Chapter 250: Danny XXIII

Chapter 250: Danny XXIII—The Pain of Waiting

 

 

            Danny heard the phone ring when he was in the shower. He didn’t think too much about it. He was thinking about Cecile, and how he would see her today, and how he would surprise her with the ring. There had been a message on his machine when he had come home last night; the ring was finished a week early. He would pick it up before he saw her, and how perfect would it be to give it to her on the ice. It must be a sign, he thought to himself. He was now being rewarded for his pain of waiting and if Cecile, no, when Cecile upheld her word about the ring, they would be fearlessly together.

            Danny smiled to himself and shook his head as he got out of the shower. If any of his teammates heard him talking like that, they’d grill him. Well, Alex wouldn’t. Danny felt bad about his last meeting with Alex at the Roy house. He didn’t know why he had acted so guilty to him, he hadn’t done anything wrong but something about Alex’s accusing look made him feel as if he had. As far as Danny could tell, Alex really, was the only truly decent fellow in the locker room. Even Joe had gone off with a hooker in Los Angeles… then again, Danny laughed to himself. As far as the team knew, he and Alex had pounced off with an underage hooker.

            Green eyes.

            Danny saw them flash in his mind and he almost felt jolted. He hadn’t thought about that girl, Chloe since he left LA. She had green eyes, a pointed nose, ebony hair. He wondered what had become of her, and he hated himself for not doing anything at all to help her. The image of the girl’s face, however, brought him back to the massage therapist, Katrina. And the picture of her face brought him back to Cecile. Danny crossed his arms, something was off there. Of course, the girl could have had fake color contacts, dyed hair. In all reality she probably had no connection with Katrina or Cecile.

            Something was wrong.

            The phone rang again and this time, Danny did not even bother to cover himself with a towel as he bolted out of the bathroom and answered it. “Yeah?” he said.

            Cars seemed to be lined up and down the street, news vans, police cars, curious neighbors when he tried to get through to the Roy’s house. She had been attacked again, that son of a bitch! He was already dead, Cecile, she had seen it had lived through it. The most frightening thing for her that he could think of, was spiders and rodents, how could this happen to her?

            Danny was breathing heavily when he got to the house; he pushed through the police trying to stop him, glad that they recognized who he was and declaring that his fiancée was in there. Just saying that gave him a small satisfaction. What bothered him was that he had not been there sooner, he had not gotten out of bed sooner, and he had failed her.

            “Where is she?” he asked as soon as he entered the house and saw Mimi, serving, above all things, coffee to the policeman. Mimi’s face had a red blush to it, her lips looked tight, her eyes pained. She set the tray down and walked to him.

            “Daniel,” she said quietly. “Cecile is, she’s been through a great deal…”

            “Well I want to see her!” Danny said. “She needs me!”

            Mimi’s eyes filled with tears and Danny felt a panic. “Where is Jana?” he thought of the little girl, her beautiful big eyes, and the possibility of her being harmed and here he was asking about Cecile when he knew she was okay. “Is she hurt?”

            “Non,” Mimi said, and he could see a smile on her lips. “She proved tough yes? She is with her father in the parlor; it could have been so much worse, so stupid of us. Daniel, it was the plumber! All along, this man, and we left them alone.”

            Danny pressed his hand into her arm, and he resisted the urge to grab the little woman and hold her close to him. The last thing she needed was to be blaming herself for this. But she didn’t cry, she blinked and seemed refreshed.

            “Mimi?” He asked in a quiet voice, “Cecile? What happened?”

            Mimi sighed; her eyes seemed so tired and pained. She reached forward and grabbed his hand, “Come on,” she said and he followed her, feeling like a small boy into the empty living room.

            “Daniel,” she said, she let go of his hand and pressed her palm into his cheek. “Listen to me. This man, Cecile almost gave her life protecting Jana from him; she put her body in the way…”

            Oh God NO! Danny thought, imagining the worst, the horrors Cecile must have had done to her and he had been fucking sleeping in and taking a long shower?

            “No,” Mimi said, as if she had read his mind. “He did not, hurt her in that way. He tried to drown her and Cecile, she fought him, she injured him, and he, well he was not successful, but he attempted to cut her face. She has a cut, but is not too serious. The police shot him, they killed him before he could do any more to her.”

