I hate Beyoncé
Work Text:
He thinks
Richard Poole is alone in his beach shack. It's Saturday afternoon, already dark. He is wearing, according to Camille, one of his "adorable" pajamas.
Well, these pajamas must not be so adorable considering that Camille has broken her promise to come by in the afternoon to discuss her latest case, the kidnapping of the owner of Saint Marie's most important tourist resort.
Richard wanted to discuss with Camille what he had come up with in order to increase the security of these types of resorts by using more cameras inside and outside the buildings, increase patrols in that area, perhaps implement a direct phone number with the Saint Marie Police Station to improve the security of the island's resorts and, of course, their occupants: resort staff, tourists, etc...
Richard had spoken to a colleague at the Met, based in London, who had offered to send him some alarms, special cameras, etc., in principle to be tested on an experimental basis to see whether or not it would work for security or not.
It was true that Richard Poole's team, i.e. his Detective Sergeant Camille Bordey, Sergeant Fidel Best and Officer Dwayne Myers had managed to find out where the hostage was and free him alive. But there is always room for improvement.
Richard takes another sip of his favorite tea as he watches the sun sink into the sea and listens to the sound of the waves.
Then he speaks up again, obviously to calm his frustration, as Harry, still standing next to him taking his handle and his nasty bugs, has no interest in the matter at hand:
"Camille knew it was very important for me...I mean, for the Station, to get this issue ready so I could present it to Commissioner Patterson! And it's not the first time she's stood me up!"
Even Harry would notice that Richard was lonely, getting lonelier and lonelier. He had grown accustomed to enjoying Camille's company outside of working hours. Not that he would try to take their strange relationship to another level, that's never!...But he feels lonely and jilted...
Suddenly he looks in the direction of his computer. Camille has been telling him for months that he should try to broaden his world, even if it's through the Internet. And she told him about You Tube videos. He could start there, as it was more than clear to her that Richard needed to catch up on his musical education, especially with current popular music.
It's okay" Richard says to himself again. Besides it's already dark and it's no longer possible to enjoy the view, although there is the soothing sound of the waves. He gets up, picks up his laptop, waits with amazing patience until he can enjoy the chosen page and, remembering the Leclerc pirate case of a year ago, he decides to broaden his musical culture.
What was the name of that singer he mistook for a witness in the case?
She thinks
Camille feels strange. She finds herself at La Kaz helping her mother. One of the waiters (on a weekend too!) has failed her miserably.
That's Saint Marie!
And Camille is busily helping Catherine in the kitchen, carrying dishes from table to table, taming the on-duty gropers and making sure the troublesome customers don't leave without paying.
She may seem bursting with activity, but her mind is with "her" Detective Inspector, whenever she wanders, it's because of him.
"I'm sorry, Richard. Maman called me at the last minute. I know that what you are proposing is very important, but you could take advantage of it to have fun, to discover other things! You never surf the net and I can assure you that, if you search properly, you can find something that will fulfill you, something that will keep you from getting bored when I'm not with you!"
Camille smiles and then stops in her madness with a frown. What if he finds another woman who is always available for him, who listens to him patiently, who has his same tastes?
Then someone pushes her away, a customer, another waiter, nor does she bother to find out.
She decides that even if they are just friends, she is not very fond of sharing her friends with other women. Jamais, jamais! Suddenly she gets very angry. With Richard, with the Internet, with herself.
Camille makes a resolution. She picks up the tray with the empty glasses and plates, rushes over to where Catherine is, who by the way has unwittingly witnessed her daughter's strange facial gestures, which has amused her greatly, and Camille tells her decisively:
"Maman, if you don't mind, I must go. It seems to be quieter here and the stupid people at table 5 have gone off to another bar to make a mess, would you mind if I leave now?"
Catherine takes her time answering as she more calmly than usual cleans the glasses her daughter has brought her. Smiling all the while.
Looking up, she answers her daughter:
"Of course you can go, sweetheart. You've helped me a lot. I can assure you that Jimmy is going to find himself in for a serious reprimand on Monday as soon as I see him. Any trouble perhaps?" asks Catherine with exaggerated concern.
Camille sets her mind to thinking quickly.
"Richard is preparing a project related to the security of the luxury resorts on the island and I'm very much afraid that I accidentally took some very important documents with me for that report. And he wants to present the project to Commissioner Patterson as soon as possible. And I just remembered it a little less than five minutes ago!"
"Well, you're overdue. Richard must be fuming! Although he might as well spend his Saturday afternoons and evenings in somewhat less professional pursuits, sweetheart. His work schedule this week was Monday through Friday! You should help him remember that."
