We were both careful to have only salads for lunch after hearing about the feast that awaited us for dinner, but the bread was so wonderful I couldn’t stop eating.
“We’ll walk more now,” she told me. “We both need it.”
We did, and she surprised me again with how much she knew about the buildings, the museums, and the fine restaurants.
“Really. How many times have you been here?” I asked.
“Maybe a few more than I said,” she confessed. “I was with someone for a while who had a private jet that could get to Paris from New York.”
When we reached Saint-Germain again, she found the café she said was Mama’s favorite. We had some café au lait and sat looking at the Seine, the boats, the never-ending lines of tourists from all over the world streaming past us, all filled with the awe and excitement that came from being in Paris.
Maybe it was the magic of the city or just the magic that came from being away from where we lived, a magic that blossomed out of the sense of freedom and adventure, but I felt as though Roxy and I had never been apart. We were the sisters we were meant to be. We shared thoughts and feelings, laughed at the same things, wondered about the same things. It was truly as though we had been brought up in the same home and not apart so many years. Was blood so strong that it could quickly mend the split we had endured, fill the chasm between us with an avalanche of the love we both shared and desperately needed? I hoped so.
“Weren’t there many times when you had to be with someone you couldn’t stand, someone like that man who hit you?” I felt brave enough to ask her now.
“You close your eyes,” she said.
She knew that flippant response wasn’t much of an answer.
“Look, M, it’s really better that you don’t hear about the ugly part of my life, and I don’t relive it by telling you about it, okay?”
“Okay,” I said, and then I added, “I wish you never have to live any of it again.”
She was silent. “We’d better get back. We need to rest up for tonight. I think they’re planning a big evening for us.”
I nodded. She paid the bill, and we walked all the way back to the apartment, neither of us very talkative. When we arrived at the apartment, we decided to dress up. Roxy helped me with my hair and makeup. We wore the beautiful new dresses she had bought for us, with the matching high-heeled shoes. When we emerged, Uncle Alain looked as if he was bursting with excitement.
“I can’t wait to enter the restaurant with the two of you on my arms,” he said.
It was a beautiful restaurant and already nearly at capacity when we arrived. Our table put us in full view of everyone, and from the way the waiters fawned over us, anyone would have thought we were celebrities. The feast began, and it was truly a feast. Maurice came out himself twice to explain the courses. The waiters spent time explaining the wines and why they were right for each preparation.
Many of Uncle Alain’s and Maurice’s friends stopped by our table and were introduced to us. Not all of them were gay. There were couples of all ages. They seemed to know so many people.
Later, after most people had left and the restaurant was calming down, Maurice came out to join us and told us more about the food, the places he had gone for recipes, and more about his own life.
Everything was dazzling, whether it was the stylish women and men who were there, the conversations, the music and the wine, or just being with Mama’s brother and feeling that I had family again. Sometimes, maybe because of the wine, I burst out with things that made everyone laugh.
“Everyone is so friendly,” I said. “It’s like being in a small town and not one of the world’s most famous cities.”
“You’ll see some small towns, too,” Uncle Alain promised. “We have to visit my sisters soon. But somehow I think you’re made more for Paris,” he added, and winked.
Later, when we were home and getting ready for bed, I went in to see Roxy. She had just slipped under her blanket.
“Aren’t you exhausted?” she asked.
“Still too excited. You want me to let you sleep?”
“No, it’s all right.” She patted her bed, and I sat beside her.
“Thank you for doing this for me, Roxy. I love them.”
“They are sweet.”
“How long has Uncle Alain been with Maurice?”
“I’m not sure how long, exactly, but more than ten years.”
“Papa didn’t like having a gay brother-in-law.”