Page 85 of The Riviera House Swap
‘Ah,’ she said. ‘Sorry.’ Nina waved at the men, as Sabine began to fill a bucket of water from the garden tap. She poured it over the tiny fire and watched it fizzle out.
‘Madame, I will have to give you a fine,’ one of the men said. ‘It is forbidden to have a fire in the garden here.’
‘But…’ Nina began.
‘Marcel, is that you?’ Sabine said, looking closely at the man.
He coloured. ‘Yes, it’s me.’
‘Ah Marcel, but we are friends!’ said Sabine. ‘I think we can forget about this one for now. It was a tiny fire and I think probably only the neighbour saw it.’
‘But… it is not the point…’
‘This is Marcel,’ said Sabine brightly to Nina as if the whole ‘going to get fined’ situation wasn’t happening. ‘I used to play with his older sister when we were kids. I’ve actually got quite a few photos from Marcel’s past – I’ll have toshow you them.’ She smiled, but her eyes were suddenly on Marcel.
There was a silence as various emotions seemed to wash like a tide over Marcel’s face.
‘In fact,’ he said at last. ‘Perhaps you are right. Perhaps we can overlook this for now.’
‘Or perhaps I won’t be able to find these photos,’ Sabine mused as if he hadn’t spoken, giving Nina an enormous wink.
Whatever Sabine had hinted at seemed to have done the trick. Thepompiersretreated, leaving them with a smouldering heap of half-burnt, soggy papers.
‘What did you mean, the photos?’ Nina asked, once they were alone.
‘Ah, I know his sister from way back,’ Sabine said. ‘When we hung out together, sometimes Marcel was there. We maybe smoked a little weed, maybe had a drink. Maybe he was a little underage? He is a teacher now and volunteers for the pompiers. It would not be good for his reputation if this got out.’
‘Ohhh,’ said Nina. ‘And you have photos of him?’
‘No,’ Sabine grinned. ‘But then he does not need to know this!’
Nina laughed. ‘That’s awful. But also… well, thanks.’
They were silent for a moment. Then Nina felt a bubbling inside her and let out a snort of laughter. Catching her mood, Sabine laughed too – a deep, throaty laugh that had her bent double. Soon they were in fits of giggles. ‘We are terrible for each other!’ Sabine said. ‘You have your illegal fires, and I threaten apompier!’ She shook her head. ‘But what were you doing? Why were you burning these things? It is terrible for the environment.’
‘Oh I know,’ she said sadly. ‘But they were Pierre’s letters. I felt… it felt like a good thing to do.’
Sabine nodded. ‘I understand,’ she said. ‘You want to burn him, but you cannot. So you do the next thing.’
Nina laughed. ‘Something like that. You know. Just closing the door on that chapter of my life. Those hopes… It felt like a great way of letting go.’
‘I understand,’ Sabine said, looking thoughtful.
Nina looked at the letters sadly. ‘Never did get that closure,’ she said.
‘Ah, but that is still possible.’
‘But I obviously can’t burn them now.’
‘Ah,’ said Sabine, picking up the soggy, papery mass. ‘But there is a much more appropriate thing to do with letters from a man like Pierre. We go to the toilet. And weflush!’
Five minutes later, they were standing together in the bathroom in fits of hysterics. ‘This is what we think of your proposal of marriage, Pierre!’ Sabine cried, dropping a shredded letter and pulling the little handle on the side of the toilet. They watched it roar out of sight.
‘And this is for being a cheat,’ said Nina, tearing and dropping the thin airmail sheets into the loo. She flushed with a flourish, and Sabine was right – it did feel entirely appropriate.
45
She sat on her suitcase and finally managed to force the zip around the side. ‘Yes!’ she cried. It had been quite a feat – hopefully, the weight wouldn’t have changed too much since her outward journey. She hadn’t really bought very much while she was here. Barely a souvenir in sight.
