Chapter 2

The day everyone was waiting for finally arrived. Aunt Sophie and Sara were busy preparing the party along with the three maids while Marie was pacing around nervously waiting for Serge to wake up. She had a new dress that she wanted to wear at the party and she wanted to show it to Serge.

Serge woke up late that morning and after he got dressed he went downstairs to see if he could help.

"Good morning! I'm sorry I overslept" he said feeling a bit uncomfortable.

"Nonsense, you must have been tired after such a long trip. Come on, I'll serve you breakfast." Sara grabbed his hand and took him in the kitchen where she served him breakfast. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, thank you. It's so quiet here. I expected it to be different, much noisier." Sara couldn't help smiling.

"You are not used to life in the city, are you? In the center it's very noisy and the apartments are small, but here it's different, I like it here, I like having a big yard with lots of flowers and trees…."

"It is very nice indeed."

"If you will excuse me, I have to go and help mother. You just take your time, ok?"

"Thank you."

Sophie Vida wasn't a person who liked parties. She thought they were alright on special occasions like holidays or birthdays, but she never agreed with the ladies from high society who throw party after party with no reason at all. She called them women with no purpose in life. She taught her daughters that 'Being in the high society doesn't mean you have to live in lust. There are many other ways to make a good impression.'

Today she would make an exception though. She didn't consider Serge's visit a good reason to throw a party but her daughters insisted so much and she couldn't refuse them.

She hardly refused them anything….well there was one thing she refused to do before no matter how much Marie and Sara insisted. She refused to invite Serge. 'Gypsies are bad people' she would always say 'they only know how to trick honest people, steal and lie. They're up to no good.'

"Mother, did you make all the invitations?" asked Sara while taking out a box with their best tea set from a closet.

"Of course I did. I only called our close friends and they are not too many, so I couldn't have left anyone out." Aunt Sophie replied on a bitter voice.

"Did you call Maya?" The sound of that name made Aunt Sophie stop from whatever she was doing.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I don't want that girl in my house?"

"But she is a great artist and our friends love her paintings. She is a very good violin player too. Besides you promised Ms Cardwell to invite her sometimes."

"Very well, invite her, but I don't want that prostitute in my house, do you hear me?" she said the last part so loud that even Serge could hear her from the kitchen.

Sara entered the kitchen and found Serge cleaning up the table.

"Can I ask you to do me favor?" she said.

"Of course, if there's anything I can help with…"

"Mother made the invitations for the party and she forgot to invite someone. I have a lot of work to do so would you go and invite her. It's only next door, at number 22, her name is Maya."

"I'll go right now."

"Thank you Serge."

Serge left the house, still thinking about the conversation he had heard before. Who was the prostitute Aunt Sophie was talking about and how could someone forget to invite a person who lived next door?

The house next door was a lot smaller than Aunt Sophie's. It looked old and it was hard to believe that someone actually lived there. There were some broken windows and the house looked like it hadn't been painted in years or repaired for that matter.

Serge rang the door bell but no one answered. He figured that the door bell wasn't working and he tried the door. It was open. He slowly entered trying to adjust his eyes to the dim light.

"Hello! Anybody there?" he said out loud then he listened carefully. A door upstairs opened and he saw a silhouette standing in front of it. Because of the bright light coming out of the room he couldn't see the person's face so he went closer to the staircase.

"Excuse me for interrupting Miss, are you Ms Maya?"

"No" came the answer from upstairs "I'm not Maya and I'm no Miss." Serge had a feeling that he had heard that voice before somewhere. That's right he heard it just the other day when he bumped into that blonde boy.

"I'm sorry; I did it again, didn't I?"

"What do you want?"

"I came to invite her at a party today at my aunt's house." The blonde started laughing and Serge noted that it was a forced laugh just like the one from the day before.

"What makes you think that she wants to go?"

"That's enough Gilbert" said a voice from inside the room and another silhouette appeared. "And you are…"

"Serge Battour. My aunt, Madame Vida is giving a party today and she would be very pleased if you could come too."

Maya was a beautiful girl, not older than Serge, with deep blue eyes, rosy lips and black hair. She was just as beautiful as Gilbert was and just as proud. She seemed to be colder though, her face wasn't showing any emotions at all and her voice didn't betray her either.

"Why don't you come upstairs for a cup of tea?"

Serge went upstairs and entered the small room. He noticed that it was almost empty; there was only a small round table with three chairs, a desk, some shelves and paintings, lots of paintings set by the wall and covered with white sheets.

"Are you an artist?" he asked taking a seat at the table where Maya served him the tea.

"Well you could say that. I only paint when someone makes an order though."

"Order?"

"I have a contract with the owner of a small gallery here in Paris and he tells me what he wants me to paint: portraits, flowers, landscapes… But enough about that, let's go back to the reason for which you are here. You said you wanted to invite me at some party."

"Yes, my aunt is giving it and…"

"Is Gilbert invited too?"

"Gilbert? No one said anything…"

"If he is not invited then I'm not going either" interrupted Maya with a bitter voice.

"I think it will be alright if he comes along too."

"Very well then, we'll be there at 6 o'clock."

Serge left the house, still thinking about the blonde boy and the blue eyed girl. There was something that bothered him but he didn't really know what. They seemed like they've been threw a lot in life, they seemed to be like him. He decided to try and get to know them better, because if he was right, he could make some friends and not feel so lonely anymore.