The next morning Bill had room service bring by a large breakfast array for them. He had of course, woken up before Beatrix, but he'd done his best to let her sleep as much as possible. When she did wake up, he was sitting next to her, cross legged on top of the covers with a series of trays in front of him. There was a plate of croissants and jelly, fruit, bagels, some pastry looking things and a giant pitcher of juice. It wasn't the fanciest breakfast they had to offer, but he didn't want to go overboard on the whole breakfast thing. The morning sun was casting bright rays through the French doors onto the finely carpeted floor. Bill was watching television at a low volume and when Beatrix rolled over blearily, he bent over and kissed her.
"Good morning," he smiled, croissant in hand. "I went ahead and ordered some breakfast." His gaze flickered to the television, "You won't believe how much nudity there in on French TV....." he didn't sound all that horrified by this fact.
Beatrix wasn't that horrified either, as she came up to a sitting position and propped a pillow behind her back. Blue eyes glazed over from grogginess did a quick sweep of the trays laid out on the bed. The breakfast array although simple looked delicious. "That's because," she began in a slow tone as she reached over for a knife and butter. "The French supposedly have magnificent bodies." She smirked idly as she took up a croissant and began to smear on a helping of butter. She munched on her croissant and a few various fruits from the fruit selection and kept her attention on the television show Bill pointed out.
"Now," she poked her fork through a wad of melon. "Seeing this, I'm not entirely sure I agree with the magnificent body concept." She wasn't going to state what she found on their bodies to be an imperfection so she took a bite of the melon and chewed idly.
Bill raised an eyebrow. He wasn't so sure about the magnificent bodies' thing himself. "I think," he said as he went about picking at a bunch of grapes, "....it's that they are simply willing to show them off more in public.......and that somehow makes them more appealing," he shrugged, unsure of his own explanation, as he tried one of the pastry
looking things.
Beatrix took a few chews bites and half of a cheese filled pastry was taken before she spoke up again, "What's on the agenda today?"
When she asked him what was on the agenda, Bill leaned back on his hands, "Well...I called down to the front desk earlier and they gave me the name of a good winery just about an hour outside of Paris. There's a place we have to catch the bus to go out there, but we've have to take the Metro subway there first. Should be an adventure," he smiled over at her as he stood up, and running his hands through his rather unruly hair, "I'm going to go take a shower and shave. Then, I say we get going." Bill wasn't one to doddle around for long, when there was something to be done. There was no missing the wisp of excitement in his voice, for the first time in a very, very long time; Bill was genuinely giddy over doing something so "normal."
He grabbed his clothing for the day and disappeared into the bathroom. Ever prompt, ten minutes later, he opened the door fully dressed, razor still in hand. "You almost ready Kiddo?" he called into the room.
"I've been ready for the past…ten seconds," she called back to him, humor ringing in her tone. He was always so fucking prompt it annoyed the hell out of her but today she'd play along. Just before he came out of the bathroom she slipped on her shoe and sprang up to her feet. She was all dressed and ready with a placid smile on her face.
It was quite a scene seeing the two killers trying to decipher the map and get directions from local patrons. Beatrix's French wasn't as awful as Bill's but she still had difficulties when it came to trying to figure out exactly what street the metro was on. Further confliction started when it came time to figure out what stop they needed to get off on. Luckily this didn't cause too much hostile bickering or aggravation between the two and in the end it was something to look back on and laugh.
They were now seated on the bus that would drop them off at the winery. The bus was rather empty and the bus driver wasn't that friendly as he refused to play tour-guide and point out things on their drive. The road was quite beautiful. Pure country, dirt road, wooden fence posts, various animals assorted along the side of the road. Beatrix would randomly point out a cow or a horse on the side of the road making it as if Bill had never seen one before. She knew it was annoying him so she continued. "There was a point when I was about five that I wanted a pony," she stated randomly, her forehead pressed against the window, fine cut bangs plastering against the glass.
