Lucid Waking

Archive for July 11th, 2010

Secrets of the Blue House (5)

If you are starting here, please read the story thus far (if you haven’t already) before continuing.

        “Do you mind if I call you Nicolas?”
        “Nick is fine. Since we’re doing away with formalities.” Nick smiled.
        “I have to say, Nick, I’m very glad you accepted my invitation. I was afraid getting a hold of you was going to be a lot harder than I expected, what with your mother practically being removed from the family.”
        “She didn’t hold any grudges that I knew.”
        “That was very noble of her.” Gervais stood up and walked to one of the coffee tables where a wooden cigar box sat. He tipped it towards Nick so that Nick could get a good glimpse of the goods inside, which was surprisingly only cigarettes. “Would you like a smoke?”
        “No, thank you.”
        “Do you mind if I do?”
        Nick shook his head. Gervais took one gingerly and lit it with a gold lighter he pulled from his inside breast pocket. He blew out the smoke thoughtfully and then returned back to his chair beside where Nick sat.
        “I understand, since we don’t know each other, that you probably just want to get to specifics. But I need to get to know you better before I make this decision. As you’re probably aware, the issue we need to discuss is your stake in the Fontaine inheritance, but I would rather know something about you before I get your hopes up.”
        Nick took a deep breath. “All right. But I don’t know much about the family.”
        “Nor do I expect you to. Do you even remember your maternal grandparents?”
        “No. I just remember finding old birthday cards and children’s books that they signed. My mother showed me photographs, but I don’t remember meeting them.”
    “I can assure you that they did come to see you in person. It was a big to-do when the came to Chicago to visit your mother. For the Fontaine family, relations are important and we always keep in touch. I remember when your mother announced at a family reunion she was going to get married to that Spanish boy. It didn’t bother me, but my parents were livid and I knew better than to say anything.”
        “Just because she didn’t marry within the family, she was ostracized?”
        “No, no one married within the family. It’s just expected that you marry someone with good upbringing, solid background, and preferably wealth. It goes back to when nobility in France was important and quite frankly, I’m not sure why it still is in our family.”
        “Did you know my mother was here?”
        “Yes and no. I knew she was in America, but I didn’t know around here. The only family she stayed in contact with was her mother who died a few years after you were born. Her father cooped himself up in his property in Vannes and talked to no one, not even his own family. His sister managed to contact him and as far as I know, he still writes her every now and then. But I’m curious to know what your other family was like.”
        “They were much closer. My grandmother would always dote on me and though my grandfather pretended not to approve, he would do the same thing when she wasn’t around. They always visited around Christmas and my birthday until my mother died when they came to live with my father.”
        “What about you?”
        “I was already out of the house.”
        “You were already working?”
        “Not quite. I lived at school and then got a job at the company where I am currently top CEO. I got my first apartment shortly after I graduated.”
        Gervais nodded, stood up, and started pacing across the room. Nick watched him, warily as he walked past the cigarette box and towards the far window.
        “Did you love your father’s family more than your mother’s?”
        Nick paused. “Why would I favor a family I never knew to one that I did? I can’t answer that question truthfully because for most of my life, my mother never had parents, aunts, uncles or cousins. She was an entity all in herself.”

Author’s comments on post 393: I wrote a lot more to this story on Saturday (which was yesterday) and this is part one. Part two will be published tomorrow. I’m sorry that it’s mostly a boring wall of dialogue, but hopefully something interesting is revealed. It flows well, so it was hard to break up into two sections, but I hope the ending isn’t too jarring. And if it is, just wait for a few hours and the rest will pop up and create a lovely ending.