Growing Pains

Chapter 4

Allegra and Simone shared the same height, the same wavy hair, though their coloring were different. Simone's dark hair contrasted like the night against Allegra's strawberry blonde hair. Most people thought the Deschamps had adopted her, no one noticed the subtle similarities, just the glaring differences. She knew her own features came from her egg and sperm donors. Simone liked to think she looked nothing like them either but considering she'd only ever seen pictures of her mother and had no idea what her father looked like, deep down she wasn't as independent as she pretended to be.

"You know Sims, we met in a little café just like this one." Allegra smiled secretly and bumped shoulder with her husband.

Simone smiled, having heard this story every time they visited a café. She lets it slide, loving the love story.

Allegra let out a small smile as she sipped her own coffee, letting her husband take the stage.

"I'd just spent the whole night studying; school was a little harder because it was now in a language that I knew but didn't think in. As you know... it's all French in here." He tapped his forehead before clearing his throat. "I was exhausted, but I had school the next morning and there was this little café across the street from the school I could take my time to eat and study more. I had my parents drop me off before they went to work so I could eat." Andre leaned back in the booth they sat in, his right arm laying behind his wife's shoulders while his left rubbed the stubble on his chin in thought.

"I remember this tall, too thin boy slouching over his food trying not to fall asleep on his books." Allegra giggled, eyes bright as she watches her favorite memory in her mind. "I'd been reading and enjoying my breakfast when I noticed him. For twenty minutes I watched as a waitress would fill up his mug when he dozed off."

"I thought I was dreaming that I drank my coffee already," He shook his head. "Eventually, my head falls on the table. Right into my empty plate." He now rubs his face in embarrassment.

"He woke up." Allegra grinned. "I guess waking up to food runs in the family" She sent a look to her granddaughter who's eyes suddenly found the paint on her nails more interesting.

"I look up to find this one standing next to my table, she'd been trying to get to me before I faceplanted-"

"I wasn't fast enough, I almost knocked down a waitress." They smiled at each other. Simone couldn't help but admire the way the woman lived up to her name and brought out a new side to the serious man that sat next to her. He hadn't shown an ounce of expression until he sat and shared stories with his favorite women.

"She wiped my face like a child"

"he was so rude too!"

"but she uh... put me in my place very fast." He scratched the top of his head, wincing at what Simone knew was better than just a couple strong words. That lady could probably scare the devil back to hell when she was mad.

"Speaking of young love..." Allegra paused, thanking the waiter as he placed their food on the table, who looked familiar to Simone. She couldn't place from where though. "How are you and August doing my darling?"

Simone let out a loud, short, sarcastic laugh. Not knowing what to say, not wanting to dampen the image of August her grandparents had.

"I don't know..." She rubbed her thumbs to the mug and stared out the window towards the beach again.

Andre studied her for a moment, his lips thinning into a line.

"You'd tell me if he laid a hand on you right?"

"Its not like that Nono" She tucked her hair behind her ears, "I just don't know who he is anymore." She shrugged. "It's like he's clueless now, not clueless but he doesn't care enough to catch a clue I guess." Her finger circled the border of her mug as she thought.

"What's Olivia got to say about it?" Allegra inquired.

Simone tskd at this.

"She thinks I'm letting a boy bring me down... It's more than that though." Her grandparents nodded, understanding what she meant.

Maybe it was just family, or maybe it was the fact that they had no other family anywhere near the continent. More than having been through what her mother put them through together, the three of them had a sort of way of reading each other. Simone could only dream of having what Allegra and Andre did, and she thought she'd caught a lucky break and won the lottery with August.

"It's our one year tomorrow, and we're going to a party. A stupid, lame, rowdy party. It'll probably have drugs and alcohol and while I don't mind that on a usual Halloween..."

"A nice date with the man you love after dedicating a year of your lives to each other would make you feel more valued than dressing with your ass...ets out." Simone nodded, trying not to smile at how her grandma referenced the slutty outfits her and Olivia prepare for Halloween. Clearly, she'd never see this year.

"I'm gonna talk to him tomorrow. I don't know what to say yet. Every time I just get so mad and so upset, I don't even want to look at him." She shrugged. She looked up to catch the warm brown eyes of the waiter who'd served the food walking out with a camera hanging from his neck. She looked back down.

Where do I know him from? She asked herself.

"Well, we won't tell you what to do. Just know we're here when you need us." Allegra patted Simone hand.

"Besides," Andre whispered to his wife "from the looks of it, I think if August doesn't appreciate what he's got someone else will." He smirked, catching the way the brown eyed boy kept his eyes on the young girl even after she'd looked away.

**

Sometimes, parents do know best. Hopefully Simone gets some clarity soon.

Thoughts? questions? comments? concerns? moans or groans?