Make Me Bad: Private Lessons (19 page)

Juliette walks into the kitchen and
I follow her.

“I’m sorry,” I offer, “I didn’t
realize bringing them a treat would be a problem.”

She laughs gaily. “No problem. I
just don’t want it spoiling their meal. No harm done. They can eat them as soon
as they finish lunch.” She stirs a liquid in a copper pot and looks over at me.
“Thank you for doing that. That was very thoughtful of you.”

“Sure,” I say, waving it off, “I
didn’t want to be rude and show up empty-handed.”

She smiles and takes out a bottle
of wine. “Wine?”

“Sure.”

She smiles again as she pours two
glasses, and gives me a suggestive look as she hands me my glass.

I ignore the look and look around
her rustic kitchen. “Your home is beautiful,” I comment.

“Thank you.” She sits down across
from me and reaches over to my hand. I don’t want to be rude, so I wait a few
seconds before I pull it away.

“You know,” she says, her voice
somewhat coy, “The girls have playmates across the street. I could send them
over there after lunch.”

I frown. Juliette has wasted no
time getting right to the point. I should have known, based on how she’s
dressed. She looks gorgeous, naturally, but she also a looks a little
overdressed for a casual lunch with a friend. She’s dressed in a short
camel-hued skirt and knee-high dark brown suede boots. Her cream silk blouse is
draped perfectly over her breasts, accentuating them in just the right way.

“That’s not necessary,” I say
nicely, “I wouldn’t mind spending the afternoon with them.”

Juliette laughs, twirling a piece
of her hair. “Oh, Jean-Luc, don’t be silly. There are plenty of
other
things
that you and I could spend the afternoon doing.”

Oh boy. I guess I was going to have
to go with direct and blunt.

“Juliette,” I begin, “I don’t want
you to get the wrong idea.” Instantly a look of annoyance flashes in her eyes.
She obviously likes having the wrong idea. “I think you are lovely, and it’s
been wonderful catching up with you while I’ve been in town visiting.” I stress
the word
visiting.
“But besides catching up, nothing else is going to
happen between us.”

“Well,” she says, slightly embarrassed,
and giving a little shake of her head. “Trying to let a girl down easy?”

“Juliette,” I say, but she holds
her hand up.

“No, no, no. Please don’t make this
any worse. I’m already embarrassed enough as it is.” She shakes her head again,
as if arguing with herself. “I just don’t get it! Do you find me unattractive?
Is there someone else? Why wouldn’t you want to have a little fun while you’re
here?” I feel her leg slide up my jeans and I jump back in my chair.

“Juliette, you’re wonderful, but
I’m just not interested. I have a lot on my plate now. And yes, you’re very
attractive. Please don’t take this personally.”

And oh, yes, I’m busy screwing one
of my students. She’s very young and very sexy, and I think about her non-stop.

But, I can tell that she does take
it personally. We drop the subject, and she gets up to put lunch on the table.
She’s made a delicious stew, and the bread is the perfect complement to the
meal, but Juliette is uncharacteristically quiet. I’m ashamed to admit it, but I
find myself questioning my choice during the meal. Juliette
is
very
beautiful, and I can’t help but think about what it would be like to sleep with
her. But then I remember irresistible Maddie, and I’m annoyed for even
entertaining the thought of Juliette. I imagine how crushed Maddie would be if
I thought with my dick and spent the afternoon in bed with Juliette. That would
be a top-rate asshole move.

Needless to say, I spend only a couple
hours at Juliette’s house. We discuss what her relatives have been up to over
the years, and I spend the remaining time watching her little girls put on
ballet shows. Her children are very sweet, but exhausting, and I’m ready to be
done with this whole fucked-up visit.

I say goodbye to the girls, who very
merrily wave and thank me for the chocolates, and then Juliette walks me to the
door.

“Well, I’d suggest we get together
again, but I guess you’re not interested,” she says dryly.

“Juliette, please. I told you –
it’s been lovely running into you again, but I’m not interested in anything
more than a friendship.”

“So you’ve said. Though, I don’t
quite understand, given that we’re both unattached, and you’ve admitted that
you find me attractive. I promise you, I don’t get clingy.”

Yeah, somehow I don’t quite believe
that, but that’s neither here nor there.

“I really am very flattered. But I
have to say no, thank you.”

“Your loss,” she says flatly.

“Yes, I’m sure it is.”

She fixes me with a sultry stare.
“I give one hell of a blow job.”

I nearly choke. What the fuck is
going on?

“It’s been a pleasure, Juliette,” I
say stiffly, completely ignoring the comment, and hurrying over the small
bridge and down the front path.

What the hell just happened there?
Since when do grown women start advertising their blowjob skills? Christ. I
need a drink. And I need to get back to Paris.

I manage to get to the train
station five minutes before the next train, and I breath a sigh of relief once
I’m seated and safely on my way out of Montargis. The further away I am from
Juliette, the better.

I pull out my phone and send Maddie
a quick text.

Lunch is over. Don’t worry. I
won’t be seeing Juliette again any time soon.

A few minutes later a text comes
through.

Okay. Sounds like there is a
story there. Shopping with my mom. We are heading back to meet my dad soon.
It’s been a good day.

I guess I’ll have to give Maddie
the whole story. I’m glad that she is enjoying her time with her family.

I head back to my apartment, and
think of Maddie with her family. In some weird, twisted way, I would actually
like to meet her parents. Part morbid curiosity as to who raised Maddie, and
part wanting to make Maddie happy. I’d left the possibility open, but I just
didn’t know how we would arrange it without it seeming strange.

Before I reach my apartment, my
phone rings and it’s Maddie.

“Hey,” I answer, cupping the phone
to my ear.

