Page 64 of Daughters of Paris

Fleur looked at her fingers. Shorts nails and cut square across the top.

‘Why not.’

She followed Colette to Colette’s bedroom.

‘Do you really think you could find someone to help Michal, or did you just say that so he didn’t leave?’ Colette asked as she filed Fleur’s nails.

‘A bit of both.’

Colette paused her buffing. ‘Is it Sébastien?’

Fleur stiffened. She tried to pull her hand away but Colette held on.

‘That means yes, doesn’t it?’

Fleur nodded and Colette smiled triumphantly.

‘I knew he was hiding something when I spoke to him. Men are so easy to see through.’

Were they? A flash of annoyance passed through Fleur. She didn’t have Colette’s practice and couldn’t see through Sébastien at all.

‘I’ll ask him on Wednesday night. I know we can trust him. Tomorrow, you go speak to Michal and tell him we are trying to arrange some help for him.’

Colette opened the nail polish. ‘I hope we can. My heart broke when he told me everything he had been through. It doesn’t feel like there will ever be an end to this misery. I want to come with you when you ask Sébastien. I want to be there.’

Her eyes had widened at the first mention of Sébastien’s name and now they grew uncharacteristically demure.

‘It might be safer if I go alone.’

‘It’s my secret and my responsibility,’ Colette said. ‘I should be there.’

Fleur suspected Colette’s insistence had less to do with the secret and more to do with seeing Sébastien, but she could hardly raise that objection. ‘I suppose so,’ she agreed, slightly reluctantly.

‘Good.’

‘Colette, can I ask you something personal?’

Colette looked startled then nodded. She paused in painting her nails and leaned forward a little, eyes widening with interest. ‘You can ask, but if it is too personal I might not answer, even though we said no secrets.’

Fleur bit her lip. ‘I mean personal about me. When you kiss a man, how do you know whether what you’re feeling is good or bad?’

Colette laughed lightly. ‘Goodness, I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve ever kissed a man and not liked it.’ Fleur felt redness filling her face. Colette’s eyes grew serious. ‘But you have, haven’t you? Has something happened?’

Fleur related the confrontation with Pierre, leaving out his disparaging remarks about Colette. ‘I think I should have liked it, but I didn’t really. I think there is something wrong with me.’

Colette pursed her lips. ‘No I don’t think so. Pierre sounds quite horrible so I’m not surprised you don’t want to kiss him. I don’t think I would want to. Maybe you just haven’t found the right person. Have you kissed many people?’

Fleur shook her head. It was embarrassing to admit that at her age she had so little experience. As for finding the right person, well, she had a terrible feeling she had found the wrong person, but wanted him anyway.

Colette put the nail polish brush down and looked directly at Fleur.

‘Did you want to kiss Sébastien? Because I would quite like to again.’

Fleur felt sick. She followed the movement of Colette’s scarlet nails as she wiggled and blew on them. Little red daggers. Colette had an elegance that was quite breath-taking and which Fleur could never hope to emulate. Of course Sébastien would find her intoxicating. If it came to making a choice, she had a dreadful certainty Sébastien would choose Colette. She couldn’t bear the humiliation of losing a competition before she had even entered it.

‘No,’ she lied. ‘He’s my friend and he’s very serious.’

Colette pursed her lips into a bud. ‘Yes, he is serious, isn’t he, but I don’t want to kiss him for the conversation. And even though he’d gladly kiss me, I don’t think he likes me very much. He thinks I’m a silly rich girl, after all.’

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