Hidden In Paris Part 31

She contemplated the beautiful small bedroom that had felt so safe. The woman who had entered that bedroom six months ago was no longer. She liked the new Lola much better. She fastened the last suitcase and left her bedroom. In the stairwell, the smell of cooked lamb and spices, the lamb for Annie's party, was overwhelming. Lola's heart was unbearably heavy for leaving. She had burst into tears three times this morning alone. Yet she needed to go through the motion of helping Annie. Everybody, in fact, moaned over the undertaking-Mark especially, who could not fathom why they could not leave before the party and why he was made to wait to get his family back home. Lola's desire was to stay until after the party for Annie's sake. In the old days she would have yielded to Mark's desire. In the old days, barely six months ago.

Everyone was expected to help, and everyone did, though no one understood why Annie insisted it had to happen. Why this party was so important to her, no one dared ask. Lola suspected that Annie was celebrating the death or the birth of something deeply personal, too personal to talk about. By throwing this party, Annie seemed to be officially reclaiming her life.

In the stairwell Lola was too slow to prevent Simon from hurling a tennis ball at Laurent's head. "Simon, you're on my team, dimwit," Laurent shouted. Simon hollered gleefully and ran away without acknowledging her presence. The boys ran wildly throughout the house, shouting and arguing, and Lola wondered how lonely it would be for Simon without them. He would go to preschool, of course. He was an active boy, she had discovered, a fearless boy who liked b.a.l.l.s, and guns and fighting. He was not a boy who needed to be protected from life.

Earlier, the children had rolled up the salon's big rug, gathered every pillow in the house, and brought those outside to the garden under the giant canvas canopy that now covered the garden. They had hung lanterns and set out small tables made from cardboard boxes covered with fabric. Inside, the tent looked roomy, cozy and exotic, and straight out of Aladdin's world. She found Lia under the canopy arranging flowers. She looked lovely in her party dress, a sari made out of crimson and pink silk. She looked exactly like a princess, yet gone was the princess att.i.tude. Gone was the frown, too. Lia had learned that b.i.t.c.hiness did not serve her well in a house full of rowdy boys, which was a testament to her adaptability. She may want to turn back into a diva once back home surrounded by mini divas, but things were going to be different now that Lola was done being afraid of her children. Children craved guidance and boundaries, Annie had said. Wimpy mothers made for confused children. And she had learned at Annie's school of motherhood that she need not fear losing their love if she a.s.serted herself.

"Honey, did you decorate those tables yourself?" she asked Lia. "They're beautiful!"

Lia's face glowed. "I'm going to be an interior designer when I grow up!"

"You'll be a talented one."

"You think Daddy will like the party?"

"Whether he does or not, we'll enjoy it, right?"

"I'm happy Daddy's here."

"I'm glad too, my love."

She was.

She and Mark had shared her small bed, and under the daisy-sprinkled canopy, they had talked and talked. Even about the painful stuff. They had cried and they had held each other, but they had not made love, not yet. Not until her anger subsided. Not until they came to an understanding of how things should be from now on, or how things should never be again.

Their plane was leaving in twenty-four hours. Mark was out under the pretext of finding an Internet connection, but she suspected he needed to get out of the house where the chaos was overwhelming. Annie's disapproval for Mark, for which of course Lola had no one to blame but herself, was palpable. Mark had been nothing but friendly and pleasant with everyone. He and Lucas had charmed each other right away. Still, it hadn't stopped Annie from fuming the instant she entered a room he was in. Lola kissed Lia on her braided hair and walked out of the tent and into the kitchen and braced herself for Annie.

The heat of the last few days had given way to a humid and rather threatening weather, but Annie was steadfast in her decision to have the party outside, even if the storm decided to break. Tonight, rain or not, there would be over a hundred people, adults and children, under the canopy. They would eat, drink, and dance until the early light of the morning. Then there would be croissants and coffee for everyone who had made it through. It would be a party to remember.

Annie had been cooking for two days. A Mechoui, an entire lamb, had been roasting for hours in the kitchen's giant fireplace, sending its extravagant aroma through the sixteenth arrondiss.e.m.e.nt. She was also making piles of couscous and had baked Tunisian pastries and Moroccan buns with anise seeds. The food would be rich and sweet and heavy and happy and excessive all at once. It would be wonderful. If only Annie could stop being so angry. Lola had cried and cried today, and she was not done crying. But sentimentality was not Annie's way.

Lola entered the kitchen where it was as hot as the inside of a furnace with the strong aroma of mint and roasting lamb clinging to every part of the room. Annie's elbows were up as she stirred taboule in an immense pot. She looked a bit like a witch by her cauldron. Lucas and Jared walked in and out of the kitchen, carrying baguettes, cases of wine, and crates of fruit. At the table, Althea was chopping and peeling carrots, turnips, and zucchinis with a glow in her eyes that was new and beautiful.