“Hi! I only have a minute to talk.
My mom just ran into a store to buy something she saw earlier.”

“Okay. I’m glad you are having
fun.”

“It’s been a great visit so far. I
really wish that you would meet them though. I mentioned that you were one of
my teachers and my mom recognized your name.”

This surprises me. “Really?”

“Yes. I guess she came across your
name doing research on guitar composition and making a career out of it. She
seemed very impressed.”

“Well, that’s nice.”

I can practically hear Maddie roll
her eyes. “Yes, it is nice,” she repeats, “But I really think she would enjoy
meeting
you. And so would my dad. We could do breakfast tomorrow. You could come to the
hotel.”

“Maddie, I’d love to meet your
parents… But breakfast at the Ritz seems a little fancy for meeting a
professor.”

She’s quiet for a moment. “You’re
right. It does sound too fancy… Maybe we can think of something else?”

“Maybe. I’ll think too, okay?”

“Okay.” She pauses. “It looks like
she’s coming out of the store now, I have to go.”

“Alright. Have fun. Text me if you
have any other ideas.”

I will.

We hang up and I can still hear the
disappointment in her voice. I hate letting her down. Maybe if she shares her
plans for tomorrow and I can see if I’ll be in the same area. For now, I’m
going to head home and try to forget all about my awkward, uncomfortable day
with Juliette.

I can’t manage to find a way for
Luc to meet my parents without it seeming forced, so I let the idea go and come
to terms with the fact that they won’t meet this time. I worry about what Luc
said about the likelihood of us surviving as a couple in New York. I hadn’t
given much thought as to what would happen when we returned to New York, but
now that we only have four weeks left, it seems that point in time is racing
towards us. Even then, I’ll only be returning to New York for one night before
catching a flight back home to Nashville for winter break.

Then what? I return to the city in
January, and I graduate in May. As much as I love Nashville, I’ve never really
thought that I would return to pursue a career. Nashville is a country music
town through and through. If I had any chance of really making it composing and
playing guitar, I needed to stay in New York.

Thinking about all of this makes my
head spin, and I try to focus on the last full day I have to spend with my
parents. We spend most of Sunday sightseeing and eating so much my pants feel
like they might burst. After a delicious dinner in Saint-Germain-des-Pres, we
head back to my parents hotel room.

I sprawl across the couch, rubbing
my stomach. “I can’t believe how much I ate,” I groan.

My mom laughs, holding her own
belly. “Goodness, I know. I feel like I’ve gained ten pounds this weekend.”

“This weekend,” I exclaim, “I feel
like I gained ten pounds alone today!”

My dad laughs deeply. “You girls
need to learn how to eat!”

I take a sip of water and look at
my parents. “So, what are you two planning to do for Thanksgiving?” I feel
guilty about not returning, but it would be such a long way to travel for such
a short time. Then again, my parents just made the very long trip themselves
for only a short weekend.

My mom smiles, “You know, your
daddy proposed to me on Thanksgiving.”

“I think I knew that,” I say
slowly. It sounds vaguely familiar, but I honestly can’t remember if I’ve heard
the story.

“Mhmm,” she says in a faraway
voice. “On this beautiful farm where they used to do sleigh rides and had all
of these beautifully decorated Christmas trees.”

“Wow, that sounds really nice,
Daddy. Good job.”

He grins.

My mother continues, “It was very
romantic.”

“So, are you guys celebrating some
kind of special engagement anniversary?” I ask, trying to count the years in my
head. I know that I was a honeymoon baby and was born before my parents even
celebrated their first anniversary.

“No,” my mom smiles, sipping her
drink, “We’re going to have Thanksgiving at our house and have our parents can
come to us. It’s getting harder for them to cook big meals, so it will be nice
for them to relax and just enjoy themselves.”

“Yes, that will be nice,” I agree.
“It’s going to be nice to come home for Christmas.” And I meant it. I missed my
family, and I’ve always loved Nashville at Christmastime.

“We’re going to be excited to have
you home too,” my mom says. She frowns slightly. “No rush here, Maddie, but
have you given any thought as to what you want to do after graduation?”

I squirm on the couch, not really
prepared to have this conversation now.

“Umm, I’ve given it a little
thought.”

“Paige, don’t pester her about it
now,” my dad scolds. He reaches over and takes my hand. “Honey, you still have
six months until graduation. No one is asking you to make any decisions now.”

My mom looks guilty.

“No, it’s okay. I mean, I have
thought about it a little bit. It’s just that, you know, Nashville is really
the country music capital of the world. There’s not really much room for any
other genres of music.”

My dad nods knowingly.

“I would probably have to stay in
New York if I really wanted to pursue my music. You know, my music is more rock
with a bit of a classical twist.”

“Honey, we figured that Nashville
wouldn’t be the place for you,” my mom cuts in. “I was just curious, really. I
know that it would be hard for you to pursue your music in Nashville,” she
blushes, “Not to mention that you would have to contend with me and your Daddy.
We don’t want that either.”

I love both my parents, and I
realize how lucky I am that they understand that I don’t want to live in their
musical shadows.

“Madison, your mama is right. Of
course, we would love to help you in any way that we can, but we certainly
understand that you want to create a name for yourself. That would be really
hard to do in Nashville.”

He gets up to get a drink from the
mini bar. “Alright, enough talk about what Maddie is doing in six months,” he
says, lightening the mood.

We sit around and talk more about
my music and what our plans are for the next day. It’s so warm and cozy in my
parents’ suite, and today was actually an unseasonably cold day for Paris.

“Ugh, I really don’t want to go
back home in the cold,” I complain after we decide to meet for breakfast the
next morning. I have class and my parents have an early afternoon flight.