Hard To Say
My kitchen was equipped with an ice box to keep the meats and cheeses I had delivered fresh. I opened one of the doors to see what I had in there.
"I still can not believe that you don't employ any servants Erik!" Gemma said as she sat down on her usual stool in my kitchen. Clearly I would not be receiving any help from her preparing a meal.
"I do not like the idea of people I do not know traipsing around my house," I told her simply.
"They wouldn't be traipsing," She laughed, her eye falling on a wine bottle. She got up gracefully to retrieve it and began hunting for a glass, "They would be cleaning and cooking; then you can devote more time to important matters…like being grumpy and stubborn,"
"Other cabinet, over there," I pointed her to the glasses she was vainly searching for.
"Oh, thank you," Gemma opened the cabinet door, "Nadir, will you be wanting a drink?" She called to him. Nadir was sitting at the dinning room table already. I supposed I would not be getting his help with dinner either.
"Several, I think," He called back to her.
"Lovely, than you can come and get one," She said flippantly, pouring her own drink and then turning around to face me, "Can I help you?"
I laughed, "I appreciate the offer Gemma, but I am not letting you near an open flame,"
"Erik I'm shocked! You think that because I am a rich, young daughter of a count who has grown up in the lap of luxury I do not know how to cook a meal!" She took the hunk of wrapped mutton out of my hand, "Stand aside!"
"Gemma, you are not trying to tell me that you know how to cook,"
"Just go Erik, sit down, pour yourself a drink, and relax," She shooed me out of the kitchen.
I sighed. I found out then and there that I loved Gemma enough to let her burn down my house to please her.
"You are letting her cook Erik?" Nadir asked me in a low voice.
I shrugged helplessly, "It seems that way,"
"Well if the cooking process doesn't kill us than I am sure the food will," He said dryly.
I watched Gemma from the dinning room. She opened every cabinet door and every drawer in the kitchen. I could see that the place would be a mess before she was done.
However not ten minutes later I could see that the stove had been lit and something smelled divine. Nadir was watching the kitchen as well, not able to believe that Gemma Chevalier could cook a meal.
But Gemma did not seem at all unsure of herself. She bustled around the kitchen, humming to herself and sipping her wine. She took everything I owned out of its place and looked at it without bothering to put it back.
In an hour and a half Nadir and I were being served roast mutton and fresh greens. There was some kind of seasoning smeared on top; amazingly it looked good.
"Voila!" Gemma said proudly, "And for dissert…you will be eating your words," She narrowed her green eye and blue eye playfully.
"Gemma, how is it possible that you know how to cook?"
"Well," She sat down with her own plate, "You two are very lucky because I am going to tell you something no one outside of my family knows," She set down her fork, "I was only fourteen when a man approached me about becoming a model; I knew I wanted it immediately but my parents were against it,"
I listened to her intently as I ate. She had a way of telling a story that enthralled whatever audience she had.
"They thought that it would ruin my reputation if I became a model, they thought it was beneath me," Gemma shrugged, "They weren't going to let me do it, so I ran away from home so I could; I didn't have any money of my own and I figured my father would disown me sooner or later so I secured a job in a bistro; one of the cooks became a close friend,"
"I'm sure your father would not have disowned you," I said. I liked Count Chevalier, he was to the point and honest.
"Don't be so sure," Gemma gave a hollow laugh, "He found me one day in that bistro and told me as much; I told him to go to hell! Then the next day I was in my first show,"
"I remember your debut," Nadir spoke at last, "The papers called you an overnight sensation,"
Gemma nodded, smiling wickedly, "I know! My father came crawling back to me when he realized I was the toast of the town…but I didn't go back to him without a little negotiation; how else could I do all the things I do? Erik I sent you down that tunnel off of my room because I thought it was funny! I could have waltzed you down the front stairs right under my father's nose and he wouldn't have said a word!"
I couldn't believe that anyone would want to disown Gemma. I could see how my mother would not want me, but who would not want Gemma? She was beautiful, talented, she was perfect!