"The floor, Annie, look at the floor!" Lucas bellowed. The kitchen floor was caked with mud from everyone's back-and-forth and resembled the pavement of a train station on a rainy day. "It will never come back," Lucas insisted.

"The floor has seen worse," Annie said. "Look at my hair. Now that's worrisome." Her hair was frizzy from the steam and all over the place. "I look like Don King's mama."

"Your hair is the most beautiful thing I've even seen," Lucas said as he huffed and puffed under the weight of the last case of wine.

Lola approached Annie at the stove. "I'm done with the packing," she said. "How can I help?"

Annie continued stirring without looking at her. "I don't need help," she responded coldly.

Lucas and Jared dropped the last box and left the kitchen.

"Please, don't be mad," she told Annie. "I'm sure you need me."

"I better get used to being on my own." Annie stirred the contents of the pot with violence. "You can't even help yourself. Tell me how in the world you're going to help me?"

At the table, Althea sat still and looked up at Lola in a way that said, "she's going to blow," and promptly put down her peeler, wiped her hands and left the kitchen.

"Come on, Annie," Lola began, her voice weakening already, but she was not a coward and she was going to tackle this. "This couldn't last forever. You know that."

Annie turned on her feet, both comical and threatening, a wooden spoon tight in each hand. The frizz of her hair sprinkled with what looked to be fresh parsley.

"And why not? You're happy here and you'll be miserable there."

"You might not approve..."

"Rushing back home solves absolutely nothing. In fact, it's idiotic."

"But it's no more idiotic than what you're doing," Lola said, her tone more confrontational than she had meant it to be.

"And what might that be?"

With amazement, Lola heard herself speak. "Well, for example, renting out rooms to people and expecting them to live their lives according to your whims and desires."

"That's a low blow. Well, fine, Lola. Run back to stupid Beverly Hills. Go paint your toenails for hours on end and wonder where your life went."

"Annie," she said softly, "we'll still be friends."

"A phone call every so often is not friendship, it's pitiful! You're not doing what's right for you, only what works for Mark."

"What is it I should do, since you have all the answers?"

"You came here to start over, remember? That was the whole point. Look at Althea, she's starting over! Right, Althea?" She turned her head and saw that Althea was gone. "All you're doing is crawling right back to the womb."

Lola felt heat rise to her neck. "Oh don't worry, I'm not going to let him walk all over me. I'm not going to let anyone walk all over me." She paused and said, "Starting with you."

"Me? I walk all over you?"

"That's right. You can't have tantrums every time someone disappoints you. It makes it very hard to be around you." Lola regretted her words immediately.

Annie stopped, set down her wooden spoon, and sat at the table. She put her face in her hands and her back began to shake. Lola thought she was laughing at first, but soon she was appalled to realize that Annie was weeping. She sat next to her.

"Are you all right?"

"Is that why people leave me?" Annie said through her sobs, "because I'm too horrible to be around?"

Lola wasn't sure which "people" Annie was referring to, but suddenly there was nothing amusing about Annie's fit. Her sorrow came from somewhere deep. Lola wondered if she should rub her back. "Of course not. I'm going to miss you terribly." Lola searched for the right words. "You are the best friend I've ever had. You're not pushing people away. I take it back. I'm sorry. It's the opposite. You attract people. People love you. I...love you, all right? Gee, I wish we didn't have to go through this."

"Sorry I'm making you uncomfortable," Annie said. She lifted her tear-streaked face toward Lola. "So why are you so d.a.m.n uptight? Give me a hug and cry a little."

"I'm not going to cry. But, I'll give you a hug. I just hate goodbyes."

Annie was now laughing and crying at the same time.

"Get over here!" She gave Lola a big old hug. Lola wiped her own tears.

"What a pain in the a.s.s you are," Lola sniffed. "I can't believe it!"

And they went back to cooking, sniffing away all afternoon.

"Am I clownish in this dress?" Annie asked Lucas over the sound of Lady Gaga's music. Lucas took her hand and led her into a twirl on her pole dancer's heels. Her Flamenco-style dress, a low-cut, ruffled, black-and-red polka-dotted thing that seemed sewn to her body, twirled along.

"Clowns have never given me erections in the past," Lucas said seriously.

The atmosphere was getting raunchy. Women were showing a lot of skin, and Annie was sober enough to notice joints popping from pockets.

"I better take the children out of harm's reach," she told Lucas. She swayed her hips to the music as she walked away from him. Cutting through the dancers, she began searching for Lola. She went upstairs and quietly opened her bedroom door. Six little kids, including Simon, were fast asleep on the bed and on the floor. Lola wasn't in the room. She went down the stairs and said a few words to people she knew only vaguely but had invited anyway. Maxence, Paul, Laurent, and a dozen other children were running wild throughout the house. It was past midnight.

"Kids, we need to settle down. Come to the salon in five minutes. I'll put on a movie."

She went back outside. Under the canopy, couples danced to a reggae beat, while others sat on pillows around the low tables, drinking, eating, and talking. The party, as far as Annie was concerned, was fabulous.

