The sky is blue, the sun is bright. Vincent, Marieanne and I are in a rowboat. Marieanne – I cannot call her Manon anymore – and I have remained friends since we broke up. It was her idea to spend a day off together, the three of us, on the sea. Vince thought it was a bit silly, but he agreed to come.
"Hey!" He said suddenly, glaring at me.
My wide honey-colored fairy wings brushed against his body.
"Sorry." I said.
I woke up one morning and there they were, clinging to my back. They allow me to fly, but not to have fairy magic.
"Can't you fold them up?" Marieanne asks. "They take up too much room in the boat."
"I can try."
After a great deal of effort and concentration, I managed to change their shape and fold them up like ladybug wings.
"There!" I say, relieved. "That's better. Why didn't I think of this before?"
Marieanne and Vince sigh at the same time. They must think I'm silly.
"So," Marieanne asks to move on. "How's business at La Gueule de Saturne?"
"I thought we were here to relax." Vince replies in a pinched tone.
"Sorry. That is true. So..."
"Marieanne, how about you bake a cake when we get back?" I say, wanting to give her a hand.
She's silent, Vincent is too, and I feel like I've made a faux pas.
I look up at the sky. It's overcast fast.
"I can't see the sun anymore." I say.
"We'd better get back." Says Vince. "There might be a storm coming."
He was right. The sky is crying. The rain is falling. The wind picks up. We try to get back, but the ocean is breaking fast, too fast.
"NO!" Yells Marieanne.
Our rowboat tips over and we find ourselves in the water.
I manage to rise to the surface, unfold my wet wings and fly up. I call out to Vincent and Marieanne. I can't see them. I'm all wet and it's hard to fight the power of the wind. I start to panic. What if they're dead? No. They can't be.
"VINCE! MARIEANNE!"
Suddenly, I see their heads appear on the surface, but they're not alone. Marieanne is held up by a long-haired girl wearing a simple tunic of thick fabric. Vincent is carried by an aquatic creature with short white hair, black eyes, green skin and fin-like ears.
"Go away!" Said the white-haired creature.
"Who are you?"
"Naija and this is Neri. We're going to save them."
"But you have to go!" Neri adds.
"But..."
"LEAVE!" Neri insisted. "If you fall in the water, we won't be able to help you."
This frustrates me enormously, but I return to the land, to the French city. I'm safe but I'm worried sick. I stand outside on the dock in the rain, hoping to see Vincent and Marieanne arrive.
I don't know how long I've been waiting, but I shout with joy when I see Vincent and Marieanne arrive, fighting the water with the help of Neri and Naija. I help them out of the water. Naija and Neri dive back in. I don't see them again.
"They'll be fine." Marieanne says. "But we've got to warm up."
She sneezes. She looks exhausted. Vince is no better. I feel like he wants to faint.
"Let's go to my apartment." I say.
"No, to mine." Vincent says. "It's warmer."
"Okay!"
I manage to hail a cab. The driver wonders where we've come from, to be so wet.
"Whatever!" Vince told him curtly, paying him with wet bills. "To La Gueule de Saturne, quick!"
The driver takes us there.
At Vincent's apartment, we undress separately and dry off with thick towels. Vince lends us some clothes. They're a bit big for me, but I'm not complaining. Strangely enough, they fit Marieanne well. Our wet clothes go in the laundry. Vince suggests we take a bath.
"We'll take turns," he says, "that goes without saying."
"I don't mind." Says Marieanne.
"Ladies first." I added, wanting to be gallant.
Marieanne goes to Vincent's bathroom. I'm alone with my boss.
"Rody, you're going to think this is dumb, but after what's happened to us, I have to tell you now."
"Tell me what?"
He approaches me.
"That I love you."
He kisses me before I can stop him. After he withdraws his lips from me, I freeze. My brain takes a while to decode what just happened. Vince kissed me. After he declared his love for me. Vincent, my boss.
"V-V-Vince, this is...!"
"Don't tell me this is crazy! I love you, Rody!"
"But you're my boss..."
"So what?"
"You're a man."
"What difference does that make?"
"Marieanne..."
"You're not with her anymore. It didn't work out between you two. Besides, you've got to admit it, Rody, you don't take care of yourself."
"That’s not true!"
"Yes, it's true. You were sacrificing yourself for her. That's not what she wanted from you. That's not what I want from you."
Vince kisses me again. I don't push him away.
"I don't want you to sacrifice everything for me."
I don't know what to say. Yet I feel it. That I love him too. A true love, different from the one I had for Marieanne.
"You don't have to say 'I love you' to me right away. I am patient."
I can't help blushing. At the same time, Marieanne arrives.
"Congratulations!" She says, and I can tell she's heard it all.
Vince retorts that she should be ashamed of spying. While she retorts that she isn't, I go to the bathroom to take a bath.
As I bathe, I can't stop smiling. We've survived the storm, I've met Naija and Neri, Vincent loves me. I have a feeling we're in for some wonderful times. I'll always be a good friend to Marieanne. I hope to see Naija and Neri again. Tomorrow I'll go back to the ocean and use my fairy wings to try to find them.