Bill had finally settled down after the whole "map" episode between he and Beatrix. They'd had a pretty good row....there had been a lot of yelling at each other and violent arm waving. Bill was pretty sure he'd told at least three native Frenchman to fuck off in the process of them trying to help the situation. Beatrix only irritated him further, being so sure she was right about which they were going and he not wanting to ask for directions in the first place.
Well, either way....they'd worked it out...gotten over it, and now it all seemed quite funny, as they sat on the bus. The scenery scrolling by was quite breathtaking and it was easy to stare placidly out at the rural French countryside. Bill found Beatrix's constant pointing out of perfectly common farm animals rather humorous...at least for the first few minutes, and then it got annoying. "Don't all little girls go through that phase?" He quipped at her, "The pony phase...followed shortly by the 'I want to be a veterinarian' phase." He smirked, continuing to gaze out the window. All joking aside, maybe she had wanted a pony.....no little girls living in trailer parks got ponies though, not real ones at least. "When I was five....hrm..." he had to really dig back on that one, ".....I think I wanted this new set of plastic cowboys and Indians. They used to come in these cardboard tubes...which plastic tops," he chuckled, "....this if way before your time of course. Well, every year they'd update the set......add new guys....new poses and such. I remember seeing the new canister at the corner store. I wanted it so bad…..hardly as unreachable as a pony...but it seemed like it at the time. If I'd been a few years older...I just would have stolen it like I did everything I wanted later on. But I wasn't like that yet....so....I went to my mother...and asked her if she could buy it for me........" his look darkened a little, "....I don't think she ever heard me....I don't remember her ever doing so. She pushed me away….or something along those lines. Then, I think I went to Estiban.....in tears like a silly child. He said there was nothing wrong with the set I had, so why should I bother with the new one. I should enjoy what I have. I told him that half of my guys were missing arms and heads. Well," Bill shrugged,"....it was no good. I was stuck with the shitty set. And by the time the next year rolled around, I thought they were dumb anyways....instead I wanted one of those play John Wayne twin shooter and belt sets." He laughed, "I think I got that though."
He grew serious again, thinking on the less than idealistic childhood that many of their sort lived through. There was something to be said about that. He leaned against Beatrix, giving her a kiss on the side of the head, "Good thing you didn't get a pony, Kiddo. All girls who get ponies end up being rich spoiled bitch's anyways."
Eventually, the bus came to a halt in front of the winery. Both of them climbed out of the bus along with a handful of other people on their way to do the same thing. The winery was exquisitely beautiful. The main grouping of buildings looked quite old, but had obviously been remodeled so as not to fall apart over the centuries. The winery sat partially up the side of a gently sloped hill and behind it, falling to a large valley was a sea of grapevines. The bright sun shone gloriously over the green hills and twisting vines. It looked like something out of a tourist brochure.
The group was met by an elderly looking man, who spoke fairly good English. With a kind smile, he began a short tour of the grounds before they all were invited in to taste the large variety of wines that were produced there.
Bill bent over and whispered in Beatrix's ear as they embarked on the tour, "You'd better not get trashed in such a cultured place...." he smirked, knowing she hated being teased about her rather weak wine retaining skills.
Beatrix did the only thing she could think of which was to hit Bill hard against the arm with the back of her hand. A slap to the arm, so to speak but either way she didn't hold back on force and noticed the faint wince on Bill's part. She grinned slyly from ear to ear. "Smart ass," she hissed with a good amount of playfulness laced in. Blue eyes looked up to notice the group was already moving forward and she proceeded to follow. Bill, once recovered did the same.
There were two other couples on the wine tour besides Beatrix and Bill. Both sets were obviously tourists. There was an elderly couple, a husband and wife who were both obviously a great deal older than Bill or they just hadn't aged well. The second couple was middle aged and had noticeable English accents. All in all both couples were pleasant to be around during their tour of the winery.
