Moments Lost and Found (4 page)

They showered together, lathering each other
lovingly. Laurent grimaced when he saw some of the scratches on Sam’s shoulders
from the paparazzi. He was so gentle when he washed those, he almost rubbed
around them, like he wanted to avoid them. But the scratches were there, a
reminder that they couldn’t stay in their little cocoon of a hotel room
forever. They would have to go out and face the world eventually.

As they were drying themselves, Sam took Laurent’s
wrist to turn him to her. He was surprised at her commanding touch. She grabbed
his other wrist and he teased, “Turn about is fair play,
Cheri
?”

Sam was serious, “Playtime is over. We have to
address this situation, and I want to work on it
together
.” Sam
emphasized that last word. “Laurent, you and I work very well together. I think
we respect each other’s input and perspective. Do you agree?”

 “Yes, you know I do, Samantha.”

 “
Bon
. So here’s the plan, Laurent.”

 “You already have a plan,
Cheri
? I
thought we were working together.” He chuckled.

She smiled, “If you would let me finish,” he
raised his eyebrows and smiled too, then nodded as if to say, ‘go on’, “I was
going to say, the plan is, we order some food and do not leave here until we
have agreed as to how we’re going to deal with the shit that’s outside of this
hotel,
n’est pas
?”

 “
Oui
, Ms. Davis. Whatever you say.”
He winked as he gave her ass a playful slap and went to go get dressed.

They ordered lunch and Laurent made a point of
also getting every newspaper and daily gossip rag. He was quick to snatch all
the papers before Sam could see any of them and said, “Samantha, you need to
promise me something,” he waited until she nodded, “you know that they print
lies. You know you can’t believe what they write in here.”

 “You mean that aliens haven’t landed on
earth?” Sam tried to make light of the situation, but Laurent’s expression made
it clear, there was nothing funny about any of this. “I’m sorry, Laurent. I was
just trying to diffuse the tension. I know that it’s not going to be easy to
see whatever it is they have to say.”

Unfortunately for Sam, all the photos were from
the previous night, showing her in pigtails. She expected this, but seeing
them, she winced. Laurent was right, the papers made up all kinds of stories
because they didn’t have anything to print. All they had were some photos of
them walking into the hotel. Sam knew that there would be more material from
this morning’s disaster that were probably already online. She was trying not
to freak out, but it was a lot to digest. Like everything else with Laurent, it
was just… a lot. Sam went from being single, very private and all about her
work to suddenly in a relationship with a semi-public man and that relationship
was now the focus of not just her life, but the topic of public conversation.

The stories ran the gamut from dredging up the old
story about Laurent to speculation about what Laurent was doing back in France
with his network just having launched, that he was escaping bad ratings, which
couldn’t have been farther from the truth, the ratings and viewership were
through the roof. Basically, the stories were just that. Stories. Which helped
calm Sam’s nerves and actually made her chuckle at the lengths these papers
would go to come up with something, anything, to fill their pages. Sam had
never been a fan of entertainment magazines, snapping photos of stars as they
went about their daily errands, but she never realized how far off the
information could be. Being in the entertainment industry, she knew enough to
know not to believe most of what she read. But again, she had never before been
the subject. And even though she had expected to see the photos, it was a very
strange sensation seeing pictures of herself and her name printed in the
newspaper. It was a bit surreal, which actually helped Sam not freak out.

 “They’re not as bad as I thought they’d be.”
Sam said as she popped a strawberry into her mouth.

 “Just wait. Trust me, they’re just getting
started. Now that they know I’m here and they now know you, there will be more,
and it’ll get worse. I don’t need to tell you that the paparazzi here are much
more aggressive than in America. So, while we are here in Paris, you do not go
out alone. Period.” Sam opened her mouth about to protest, but she knew he was
right. She didn’t want to experience what happened this morning ever again. And
his expression made it clear this was one thing that was not negotiable.

 “Will you run with me? I have to run
Laurent.” She hated pleading, but she understood her new reality. And Laurent
knew how important exercise was to Sam. Perhaps it was part self-preservation,
as he knew that if Sam didn’t exercise, well, it wasn’t the Sam anyone wanted
to be around.

