Thursday 20 December 2007

Paris


The drive to Paris was long and silent. Solicitor was lost in his own thoughts. Even though I was dying to ask him what was on his mind I kept quiet. The last thing he needed was me probing.

It was extremely late by the time we arrived at Aimee's town house. Solicitor unlocked the door with his key and walked in. An extremely tall, thin woman ran down the steps and lunged herself into his arms. She began sobbing uncontrollably. He led her to a nearby room and shut the door. I stood where I was for a few minutes unsure of what to do. I finally decided to go into the kitchen and make some tea. I sat at the breakfast bar slowly sipping tea as the hours ticked by. I finally fell asleep with my head resting in the counter.

It was bright outside when Solicitor gently woke me. He massaged my stiff shoulders while we whispered to each other. Aimee had fallen into a deep sleep on the couch in the living room. Apparently she had taken something when she called Solicitor. She freaked out and thought she was dying. From the way Solicitor was talking I could tell that she had done this before. He looked tired and warn out.

We quietly raided all the bathroom cabinets, draws etc and disposed of any medication. I found a shoebox in Aimee's en suite bathroom. The box contained a plastic bag full of white powder. I knew what it was before I'd even opened it. Cocaine. The box also contained a little bag of pills. The pills were imprinted with smiley faces. I was pretty sure they were ecstasy.

I walked into the bedroom and showed Solicitor expecting him to be as surprised as I was. He regarded the content of the box and sighed. He flushed everything down the toilet and replaced the box where I'd found it.

We sipped coffee and talked quietly in the kitchen while we waited for Aimee to wake up. Solicitor checked on her every hour to make sure she was okay.

"How long has she been like this?" I finally had to ask. There were so many questions in my mind and I couldn't hold back.

"A long time."

"Since your son passed away?"

"Before that."

Solicitor told me that Aimee had been taking drugs pretty much as long as he'd known her. She hid it well from him at first but things got worse when her career was put on hold when she got pregnant. Solicitor first found her snorting cocaine when she was five months into her pregnancy. She agreed to stop taking drugs as long as she could continue with her career after the baby was born. But things got worse. She refused any help and they quarrelled constantly. I listened for hours as Solicitor told me everything about the breakdown of his marriage. Holding his hand.

Aimee woke up late that afternoon. She looked so fragile standing in the doorway to the kitchen. She smiled shyly and apologised sincerely about "messing everything up." She looked so childlike I had to fight the urge to hug her and tell her everything would be okay. She convinced us to stay for dinner before driving home.

When I first saw a photograph of her I had been so jealous of her thin boyish figure and model good looks. After meeting her my insecurities vanished. There was absolutely no chemistry between Solicitor and his ex wife. Aimee didn't seem to mind my presence. In fact she seemed happy that Solicitor and I had found each other. She's a genuinely friendly person. It’s a shame she's so unsure of herself. She seemed so...lost.

Solicitor and I held hands as he drove to Calais that night. He frequently squeezed my hand and kissed my fingers. We shared my emergency cigarette as we stood in the cold waiting for the ferry. He smiled and kissed me. His nose was cold but his lips were so warm.

"Wanna drive to Italy?"

17 comments:

Malach the Merciless said...

This is like a really good movie, thanks for sharing.

Polgara said...

Elise you are becoming the master of the clffhanger lol
Its so unfair!

Jess | the Jess Journals said...

Great entry - your blog is starting to read like a fiction novel! Can't wait for th next post :)

How do you manage to remember/notice all the little details, like "his nose was cold but his lips were so warm"? Brilliant. Gotta love the details.

FreeOscar said...

Malach is right this could be a movie.

Verdant Earl said...

It certainly had the right locale for a good movie.

And never be jealous of women with thin, boyish looks. All women, of all shapes and sizes, are beautiful in the eyes of those who love them.

Verdant Earl said...

Oh, and going back to an earlier post of yours. Keira Knightly is beautiful, but whenever I see her I think "Damn, someone should give her a sandwich". I prefer curves.

Moooooog35 said...

Jesus.

You do all this...and I go see "Alvin and the Chipmunks."

I need to get out more.

Kitty said...

Moooog - you got off easy with Alvin and the Chipmunks.

The moral of this blog post is 'never judge a book by its cover' ;-) x

Elise said...

There's a moral?!

Haylzc5 said...

I'm glad things ended ok!

I recommended your blog to my friend peter and he really liked it and said that he will be a regular visitor! He even said that you could be a writer...try your hand at writing a book!! I think you have the knack for it!!

Love Hayley

Bruce Johnson said...

Your life seems a bit more passionate and interesting than mine, (not that mine is passionate, but finding cocaine and driving to Calais from Paris at night make my life seem boring).

Michelle Hix said...

Elise
Wow, the ex has quite the issues. I hope he can cut the ties and move on. Its nice that they can still be friends but he can't be running to her rescue all the time! I'm glad he shared that part of his life with you though.

Kat Mortensen said...

I retract everything I've said thus far. The poor woman! Being a slave to drugs is in itself so horrible, but to then lose a child and have the self-destructive emotions take over to the point of contemplating taking one's own life. I can't imagine the depths of despair. Thank heavens Solicitor was there with you (you sweetheart) to help her out. She's in my thoughts and prayers.

Still... viva Italia!

Kat

Cocaine Princess said...

It can't be easy on her losing a child. I'm sure it's hard on him too but sometimes men tough it out and keep it hidden whereas women aren't as strong.

XOXOXOXO,
Cocaine Princess

Anonymous said...

~~Paris.
Elise: You're one of a kind.

**
I love your writing.
**
x,Will.

SheBee said...

Your writing is fantastic. I agree, this is starting to read like a novel. I love it!

Have finally gotten around to blogrolling you, sorry it took so long.

A Girl, A Boy, and Me said...

I have found there are really few people I envy. And they have the most simple uncomplicated lives...

Glad to see you back!