My German Lover, Part 27 chapter 5

As we were following the butler into the great hall, I looked at Mike… who was looking around. I saw him look up at the big chandelier suspended from the high ceiling, then at the guilded console tables with beautiful cut flowers on each of them. He looked at the large mahogany stair case then turned across to look at me, rolling his eyes… I smiled at him, but didn’t say a word.

Then the butler opened two big mahogany doors and introduced us to Madame De Brion:

“Madame, vos invités sont arrivés…” (Madame, your guests have arrived…).

“Oh… Merci Julien.” She answered. Then, she rose from her chair and walked towards me:

“Ahhhh, mon ami Jack! How are you. I’m so happy to see you again… so happy”, she said, taking me into her frail arms and giving me pecks on both cheeks…

“So am I, Madame de Brion… May I introduce you to my friend Mike Nadaud…”, I answered…

She looked at Mike with a big smile on her face and answered:

“Come here, young man. Do you mind if I give you pecks?”

“But of course…”, Mike answered with his most charming smile…

“You see… Paul told me you were handsome. Both of you are handsome… and although I’m an old lady, that doesn’t mean I lost my eyesight…”

She took Mike into her arms and gave him pecks on the cheeks also.

“Now, you will call me Catherine, please. As I said, I may be old, but I still feel young at heart. And it’s not everyday that I get the chance to have two handsome young men here with me…”

“Well… if you insist…”, I answered, smiling…

“But I do. But I do… Now, please, sit down… and you Jack, please sit down right next to me. I want to look at you…”

So I sat down right next to her, and she took my hands into hers.

“So, Jack… how have you been doing since the last time I saw you?”

And of course, I told her all that had happened to me since the last time I had seen her. I told her that I had fallen in love with Mike…”

“Good”, she answered, beaming… “And Paul told me you’re here to make a film?”

“Yes… It’s a special assignment…”

“Yes I know. Paul told me everything about it… And I suppose you will want to film around the house, won’t you?”

“Yes…”, I answered, smiling… “If you don’t mind, that is…”

“Of course not. And I must tell you, not much has changed around here since the war. What you see around here is pretty much the same as it was at that time…”

As she was talking to us, I saw her press a hidden button on the side of a small table… and a few seconds later Gérard, another butler, walked into the drawing room asking:

“Madame a appelé?” (Madame called?)

“Oui Gérard. Servez-nous du Champagne je vous prie. Et le meilleur, n’est-ce pas?” (Yes Gérard. Please, serve us some Champagne. And the best…)

“Bien sûr, Madame…” (But of course, Madame…)

A bit later, Gérard came back carrying a large silver pail with ice and a big Champagne bottle in it, while another servant was carrying a nice silver tray with three beautiful crystal glass flûtes on it. Gérard served us Champagne while a third servant came in offering us hors-d’œuvres, each one more appetizing than the other…

“Let’s have a toast, my friends…”, Paul’s sister said, smiling…

Mike and I rose and I said:

“To your health, Catherine…”

She answered:

“To your health, to Paul’s health… and to your film…”

For a while we made small talk with her… talking about Martinique, about Will and Paul and the others, about our trip to Europe… Then Catherine looked at me and said:

“…Do you remember the last you came to see me, you played that beautiful song on the piano for me… the song Paul and I loved so much. The song our mother used to play?”

“But of course… I do remember…”

“Well, do you think that after dinner, you could play it again for me?”

“…It will be my pleasure, Catherine…”

“Thank you Jack. Before that, I’ll guide you through the house so you can film all you want…”

“Yes. Thank you”, I answered, smiling… “And do you think we could see Paul bedroom?”

“But of course. It’s still there. It has not changed one bit.”

I smiled, hearing that. I knew Paul and Will would be happy to see that bedroom again, after so many years…

Then Gérard came back and said:

“Madame est servie…” (Madame is served…).

“Merci Gérard”

Catherine looked at the two of us and said:

“Well young men, follow me… you must be hungry by now…”

I gave her my arm, and she lead us to the dining room…

As we walked into the dining room, she said:

“Please, sit down my friends. It won’t be a banquet you now… but I think you will like it…”

Mike looked at me from across the large table. I could see he was as stunned by the beauty of the room as I was. I looked around at the elaborate marquetry-work cabinets, a the guilded furniture… at the big crystal chandelier hanging from the high ceiling… at the big silver candlesticks on the table… and at the beautiful chinaware… Shit! As my mother use to say, the place “smelled money”. Old money! Yet, Catherine was so simple… Just like Paul. Obviously, they had been raised with lots of money, and they just didn’t care about it. They were as simple as Mike and I were. They were not “Parvenus” as we say in French about the “newly rich”.

