A/N- See, a long chapter. I keep my word sometimes; don't loose complete faith in me.
"Satine! Wake up!"
"Goawayimsleeping," Satine muttered to her pillow. The little girl was insistent.
"Saaaaaaaaattttttttttiiiiiiiiiinnnnneee." She pulled the pillow out from her sister's head.
"What do you want?" Satine said, not opening her eyes so as to hold on to a pleasant dream a moment longer.
"It's noon. I want food."
"Make your own food. Have cereal."
"Have you got a hang over?"
"No, I'm not mom." Satine regretted her words immediately.
"Mom's gone again," said Lucy softly. "She left last night." Satine sat up, noticing how very small Lucy looked.
"I'll get dressed and we can go out for breakfast, ok?"
"Kay!"
"Go get ready!"
Lucy ran out of the room. Satine stood up slowly, stretching and rubbing her eyes she meandered into the bathroom. She looked at her ruffled reflection in the mirror and smiled. She kept smiling as she pulled on jeans and a t-shirt from the pile on her floor.
Digging around she found her purse, a hair tie and a pair of socks. Lucy came bounding in, fully clothed in her favorite skirt and blue t-shirt.
"Can I have waffles?"
"Yes, you can have whatever you want, Honey." Satine said, surveying her un-brushed hair in the mirror.
Together the girls made their way outside, walking close together.
The café was fairly quiet, for the Moulin, which didn't mean empty. There was the usual newspaper reading crowd in the front and in the armchairs in the back college students working. A man dressed all in black was writing in a spiral bound notebook and alternately sipping espresso and fiddling with his heavy rimmed glasses. A woman with a sleeping baby was eating a salad and two little Chinese girls were beading bracelets and sharing a hot chocolate.
Lucy chose her favorite table, the one with the candle holder shaped like a cat, and Satine brought her a menu.
"Hey Satine, wanna take table twelve?" joked Betty, one of the older waitresses. Satine laughed.
"I'm on tonight, sorry." Satine sat down across from Lucy, who was reading the menu with knitted brows. "So, waffles?"
"Am I allowed to change my mind?"
"What do you want?" Satine was very aware now of the fact that she'd told Lucy she could eat whatever she wanted.
"Blueberry pancakes, French fries and root beer." Satine winced.
"I did say you could get anything…"
"Yep." Lucy looked pleased with herself.
"Right, I'll be back."
"I want the cow mug and a swirly straw," Lucy called after her. Satine put on an apron and went behind the counter.
"Blueberry pancakes and French fries Nate," Satine called to the chef.
"Is Lucy here with you?"
"With an order like that? She better be…" Satine got Lucy's soda and a coffee for herself. She brought the drinks out to the table and then returned to get her own breakfast, a muffin with jam. Balancing that with Lucy's order on a tray was no easy task but Satine had been a waitress since she was fourteen, so she managed.
"sadeencuneegutadapawkapterdis?" Lucy demanded her mouth full.
"Swallow!" Satine commanded. Lucy nodded and nearly choked.
"Can we go to the park after this?"
"Yea, but we have to go home for dinner. I'm working tonight, if we see Christian in the park maybe he can take you. Or can you go to Nancy's house?" Nancy was the elderly woman who lived in the apartment bellow them. She had three grown children who never visited and so she was always more than happy to watch Lucy.
Satine usually didn't want to bother the kind old woman and just brought Lucy to work with her but tonight was karaoke night and the theme was cabaret. Satine had a feeling that it wouldn't be a good night to bring a ten year old. It hadn't helped that feeling that the waitress uniforms were black lingerie, fish nets and boas.
"Christian! He's more fun that silly old Nancy."
Satine had half a mind to tell her to be nice, but she had to admit she had a point. After all, Christian, not Nancy, was her boyfriend of two months.
Lucy finished before Satine. An impossible feat considering the amount of food. Satine cleared their dishes and led Lucy outside, making her put her coat back on.
"But it's hot oooooout. You're always cold." Lucy complained. "We don't even have a fan."
