Switzerland, 1906
Reclining in an outdoor lounge chair, I watched our six-year-old daughter Madeline chase a butterfly. She looked almost exactly like her mother; her long, fiery-red hair trailed behind her as she ran around, and even though I couldn't see her eyes, I knew they were dancing with laughter. Just like Satine's did when she laughed.
She giggled and yelled, "Look, Papa! I almost caught it!"
"Good for you, sweetie!" I called back. "Try harder, maybe you'll catch him next time!"
Satine chuckled as she walked up behind me and gave me a kiss. "Think she'll ever catch it?" She asked as she sat down on the lounge chair next to me. She held a glass of lemonade in one hand.
I laughed as I took her hand and absentmindedly played with her fingers. "Of course not. I wonder why the thing doesn't just fly away, though..."
She laughed and we spoke about various topics for a little while before falling silent. My mind wandered, and as it frequently did, my thoughts returned back to six years ago, and how Satine and I had gotten to where we are.
After fleeing Paris, Satine and I had gone to my father's house to stay. My mother accepted us with open arms, and my father grudgingly followed her example. Under his breath, though, I could hear him muttering various comments about me wasting my life with a can-can dancer. We hadn't stayed long.
We lived in the English country for little less than three years before moving on. Satine had come running to me one day, two-year-old Maddy in her arms, hysterically screaming that she'd seen the Duke's bodyguard in the market. Fearing for both our lives, along with Madeline's, we fled. Yet again.
After much debate, we finally relocated to Switzerland, neither of us missing the irony. Spectacular, Spectacular had originally been set in Switzerland. We figured it would be a good tribute to remind us of how we'd met and were brought together, and it was as good a place as any to stay out of the Duke's way. After all, who would ever really WANT to move to Switzerland?
We currently resided in a majestic, out-of-the-way hotel called The Mountain View Hotel. The place was aptly named, for it was built not more than twenty feet from the start of a mountain range. The hotel was large and very well decorated; Satine and I paid our rent using money from my trust fund until I could find a job.
Satine's laugh brought me back to reality. She was giggling at Maddy, who had apparently just performed some comedic act that I had missed. "Maddy, honey, it's time for your nap!" Satine yelled after catching a glance at my pocket watch. Obediently, our daughter abandoned her game of Chase the Butterfly and ran towards us. "Do I have to, Mama?" She whined.
"Of course you have to," I said. "You don't want to be falling asleep at dinner, do you?"
Satine handed me her lemonade as she stood up and scooped Maddy up in her arms. "We certainly don't want that happening!" Satine exclaimed, as if the very idea shocked and appalled her.
Maddy giggled. "You mean I'd fall asleep in my soup?"
Satine and I laughed. "You probably would," Satine agreed. "That wouldn't be good at all."
"No, it wouldn't!" Maddy wholeheartedly agreed. "Because then the soup would get up your nose and every time you sneezed you would sneeze vegetable soup!!" She nodded solemnly.
Satine grinned. "She's certainly got your imagination, Christian..." she informed me as she and Maddy turned and walked towards the hotel.
I smiled and sat back. I took a sip of the lemonade and then set it down in the shade of my chair. I laid back and closed my eyes. I hummed a song under my breath.
"Hey, Christian, what are you up to out here?" A familiar voice asked. I opened my eyes to see someone standing over me. I shielded my eyes from the sun so I could see Dr. Peter Lafollette grinning mischievously.
"Not much," I said, and smiled. "Satine and I were watching Madeline chase a butterfly earlier. The two went to go take naps, though. I'm all alone out here."
"Mind if I join you?"
"Of course not!" I gestured to the lounge chair that Satine had just vacated. Peter was the first person I had met when Satine, Maddy and I had moved into Mountain View. He lived on the first floor, and he was one of my only friends. Well... my only friend, to be true. Satine and I had to keep secret so the Duke wouldn't find us, so we hadn't met many people.
Peter sat down and made himself comfortable. "So what have you been doing recently? I haven't seen you in a week or two."
I shrugged. "Not much. Maddy's seventh birthday is coming up in a few weeks, so Satine and I have been planning something special for her."
"Oh?"
I nodded. "She's growing up so fast... I can still remember when we found out that Satine was pregnant." I chuckled at the memory.
"When did that happen?"
"Just after the opening night of 'Spectacular, Spectacular'." Peter was one of a very few number of people who knew what Satine and I had done before we moved to exotic Switzerland. "She collapsed onstage, just after the finale. She was taken to the hospital and we found out a few days later." I smiled at the memory, though it was only bittersweet because of the news Zidler had brought moments later.
