For The Love Of Chéri (CHAPTERS 1-112 REWRITTEN)

Chapter 77 : Enter, Monique Adamski

As Chéri entered the house, he was met by an older woman. She was a little taller than the five-foot-two Chéri and had shiny, shoulder-length hair. She was beautiful in Chéri's opinion and she had Lennon's full lips. She also had a strange accent which was a mix of metropolitan French with a hint of Québécoise and a strange American twang developed over the years.

"Hello!" Chéri said.

"Hello, welcome to America! Have you arrived with Lennon?" She asked excitedly.

"Yes! We've had a long flight." Cheri said, maintaining his deeper voice.

"I can't wait to hear all about this beautiful girlfriend Chéri! I thought maybe, he was going to bring her." The lady asked.

"Well, family commitments meant she couldn't come with him. I'm... Martyn, Chéri's brother." Chéri said with forlorn eyes as he leant forward and kissed the air either side of her face.

She smiled as she looked at Chéri and pinched his cheeks. "My name is Monique, Lennon's mother. I have a feeling that we will be seeing a lot of each other." She said as she hugged Chéri warmly. "I can not quite place your accent, Martyn. Where are you from?"

Chéri felt very welcome and enjoyed the soft tone of her voice, "I'm French-born. My mother is Spanish, and my dad is British. I know I sound weird. I have heavy English overtones due to being with my dad in England, but I went to a boarding school in Switzerland. I use tons of British slang and it confounds your son."

"Parle français?" Monique asked.

Chéri instantly became excited at the question, "Absolument! Et Espagnol et Anglais. couramment." He said as Monique pulled him into the living room and placed pillows on a large armchair to make him comfortable.

Lennon walked in with Logan, both carrying their cases.

"Lennon! Martyn is lovely and so exquisitely mannered." Monique said as she put a large knitted blanket over the grinning Chéri.

"Mmm... Martyn?!" Lennon asked with a hilariously confused expression.

"Yeah! It's nice to have a full-on French conversation." Chéri said.

"Ohh, yeah! Yeah, you've met Martyn. That's... great!" Lennon exclaimed, giving Chéri the 'WTF-eye' as soon as his mother turned around.

"You both need a sandwich! My baby needs a fried chicken sandwich and I know Martyn definitely needs... a few." Monique said as she grabbed at Chéri's arm. "Lord above, you are sooo thin."

"All of my family are really skinny. Aren't we Lenny...-Lenn, Lenster? " Chéri said, slapping Lennon hard on the back, winding him slightly.

Lennon looked back at him and silently mouthed 'Lenster' questioningly, before shaking his head. He stopped as Logan walked in.

Monique walked back in with three stacked roast chicken, avocado, tomato, onion and rocket sandwiches. She also brought a large glass bowl of potato chips.

"Wow!" Chéri said as he looked at the sandwich."

"Momma, why the small sandwich? We outta bread?" Logan asked as he lifted the top of the sandwich and looked inside.

"Yeah, I like an extra tier on mine too." Lennon said.

"But this sarnie is huge!" Chéri said.

"It's years of practice making sandwiches for three massive sons." Monique said.

Chéri looked at how Lennon and Logan towered over their mother, who was only five-foot-four.

"How come you all are so tall. Lenster's like six-four. So is Logan by the look of it." Chéri asked.