            “Well she needs me now!” Danny said attempting to walk away, to look for her, so that he could hold onto her and protect her forever.

            “No!” Mimi exclaimed and he felt her hands on him, holding him. “Daniel, no!”

            “Why?” Danny exclaimed, “What’s wrong? So she’s cut or bruised, if she’s shy about that I don’t care! I love her!”

            “Her mother is here,” Mimi said.

            Danny felt his heart freeze solid and then shatter. “What?” he said in disbelief.

            “Daniel, Mrs. Darcy is here, she came back early,” Mimi said in such a sad, light, sweet voice, her hands the only thing keeping him standing up. “She is here, Cecile is with her, and Daniel understand, that at a moment like this a girl needs her mother, yes? If you went to her now, it would only cause more stress upon her, she is weak, she is bruised and exhausted. She will need her space.”

            Daniel felt anger, cold frustration, hate slide through his veins. “You mean I can’t even go see her? She would want me to be with her, she would WANT me to hold her. I don’t care what her mother does or doesn’t want, she wants me.”

            “Non,” Mimi said and he could hear her voice tremble. “Daniel she asked me to stop you if you came to the door. I’ve been waiting for you.”

            Danny felt the pain as if it were a weight swung into his belly, he almost doubled forward in agony, her felt his knees tremble. “What?” he said quietly. He had never felt more betrayed as he did now.

            Both of Mimi’s hands were on his cheeks now, she tilted his face, he could see the compassion in her eyes. “Daniel, she loves you, but a confrontation with her mother here? Now? When she is so weak as it is, and in front of all these people? Daniel it is not pl.. pl…, it does not make sense. You can understand this yes?”

            Danny was quivering inside now. “I understand perfectly.” He said.

            “Oh bon!” Mimi said with a relieved sigh. “She was so frightened that you would not.”

            “I understand,” Danny said, “That my job is to wait, and to wait and to wait, and wait in pain at that. And I’ve done it and now the most terrible thing that could ever happen to her, has, and I can’t even be there for her, she doesn’t even want me there with her.”

            He pulled away from Mimi, he chewing on his lip in anger and he stormed out of the room, out of the house into the cool winter air. He blinked up at the sun which was shining without a cloud in the sky. He shook his head and shoved his hands into his pockets and felt the hard snow crunch underneath his feet as he pushed through the throng of people crowding the front yard.

            He was unlocking his car when he heard her voice.

            “Daniel! S’il vous plait! Daniel wait!”

            Danny turned around; saw Mimi, her face pale in the bright sunlight, the tip of her nose already red. “You’ve done all you can,” he said dully, “Please, you don’t need to be worrying about it.”

            “But I will,” Mimi said, she breathed out and pressed her hand against his car. “Daniel you need not be so rash,” she squinted, “is that the word?”

            “Sure,” he said.

            “Listen to me; you are at the end, the end of your wait. Do not throw it away now, not when she will need you more than anything. You will both regret it and look back on unhappiness.” She said, and with each word, with each blink of her compassionate eyes, Danny felt himself floating on her scent. “Go home angry if you will, yes? If that will make you feel better, and be angry. You must be angry but not at Cecile, non, be angry at this man, this beast that would have done her such harm. Wait just a little bit more, and you will get her ring, you will put it on her finger, and you will wait no longer.”

            Danny swallowed, and he felt it grate his throat. “I hurt,” he said. “Mimi you don’t know!”

            “Of course I know!” Mimi exclaimed. “Why wouldn’t I know what pain is, what waiting is? Why wouldn’t I know? Why would not… not…” Her English failed her and she cursed in French, said something in French before she composed herself. “Daniel, you and Cecile, you are only at the beginning of a game, the first round of love. Many more have survived much more than this, go home angry and wake up peaceful.”

            Danny shook his head and felt the enormity of her words flow through him and transfigure him. He knew at that moment that he would obey her, and he would go get that ring and he would win Cecile’s consistent affections. “Why do you care so much!” he said and he resisted the urge to touch her cheek.

            Mimi smiled, “Because I need something to keep me occupied yes?”

            Danny lifted an eyebrow.

            “Love is a game, Daniel, and I love to play.” Mimi said simply. And Danny felt an intrigued thrill within him when she finished, “And if it were not for me, your game would have ended long ago, and is that not a sad thing? I intend to see this one to its end.”