Chapter 9 #3
“I’m reminded every time I walk into this shit apartment.
I’d rather stay at the hospital. At least I have a job,” she said nastily.
She looked tired and haggard, her hair looked dirty, and she didn’t care what she wore, since she wore surgical scrubs and her white coat at the hospital, which was the only wardrobe she wanted, among her own kind.
“Are you staying in town long?” she asked him. “I can stay at my brother’s.”
“Don’t bother, I’ll drive back tonight.” Being under the same roof had become untenable. She could no longer even pretend to be civil to him. She smelled blood in the water and went in for the kill every time. He was growing numb to her insults, which were endless and predictable.
“Don’t rush. I’m having dinner with my brother.
” Xavier didn’t comment. He went into the tiny bedroom to change and hang up his suit.
He put on jeans for the drive back, and she glanced at him when he came back to the living room with his parka, wearing a black sweater.
In spite of the hatred and torrent of insults she spewed at him, he still looked good, which annoyed her too.
He had never lost his looks. He was a handsome man, there was no denying it.
And she hated him for that too. She was two years older, and he looked years younger.
He still had dignity and a natural elegance, and her indifference to her looks hadn’t served her well.
She had been nice-looking once, but no longer.
Her limitless store of venom had poisoned her, and it showed on her face.
Xavier put his down jacket on and looked at her.
“I just wanted to tell you about the hotel, to be open with you. The apartment money is untouched in the bank.” And he was sending her most of Sabrina’s rent money every month, so he was still supporting her, and it was a sizable amount.
He could manage on very little himself. He wasn’t trying to shirk his responsibilities.
He never had, and had always been generous with her.
He never questioned the money she had spent lavishly on herself, on trips with her girlfriends, five-star hotels, first-class airfare to show off.
And she loved expensive restaurants and six-hundred-euro bottles of wine.
“Thanks,” she said, and listened to her messages, ignoring him as he slipped out the door and closed it behind him, trying to forget everything she had said.
He hoped she was wrong about the hotel, but his worst fear was that she was right.
She had shattered his faith in himself for the past three years and made a bad situation infinitely worse.
As he got in his car, he suddenly remembered the scene at the beach with Sabrina and Elodie and Luc that weekend.
He smiled as he thought of it. Sabrina was the one ray of sunshine in his life, and she didn’t even know it.
But he did. And for now, that was enough to counteract Brigitte’s poison.
Goodness was a powerful antidote to evil.
He was still smiling as he got on the road to Biarritz, and left Paris and all its pain behind him.
—
Sabrina had gone to visit Mother Regina that afternoon.
She’d had an idea she wanted to share with her, a request. She’d made a little sketch, and had a strip of the colors she wanted to use.
Arcangues Blue was prominent among them, and she showed it to the Mother Superior and explained her proposal.
Mother Regina smiled at what Sabrina said, and at the sketch and color samples.
Sabrina had added a list of her credentials to her proposal, including her fine arts degree from Yale.
She wanted to paint a mural at the monastery, if they would allow it.
It was her gift to the nuns and the children.
She’d noticed a long blank wall on the way to the dining room, where she could fit what she had in mind. It was the perfect size.
“You’re a muralist,” Mother Regina said, still smiling.
“I love the idea.” Sabrina had offered two options, one a sketch of a forest, with animals peeking through the trees, the other of Noah’s ark, with all the animals in pairs on it.
The ark was in Arcangues Blue, which would be the predominant color of the mural.
“I see you’ve got our blue in there. I love it, Sabrina. How long would it take you?”
“A month, maybe two. Six weeks. It would be a fun project and the children can help me with the prep work, and adding some of the colors. I’ll do the fine brushwork. It would be my gift to all of you.”
“It’s a wonderful idea. I accept. How would you describe our blue?
” she asked, curious, glancing at the sketches and the color chart.
She thought the idea was wonderful, and preferred Noah and the ark.
And Sabrina was going to paint the outline of Biarritz in the distance on the shore, as a surprise.
“The color of hope,” Sabrina said, smiling at her.
It was what she had said to Xavier and liked the description.
She could hardly wait to get started. It would be her contribution to the monastery, her gift.
The painting would be full of joy and life.
It was a big wall and the ark would take up most of it.
It was going to be a fun project. She hadn’t painted a mural in years, but now she felt ready to paint again.
Being in Arcangues had freed her. She had come back to life, and wanted to create again.
She was thrilled that Mother Regina was going to let her do it, and she was excited to start.
She couldn’t wait to tell Xavier that now they each had a new project.
Her mural and his hotel. Both were projects that would make people happy.
Sabrina couldn’t think of a better goal than that.