Catherine still remembers laughing alone in the small kitchen of La Kaz how Camille blushed as she made her way almost running for the exit.
At Richard's shack
Richard can't believe it, Beyoncé is not a woman, she's a goddess. As he is alone, even Harry is gone, he is enjoying the video of "Love on top". She gets him to forget about his frustration of almost an hour ago!
It's half past eight in the evening. He has been watching videos of all kinds on You Tube. At first he had chosen tourist promotional videos of England, his country. He greatly enjoyed admiring landscapes exactly like the places he had walked through. Albeit mostly alone.
Little by little, bored of always seeing the same thing, he jumped from singer to singer until Beyoncé came on and the light went on. Curious, he pressed play on the video clip and then he understood why she was so famous. She seemed to have it all!
She was perfect, with that light chocolate tone so similar to Camille's, a real beauty. Now he remembered very clearly one of Camille's outfits: long yellow trousers (or was it mustard?) and a pink T-shirt of course in the minimum size.
He realises with a smile that he had trouble remembering Beyoncé's name, but that he had no problem remembering what Camille was wearing in that particular case with great accuracy.
Good thing he is now alone in his shack and doesn't have to answer for his thoughts, especially those dreams he "suffered" lately. So he decides to continue to enjoy Beyoncé's outfit changes with a big smile on his face.
This is how Camille finds him when, half an hour after leaving La Kaz, she quietly enters Richard's shack. For a moment she feared that he had already decided to go to sleep. But from a distance she saw lights and that encouraged her to continue.
When she had left him to go to her mother's bar, he had been disappointed. She had seen him clearly and now he is almost laughing like a fool in front of Beyoncé!
At that moment Camille can't help thinking:
"I hate Beyoncé!"
As if she didn't have enough with Fiona Bruce and company!
All men are the same, and Richard is just like all men! It's going to turn out that he's not as special as she thought he was!
What time did she tell him he'd have to know more about Beyoncé!
Camille steps forward and blurts out in an angry voice:
"So not only do you like Fiona Bruce, but you also admire Beyoncé!"
Richard is so shocked that he slams the laptop to the floor. The connection is irretrievably lost, but fortunately the computer is not damaged.
He gets up and says: "Don't do that again! Do you want me to have a heart attack?"
She takes another step towards him replying.
"I can see how you are suffering. Me having a hard time at the restaurant thinking I'd let you down, that you'd be working hours and hours on that important project, and as soon as I turn around, I find you the way I find you!"
Richard looks at her in astonishment, he doesn't know what to answer. Well, maybe he does.
"I remind you that it was you who told me that you didn't understand that I didn't know who this singer was, who by the way, is stunning. "Camille's eyes sparkle, but he continues: "You said I should enjoy my free time more, not work so much, increase my musical culture. That's what you said."
He doesn't seem to understand that Camille is getting angrier by the minute.
"With me, Richard, with me! We're supposed to be friends and friends do things together."
"Unless you get stood up," Richard replies stubbornly.
More stubbornly she moves closer to him and threatens him.
"Very well. Well seeing as you don't seem to need me, I'll go with Maman, at least she's more grateful!"
Richard is startled, he doesn't know why, but he tells her the first thing that pops into his head:
"She reminds me of you, Camille. "
Camille turns around quizzically:
"Maman? Of course, she's my mother."
Richard makes a gesture of exasperation. Is it that hard to communicate with her?
"No! I'm talking about Beyoncé. She's full of life, the video is classy, upbeat, fun. She reminds me of you." He reiterates.
Camille softens. Is she dreaming? She takes a step closer to him and asks:
"What do you mean, Richard?"
At the look on his Detective Sergeant's face, Richard realises his huge faux pas (in French!) and freezes. Looking away to his computer, now switched off, he remembers everything he thought and felt when watching the music video and half smiles. He decides to take a chance:
"If you want you can hit me, Camille, but I have to ask you, are you jealous?"
Now the paralysed one is her.
And Richard is now grinning from ear to ear. Someone said that not answering was in itself a very, very revealing answer.
And now it is he who steps forward, leans towards her and gives her a shy kiss on the lips. Camille is so astonished that she cannot react, and when she does, all she does is hug him tightly and deepen the kiss and the embrace even more.
When the next morning, after seriously "delving" into the important matter of the security of the Saint Marie resorts throughout the night, they both can only think:
I love Beyoncé!
Notes:
Enjoy it! The video I am referring to is "Love on top". A little fun for the weekend, thanks for reading it!