Beatrix found she was learning a lot of things she never knew about wine and the process of preparing it. As fascinating as it was she came to realize that the 'job' of making it took years and could become boring in time. Either way it was interesting to see first hand.
"Isn't this brilliant?" Said the middle-aged woman that was standing on Beatrix's other side as they stood there watching as the tour guide prepared his next presentation.
"Oh, yes," Beatrix replied putting on an all out friendly demeanor.
"I'm Rose and over there is my husband John," she motioned to the man more towards the front of the group.
"I'm…Natalie and that's my friend…Adam," Beatrix waved a dismissive hand in Bill's general direction.
"Pleasure to meet you Natalie. Are you here on vacation?"
Beatrix gave a tight nod. "Yes, we really needed a vacation away from work."
"So did we! It was becoming a hassle with the kids and work on top of that. I said to John if I didn't get away soon I was going to kill something," Rose laughed lightly but cut herself off quickly. "Oh, looks like we're moving on to the best part. Wining tasting. Enjoy, honey," and she moved away to rejoin her husband.
Beatrix watched a moment before rejoining her own. She held a placidly thin smile on her face. "I renamed you Adam," she commented comically as she laced an arm into his and moved to follow the rest inside.
Bill scowled, "Adam?" He obviously didn't approve, "You could have at least renamed me as something......a little more manly...." a smirk. There would be more than enough opportunities for him to properly get back at her there. They followed the other two couples into the thankfully cool and shady interior of the winery.
They were all shown to a long roughly hewn but beautiful wood table, where a number of small barrels were lined up. These were the traditional old wine barrels. Along with these a row of bottled wine sat, uncorked. At the end of the table was a large tray lined with small glass wine bottles. These were basically smaller versions of the normal wine glass. They were informed to test as they pleased. They were even given some pointers on which wines tasted particularly good mixed together.
Bill, with Beatrix at his side, began pouring himself a couple of mini glasses. The other two couples, whom Bill found to be pleasant enough, did the same.
There were a series of small traditional French cafe style tables off to the side, where people could sit and casually take their time to taste their wine choices. Once the two killers had poured themselves a handful of glasses each, they went and sat down at one of the tables. In typical Bill fashion, Bill took his time, savoring each one as he watched Beatrix do the same with just the slightest of smirks on his face.
The wine, to no ones surprise, was absolutely wonderful. Bill had never had wine quite like it, and he went back to try a handful more. He then decided to mix a few. He had something of a....penchant for mixing things....and wine and potent chemicals weren't too far off. He insisted to Beatrix she had to try one of his concoctions, which he described as "extremely fucking good."
As the wine continued to flow, so did the conversation and it didn't take long for the six people to begin to talk to one another more conversationally. Bill found both the elderly man and his wife quite interesting, he liked the middle aged British man enough, but he wasn't too sure about his wife so far.
Thus far, Beatrix hadn't fallen over in a drunken stupor, or removed any clothing in an ecstatic state of uncontrolled enthusiasm. Bill was a little disappointed about that.
The conversation and the drinking went on for a good forty minutes until everyone decided to stop and sober up. All six couples got to know one another quite well during their drinking experience. Beatrix learned that the English couple lived in upstate New York with their three children. Beatrix was keen to know more on the children as well as their 'normal' life style. Luckily no one thought this was odd seeing they were all a tad tipsy. The elderly couple Bill spent a majority of the time talking to lived in Ohio and owned a small business that sold homemade jams. Beatrix wanted to give them her address to send a sample but she resisted the temptation.
Soon it was time to leave and Beatrix stood near the exit as Bill paid for a few various wines he wanted to take home. She had held her wine quite well and was now only feeling light headed and a tad woozy. But she didn't give it much thought knowing she should have ate more of the crackers on the table as her stomach had been empty since breakfast.
As Bill came back over the smile plastered on her face was weary but no less blissful. "Ready?" She inclined lightly to the bus waiting at the end of the driveway.
