"Jean, you look exquisite." Lucien places a hand on her hip pulling her closer to pepper her arm with kisses, as she pulls a white glove above her elbow.
"Thank you, Lucien. You need to behave or we will never make dinner before the opera." She turns to him, straightening his tie and smoothing his jacket lapel. "You look quite dashing yourself."
She catches a glimpse of themselves in the mirror and can't help but think that they really do look well together. Two pieces of a puzzle that fit perfectly together, two pieces that make the picture complete. She looks at her reflection as if she is looking at someone else. This is not a farm girl standing next to this handsome, strong doctor but a woman of grace and elegance. She is wearing a Chanel and the finest lace undergarments that she has ever owned. She is a doctor's wife.
"Shall we my darling?"
"Yes, I think we shall."
"Lucien, how did you manage all this?" Jean looks around in awe at the Cafe de la Paix from her seat in a secluded corner. The hundred year old restaurant in the Grand Hotel is lavish with it's gilded pillars and frescoes.
"As soon as you gave me our wedding date as a Christmas present I started planning this trip. The first things I did was to procure the opera tickets and this table. After I took you to get your passport that is." He tells Jean with great pride. "The rest of the trip fell in place from there."
"Have you been here before?" She doesn't know why she asks this or why it matters but since their day at the Eiffel Tower Jean feels the need to know what is knew to him. Needs to know if Lucien is trying to create new happy memories to replace the demons that still plague him when he least expects it.
He looks deep into her eyes, knowing the answers to the questions she truly seeks. Did you come here often? Did you bring other women here? Did you come here as a spy? The answer is the same for all the questions.
"Yes. I've been here before. That is why I know we have the best table in the place." He holds up his glass to toast her but there's a darkness behind his smile.
Creating new memories. Jean wants to know more but doesn't want to spoil the evening by leading Lucien down that path. He chose this night first to make new memories and she will do everything in her power to make tonight perfect. There is plenty of time to learn more about his trips to Paris. He told me I will know everything he can tell me in time. Be patient Jean.
"Good, than you order for me. Mind you I don't want escargot!" She says with a bit of a shudder. She watches Lucien's darkness pass and the twinkle is back in his eyes.
"I thought you wanted to be adventurous?"
"I do to an extent. I just don't think I can eat something that I see crawling in my gardens." They both laugh at that, Lucien not bothering to try and argue that they don't pluck the snails from the gardens to eat.
"Well what do you think you would like?"
"Something light, I think since we will be sitting most of the evening. And you?"
"I think I'll have the lamb." He says with a wink, the levity is brought back to the evening.
They enjoy the most delicate yet complex food. Jean savors each bite, dissecting the flavors in her mouth. She takes bites of Lucien's food off of his plate much to his delight. He even gets the escargot almost to her lips before she giggles that she just can't do it.
Full with dinner and wine, Jean tries to pass on dessert but Lucien insists on them sharing the best crème brûlée he has ever eaten. She relinquishes seeing how much Lucien wants her to experience this dessert with him. The maitre d brings the check as they are finishing. Jean catches a glimpse of the bill before Lucien pays. Doing a quick conversion in her head she can't help but think that this one meal is more than a week's worth of groceries at home.
They head out in the evening walking the short distance to the Palais Garnier. "Lucien, I know you said not to worry but how are we paying for all of this?" Waving a gloved hand around the city before her.
"Jean." He says in his warning tone.
"Please Lucien. You do remember I do the books. I know what we have in the accounts." She feels Lucien stop as her arm gets pulled back. She looks at him and sees the deflated hurt little boy again. "You know what, it doesn't matter. If you say we can afford all of this than I trust you."
He pulls her into his embrace, gazing deep in her eye. His Jean does trust him, trusts him with her every being. "Jean, I have an account that has been building for years. Mostly monies from my post war service but it also has been growing with my army pension and well other means. For years I spent little on myself beside good whiskey, necessities and the search for Li and Mei Lin." He sees her brow furrow in the way it does when she process information, making sense of his words, reading between the lines.
"Your own account? Lucien, how much?" Jean has never experienced an excess of money. She is having a hard time digesting that Lucien can have an account with money untouched, just setting aside waiting to be used. Most of her life she has had to watch where every pound is spent. Her years living in the Blake house have been the kindest, never going without. She made enough to buy fabric to make her own clothes, yarn to knit her evenings away, an occasional film, her treat of new nail polish or lipstick but she never has had enough to squander foolishly.
