Here's the link to the translations!
http://alysonbowen.blogspot.com/2014/05/french-to-english-translations.html#.U97yAVZcMpA
Rose
Chapter 12
Chapter 12
After an uneventful
Wednesday, Rose was laying in bed reading Le
Collier de la Reine when her cell phone rang. Because she rarely used it, she had to dig it out of her
purse. When she found it, she
didn’t recognize the number but answered it anyway. “Allô?”
“Excusez-moi, mademoiselle,
but can you tell me what happened on 6 Juin,
1944?”
“Phillippe?”
“Just answer the question.”
“Did you know that it has
been almost 70 ans since le jour J?”
“Oui, and again I ask, pourqoui?”
“Oh, no reason. À
Vendredi!” And then he hung
up, leaving her absolutely confused until Vendredi
came. Dahlia had joined her
everyday in the shop since Florian’s departure, so that morning they headed out
together for le marché.
While they crossed items off
the grocery list, Dahlia informed her all about the current proceedings of the Coupe de Monde de Rugby League. Throughout the past week, Rose had
discovered just how obsessed Dahlia was with sports. Apparently the semi-finals were happening tomorrow and
Australia needed to redeem themselves, or else. She didn’t understand the fascination with watching men
injure each other over a ball, but she enjoyed not having to talk while Dahlia
enjoyed not stopping for breath.
With all the groceries checked off her list, they headed back to put
everything away before returning to Dahlia’s apartment.
As they walked throught the
brisk, almost winter air, Dahlia’s rant faded out long enough for Rose to slip
in a thought that had found its way back to the front of her mind after the
past two months. “Do you find it
strange that Phillippe is pushing so hard to be my friend? We ran into each other once by chance,
but the rest of the time he keeps coming around purposefully. Isn’t that odd?”
“Non, I think it’s adorable!”
She squealed, her attitude suddenly the complete opposite from the
aggression that sports brought on.
“You don’t find it weird in
any way that he keeps doing these things for me? I barely know him, yet he keeps coming back into my life and
changing things around. Before him
I had never even left Domfront.”
“Vraiment?”
“Well how would I leave? I don’t know how to drive, and there is
no other way out of this tiny town.
I guess you could walk, but you wouldn’t get very far. And then he comes in, a total stranger,
and I just went with him without even questioning it. Shouldn’t that be slightly concerning?”
“You sound like you want it
to be concerning. It seems like
you found a really nice guy and a really good friend, yet all you care about is
finding a reason to distrust him.
Why can’t you just enjoy it?”
“Because that’s not how
things happen.” She started to tug
on her earlobe.
“Why not? Have you ever met a bad person?” They stopped walking and Dahlia’s
honey-brown eyes seemed deeper than normal, trouble swirling just beneath the
surface. “Well have you? Someone who truly doesn’t like others
and wants to cause them suffering?”
Dahlia placed a hand on Rose’s arm, making her uncomfortable. “There are truly bad people in this
world who do terrible things for reasons that make no sense. These people do not make friends with
people like you and me. Phillippe
is just a normal person who just wants to do fun things with you.” Her eyes finally softened and she
released her friend’s arm. “Rose,
men like Phillippe only do these kinds of things for women like you for one
reason.”
Trying to lighten the mood
she responded, “He wants me to trust him so he can lure me away and kill me?”
Dahlia’s straight face
cracked and laughter leaked out.
“You are so naïve. He’s in
love with you.”
Rose stared at Dahlia for a
second and then laughed in response.
“You’re so funny.”
“I wasn’t kidding. He is!”
“That is the most ridiculous
thing I have ever heard!” As they
resumed walking, Dahlia kept insisting while Rose kept denying. Phillippe didn’t have feelings for
her. That was impossible. If he had feelings for her then he’d do
some grand gesture for her, or at least he’d try and do something romantic like
hold her hand or put his arm around her.
Phillippe had always kept a respectful distance. Their friendship had never been even
the slightest bit romantic. Do
people really do things for others the way Phillippe did things for her?
“Speaking of...” Dahlia trailed off when she saw
Phillippe lounging against the wall between La
Mine and la Pâtisserie.
“He called me on Mercredi.” She blurted out.
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“It was really strange. He asked me a question and then hung
up. I didn’t know what to think.”
