Page 16 of A French Adventure
‘What are you doing?’ Maxine asked.
Vivienne finished writing, closed the book and handed it to Maxine before saying. ‘The other evening I simply told you I was a writer. Well, this is my latest book and I’ve just signed it for you.’
‘This is you?’ Maxine looked at the book and then back at Vivienne. ‘You are a famous writer. Why do you not use your own name so that everyone can congratulate you?’
‘Jeremy thought it would be good to create a bit of a mystery around who exactly the author was.’ Vivienne shrugged. ‘It worked to a degree and I’m happier meeting new people as me, Vivienne, rather than them having expectations of what I’m like before meeting me.’
‘I can understand that,’ Maxine said. ‘Maisnow I shall tell everyone I have a friend who is a famous writer but I’m not allowed to talk about her.’
11
Late the next afternoon, Olivia’s sigh of relief was echoed by Maxine and Vivienne as she finally spied a space in the big subterranean car park in Cannes and was able to park. Olivia slipped the parking ticket in her bag and the three of them made their way out into the fresh air.
The Croisette was heaving with people, especially around the Palais des Festivals. ‘Do we have a plan for the next couple of hours?’ Maxine asked.
‘I’ve booked a table for seven o’clock at one of the smaller restaurants by the harbour,’ Olivia said. ‘I thought before then we could just have a wander, give Vivienne a brief glimpse of Cannes, soak up the atmosphere and see if we can spot a celebrity or two.’
‘What time does the film start?’ Vivienne asked.
‘Nine thirty,’ Olivia answered. ‘But we need to get there early to grab a decent seat.’
‘Come on, let’s make a start looking at the posh shops,’ Maxine said. ‘We can cut through up into Rue d’Antibes and then come back down to the harbour.’
By seven o’clock as they made their way to the restaurant by the harbour, the three of them were tired. It was Vivienne who voiced what she suspected they were all feeling.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I’m sure Cannes is lovely, but today the place is just so crowded with too many people fighting to see things for me. I’ll have to come back another day when it’s quieter, I think, to see Cannes at its best.’
‘I’d forgotten how busy it always gets for festival time,’ Maxine said. ‘Food and a glass of wine now will revive us. The beach will be quieter later – and so will the Croisette once we get past all the paparazzi outside the Palais des Festivals.’
An hour later, refreshed and looking forward to the cinema on the beach, they made their way slowly past the barricades close to the iconic red-carpeted steps, where, as Maxine had said they would be, the paparazzi were busy snapping away at celebrities and film stars arriving for the evening’s film.
Once down on the beach, they found three deckchairs together, four or five rows from the front of the big screen, and sat down gratefully.
Sitting there, listening to the murmur of voices around them, the waves lapping the beach and the night sky slowly darkening, Vivienne felt her spirits lifting as she let her mind drift over certain things. She was in the South of France, sitting on the beach with two new friends, wearing a lovely new trouser suit and she’d been invited to a party at the weekend. If she were honest, everything at this particular moment in time couldn’t be better.
Vivienne closed her eyes and, sniffing the sea air, took a deep breath. Okay, she knew that she would have to make lotsof decisions in the next few months, decisions forced on her by Jeremy creating problems she’d never expected to face, but that was life throwing an unexpected curveball in her direction. In a year’s time, everything would have sorted itself out and she would be living a different life – a life of her own choosing. Where that would be she had no idea, but Jeremy would be in the past and she would be a single woman living life on her own terms.
An hour and half later, the credits rolled and the three of them stood up and made their way back to the underground car park. With the crowd leaving the beach and the Palace des Festival also emptying, it was difficult to stay close enough to each other to talk as they walked back to the car.
Once they’d all strapped themselves in, Olivia drove the car up several floors and out onto the Croisette. The three of them were silent, each lost in their own thoughts looking at the palm trees with the coloured lights wound around their tall trunks, couples with arms around each other strolling along, overhead lights sparkling, some stretched across the Croisette with their ‘Welcome to Cannes’ messages. A film set in its own right.
Rounding the bend and passing The Palm Court at the far end of the Croisette, where ordinary street lights took over from the gaudy decorations, it was Olivia who finally broke the silence.
‘Well, it might be a landmark feminist film, but those two women made some terrible decisions.’
‘Didn’t they,’ Vivienne said. ‘It was very well acted and funny at times and really action packed, but also heartbreaking. And I can’t believe how young Brad Pitt looked.’
Olivia laughed. ‘You’re right. But I’m glad I’ve finally seen it, although I think it was showing its age. Definitely from another era as far as women are concerned, don’t you think?’
‘We certainly have more choices these days,’ Vivienne said.
‘But don’t you think they were out for revenge rather than advocating feminist values?’ Olivia asked.
‘Don’t we all want revenge on a man at some point?’ Maxine asked quietly from the back seat.
‘Maybe, but I don’t think many of us in real life would sink to such extraordinary actions, would we?’ Vivienne said. ‘Admittedly, their options were not great. I mean, I’m more than furious with Jeremy at the moment, but I haven’t started plotting to kill him. Although I might kill him off in the next book,’ she added, laughing.
‘The phrase “It’s a man’s world” is still true, though, in certain cultures where women have to fight for their rights,’ Maxine said quietly.