And will you be surprised to learn that all that was served to us during that dinner was… just divine! As was the wine. Divine. That’s all I can say…

After dinner, we went back to the drawing room where coffee was served. Then after that, we had Cognac…

“So Jack, time to visit the house?”, Catherine asked, with a nice smile on her face…

“We are ready…”, I answered…

We followed her through the house, and I filmed everything. Paul’s bedroom and his private bathroom… I even filmed the room where Ludwig used to stay… Then we came back downstairs, and I filmed the study where Paul had been questioned by two Gestapo officers back during the war. I even filmed the underground garage…

And when we came back to the drawing room, Catherine looked at me and said:

“Now Jack… give me my treat, will you?”

I looked at Mike and gave him the video camera. I told him what I wanted him to film, not only me playing piano… but Catherine sitting there… the room around us and the oil painting of their parents hanging over the big fireplace…

And Mike did a good job. A very good job. Everything he filmed was just perfect.

And when I finished playing her favorite song from Schubert, Catherine slowly reopened her eyes and said:

“You did it again Jack. It was like if my mother was here, playing that song… She had her faults and very often she was wrong… Oh yes, she had her faults. But… she was a very good pianist… and you play just like her, Jack. Never stop playing. Please…”

“I won’t. I swear to you. (…) When I talked to you yesterday, you told me you had a message for Paul…”

“Oh yes…”, She answered, smiling at me. “I wrote something for Paul and Will. I’d like to read it while you’re filming, if you don’t mind…”

“But of course. Take your time. Just tell me when you’re ready”, I answered…

She took her notes and read them… Then she looked at me and said:

“I’m ready when you are…”

“Fine”

I started filming as she was talking to Paul and Will directly to the video camera. She was not reading her notes. She knew them by heart…

Now, due to the private content of her message, I don’t feel I have the right to tell you here what she said. I’m sure you will understand. All I can say is that when she finished, Mike and I had tears in our eyes. I swear to you that what she said was the most beautiful message I had ever heard…

And when she concluded her message… I turned the video camera off and I ran to her, taking her into my arms, kissing her on her cheeks.

“That was so beautiful Catherine. So beautiful. I know Paul and Will will be moved. Very moved. They love you Catherine, and so do I…”

“Thank you Jack”, she softly said, with tears in her eyes…

A bit later, as Mike and I were about to leave her, Catherine walked over to a small table and opened a drawer. She took two jewel-boxes from it and walked back to Mike and I. She looked at the two of us for a second… and said:

“I have a little something for you two… You see, many, many years ago, our father gave to each of Paul, Pierre and me beautiful gold chains to wear around our neck. The last time I was in Martinique, I saw Paul is still wearing his… As for Pierre and I, we had to leave them behind us when we fled Paris in 1940, because our father didn’t want us to wear jewels while we were fleeing… just in case we got arrested. So Pierre and I left our gold chains here, and just forgot about them. Years later, I found them. Pierre was dead by that time, so I just kept them.

Catherine then looked at me straight in the eyes and added:

“I know that Paul loves you very much, Jack. And if you want to know, I think he considers you like the son or rather the grandson he never had. I can sense that. So I want you two to have those two gold chains. I want you to wear them. Both of you are now part of our family….”

“But… what about your son, or your grandsons… maybe they would like to have them…”

“No. Please. No “buts”… Don’t worry for my son or my grandsons: One day, they will inherit all that I have. That will be quite enough. No. I want to give those chains to the two of you. Paul told me how much in love the two of you are with one another… I’m so happy to hear that. Look at me… both of you: Love is the most precious thing in the world. It’s so precious… and you have found it. Never forget how love is precious. So, will you wear them?”

“Yes”, Mike and I answered with tears in our eyes…

“Here… let me fasten them for you…”, she said, smiling… “Oh, but I think you will have to lower yourselves… otherwise, I won’t be able to reach your neck… » she added, laughing…

One after the other Mike and I lowered ourselves a bit so Catherine could fasten our chains…

« I do not know what to say… » Mike said…

« …And neither do I », I added…

« Well in that case, say nothing », Chaterine answered, laughing. « Just wear them… »

« We will… », both Mike and I answered.

