Be Rude but Love Me | ✔

CHAPTER 25

They pull away but he doesn't take his eyes off me. He only nods my way then starts walking out the door. At the last second, he stops and slightly cranes his neck to the side. "Distorting a quote is tainting its beauty."

I raise an eyebrow in question though he cannot see it. Thinking he's quoting another French author, I ask, "And who said that?"

This time, he turns his upper body so I can fully see his face. "I did."

And he walks out the door.

Ellie closes the door behind him, resting her back against the wood. She has a small and satisfied smile on her face.

"What?" I ask but her smile only turns a little wider. "What did you say to Yann? Was it about me?"

She pushes herself off the door at last and comes to stand in front of me. For a moment, she only looks at me and I can tell she wants to say something. But all she does is hug me. "I love you, Tracy Graham. You know that?"

And before I can say anything else, she disappears up the stairs.

What was that about?

***

I love to take the time to stop and forget about my surroundings, forget about the world for a moment and just be. In those moments, I look deep inside of me, I dig out buried questions and thoughts and I take the time to ponder them and try to find answers. I close my eyes, and there starts the introspection. My thoughts and feelings are perfectly laid out before me and they can't escape me anymore. Or maybe, I can't escape them anymore.

I think about Yann for a moment. About how he's started opening up a little bit though I still don't know more about him than I did three weeks ago. I can already feel time closing in on us. I know I told him I wasn't going anywhere – and I meant it – but summer is coming to an end and in three weeks, I will be gone. He doesn't have a phone and I wonder if he's got any means for me to keep in touch with him. I'll ask.

"Agitated?"

Will's deep timber rings right in my ears. Startled, I open my eyes and let go of my thoughts. Looking around, I notice that the sun has moved a little more to the west, ready to set in a few more hours. A beautiful Sunday sunset.

Images of Yann leave my mind. Long, dark ebony hair. Beautiful blue eyes. Sharp, defined nose. Prominent cheekbones. Dense beard. Scary face. Caveman style. They all float away as Will speaks again.

"Stop thinking, I said," Will speaks again. I turn around to face him. His usual playful demeanor is replaced by a concerned one. "What's wrong?"

Nothing's wrong, really. Aside from Yann, everything's fine with me. "So, you sorted things out with Yann," I say as I think of the pat Will gave Yann yesterday before they left after the movie.

Will props himself up on an elbow. "Not really, but I'm no longer dying to punch him in the face."

I smile at him. I think of something and I share it with Will, "I'm wondering why Lucy seems to be fond of Yann so much."

I wonder why she seems to like him that much. He's nice, she had said. In her young innocent mind, she must see the world as an ideal place, where everyone she meets is a good person.

"Because you can't find it in yourself to be fond of him?"

I almost smile at that. If he only knew. "It's mostly the fact that she's just met him. She is so at ease with him. It's just incomprehensible to me."

"That's because she seeks the part in Yann that appreciates kids. Yann likes kids, in case you didn't know." He explains, "I guess as you're no longer a kid and you have experience in life, you tend to be wary of people and judge them with one look."