Turning Point(27)
He kissed them both goodbye, and said he’d be back on Friday. They were going to go to Euro Disney when they came to France. Since he didn’t have a home in London, they stayed busy and kept moving, doing everything he could think of to entertain them. It made his visits extra special. He did the same with them in San Francisco, mostly with outdoor activities, like walks on Stinson Beach, short hikes on Mount Tam, and trips to Lake Tahoe. They were never bored when they were with him. The previous Easter he had taken them to Rome and Venice, and they’d ridden in a gondola. He had already promised them a ride up the Eiffel Tower when they came to Paris.
He was quiet on the train ride back to Paris, thinking about them. They were growing up as typical British children. Pip liked saying she was half American but Alex was still too young to care about it. It always made him sad to leave them, but less so than usual this time, since he knew he would be seeing them on Friday, and for two more weekends after that. He had paid an additional amount on the airline ticket he’d been given, and was going home through London, so he could spend the last weekend with them. Seeing them now would make the wait more bearable until they came to San Francisco in the summer to spend a month with him.
He looked peaceful and happy as he walked into the building on the rue du Cherche-Midi, and saw Wendy parking a bike in the Vélib’ stand. He waited for her to catch up to him so they could walk upstairs together. The elevator had been out of order all week.
“How was your weekend?” she asked him pleasantly. She could see that he was relaxed and in good spirits. He always was when he’d spent time with his daughters.
“It was perfect.” He beamed at her. “We ran around all weekend. They’re coming here in two weeks. I’d love for you to meet them.” She was touched that he would ask, and smiled as they stopped in front of her door.
“I’d like that very much,” and then she thought of something. “I bought a roast chicken this morning. They only had a whole one, and it’s too much for me to eat. Have you had dinner?”
“No.” He smiled at her. “And to be honest, I’m starving. I was going to walk down the street to the bistro after I drop off my bag in the apartment. I meant to eat on the train but I fell asleep. My daughters wore me out.”
“Why don’t you come over in five minutes? I’ll get dinner organized.” He left her to drop off his bag, and was back five minutes later. She had put the chicken on a platter on the small dining table, with a slab of paté, some cheese, and she was making a salad. She set a fresh baguette on the table. “I’ve fallen in love with the food hall at Le Bon Marché. Valérie told me about it. It’s fantastic. I’m going to get fat here, I’ve been living on paté and truffled cheese,” she said guiltily, but she was tiny.
“I don’t think you have to worry about that.” He helped himself to some of the paté, a chicken leg, and the salad, then she handed him a bottle of red wine to open. They sat down to the simple meal, which was delicious. It was a perfect end to the weekend. “What did you do this weekend?” he asked her.
“Stephanie and I went to the Louvre yesterday, and did some shopping. I went to Notre Dame today. There’s so much I want to do here. There’s a Picasso exhibit at Le Petit Palais I want to see too. I never get to museums in San Francisco. I’m too lazy to go into the city on the weekend. I just hang around at my house in Palo Alto.”
“I take it you live alone?” He was curious about her. He knew she wasn’t married and didn’t have children, but he figured there had to be someone. She was very attractive and she hadn’t looked at any of the men in the group with any particular interest. She hesitated in answer to his question. “No boyfriend?” That surprised him, she was a very pretty woman.
“There’s someone, but it’s complicated. We don’t see a lot of each other. I don’t really have time to with work anyway. He’s a cardiac surgeon. He’s busy. What about you?” She was equally curious about him. He was very reserved, and hadn’t said much about his personal life, except that he had two daughters in London.
“I live alone, and I’m happy that way,” he said easily, helping himself to some of the cheese and the baguette. “We lead a crazy life with the work we do,” he said, using the same excuse she had, and then decided to be honest with her. “My wife left seven years ago with the kids, to go back to England. It blew the lid off my life, and I spent about five years being angry and bitter. I saw her the other night when I picked up the kids, and I suddenly realized that I don’t hate her anymore. I’m not angry or bitter, and when I looked at her, I think I saw for the first time how completely different we are. There’s no way it could ever have worked. I just didn’t see it then. She hated California, and eventually San Francisco, for all the reasons I love it. After that she got to hate me for taking her there. She’s remarried and has two more kids. We were young when we met ten years ago, but the truth is I have absolutely nothing in common with her, and never did. I was a momentary lapse for her. And if I met her today, I wouldn’t talk to her for five minutes. I have nothing to say to her, except about our children. She’s living the life that I left New York to get away from.
“She was like a flower dying of thirst in San Francisco. All she wanted to do was go home, and I became her jailer. She hated me for keeping her there. I would have had to give up practicing medicine to go back to England with her, as her father suggested. That was never an option for me. I would have drowned there, and died of boredom. I was devastated when she left and took my girls. I stayed angry for years. And suddenly when I saw her the other night, I realized the war was over. I don’t know when it happened, but the steam is gone and everything else went with it. I don’t even know her. I never did. It was a fantastic feeling of freedom. It takes a lot of energy to stay mad at someone. Now I can use that for something else. She got over me a long time ago. It took me years longer. I would have been miserable if I’d stayed married to her. It took me all this time to figure that out. I never had room for anyone else while I was furious at her. It nearly killed me when she took the girls and left.”