As we were leaving, we hugged her and thanked her for everything. Then I said :

« …As soon as we go back to Martinique, I’ll have the videotape copied and I will send you a copy… »

« I would like that very much. Thank you. I’ll be waiting for it… » she answered, smiling…

As the cab was driving us back to Le Meurice, Mike turned across to look at me and said :

« She’s incredible, isn’t she? »

« You can say that… »

« Have you met her son or her grandsons? »

« No. Never. I know that a long time ago, when she was pregnant with her son, her husband ran away with a very young woman. She never saw him again. I know that her son lives here, in Paris. And I know she has three grandsons… but that’s about all I know. »

« But if she was married, how come she kept her maiden name? »

« Funny that you ask. The first time I saw her, that’s what I asked her… and do you know what she said? »

« …No… »

« Well she took her time before answering my question… and then she stated : « I see no reason why I would have abandoned my maiden name. To take my husband’s name? I didn’t ceased to exist as a person when I married him, you know. I was born a de Brion, and I will die a de Brion! And I’m glad that I kept my maiden name for when he left me, I didn’t have to bear his name. »

« That’s her alright », Mike answered, laughing…

« Yes. Paul told me that when her son was born, only her father was there with her. And he made sure her son would bear her name, not her husband’s name.»

« You’re kidding »

« Know. Paul told me so… »

« Well… I guess that means there will always be a de Brion, living on Avenue Foch… »

I looked at Mike and said :

« Hey, I never thought about that before. But you’re right. There will always be a de Brion living there. I wonder if her dad had that in mind when he insisted that her son bear the de Brion name. Maybe. »

During the rest of that week, we had a lot of fun… visiting, filming… We even went to the Bois de Boulogne park, to film there. Paul had told me that it was there that François Dubois and his lover Philippe had made love for the first time. Of course I didn’t know where they had « done it »… but anyway, we filmed what we could…

Being in Paris, again I tried to locate Philippe but he was nowhere to be found. Then, I got an idea. One night at the Hôtel, I used one of the computers they have there for the clients, and checked the cemeteries. Shit. There are twenty cemeteries in Paris! 

« Start with the biggest… », Mike suggested…

« I’ll start with the « Père-Lachaise » cemetery… » I answered.

« Yeah. Good idea. It’s big… »

Although I checked the list of all the people that had been buried there… I didn’t find Philippe’s name on that list. Then I checked the Monparnasse cemetery. No luck there either. Then I checked the Pantin, Ivry and Thiais cemeteries. To no avail…

« Have you checked the Montmartre cemetery? », Mike asked…

« No. That one is next on my list… »

As I was going through the list of all the people buried at the Montmartre cemetery I shouted :

« Bingo, les femmes ont chaud! »

Mike burst out laughing and asked :

« What did you say? »

I laughed and answered :

« It’s a French-Canadian expression… to say that I’ve won! Check here… He’s there alright. »

« So he’s dead? Are you sure it’s him? »

« Well look at his birthdate. It matches… and it says that he was a doctor… It also says that his plot is for one person, and one person only. I’m sure it’s him… »

« Right. So he died in 1986… »

« Yes. So now we know. »

« Do you want to go there and film his Headstone? »

« … I’m not sure that would be a good idea. When I told Paul that I had been looking for him on the web but that I had not been able to locate him, Paul told me he was glad I had not, and said that in Philippe’s case it wouldn’t be a good idea to bring back old memories… »

« Yeah. I think he’s right about that. »

« Anyway, we’ve found him. And I’ll tell Paul. I’ll let him be the judge… »

On Friday morning, we rented a car and drove to Lyon, the spend the weekend there with Mike’s family.

When we arrived at Mike’s house, we parked the car. Mike turned across to look at me and said :

« …As I said, it’s a humble house… we’re not rich. But it’s our house! Welcome! »

« It’s perfect. It’s your house and that’s all I care about. Now I know where you’ve grown up… where you live… I’m so happy! It’s important to me to see where you’ve grown up… And you’re gonna have to show me the school where you’ve studied… everything… »

« Yeah yeah… Come on, let’s go inside… »

As we were walking towards his house, the front door opened and his mother was there with a big smile on her face :

« Michel… » she shouted… « Come here… quick… give me a big kiss… »

Mike ran to her and took her into his arms, kissing her on the cheeks…

« Mum. I’m so happy to see you… to be here… Oh and mum, this is Jack. Jack please meet my mum… »

« Bonjour Madame. C’est un plaisir de vous rencontrer… » (Good evening Madame. It’s a pleasure to meet you…)

« Stop calling me Madame », she answered, laughing… « Call me Gisèle. And come here, so I can hug you too. Michel told me so much about you… »

I walked over to her and hugged her. I was beaming. From that very moment, I knew that I was going to like my stay…

I must say that, up until then, I had been a tad apprehensive and anxious about the welcome I would receive from Mike’s parents, with me being gay and all… Were they going to « blame » me for having turned their son into a gay… Of course I had not nothing to do with that : Like me, Mike was born gay. He never « became » gay, nor did he woke up one morning to decide that from now on, he would be gay! But I didn’t know what Mike’s parents were thinking about that… 

At least now, in view of his mother’s attitude towards me, I knew I was welcome here and that she was not holding any grunge against me.