Peter nodded and was silent for a moment. "Do you and Satine ever talk about that day?"
"We used to. Not much anymore. She'd rather forget about the Moulin Rouge and everything that went along with it."
"Would you rather forget about it?"
I smiled and shook my head. "Of course not. Those were our best times together; when we'd sit on top of the giant elephant and sing to each other." I chuckled. My gift is my song...
"Do you miss those days?" Peter gently pressed me.
I didn't answer for almost a minute. The few weeks I'd spent at the Moulin Rouge I treasured and held very, very close to my heart. "I do. I would give anything to be back in those days..."
"Why?"
"Because Satine and I were young. MADLY in love. I was naive and still believed everything to be right with the world... the Duke destroyed a part of that, I guess. Living in constant fear, always having to look over your shoulder. All that stuff." I shrugged again. "But at least now we don't have to hide our love. She doesn't have to pretend to be with anyone else because she's with me. And that's the most important thing to us."
*****
That evening, after dinner, I walked into our suite to hear Satine softly singing our daughter to sleep. "My gift is my song, and this one's for you..." she sang. I smiled and listened as I undressed. "I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind..."
"What a wonderfully original song!" I said when she came into the room a few minutes later. "Did you write that? It's absolutely breathtaking!"
She laughed and rolled her eyes. "You silly..." She gave me a little punch as she climbed into bed.
We talked a few minutes until she turned the lamp off and laid down to sleep. Something was on my mind, though, and I wanted to know her answer. I reached over and turned the lamp back on. "Do you miss it?"
"Mmm? Miss what?" She was near sleep.
"Six years ago. The Moulin Rouge. All that."
She opened one eye and looked at me skeptically. "Not really. Why do you ask?"
I shrugged. "Peter was asking me about it earlier and I wondered if you missed it. All the attention, the outrageous amount of money and diamonds floating around, being an actress. I just wondered."
She sighed and propped herself on an elbow to better look at me. "I don't miss anything about it, Christian. The glamour came with a high price, one that I hated paying. I'm much happier here, where people love me." She smiled reassuringly and gave me a quick kiss on the lips. As I pulled her into my arms all my doubts vanished and I wondered why I'd ever questioned her.
Reclining in an outdoor lounge chair, I watched our six-year-old daughter Madeline chase a butterfly. She looked almost exactly like her mother; her long, fiery-red hair trailed behind her as she ran around, and even though I couldn't see her eyes, I knew they were dancing with laughter. Just like Satine's did when she laughed.
She giggled and yelled, "Look, Papa! I almost caught it!"
"Good for you, sweetie!" I called back. "Try harder, maybe you'll catch him next time!"
Satine chuckled as she walked up behind me and gave me a kiss. "Think she'll ever catch it?" She asked as she sat down on the lounge chair next to me. She held a glass of lemonade in one hand.
I laughed as I took her hand and absentmindedly played with her fingers. "Of course not. I wonder why the thing doesn't just fly away, though..."
She laughed and we spoke about various topics for a little while before falling silent. My mind wandered, and as it frequently did, my thoughts returned back to six years ago, and how Satine and I had gotten to where we are.
After fleeing Paris, Satine and I had gone to my father's house to stay. My mother accepted us with open arms, and my father grudgingly followed her example. Under his breath, though, I could hear him muttering various comments about me wasting my life with a can-can dancer. We hadn't stayed long.
We lived in the English country for little less than three years before moving on. Satine had come running to me one day, two-year-old Maddy in her arms, hysterically screaming that she'd seen the Duke's bodyguard in the market. Fearing for both our lives, along with Madeline's, we fled. Yet again.
After much debate, we finally relocated to Switzerland, neither of us missing the irony. Spectacular, Spectacular had originally been set in Switzerland. We figured it would be a good tribute to remind us of how we'd met and were brought together, and it was as good a place as any to stay out of the Duke's way. After all, who would ever really WANT to move to Switzerland?
We currently resided in a majestic, out-of-the-way hotel called The Mountain View Hotel. The place was aptly named, for it was built not more than twenty feet from the start of a mountain range. The hotel was large and very well decorated; Satine and I paid our rent using money from my trust fund until I could find a job.
Satine's laugh brought me back to reality. She was giggling at Maddy, who had apparently just performed some comedic act that I had missed. "Maddy, honey, it's time for your nap!" Satine yelled after catching a glance at my pocket watch. Obediently, our daughter abandoned her game of Chase the Butterfly and ran towards us. "Do I have to, Mama?" She whined.