"We have a heater though; loads of people don't have that."
"I don't like heat."
"Well you're lucky you live in New York."
"I don't like New York."
"You don't like anything today."
"I like the park but you're walking slow, hurry up!"
"I bet I can beat you there!" Satine said as she was off.
"That's not fair, you go a head start!" Lucy called, running after her. "And your legs are longer!"
Christian sat on the library steps, right across the street from Washington Square Park. Christian took a seat next to the open window and allowed his eyes to wander among the foliage, searching for inspiration.
The park was full of autumn sunlight and recently fallen leaves. The past month had been an explosion of color which was only just starting to fade. It was unusually warm for mid-November and students had flocked there, talking loudly, spreading blankets, eager to enjoy the last of the good weather.
He saw a blonde girl asleep on the chest of a dark boy, his arms around her. Three girls were laughing on a bench near them. Several boys were kicking a soccer ball.
Nini was reading beneath a great oak tree, every now and then she'd stop to push her glasses up on her nose or run a strand of hair over her lips. She had very short hair, except the pieces in the front. She'd told Christian she cut her own hair. He could tell.
The quiet of the afternoon was broken by high girlish shrieks. Satine and Lucy were racing through the park, Satine in the lead but Lucy close behind.
"Saaaatine!" Lucy was squealing "Slooow down!" Satine halted, bending to catch her breath. Lucy jumped on her, pushing her into a pile of leaves. The two were obviously unaware that anyone else was in the park. Satine laughed and threw a handful of leaves at her little sister. Catching sight of Christian, Satine called to him as she attempted to get back up.
"Christian, come help!" she shouted as Lucy pushed her back. Christian came over, reluctantly.
"That's not fair!" Lucy said scooping up leaves.
"Hey!" protested Christian as they hit him square in the face. "Come back here!" He and Satine pelted Lucy with leaves. Satine then turned and attacked Christian. "I thought you were on my side!" he knocked her over; she laughed and tried to hide under the leaves. "I can still see you," Christian teased, taking a seat beside her and trying to simultaneously pelt her with leaves and kiss her neck. Satine smiled and kissed him back, momentarily forgetting that her little sister was standing nearby trying very hard to look blasé.
"You guys, I'm going to the swings" Lucy called, looking a bit scandalized despite her efforts.
Satine and Christian lay in the leaves a good while, acting as young lovers often do. They finally emerged to lean entwined against a tree, Satine's messy red mop filled with twigs. Christian ran his fingers affectionately across the knotted curls, treasuring each dear moment when he could be close to Satine. It was hard to believe only two months ago she had flat out rejected him. Since the day she had agreed to "give him a try" it had been nothing but bliss beyond what either of them had previously believed possible. They both led lives that left little time for other commitments, but that just made the time they had more precious.
"I've been meaning to ask you something," said Christian, with a nervous air Satine found very endearing. "My sister Jane is coming to New York next weekend. Some of her paintings are being shown at a gallery. I'd love for you to come meet her."
Satine relaxed. "I'd love you go, I've heard so much about Jane already."
"It's not Jane who would be the problem; my parent's will be there too."
Satine's face change slightly, but she nodded. "If you want me there, I'll still come."
"It would mean a lot to me and to Jane if you would."
"Then I'll go and that's that," said Satine, unable to look completely sunny about this idea.
Trying to push the now looming prospect of meeting Christian's ultraconservative parents, the couple went to collect Lucy from the swings, where she had made several new friends and was engaged in an intense jumping contest with them.
Christian walked home with Satine and Lucy. As the walked, Satine felt herself overcome with strange emotions. She felt an overwhelming sense of belonging to something. A group. A family. Her throat got tight and her eyes burned so much she thought she was getting ill. Suddenly for the first time in many years, tears were rolling down her cheeks. It took her a moment to realize why her face was wet; it was such an alien experience. She tried to hide it from Christian but he saw and held her closer.
"What's wrong, love?"
"Nothing," she gasped between tears. "Everything is so absolutely perfect in every way; I wish time would stop."