"Actually it is our account. I put your name on it when I did the other accounts and the deed to the house. And it's enough that I can spoil my wife in Paris on our honeymoon. My darling, I can think of no better way to spend that money than to give you the world. "
The tenderness in his eyes melts her. They are standing in front of one of the most spectacular opera houses in the world and yet she feels only they exist. They kiss gently as a motorcade arrives and a commotion arises, the Blakes pull apart as they hear a passerby say that the Kennedys are arriving.
Jean's eyes grow wide as she glares at Lucien. His hands fly in the air. "I had nothing to do with this, I swear."
Inside Lucien's hand rests in the small of Jean's back as he guides her along towards the grand center staircase in the lobby of the Palais Garnier. He can feel her pulse quicken as her eyes take in the surroundings. The enormity of the stairs overwhelms her, as they head to their balcony seats. She has yet to utter a word since the initial breathy Oh my when entering the building. They settle in their seats, Lucien watching his bride, watching her face, reading every thought going through her brilliant mind.
"Lucien this is magnificent and the performance hasn't even started! I can't believe we are in the same building as the President and his wife." She takes his hand, smile beaming on her face. "Thank you for spoiling me."
"My pleasure darling."
Opera has never been Lucien's music of choice so he finds himself drawn to watching his wife. Did he just catch her stifling a yawn? He begins chuckling which earns him his wife's glare and an elbow to the ribs. As the house lights go on indicating the intermission Lucien leans into Jean, "Drink?"
"Yes!" Jean says in ernest, eyes wide.
They are weaving through the crowd making their way to the bar when Jean hears someone calling Thomas, in French. She doesn't give much thought to it until the caller seems to be heading directly to them. A large, dark haired man calls Thomas once again.
"Lucien, I think that man is talking to you." She can feel his muscles tense under her hand.
The man is upon them grinning widely, "Thomas Etienne, comment avez-vous été?"
Lucien stares deep into Jean's eye conveying a million unsaid thoughts before turning to the man speaking in English. "I'm sorry. I don't think I know you." His arm tightens around Jean's waist, holding her too tight for comfort.
The man looks confused saying again. "Thomas Etienne?"
"No, Doctor Lucien Blake." He turns back to Jean who sees the turmoil on his face. "Shall we?" The man looms behind Lucien, certain in his recognition of the bearded face, older, grayer, heavier but the same blue eyes.
Jean being her ever clever self thinks of a quick exit for her husband. "Lucien, would you mind terribly if we leave? I'm not feel well." Giving a little wobble to her stance for added effect.
"Of course, my darling." Lucien supports Jean as they walk past the stranger making their way towards the door.
Once outside in the night air they walk along in silence for some time, hand in hand as become their custom, not wanting to break the connection as if their hands keep the electric current flowing between them. With the lights and sounds of the opera house in the distance, Jean turns to Lucien under the glow of a street lamp. He worries that she is angry or worse yet frightened by the encounter but not his Jean.
"Thomas Étienne? You couldn't come up with a more original name other than using your father and mother's? Good heavens Lucien. Were you any good at this spy work you did? Because I would have had you figured out in no time."
He welcomes her sass, knowing his reaction to the dark figure from his past has unsettled them both. "I know, I know. I picked something I could remember easily even if I was blind with drink. And believe it or not I was very good at my job. Though you would have outwitted me I'm sure." He wraps his arms around her, enjoying the feel of her bare back in the low cut dress against his palm. "You are far more clever than me Mrs. Blake." He is forever grateful her strength and that this remarkable woman understands his old life enough that no other explanations are warranted.
"Mmm, so you always say."
"That was a very professional move you made back there." He looks down at her feeling forlorn that their night is cut short by his past.
Simultaneously they start to apologize, then laugh at each other. "Lucien, it is all so beautiful but I really don't think I need to see an opera ever again."
"Good. I forgot how much I hate the bloody things."
" Lucien! You went out of your way to make this night special, something to remember and well….are you disappointed?"
"Jeanie, my love, this night turned out to be perfect...perfectly us. Now I have spent hours watching you in this dress, knowing that there is something new underneath that I'm dying to see."
"You think so Doctor?"
"I know so Mrs. Blake." Lucien says with a smirk as his hands begin to roam as he kisses her neck along the pearls she is wearing.
"Well then, my love why don't we head back to the hotel and you let me spoil you for awhile." The glow of the lamplight highlights the mischievous look that Jean wears giving Lucien such a visceral response that he knows that this night most certainly will be a night to remember.