 “Do you think you’ll be able to keep up with
me?” he teased and winked. Sam just rolled her eyes as she playfully hit him
which he immediately blocked before it could land. “You’re going to have to be
faster than that, Samantha.” Oh, this was good. He was being light and playful
while talking about a very upsetting subject.

Sam stopped when it dawned on her, “what about
your mom, or your sister and brother’s families?” Realizing for the first time
that it wasn’t just about them.

 “I’ll tell Phillipe and Charlotte, but
they’ve probably read the stories by now. They know enough to know not to
believe them, and mostly the press leaves them alone. They’re pretty boring and
don’t give those leeches anything to write about. They’ve seen me go through my
phases and grow up. They know who I am and they don’t believe that crap.”

 “When we go to the hospital a bit later,
I’ll talk with their security and make sure that nobody bothers my mother.
Luckily, being in Busserolles, she never really got wind of the story from
before.” It was clear that Laurent really hated talking about this, but more
than that, he hated that it affected the people he loved. Sam could see just
how controlled he was fighting to be, his voice measured and calm, but the
veins on his forehead and neck spoke volumes about what he was really feeling.

 “And I assume she doesn’t know about the,
uh, procedure you had?” Sam asked tentatively.

 “Oh,
mon dieu
, no! She wasn’t kidding
about waiting for me to get married and have children. It would kill her if she
ever knew. And she would kill me…” he smiled a sad smile. Then he got a worried
look on his face and asked in earnest, “
Cheri
, do you want children?”
Sam’s eyes went wide. With everything else they were discussing, were they
really going to have this conversation? They had only been together a few
months even though she now couldn’t imagine life without Laurent. Their entire
relationship was so compressed having spent every day together for the first
couple of months that they had probably spent more time with each other in that
short period than most couples did after dating for years.

The truth was, Sam never really did want kids.
Like with relationships, she really didn’t have any positive examples to draw
upon from her past. And, she couldn’t ever figure out how she’d be able to deal
with children with all the responsibilities she had with the agency. It had
never been part of her plan before. And it certainly wasn’t on her radar now.
With so much in her life changing, she couldn’t imagine adding children to the
mix.

 “No, Laurent, I don’t. But it’s a shame you
felt you had to do what you did. Seeing you with your nieces and nephews, it’s
so clear that you’d be a great father.”

He smiled, “I’m not so sure about that. I love
playing with them, but to be a parent 24/7, I don’t know if that’s for me, for
my lifestyle. And I wouldn’t want any child to suffer because of that.”

 “Oh, Laurent, no child of yours would ever
suffer.” She said as she stroked his hand.

 “They say it’s reversible, Cheri.” He looked
at her earnestly.

 “Laurent, one step at a time. Let’s figure
out how we’re going to get out of this hotel today without getting mobbed, ok?”
He laughed and nodded his head in agreement. Now was not the time to discuss
the issue of having children.

In the end, Laurent spoke with the hotel manager
who, by now, was very well aware of what had happened and practically fell all
over himself apologizing profusely to both of them. He knew that part of the
fault lay with his lack of security, for letting them get that close to a
patron. He knew how powerful Laurent was and did not want to lose his business.
So it was agreed to let them come and go through the underground employee
entrance for the rest of their stay.

Laurent and Sam talked about hiring a security
guard, but given that they were probably going to be leaving Paris soon to take
his mom back home they decided to forego that for the time being and revisit it
when they returned. They both hoped that with a little time, and no story, the
press would back off and they wouldn’t need to take any drastic measures.

Mme. Román remained in the hospital for exactly
one week. She let everyone know, doctors, nurses, physical therapists, and of
course her family, that she, in no way shape or form, would be spending one
more day there. As she put it, hospitals were for sick people, and she wasn’t
sick. She was one of the healthiest people she knew, according to her of
course. And everyone had just overreacted to an old woman having what she
affectionately termed, a setback. Not once did she say the words heart attack.
She refused to admit that someone who was as independent and strong as she was
could possibly succumb to such a common problem. Heart attacks were for other
people, not her, she would make sure to tell anyone and everyone so that by the
end of the week, even though the doctors thought she might use a couple more
days of physical and occupational therapy, no one there wanted to argue with
Mme. Román any longer.