"Could you imagine what everyone would think of my father if they knew he had tried to disown me? They would hate him!"
So Gemma not only had all of France wrapped around her little finger, she also had a strangle hold on her family. All of the people in her life were under her control.
Including me, I realized. Anything she asked me to do, anything she wanted from me I would give her.
"Anyway, that is how I learned to cook," Gemma picked up her fork and returned to her food. I did notice she had given herself a small portion.
Her food was amazing. I had the sneaking feeling that Gemma would be perfect at whatever she tried to do. Everything came to her effortlessly.
"What is in this?" Nadir found himself asking her.
"Arsenic,"
I looked up at Nadir, he looked over at Gemma who went about eating without paying attention to his stare.
He smiled at shook his head, "If I didn't dislike you Gemma I think I would like you very much,"
Her eyes flicked toward him, "Why do you dislike me?"
"Because I think you are going to break my best friend's heart,"
Gemma locked her gaze with his, "Nadir, I cannot tell you what will happen in the future, but I can promise you to treat your friend's heart with up most care for as long as it is in my keeping,"
Slowly Nadir nodded.
I felt like I should say something to Gemma…and to Nadir for that matter. I felt like I should thank them for having the most thoughtful conversation concerning me in a lifetime.
But I didn't know how to say that, so I said nothing.
"Erik told me you have taken a lover," Gemma brought our sentimental moment to an end.
"She is not a lover," Nadir blushed.
"Oh? Who is she then?" Gemma teased him.
"Victoria Winter is a sweet girl who has agreed to spend some of her free time with me,"
Gemma turned to me, "Erik your friend makes wonderful euphemisms for lover!"
"She is not a lover!" Nadir said indignantly through mine and Gemma's laughter, "Erik you were irritating enough on your own, now with Gemma here I doubt I will get a moment's peace!"
"Not if we can do anything about it," I told him, my hand covered Gemma's on the table. It was times like this when I felt like Gemma and I really had a chance. Our lives were different, but our personalities were so similar. If I spent a lifetime with her I doubted I would ever get board.
"How come I have never heard of this Veronica person?" Gemma asked.
"Victoria," Nadir corrected her, "And she doesn't care for the bright lights and loud noise of Paris, or of downtown Deauville for that matter,"
"Don't be silly! Everyone loves those places! Unless of course they are not accepted there," Gemma was good at uncovering the truth fast, "Is she poor?"
"No," Nadir defended his love quickly, "She is well to do; her father was an officer in the British Army,"
"And her mother?"
"She is…" Nadir paused, "She met Monsieur Winter when he was in India, her native country,"
"Oh! I see, so Victoria is party India and all the white, Europeans do not accept her?"
"Correct," Nadir said softy.
"Are you in love with her?" She asked bluntly.
"Yes,"
I knew how hard that must have been for him to say. Since losing his wife he had never fallen in love again.
"Nadir, that's wonderful," I told him. He nodded his face red and his eyes bright. He went silently back to his food.
When the meal was over Gemma when upstairs to draw herself a bath while I stayed in the kitchen to clean up her mess.
"Erik,"
"Yes?" Nadir was helping me.
"I still think you should be careful about Gemma; she is known for loving men and then leaving them,"
I put some spices back in their cabinets, "I know," I said without looking at him. I wanted to think about the present though, where Gemma was interest in me. I did not want to contemplate the future Nadir and I knew was inevitable.
"But I do understand your feelings for her better now," He admitted, handing me a glass so I could put it away, "At first I thought you were so taken by her because of her looks, but I understand her wit is quite like yours,"
"Nadir," I wanted to tell him that I appreciated his concern along with his friendship. Hearing him refer to me as his best friend meant a lot to me.
But I could not say any of that. It seemed silly and overly sentimental.
"Why don't you just go to bed? I can finish here," I told him instead. He nodded and went off into the darker shadows of the house.