"Of course you have to," I said. "You don't want to be falling asleep at dinner, do you?"
Satine handed me her lemonade as she stood up and scooped Maddy up in her arms. "We certainly don't want that happening!" Satine exclaimed, as if the very idea shocked and appalled her.
Maddy giggled. "You mean I'd fall asleep in my soup?"
Satine and I laughed. "You probably would," Satine agreed. "That wouldn't be good at all."
"No, it wouldn't!" Maddy wholeheartedly agreed. "Because then the soup would get up your nose and every time you sneezed you would sneeze vegetable soup!!" She nodded solemnly.
Satine grinned. "She's certainly got your imagination, Christian..." she informed me as she and Maddy turned and walked towards the hotel.
I smiled and sat back. I took a sip of the lemonade and then set it down in the shade of my chair. I laid back and closed my eyes. I hummed a song under my breath.
"Hey, Christian, what are you up to out here?" A familiar voice asked. I opened my eyes to see someone standing over me. I shielded my eyes from the sun so I could see Dr. Peter Lafollette grinning mischievously.
"Not much," I said, and smiled. "Satine and I were watching Madeline chase a butterfly earlier. The two went to go take naps, though. I'm all alone out here."
"Mind if I join you?"
"Of course not!" I gestured to the lounge chair that Satine had just vacated. Peter was the first person I had met when Satine, Maddy and I had moved into Mountain View. He lived on the first floor, and he was one of my only friends. Well... my only friend, to be true. Satine and I had to keep secret so the Duke wouldn't find us, so we hadn't met many people.
Peter sat down and made himself comfortable. "So what have you been doing recently? I haven't seen you in a week or two."
I shrugged. "Not much. Maddy's seventh birthday is coming up in a few weeks, so Satine and I have been planning something special for her."
"Oh?"
I nodded. "She's growing up so fast... I can still remember when we found out that Satine was pregnant." I chuckled at the memory.
"When did that happen?"
"Just after the opening night of 'Spectacular, Spectacular'." Peter was one of a very few number of people who knew what Satine and I had done before we moved to exotic Switzerland. "She collapsed onstage, just after the finale. She was taken to the hospital and we found out a few days later." I smiled at the memory, though it was only bittersweet because of the news Zidler had brought moments later.
Peter nodded and was silent for a moment. "Do you and Satine ever talk about that day?"
"We used to. Not much anymore. She'd rather forget about the Moulin Rouge and everything that went along with it."
"Would you rather forget about it?"
I smiled and shook my head. "Of course not. Those were our best times together; when we'd sit on top of the giant elephant and sing to each other." I chuckled. My gift is my song...
"Do you miss those days?" Peter gently pressed me.
I didn't answer for almost a minute. The few weeks I'd spent at the Moulin Rouge I treasured and held very, very close to my heart. "I do. I would give anything to be back in those days..."
"Why?"
"Because Satine and I were young. MADLY in love. I was naive and still believed everything to be right with the world... the Duke destroyed a part of that, I guess. Living in constant fear, always having to look over your shoulder. All that stuff." I shrugged again. "But at least now we don't have to hide our love. She doesn't have to pretend to be with anyone else because she's with me. And that's the most important thing to us."
*****
That evening, after dinner, I walked into our suite to hear Satine softly singing our daughter to sleep. "My gift is my song, and this one's for you..." she sang. I smiled and listened as I undressed. "I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind..."
"What a wonderfully original song!" I said when she came into the room a few minutes later. "Did you write that? It's absolutely breathtaking!"
She laughed and rolled her eyes. "You silly..." She gave me a little punch as she climbed into bed.
We talked a few minutes until she turned the lamp off and laid down to sleep. Something was on my mind, though, and I wanted to know her answer. I reached over and turned the lamp back on. "Do you miss it?"
"Mmm? Miss what?" She was near sleep.
"Six years ago. The Moulin Rouge. All that."
She opened one eye and looked at me skeptically. "Not really. Why do you ask?"
I shrugged. "Peter was asking me about it earlier and I wondered if you missed it. All the attention, the outrageous amount of money and diamonds floating around, being an actress. I just wondered."
She sighed and propped herself on an elbow to better look at me. "I don't miss anything about it, Christian. The glamour came with a high price, one that I hated paying. I'm much happier here, where people love me." She smiled reassuringly and gave me a quick kiss on the lips. As I pulled her into my arms all my doubts vanished and I wondered why I'd ever questioned her.