“Well, at least go have some
fun with him. If I had a man doing
all those things for me, I wouldn’t question it. You don’t know how long this will last, but you’ve had fun
so far. Just enjoy it. He won’t be doing this forever.”
Rose nodded, her nervousness
bubbling back up so strongly she had to fight the urge to burp.
“Well, I have to go. Au
revoir! Salut, Phillippe!” She
smiled and waved before running off, leaving Rose feeling more uncomfortable
than she thought was possible.
“Salut, Rose.” He
smiled at her in his usual, perfectly confident way.
His confidence made her
unease even more uneasy. “Comment
ça va?”
“Oui, ça va, if that can mean
I need a break from home.”
“Life is rough for the
rich.” She nodded sympathetically,
feeling more at ease when he laughed.
“I’m not here to complain to
you. I’m ready to take you on
another adventure. Are you ready?”
“Ouai. Where are we
going?”
“Now Rose,” He offered his
arm to her, “you know that’s not how this works.”
Tucking away her earlier
concerns, she accepted his arm and they walked together to his car where she
slipped into the plush seat once more.
Without realizing it, she knew exactly where to fit her purse so her
feet could stretch out enough to prevent her knees from getting stiff.
As Phillippe started the car,
he pulled out his phone and plugged it into the stereo. “I downloaded a ton of music for
you.” Then he drove off to the
unknown destination, explaining all about the variety of music he was
introducing her to. There were a
lot of different styles, many of which caused her to crinkle her nose in
dislike and shake her head. Every
time she did that he would laugh and change the song, constantly watching for
her reactions.
After they had been in the
car for over an hour, Rose finally asked, “Are we almost there?” And she started
to fidget in her seat, tugging on her earlobe.
“We’re almost there. Je
promis. Don’t take off your
ear.” He reached over and took her
wrist in his hand, his fingers brushing her palm. “I’m going to hold this until you stop being so nervous.”
That, of course, made her
even more nervous and she started to bite her lip, not quote sure how to
respond. “Can I at least ask how
much farther?”
He shrugged. “Just under a half hour.” When he saw how she looked out the
window, his guilt of pushing her comfort too far kicked in and he released her
wrist. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “I’m nervous, but I’m also excited.”
“That’s what I like to
hear.” He proceeded to turn on
some songs by Phoenix, knowing it would distract her and make the rest of the
drive easier.
When they arrived, Rose’s
excitement won over her uneasiness.
“Le Musée Mémorial de la Battaille
de Normandie?”
He nodded as he held open her
door and gave her a hand getting out of the car. “I know how history intrigues you, so I thought it would be
a fun stop. You can’t live your
entire life in Normandie and not visit le
Musée.”
“I find le jour J and the whole invasion of Normandie fascinating. I’ve read quite a few books about it.”
He offered up his arm, which
she accepted, recounting details of the battles that freed France and turned
the tide of la deuxième Guerre Mondiale. They joined up with a larger group for
their tour of le Musée, causing
Rose’s enthusiasm to drop slightly, but not enough.
When the tour concluded, Rose
was silent as he led her back to the car.
After a minute of driving, she finally spoke. “War is such a horrible thing. I can’t imagine knowing anyone who is so unhappy that they
would go out of their way to harm others.
Who would do that?”
“Truly twisted, dark souls who
have gone too far to redeem themselves.
He shivered at the thought of the glowing green eyes that haunted his
childhood nightmares.
The sudden intensity in his
face reminded her of her earlier conversation with Dahlia. All her life she had heard her aunts
talk about the dangers and evils outside of Domfront, but she had been outside
many times with Phillippe and she had yet to encounter something so terrible
that could change her whole demeanor in the way her friends had. Was the world really so terrible?
Her thoughts were interrupted
when they arrived at a small restaurant where they ate another meal that blew
away her taste buds and brightened their moods. Then, because they had driven all the way over here, he
insisted they go to the beach despite the cold wind and clouds. She had never been before, and he
convinced her to take off her boots so she could feel the sand between her
toes. He insisted it was a sensation
everyone needed to experience once.
It was weird. Before they
left, he promised he would bring her back when summer came so she could enjoy
it more and actually go in the water.
When he talked about the summer, Dahlia’s words popped back into her
mind. She didn’t when this friendship would end, and she found
herself wishing it never would.
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