13

I'm finally ready for the evening, I like to be pampered, but not when I have to stay for hours waiting without having to move or even breathe at times. The designer spent a good twenty minutes taking all my measurements. He then made me try on several dresses when I thought I would no longer go through this stage.

Theo arrives and hands me a pair of earrings from their parents, magnificent black pearls, from Tahiti, he tells me. He adds that they won't let me refuse and that it was Lola who suggested the pair to him as I had been uncomfortable with the diamond pendant. I take off mine and put on the ones he hands me. I'm not used to their weight at the end of my lobes. I have the impression that they weigh on me as much as all the paraphernalia necessary for the kind of evening we are going to attend.

Just before leaving, Lola takes advantage of the fact that her brother has gone to get the car to take me aside.

“I talked to the designer before he left while you were doing your makeup. He told me that you had lost weight. I wanted to know if everything was okay?

I lower my head a little in shame. I don't like to show my weaknesses, I tell him in a slightly trembling voice:

— At the moment, with the stress vis-à-vis my work, I have trouble eating, I sometimes skip meals at lunchtime because I spend my time looking for a solution, checking if my customers pay me well or if I don't owe the money somewhere. I try to eat well in the evening when Lucas and Steve invite me or when they give leftovers for lunch the next day, but since I sleep badly, that's not enough. And since I tend to lose weight more easily than to gain it, it must be due to that.

She looks me in the eye then says in a soft voice:

- You know that if you can not stand it anymore, that if you can not do it anymore, come see me, we are friends. We'll find a solution until the police find this asshole so you can get your money back. Do not hesitate to talk about it, it can do you good to empty your bag.

I nod and tears come to my eyes. She said to me in a voice:

- You must not cry! I can't get the makeup she did on you back. Don't forget you are not alone.

Theo arrives to inform us that the car is ready and that the driver is waiting for us, we follow him.

We make the journey in silence, I take advantage of this moment of respite. When we arrive, the doorman helps us out of the car and then Theo escorts us, each of them clutching one of his arms to allow us to cross the cobblestones without spraining our ankles. I'm still not used to high horseflies so I'm relieved by this support. Jules is absent and it shows on my friend's face. She is calmer and more relaxed.

We enter the mansion where Charles and Agatha welcome us. We then head to the right, to the exact opposite of the reception room where we went last time. I discover on entering this one a dining room larger than most people but on a more human scale. The laid table contains about twenty covers, twenty-four after counting. A butler awaits us at the entrance to the room and Theo gives our names, he specifies that I am his guest. We are directed to our seats and I am placed to the right of Theo and Bernard, my friend's mentor is placed to my right.

I watch a young man in his thirties settle down next to Lola and she welcomes him warmly, Ludivine and her husband are also towards her. A voice exclaims near us:

— Theo, I'm happy to be sitting next to you.

We look up at the same time and I see Hélène, the girl Lola considers the worst bitch. She sees me and adds a honeyed comment:

- You also brought your friend. Your charity will ruin you.

She doesn't notice the glare that my table neighbor sends her. He then looks at me before apologizing:

- I'm sorry, I did not think she would dare to attack you in front of everyone.

'It's not your fault, Theo. She'll have to get used to seeing me on your arm.

Our conversation is interrupted by the entry of our hosts and the last guests, another friend of Theo and Lola's grandparents, accompanied by his wife. Shortly after, we are served the starter, oysters and foie gras. I quickly notice that this dinner is much less informal than the last reception and I follow what the others are doing. I half-heartedly eat an oyster to deceive me, but with great difficulty I hold back the shudder of disgust that the texture of the mollusc unconsciously gives me. Bernard is amused by my reaction and offers me to eat the other two I have left on my plate. I attack the foie gras with more enthusiasm, I refrain from spreading it as I like to do during family meals and I place small pieces on the surface of a piece of toast before biting into it. An almost religious silence reigns in the room. I exchange looks with Theo and I dare not speak.

Waiters come to take our plates then tongues start to loosen when our host, Charles, asks his old friend a question. The other guests follow suit.

- The scene is rather surreal, said the voice of my right neighbor.

I jump and Theo laughs, he replies to his friend:

- Alison still has a lot of chance of having been able to escape certain masses and then the meal where only adults were allowed to speak. I was fifteen at that meal, I envied Lola who had stayed in bed with a fever of forty that day.

- But during the meal, it will be the same thing? I ask. We're going to eat in silence and then we're going to talk?

- No, here only the entry is eaten in silence, during the rest of the meal, we can talk but with a low volume. I don't know why Charles and Agatha are doing this, but I ended up accepting it.

Before we can answer him, the waiters come back with our main dishes and place them in front of us. I recognize a more refined version, salmon with sorrel an assortment of vegetables, the plate is very beautiful to look at. As Théo told me, the noise level decreases and the guests talk among themselves as if they were whispering. I eat while tasting each flavor, the meal may seem simple but it is perfect in the mouth.

— One of the things I like about Agatha is that she always chooses simple but tasty dishes, Theo tells me. If you knew how many times, I went to eat at receptions where the objective was to impress the guests and not to feed them properly.

- It's very good, anyway. Steve and Lucas cook very well but they still have a lot to learn to reach this level of perfection.

"Who are Lucas and Steve?" Bernard asks me.

“Lucas is my cousin and Steve is his partner. They run a bar in the town where we live.

- A bar ? Hélène sniffs mockingly.

— A very nice and fashionable place, adds Theo. We had a great evening on Thursday, even Jules complimented the atmosphere. I told him the party was your idea, Lili, he told me he was impressed.

“I didn't do much, I just suggested, my cousin and Steve did the main thing.

"There's nothing wrong with taking credit for yourself from time to time," Bernard told me mischievously. Can we talk to each other? It will be easier.

I nod and he continues:

- What is your job ? Theo told me about it quickly on the last evening but I didn't remember, he apologizes.

— I advertise for businesses in my area and sometimes I also organize a few events. This is one of the areas of my business that I would like to develop but the investment is too great for me to take the risk of doing this on a larger scale. My action in this area is limited to the surroundings of my city. Théo hired me to prepare the inauguration party for their business. First, they will meet other local businesses and second, the inauguration evening will take place, but in a more family-oriented way, if I may say so.

Theo smiled proudly at my presentation but a new intervention from Hélène ruined everything again.

— In fact, you work for Theo. You're not really her friend.

I choose not to let myself go and retaliate:

“I think the slumber parties Theo had to endure, hearing us talk nonsense with Lola, are worth more than the work I do for his company. Getting involved also means being able to meet local companies. I seem to remember Théo that you would like some of the subcontractors to be closer to your company. So even if my company is a small structure, I have a fairly extensive local address book and I know with whom Théo could consider doing business in the future.

This ends up shutting up Helen's beak and she chooses to ignore me until the end of the meal. I sigh with relief when the waiters bring dessert, an assortment of sweets, most of which are chocolate. While I savor the sweet touch of the meal, Bernard asks me some funny anecdotes about Theo as a child. We take great pleasure in recounting this part of our life. At the end of the meal, I am happy to learn that we will not be going out to a nightclub. Back in their apartment, I spend the rest of the evening listening to Lola talk about the discussions she had with the friend of Ludivine's husband. If Lola is not completely under the spell of the young man, she finds him very charming and she would like to get to know him a little more, even if only friendship were to result from this relationship.