If it was any question as to where Laurent got his
stubbornness from before, there was no question any more. Though if anyone
could understand what Mme. Román was feeling, it was Sam. Mme. Román had been
on her own, living independently for most of her adult life. To suddenly be
dependent on someone, or to realize that she was no longer self-sufficient, well,
Sam could understand the denial and anger. And fear. In fact, she was probably
able to be more objective about the whole situation than any of the Román
children.

With the exception of the isolation being an
issue, so long as Mme. Román took all of her medications as directed, there was
no reason that she couldn’t return home to Busserolles. Marie, the caretaker, had
been trained as a nurse and could also serve as her proxy physical therapist,
ensuring that Mme. Román did the exercises the doctors wanted. The reality was
that her daily life included much more physically strenuous tasks than any of
the exercises, so getting her moving again wasn’t going to be an issue. Much as
the Román children tried to convince her to stay with them in Paris, or even
move to California with Laurent, they knew that wasn’t going to happen. The
biggest concession was that Mme. Román agreed to Laurent showing her how to
email and use a laptop. He wrote and printed directions showing her how to
Skype. The agreement was that she would email her children every day and Skype
with them once a week. The emailing she wasn’t to thrilled about, but once
Laurent showed her the benefits of video chatting, she was an instant convert.

As much as Mme. Román
loved her children, and loved having them at home with her, she knew the only
reason everyone was down there was because of her health, which meant she had
to admit that something bad had happened. It was because of this, because she
wanted to get back to normal, that she sent everyone away after just the first
night. She didn’t want anyone feeling sorry for her and knew that they all had
families and lives to get back to. Plus, there just wasn’t enough room for
everyone.

Sam and Laurent agreed
that after having already spent a week in Paris, and in light of what they
might find if they went back, they’d spend the next week exploring the rest of
the country before heading home. They spent a day wine tasting in Bordeaux,
Laurent explaining to Sam about the different types of soil and grapes and
vines and every nuanced detail of the various wines and growers. It was clear
that when Laurent chose a ‘hobby’ he immersed himself in it.

While travelling with
him was wonderful, there was a heightened awareness of the people around them.
For the first time in her life, Sam was conscious of people’s stares, conscious
of the fact that she and Laurent might not just blend in but rather be the
focus of strangers’ attention. Many knew who Laurent was, though thankfully, in
smaller towns, most people didn’t. She could now understand why stars often
donned sunglasses and baseball caps everywhere they went. She couldn’t imagine
being on display 24/7. It was so odd that complete strangers knew who she was
and could be interested in her life. Luckily, other than what had happened in
Paris, it didn’t really affect their time together. After Bordeaux, they spent
a couple days down in the South of France, then toured the chateaux in the
Loire valley.

After the pacing of
Paris the week before, Sam really appreciated the smaller towns, the long
drives in the country, and the variety of what they experienced. And as much as
she enjoyed Laurent’s family, being alone with Laurent was better than
anything. They were back in their own little fairytale touring castles and
medieval towns.

They were walking hand
in hand down a cobblestone street in Blois when Sam said, “You know, Laurent, I
can understand wanting to live in a castle, with a moat, and a drawbridge,
keeping the rest of the world at bay. I’ve never thought about it before, but
now I can see not just the appeal, but the necessity.” Laurent looked pained,
and instinctively pulled his hand away as she said it. “Laurent?”

 “It’s my fault,
Cheri
.”

 “Laurent! It’s not
your fault that people have some sick fascination with total strangers, or the
twisted pleasure of both putting people up on a pedestal and simultaneously
wanting, waiting for those people to fall. It’s not just envy and jealousy that
makes your private life interesting to them. If you fail, it justifies their
place in life. It makes it ok that they haven’t achieved because even the
mighty fall.”

 “That may be true,
but whatever the reason, you never would have been brought into this if it
weren’t for me and my past. I’m sorry, Samantha. If I could change it, I
would.”

Sam smiled and stroked
his cheek, the way he often did to her, and said, “I know you’re a very
powerful man, Laurent, but even you can’t change the past.”