Page 73 of Daughters of Paris

Colette would once have seized on the instruction, but something stopped her.

‘I won’t go if you don’t want me to. I didn’t realise you cared,’ she said. It was only half a lie. She had known Fleur liked Sébastien, but had never been sure of the extent.

‘Go,’ Fleur said. She brushed her hair behind her ear then pressed her hands together. ‘Don’t pretend you don’t want to. It’s something we both knew was going to happen. One of us should have fun.’

‘But…’

‘I said go!’ Fleur held aloft the envelope. She smiled, and while it wasn’t as genuine as normal, it was less fragile-looking. ‘I’ve got something else to think about now.’

Reluctantly, Colette backed out of the room.

She didn’t say anything to Sébastien but as they took the Metro into the city centre, she examined her conscience and was slightly surprised to discover her consideration was all for Fleur’s feelings and none for Sébastien’s. She didn’t have any loyalty to him. Yet.

The club was quite unlike any of the ones that Colette was used to. It was in the cellar of a restaurant and there was only whisky or brandy to drink. The music was played on a Thorens record player while couples – no Germans in sight – danced. Sébastien led Colette to the dance floor and took her in his arms. The song was slow and intimate, sung by an American in English. Colette leaned her head against Sébastien’s chest as he held her close, their feet travelling through steps that she was barely aware of. His cologne was earthy with overtones of cloves. Breathing it in, Colette’s imagination drifted to cool autumn afternoons in front of a warm fire.

They danced three times before Sébastien took her chin in his hand and tilted her head up to look at him.

‘I think it’s time to go now.’

Colette slid her hand down his shoulder blade and circled her fingers in the small of his back. ‘I think so,’ she agreed

They left the club without speaking and walked hand in hand through the dark streets.

In Sébastien’s bedroom they undressed each other slowly, standing beside the bed. When Colette stood only in her bra and panties, Sébastien stopped.

‘Have you done this before? I don’t want you to feel pressured.’

She had a sudden urge to deny it. To pretend this was her first time and that he was her first. There would never be any lies between them, she decided.

‘Yes, I have, but not for a long time.’

‘So you know what that is?’

He flicked his head to the bedside table and a small tin of Ramsespreservatifs. With a sense of shame she realised it hadn’t even occurred to her. Just like all the times she had been so careless with Gunther. Thank goodness Sébastien was an adult.

‘You were very confident about this evening, I see!’ she remarked to cover her awkwardness.

‘Not confident, but hopeful.’

He kissed her. Whisky was horrid, but lingering on Sébastien’s tongue, it became the nectar of the gods. He slid his hands around her back, undoing the clasp on her brassière. She ran her hands down his waist and slipped them inside the waistband of his shorts to ease them off. Her hands shook, despite the heat of the evening. She stood on tiptoes and ran her hands through his hair, then pressed her lips onto the spot between the base of his earlobe and his jaw and whispered against the sweet-scented skin.

‘Take me to bed, Sébastien.’

Much later, they lay together under the sheets. Colette’s head rested in the crook of Sébastien’s arm and her leg was slung over his. Basking in a post-coital fug of exhaustion was a novelty that Colette could grow to like. Whenever she and Gunther had finished, they had dressed quickly and parted with the sole intention of not being caught.

She knew this would not be the only time, and it would mean a difficult conversation the next morning when she returned home.

‘I wish Fleur could find someone to make her happy.’ She sighed as the memory of Fleur’s expression popped into her head. If Fleur could find a lover, Colette need not feel so bad at having Sébastien.

Sébastien craned his head down to look at her. ‘Were you thinking about Fleur while I was working away down there?’

Her skin grew hot at the memory of an experience that had been completely new to her.

‘Not at all. I’m only thinking about her now because I want her to be as happy as I feel. She deserves someone nice.’

Sébastien grinned and put his finger to Colette’s lips. ‘Don’t worry about Fleur. You told me to find someone trustworthy to put her in contact with. I did one better than that and found someone I think Fleur will find very interesting indeed.’

He refused to elaborate, no matter how much Colette tried to persuade him, until he began to distract her in a manner that put all thoughts of Fleur firmly out of her head.

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