Page 153 of Where Do We Go From Here?
‘Pattex never goes out,’ Celine explains. ‘Ever.’
‘Really?’
The girls nod. ‘We think he sees too much cold before. Now he sleep and sleep and sleep.’
‘Sur le radiateur,’Celine adds.
‘On the radiator,’ Harry says.
‘Yes, thanks, Harry,’ Wendy says, laughing. ‘I think I got that one.’
‘I wasn’t translating,’ Harry says. ‘Well, I was but not for… Oh, never mind.’
‘And your brother?’ Wendy asks, wincing at the realisation that this might not be the best question to have asked.
‘Oh, he’s OK,’ Manon says brightly. ‘So good… Oh, I don’t remember how this one goes.Pour le moment, he’s OK.’
‘So far, so good?’ Wendy volunteers.
‘Yes!’ Manon says. ‘So far, so good.’
‘And your father? He’s OK too?’
‘Yes, he’s great. Now Bruno is OK, Papa is OK, too, you know?’
‘Yes, I know exactly what you mean. We depend so much on our children for our own wellbeing, don’t we, Haz?’
‘I’m sorry, I don’t understand,’ Manon says.
‘When our children are OK, we are OK,’ Wendy paraphrases. She takes a sip of her fizzy apple juice while Harry tops up Celine’s glass with prosecco.
‘And you?’ Manon asks, indicating Wendy’s glass with a nod of her chin. ‘I think you are so good so far, yes?’
‘Yes,’ Wendy says. ‘Thanks to you.’
‘Moi ?’Manon says, looking genuinely surprised.
‘Yes, you really helped me, you know?’
‘I don’t do so much.’
‘No, you did! By telling me to stop, for one,’ Wendy says. ‘And then telling me about your mother. You gave me quite a shake-up.’
‘Oh!’ Manon says, jumping up. ‘You make me think!’ She crosses to the sofa where she retrieves a photo from her coat pocket. ‘Look,’ she says, once she has returned to crouch down between Harry and Wendy. ‘This is a photo of Maman. I want to show you.’
‘Oh, crikey!’ Harry exclaims.
‘Gosh,’ Wendy concurs.
‘Yes, I know,’ Manon says.‘C’est fou, n’est pas ?’
The photo, of Manon’s mother in her thirties, could totally be a photo of Wendy at the same age. In fact, had Wendy stumbled upon the photo out of context, she would have started trying to remember when it had been taken.
They stare at the photo in silence. Wendy shakes her head slowly and sighs. ‘Can I take a picture of this?’ she asks finally. ‘Because our kids will neverbelieve me.’
‘Yes,’ Manon says. ‘Of course.’
Once dinner has been eaten and the chocolate log sliced and devoured, Celine says she’s going to go outside for a smoke.