Mark alone did not seem too happy. He sat alone in a corner, watching the dancers. She had observed him from a corner of her eye and saw that he was mostly watching Lola, who turned out to be an indefatigable dancer. But where was Lola now?

In another corner of the tent, Althea and Jared were huddled like conjoined twins. Althea spoke in Jared's ear, who in turn put food in her mouth. Hey, who was she to judge. It worked for them.

She found Lola involved in a whispered conversation with a gorgeous guy. She waved at Lola who left the man to walk toward her. Together they entered the tent.

"And who might that be?" Annie asked. "He looks good enough to eat."

"That," Lola said proudly, "was Gunter!"

"The f.u.c.kenator?"

"Shhh! I've been trying to reach him for days. He was in Nepal. I just about fainted when he showed up. Anyway, I just told him all about my husband."

"What did he say?"

"That he wasn't jealous! The break-up was as satisfying as the affair."

"Lola, we need to create a diversion, gather the kids, and put them in front of a movie. People are smoking pot, and some of the salsa dancers are getting borderline R-rated."

As if to ill.u.s.trate, a couple was slow dancing and the man's hand was surrept.i.tiously creeping under the woman's skirt.

"You're not kidding."

They gathered the children and put on a movie in the TV room, then closed the door.

"You're having fun?" she asked Lola.

"Yes, but it would be a h.e.l.l of a lot better if Mark wasn't around. He's not dancing or drinking. Meanwhile I have the urge to rip off my shirt and show off my s.e.xy top."

"What's stopping you?"

"Mark's definitely the stern parent in this relationship."

"You allow him to take on that role. You don't have to shiver under his disapproving glance, hand him your life, and then blame him."

"Now you're defending Mark?"

"Well, he does look absolutely miserable at the moment. Save him from himself."

"But what if he won't--"

"Make him!"

Annie watched as Lola walked to the bar and mixed vodka with orange juice in two gla.s.ses, took a big gulp of one and coughed. Then she proceeded to remove her shirt to reveal her black lace top, the one that propelled her b.r.e.a.s.t.s like missiles. She swooned languidly toward Mark, holding a gla.s.s. Mark looked up at her and stared at her cleavage uneasily.

"Are you finally going to get stinking drunk and dance with me?" Lola told him. She offered him a drink with one hand and reached out for him with the other.

"You know, I'd rather stay clear headed. We're leaving tomorrow," Mark answered without moving.

Lola put the gla.s.s in his hand almost by force. "It will be good for both of us if you just loosen up a little bit."

Mark brought the gla.s.s to his mouth and took a long sip. "Not bad. I'm just not sure, you know, with the pills I'm taking." He nodded toward the dancers. "How do you do that thing?"

"The salsa? Let me show you." She gave him her hand and he got up. From there she grabbed his hips and showed him.

Annie thought she was going to burst before the night ended, and it wasn't just the corset of her crazy dress. She was bursting with joy. She was bursting with sadness. She had been right about the party. It wasn't a luxury; it was a vital necessity. Everything she thought she knew was on its head. Her old best friend was now her lover. The woman she had been so envious of was now her best friend. It had become perfectly legitimate to hate Johnny. And as much as she loved her house, it was not all that important to her anymore. The house was where her life happened to take place. She no longer needed the house to live.

She walked around, swaying her hips with the music, saying h.e.l.lo to old friends who, one by one, were thrilled to see she was back to her old self and told her so. She picked up empty cups and plates. A wild Latin beat came on. She saw Gunter dancing with a beautiful woman Lucas had once dated. Where was Lucas? She felt a pang of nervousness and scanned the dancing couples, searching for him. He was dancing indeed. With a woman. It was a frenetic salsa, and the woman was a great dancer. Lucas, stiff like a dignitary on a mission, was trying to keep up. Annie marched toward them, and in an instant, she had pulled Lucas away from the woman.

"C'est mon homme."

"I feel very in demand, and I like it," Lucas told the woman as Annie dragged him away.

Holding his arm, she took him through the house and out to the street. Outside, the air was clear, and the sounds of the party came m.u.f.fled. The only light was that of an old streetlight. She stopped and faced him. In an instant, water was flowing freely from her eyes and onto her cheeks. "I'm sorry," she said, as she stepped a couple feet away from him, shielding her face with her hands.

"Why? What?"

"I didn't mean to come on so strong. It's the kind of thing that has gotten me in trouble before. Johnny said I have a jealous streak."

Lucas took her arm and brought her close, "Of course he did!" he said. "Johnny was a philandering b.a.s.t.a.r.d."

Annie sniffed, wiped her eyes. "Yes, he was."

"You'll never have to worry about that with me," he said and kissed her nose.

"By what miracle?"

"I'm not planning on being away from you more than three minutes at a time. How does that sound?"

"Terribly claustrophobic."

"Tomorrow's the happiest day of my life with everyone leaving. I can finally get some attention," Lucas said. "Let's take the kids to Saint-Tropez for a week or two."