Then we heard someone running down the stairs, shouting :

« Mike! Mike! Hey you… »

Mike turned to look at his sister and, with a big smile on his face he said :

« Hey! Loulou! Give me a big hug sister… »

The two of them hugged, with me smiling, looking at them…

« Hey Louise… this is my friend Jack… »

« Hi Louise! », I answered…

« Hi, good-looking… Come on dude, hug me. I’m so happy to finally meet you… »

And of course, I hugged her and answered :

« Now you’re the one who’s good-looking… Now I can see that you took everything when you were born, and left nothing for your baby brother... »

« Oh you… », Mike said, laughing…

« Your dad his still at work, but it shouldn’t take long before he gets here… », his mum said… « He’s so anxious to see you… He wanted to take the day off, just to be here to welcome you but I told him that that was not such a good idea. Losing a day work… I mean… After all, you and Jack will be spending the whole weekend here with us, so… »

« Sure mum… You were right. It’s not like if we were here for just an hour or two… », Mike answered, grinning…

« Now, take your things upstairs to your room, then come down… »

« Right », Mike answered, giving his mum a peck on the cheek… « Come with us Lolou… and tell me what’s going on in your life… »

The three of us went upstairs to Mike’s room and as we were talking, we heard the front door open and a man shout :

« Hey… Have they arrived? »

« Yes dear… they are upstairs… », Mike’s mum answered…

We heard the man run up the stairs and moments later he was right there in front of us :

« Dad! », Mike shouted, running to his dad, hugging him…

« Ahhhh my son! I’m so happy to have you here. I missed you a lot, you know! You see what you’ve done? You left me all alone with those two women. Poor me! », his dad said, laughing…

« Yeah. Poor you », Mike answered before saying : « Hey dad… meet Jack… »

« Hi Jack… Will you be surprised if I tell you I’ve heard a lot about you? I’m so glad to meet you… »

« Me too. I’m so happy to be here and to meet you. All of you… », I answered, shaking hands with Mike’s dad.

« Let’s go downstairs and have a beer. What do you say guys? », his dad said…

« Right on dad… », Mike answered, laughing…

We all went downstairs to the kitchen where Mike’s mother looked at her husband with a big smile on her face and said to him :

« Now, are you happy that your son is back, huh? » Then she turned to look at Mike:

« He never stops talking about you. Never! », she said, laughing. « If he wasn’t too old for that, I think he would move to Martinique, to work with you at the Club… »

« Oh come on Gisèle… » his father replied… « I never said I would do that… you exagerate. »

« Oh yeah?… but if you were ten years younger, wouldn’t you like to join Mike there? », Gisèle answered, laughing…

« Well now that I come to think of it… », he answered, laughing his heart out…

That night, Mike’s mum served us a delicious meal and we had a lot of fun. His parents were very nice people and so was Loulou, his sister. They did all they could to make me feel at home. And they succeeded. I felt like I was not a stranger amongst them, but part of their family. They were great. After dinner, Loulou said :

« Hey guys, let’s go out tonight and have a beer… »

« Oh no, you won’t take them away from us… », Mike’s mum said… 

« Well then, come with us. You’re my guest », I said… « It’s the least I can do… I didn’t bring you flowers… or chocolates, you know… »

« I told him not to… », Mike said, smiling at his mum…

« So? What do you say? I invite you all. Please? », I added…

« Well… I don’t know », Mike’s mum said…

« Oh come on, mum… We’ll do the dishes when we come back. Come on. You don’t even have to change you know… We’re not going to the Opera… », Mike said, insisting…

« Okay then. Anyway, I can see your dad already has his hand on the doorknob and is ready to go, so… », she finally answered, laughing…

That night, we all went to a brewery and when we got there, I said :

« Now we are five people… So let’s ask that guy overthere to write a number from one to five on a piece of paper. Then each one of us will choose a number and the one who has the same number as the number that that guy has written will be are designated driver tonight… »

« …What do you mean by that? », Loulou asked…

« Well… the lucky one won’t drink alcohol tonight cause later, he’s gonna drive us back home… », I answered, grinning…

« Oh… I never heard about that before… », Mike’s dad said…

« In Montréal, that’s what we always do… », I answered…

« Well I think that it’s a good idea… », Mike said…

« So let’s do it… », Loulou added.