"Yeah....." Bill replied, irritated that customs only allowed one to bring two bottles of wine back into the US. "Your going to have to pack some of these bottles in your suitcase...that is, if we don't want to have them confiscated in customs," he said as they walked back to the bus, toting the bottles of wine.
The trip back was pleasant, seeing as the six bus riders knew one another a little better, there was some conversation over the seats and so on. Bill hadn't missed Beatrix's rather focused interest on the ever-so-quant NY located, British couple's "normal" life. He personally didn't see much of the charm in the whole thing, but he didn't say anything as to not piss Beatrix off. He knew she had her moments of whimsy...it was best to let her have them.
It was nearing late in the afternoon when they finally got back to the hotel. With the added transportation time, the touring, the wine lessons and the ample tasting, the day had flown by and suddenly feeling it, Bill threw himself down on one of the rooms huge overstuffed chairs...once he'd carefully placed his newly acquired wine in a sate spot of course.
"That was quite enjoyable," he said calmly but wearily as he took his shoes off, with a look of great relief. "Good company as well.....," he glanced at Beatrix, with a raised eyebrow, lips pursed to say something but he seemed to decide against it. Bill always had this very impersonal yet charming way of treating strangers....as if he was removed, yet there was some vested interest that allowed him to be quite likeable. It was a set of behavioral codes that he'd developed over his life to allow him to be an amazingly effective killer yet remain personable enough to get what he wanted. He hardly even realized he did it any more. "Goddamn, I'm tired...." he scowled, leaning back in the chair.
Beatrix came over to the bed and nestled on top of the warm comforter. She was tired too but she didn't want to admit it. The day had been long but the time zone was still messing with her internal clock. She reached over for a pillow and held it to her chest as she rolled onto her back. Blue eyes turned to thoughtfully stare at the ceiling. "Shit, this is just what I was worried about," she began to muse quietly to herself. "We get up early, spend the day out, and by late afternoon you're dead to the world."
The smirk evident on her facial features she turned head to him. "We could relax for a few hours and then go out for a late dinner," she suggested quietly but with hinted mockery. She had no intention on using those few hours to take a nap but rest her eyes and perhaps watch some more of the nude French on the T.V.
Bill on the other hand, had every intention of using those hours to take a nap. "I'm dead to the world?" He mused crankily, as he stood up and crawled across the bed. He collapsed on his chest on the pillow beside Beatrix, ".....I don't think I'm the only one....." But the statement lost allot of weight, due to the fact he was already half asleep. "Wake me up.........at some point..." he said groggily, hair covering his face. He had forgotten to tell her that he agreed with the idea about late dinner, but it was too late now....and she probably just assumed he thought so anyways.
And thus Beatrix was allowed to rest and watch a good amount of nude French people on TV in peace...well...at least until Bill started snoring. He'd warned her about that sometime ago. He was awakened with a series of rather nasty strikes to the back and Beatrix's distinctive muttered curses. "What?" he snarled.
"I heard…" Beatrix began and took an impulsive inch back to avoid Bill's sudden cranky awakening. Her lips came in a taut line and her head canted down at him as she supported herself on her knees on the bed. "That if you roll a person that is snoring over than they will stop snoring. So, I tried and you wouldn't budge. So," Her hands went palm down on her thighs. "I thought if I…tapped you…you'd roll over on reflex." Her slender brows furrowed. "Obviously that didn't work." She was more or less happy and somewhat bubbly. Perhaps it was the after affects of the wine in her system that she sobered off by watching aimless television. She caught a few winks of sleep but only just enough to refresh her. She was now on the edge of the bed slipping on a pair of sandals. She looked over to him with a coy smile. "But, since you're awake it's time to go."
"Nooo....the reason somebody stops snoring when you roll them over...." Bill began as he groggily sat up, "....is because it fucking wakes them up....and thus..." a smirk in Beatrix's direction,"....they stop snoring." He was playing around of course; he was more than glad that Beatrix had woken him up. To emphasize that he wasn't really all that grumpy, he gave her a playful shove as he stood up.
