Ch. 2: The Secrets Part 1

Theme Song: You and Me by Lifehouse.

Valentin (18), Rosaline (16)

 
Annabelle accompanied her father, James Trottier, to have a little walk around the neighborhood. Morning sunshine, fresh air, and a little exercise would be very good for James's health. James had not fully recovered yet. He still needed some rest and  was sitting in a wheelchair to have a rest after a long walk.  


"I'm able to walk fine, Anna. I don't need to sit in this wheelchair." 
"No, don't you remember what the doctor said? You shouldn't get too tired."

And after couple of years, the two finally spoke again.

"I can't believe you look so pale, dad. Did she not make you any  decent meals while I was gone?" Annabelle said with her usual tone, slightly harsh, but  a bit of concern  slipped out from her tongue.
"She just hasn't got used to it and it wasn't her lack of expertise in cooking that made me got sick."

'Great. He's going to start it again!' Annabelle grumbled. She knew that he was going to say that her decision to live with her mom in Canada and not calling him was the main cause.  

"What? Don't you think that it would affect on my health too?" 
"Dad, I'm not going to argue with you." 
James  smiled. "At least you're still calling me Dad." 

Annabelle threw her gaze upon him. From behind, she could see a gray hair on his head. From all those years she had spent with him, she saw it for the first time. She still could not believe that  this man who used to walk sturdily and fast be defeated by a heart disease. 

"So, how were things in Canada?" James broke her reveries. 
Annabelle realized that she could not behave like the old Annabelle again -- who was filled with anger and disappointment-- at least not at that time. Maybe it's the right time for her to tear down the fort in her. "Things were going well, I guess."
"That's great." 
"Yeah, I met new friends. I'm taking Art lesson, but my teacher said that I have a rare taste in art. I wonder what she meant." 
"Rare is good, honey. It makes your work special."

'Honey',? It felt quite long for her since she heard it the last time. She couldn't even remember when it was. 

"I hope. Anyway, mom succeeded to get me into a personality school for a few months. You can see the result now. I agreed with her so she would let me drive her car to school." 
"What? She let you drive to school?"
"Dad." Annabelle rolled her eyes. "I knew I shouldn't have told you this."
"Sorry, please go on…"
"And... besides those, nothing really interesting. I had a boyfriend there, but for some reason we decided to be just friends. And nothing more, nothing wild and crazy happened as you might have thought."  
"Interesting." James smiled, glancing toward the morning sky, breathing the air deeply into his lungs. Even though he's sitting in a wheelchair, he still has big goals to accomplish in France.


"Anna," James said with a smile. "Because you're taking an Art Lesson, after the graduation, why don't you stay here with me again? You can paint your artworks here, display your paintings in my art gallery. We'll build our  famous gallery together."

Annabelle stood in silence. She really  missed her father and was ready to make up with him, but to reconcile with everything was too much for her. She wasn't ready for it, at least not at that time.

"Dad, all I ask now is for you not to get too tired, okay? I just want you to see me at  my graduation day. That means you have to be fully recovered to be able to go to Canada."

 


As she had finished her last sentence, she saw Valentin and Rosaline coming in. It appeared that Rosaline and Valentin had known about James's condition and so they came to visit him. 

"Annabelle, I hope you don't mind, but we come to visit you and your dad." Rosaline greeted her with a smile.
"Of course, I don't mind, guys. Thanks."

 



"Sorry, we didn't bring you anything." Actually, Rose wanted to bring some apples for James, but the apple tree in her garden had not grown its fruits again this year. 

"It's okay. I'm glad that you and your brother came."  Annabelle turned her gaze toward Valentin. Her heart jumped. A little thrill came out. She realized  she must be crazy to feel it again after those years since he broke her heart. 

'Oh, It's so illogical'. What could make her heart skipped a  beat just by seeing him again? Whatever the reason was, she noticed the differences in him. He looked more appealing than before. His skin was a bit tan, probably because of the sunburn when he was out fishing. He had grown taller, and she wondered whether it was because of his jacket but his shoulder looked a bit wider. She realized it from the night she met him at the theater, even though that time Valentin acted a bit harsh at her.

No one really noticed Annabelle staring at Valentin like that, except James. James was the one who really noticed her and could not help, but smiling. It was easy to know what  made the changes in his daughter's face. A sense of a father is very strong and he knew his daughter so well, even though they often argued and had not spoken for the last two years. 
"Mr. Trottier. I'm Rose, Annabelle's friend." 
"Hello Rose. Nice to meet you. I heard that you have a garden in your backyard. I would love to see it sometimes."
"Thanks Mr. It's a small garden actually. I only planted apple, grapes, tomatoes." 

