Page 15 of A French Adventure
Carefully, she took the dress off and hung it back on the hanger and put on the trouser suit. Once again, everything about the outfit was good – the linen material was lovely and the fit was perfect. She had some jewellery – a bracelet, earrings and a large topaz ring – that would jazz up the ensemble for Saturday night. As an outfit, it would certainly get more wear and be more useful than the green dress, that was for sure. Jeremy would approve.
Vivienne pushed that thought aside before it could register. He wasn’t here. The days of taking his feelings into account were over. As a married couple, it was only natural to ask each other’s opinion, but as a separated woman she was on her own for choosing how to dress. It had been a long time since she’d had to rely solely on her own judgement, which was a scary thought. Fleetingly, she wished Natalie was there to voice her honest opinion but she wasn’t. Maybe it was now time for her to start making her own decisions about how she dressed. Decisions about everything actually, not just her clothes.
Dressed once again in her shift dress and linen jacket, Vivienne took all three hangers with the outfits off the hook and resolutely pulled the curtain back. Time to start trusting her own judgement.
Giselle was showing Maxine some of her design sketches for her autumn collection and Maxine was oohing and aahing over a velvet evening cape. They both glanced up as Vivienne joined them.
‘Which one is it to be?’ Maxine asked.
‘In the end, I couldn’t decide between them. So, please may I take all three,’ Vivienne said. ‘And the sandals too.’
‘Only if you promise to wear the green dress to Maxine’s party on Saturday night,’ Giselle said.
‘Oui, I agree,’ Maxine echoed, looking at Vivienne.
Vivienne smiled. ‘We’ll see.’
Maxine wagged her finger at her. ‘Not good enough. You need to promise.’
‘Okay, I promise I will wear the green dress on Saturday to your party,’ Vivienne said, placing her credit card in the machine to pay.
After thanking Giselle and inviting her to join them for lunch, which she regretfully declined, Vivienne and Maxine made their way back to the restaurant on the main square. After ordering their lunch, Vivienne took a few sips from her glass of cold rosé and Maxine pulled a face at her non-alcoholic glass of wine.
‘Giselle is one talented lady,’ Vivienne said. ‘Her clothes are amazing. I never impulse-buy clothes like I have this morning. Too many disasters in the past.’ The thought, would the green dress turn out to be an expensive disaster, slipped into her mind. Worn once this Saturday and then left to languish in her wardrobe?
‘Giselle – her clothes are an investment, you will wear them time and time again.’ Vivienne could only smile at Maxine’s confident attitude, whilst inwardly wondering whether she would indeed wear any of the clothes again when she returned home.
Lunch was delicious. They’d both decided against a starter, Maxine choosingmoules marinièresin white wine with French fries for her main course, and Vivienne, not being fond of mussels, opting for a croque monsieur served with Bechamel sauce and a small side salad. Afterwards, they both gave into temptation and ordered profiteroles with home-made vanilla ice-cream, hot dark chocolate sauce and whipped cream.
‘Too many treats like this and I won’t be able to fit into my new clothes,’ Vivienne said, swallowing the last mouthful of sauce and cream.
After coffee, Vivienne insisted on paying the bill and they began making their way to the English bookshop. This time, as they wandered through different narrow streets, they passed an ancient fountain and more artisan shops selling a multitude of different goods.
As they turned into Rue Grande and Vivienne saw the open doors of ‘Niche Books’, she smiled. This looked like the perfect bookshop where she could easily spend a couple of hours.
Maxine too seemed happy to browse for a while, picking up a Veronica Henry book,Thirty Days in Paris.
‘You like to read in English?’ Vivienne said.
‘Yes, sometimes there are books I want to read and some authors I like do not always have the French translation.’
They both wandered across to a ‘Summer Reads’ display of paperbacks and Vivienne gave a small smile as she saw half a dozen copies of her own latest book. Maxine picked up a copy with a delighted sigh. ‘J’adore cet auteur.’
Vivienne gently took the book out of her hands. ‘Please let me buy it for you as a thank you for introducing me to Giselle.’ She waved Maxine’s ‘C’est pas nécessaire’ protest aside. ‘I insist.’
Ten minutes later as they left the bookshop and made their way back down to the car park, Maxine’s mobile rang.
‘Hi, Olivia,’ she said with an apologetic look at Vivienne, who shrugged off the unspoken apology with a shake of her head.
Maxine’s quick-fire French conversation with Olivia as they walked was mostly lost on Vivienne, but she did pick up a few words.Cinema sur la plage –cinema on the beach. It was when she heard her own name, she turned and gave Maxine a puzzled look.
‘Olivia has suggested the three of us go to the cinema on the beach in Cannes tomorrow evening,’ Maxine said as the call ended. ‘As part of the film festival, they feature films from the past on several evenings. Tomorrow it isThelma and Louise.I accept Olivia’s offer for us to go with her. We go to Cannes tomorrow at five o’clock.D’accord?’
Vivienne gave her a bemused nod. ‘D’accord.Thelma and Louiseis one of those cult feminist films I’ve always wanted to see but never have.’ She’d have to burn the midnight oil every evening to get back on schedule with the book. But what the heck, she was allowed to enjoy life down here as well as write.
‘Bon. Now we go home. I have a party to finish organising.’
As they settled into the car, Vivienne took out the copy of the book she’d bought for Maxine, found a pen in her bag and started to write a message on the book’s title page.