It didn't take Bill long to get ready and they were back down on the street within five minutes. He'd spotted a nice looking restaurant earlier that day on the way to the Metro and with only a few missed turns they found it. It was something of a hole in the wall sort of place, set into a very old looking brick building. The setting was intimate, upscale but still casual. The host sat them at a small corner table. After a few minutes of deciding what to order, a waiter took their order and let them be.
"Ya know Kiddo...." Bill said, as he unfolded the starch white napkin at his elbow, ".....I could get used to this lifestyle." He gave her a warm look, "I can't say I miss home all that much......" he picked up his butter knife, examining one side of the blade and then the other. "I could give it all up........" he raised a self doubting eyebrow, ".....perhaps...." He set the knife down, looking intensely at Beatrix, "It's not impossible...." Indeed, Bill had been a wise investor throughout his years of contract killing. He had something of a small fortune stowed away, untouched.....gaining interest in a Swiss bank account at that very moment. It would be easy to just....go away and live out the rest of his life somewhere far away.
Beatrix stared at him in an almost silent horror. Did she just hear what she thought she heard? Yes and it came from Bill's mouth, not her own or her own teasing fantasies. She faded out of her stunned expression and put on something more thoughtful and a touch serious. Her hands nonchalantly unfolded the napkin were she revealed her own butter knife and wrapped her long white fingers around it picking it up. Blue eyes stared back at the blurred reflection of her own eyes in the metallic surface. "I never thought it to be impossible," she said gently. She knew he wasn't referring to this 'life-style' as being one of tourism, fancy dining, and room service but the life-style of being normal.
She preformed an effortless display of movements with the mere butter knife before settling it down to the side of her plate. She wanted to believe him. Perhaps this would be one of the only times in her life she'd never not believe him. Bill enjoyed what he did too much to give it up willingly. There would have to be a catch or a substantial reason for him to give up this life and move onto something away from the risks of being a full time killer.
"You miss it," she stated-matter-of-factly. Just as she would miss it at some point. One could never fully reject what they were although one could try really fucking hard. She lifted her eyes to level with his void with an untouched sadness that was hard to read. She switched off. "Besides, this life can get boring after awhile." A lie but it was something to clear the musty air.
Bill stared back at her, his expression impossible to properly place or name. He hadn't intended his musings to touch a nerve or chafe in some way or another, but there was no missing the rather dark mix of emotions that he'd seen scroll across Beatrix's face. He hadn't been lying to her per se, but he was far from telling absolute truths. Had he been toying too carelessly with something she found precious? He was treating this whole "real life" thing with a sense of casual and experimental zeal....where she seemed to take the concept far more seriously. He was more or less fucking around. And she'd called him on his lie. That was...........irritating. They sat in silence as the waiter brought their food and then politely left the table.
Bill let that dark stare continue between him and the woman sitting across from him for a few more seconds, her brief flood of emotions had subsequently been shut off. He could relate to that and then with a somewhat dismissive nod, he turned to his newly arrived plate of food.
Beatrix was too smart to be tempted back into the "real world," he was sure of that. She would never leave. And Bill had to admit to himself that that thought gave him a very selfishly derived sense of security. She was his gal, she'd always been, and she would always be. It sounded perhaps a bit too possessive, but to Bill...it was true. Why would she want to anything more? He was good to her, he'd do anything for her, he'd give her anything she wanted, he adored her.....no, more than that.....he loved her.
The rest of the dinner conversation wasn't negative, but it remained rather sparse.. And Bill had to admit it felt damn good to step out of the stiff restaurant air and into the clear night. He clasped onto Beatrix's hand with affection, "Come on Kiddo....let's go find that coffee bistro again," he spoke softly, "I think it was somewhere off to the left....."