"I'm happy that you're looking better now, Mr. Trottier." Rosaline knew that it wasn't polite to stare at Mr. Trottier like that. She wasn't thinking about anything, only wishing that someday she would help someone like him in the future.  It's going to be a couple of years until she would  finally be able to do  so.

Valentin spoke to Annabelle. He told her that he felt sorry for his odd behavior at the theater the other night. He still could not figure out why he acted that way. One thing for certain, he was only trying to protect  Rosaline.

"I have to go now, Annabelle."  Rosaline said. "I have to go to Mr. Fouchier's house to babysit his children."
"Wait!" Valentin said. "I'll go with you. I'm having a day off from the store. I'll walk with you."
"Val." Rosaline smiled. "I can go there alone. You should accompany Annabelle and his father here."

"Rose, Mr. Trottier is probably getting tired and he may need  a rest. Besides, you always talk to strangers. I'm worried that you will be kidnapped by someone."

"I won't. You're exaggerating."  

"Suit yourself. I'm going to walk with you." 

Annabelle threw her gaze away. She was hoping  that Valentin would spend some time with her and her dad, and they could actually talk for an hour or two, but he decided to leave anyway.

After walking Rosaline to Mr. Fouchier's house at 100 West Southbank Boulevard, Valentin went to the lake as usual to catch some fish.  Rosaline stayed at Mr. Fouchier's house to babysit until 8:00 pm. She took orders to babysit children since she got fired at Mr. Shaw's hotel. 

Besides babysitting, she also helped a little around the house.

She babysit Eveline Fouchier, Mr. Fouchier's daughter. Eveline was nine years old and has a brother named Henri.

Eveline loved to play tag with Rosaline and they're quickly getting along so well. 

"Wait, I'm going to get you, Evel."

Rosaline turned her gaze to a young man sitting in the living room, and then to a clock on the wall.  It was 08:15 pm, her time to come home. Valentin was there to pick her up.

"Eveline is getting along so well with your sister."  Mr. Fouchier  said to Valentin as they both sat in the living room. "She asked me to let your sister come here again tomorrow morning." 

Mr. Fouchier was quite happy to see that the new babysitter was able to get along with his children, but apparently the babysitter blocked his view when he was trying to watch his favorite TV show. Rosaline and Eveline weren't supposed to play tag inside the house and running around like that, anyway. 

"Evel, shouldn't you go to bed now? Rosaline has to come home."

"Kids." Mr. Fouchier said as he glanced at Valentin.

Valentin chuckled seeing the babysitter. He knew that this babysitter could be so silly sometimes. Still, no matter how silly she was, she could make him not able to sleep just to think about her.

For him, Rosaline is like a cotton, soft and plain, able to fly freely  up in the air. Not long, after falling down onto the ground, the cotton would adapt with its surroundings and grow.  Rosaline is a strong girl. She was the one who stood beside him when he was in the deepest sorrow. She brought him back to the reality -- and everything she did, encouraged him to do more in his life. 

But -- no matter how strong she was--  she was still so fragile and delicate that made him want to protect her even more.  Should he stop hiding it and tell her the truth that she's not his sister? Would she be upset by it? Would they be drifted apart because of it?

All of these questions were spinning around in his head and he was fixated by the thought to tell her everything. Yet, every time he tried, his words got stuck in his throat, words fell into pieces, and instead of telling her those, he told her some jokes.

Rosaline only laughed at his jokes. She could not help the look on his face -- beaming so innocent while his eyes rolled in such a funny way that made her not able to resist herself from laughing. And he  loves her laughter. He loves to hear her crispy laughter.One day is not enough even though another day would come. It's not enough when it comes to love the people you love.  Valentin didn't want to get drowned in  regrets. Should he just say it to her? The truth about her and how he really felt. 

How her eyes shone  bright and how he couldn't live without her?  How it feels like to kiss her and say how much he really adores her? 

Valentin bowed his head down. Rosaline was staring at him. He's a man and her ignorance did not help him a bit. 

"Val, you don't have to pick me up every day. You're already tired after work. I don't want to trouble you." 
Valentin sighed. "Silly. You're not troubling me. I'd love to do that for you, silly girl."

  ***

Valentin had just walked out of a store when he noticed a young woman walked toward him. 

"Madeline? Shouldn't you in Sunset Valley now?" 
"I was." 
"Valentin, I -"

Oops, that must be hurt.
 "Madeline, what were you thinking?"

"Valentin, help!" Madeline pouted,  reaching for his hands after she had fallen from trying to leap into his arms. 

She must be feeling embarrassed by then because people were starting to watch her. 

At least this woman did. 

The woman thought that there's going to be a little Bollywood show outside her store, but  obviously it didn't work out for poor beautiful Madeline.

To be Continue