… I… what?” The taste, the scent of her skin was brought back to his senses. There was also the memory of the angry boy, the feeling of guilt.
“Ooo,” Jacquelyn cooed and she reached out and pressed her dainty hand into his arm. “Do not worry; your secrets are safe with me. I was not meaning to pry. The thing is that Mimi has been so sad for weeks now. I’ve known her to be sad at times but not like this.”
“And it’s my fault?” he asked, feeling confused and guilty.
“Inad…inad..,” Jacquelyn frowned as she stumbled with the word. “Inadvertently yes? You came in at a delicate time for her, and you were such a savior.”
“Yeah?” Danny asked.
“You do not see it?” Jacquelyn asked.
Danny narrowed his eyes, “Nooo,” he said slowly.
Jacquelyn smiled sadly and she pressed her fingers underneath his chin. “I don’t think you should see her anymore, in fact you should try to avoid her, even though that will make her even more miserable.”
“Jacquelyn,” Danny exclaimed, “I don’t understand.”
“You’re irresistible,” Jacquelyn said. “And you’re so much in love with your pretty fiancée and you wouldn’t want to ruin that, not one bit. Forget about Mimi even though she quietly pines for even a glimpse of your smile, or touch. She will live, we all do. I am tired of seeing her so sad because you’re so near to her and yet cannot do a thing about it. If you made more of a clean break then perhaps she can go onto her own life, and not think about you so much. Yes? It is the humane thing.”
“No way!” Danny said. “She’s never ever hinted to me that she feels like that. She’s a nice lady, she doesn’t think like that.”
“She never has before,” Jacquelyn said in a smooth voice. “It is true. But who am I to know? She is so silent about these things, they never leave her lips. I could only tell when I bring up your name in her presence and the look on her face just breaks my heart. I am only trying to do the right thing yes? And then no one will get hurt, au revoir pretty boy!”
With that Jacquelyn smiled and walked to her car leaving Danny on the sidewalk to stand helpless. Why would Mrs. Trepanier make something like that up? And if it were true, all this time, the poor woman… was in love with him?
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