Did I Seduce You Mr Jacques

by James Al Greco

  I cried many times silently in the basement and was torturing myself, trying not to uncover it; to take just one look, but logic always prevailed and in the end I preferred to scream, shout, weep than look at the damn face that belonged to my lost love… her beautiful face that had literally haunted me.

  It was the same today. After the brief conversation I had with the young girl, I had the intense desire to look deeper into the image of that enchanting painting that I had hidden away.

  That young and innocent girl excited me from the moment I saw her! In her timid and shy eyes, I could see my Eve. True, pure love. All the time I was talking to her, I swallowed with difficulty from uncontrollable anxiety and I filled my lungs with air, taking deep breaths so I could hide my nervousness.

  ‘Jacques, calm down! This young girl is half your age! You should be ashamed!’ my subconscious was telling me and was absolutely right.

  My morals as well as all my principles and values, didn’t allow me further thoughts and unsavoury connotations. I, an unstable and badly groomed man, with no interests and frail because of my bad psychological condition, what could I ask from her or worse what could I give to such an amazing flower, who is passionate and has dreams for her wonderful life? The answer is nothing! I would only contribute to her destruction and nothing more.

  Is it because she didn’t notice me that I think of all these things? Do I use this sort of defence because I can’t accept her indifference? This is one way of feeling good about myself. Everyone has thoughts of something similar! Everyone has woven fictional excuses to explain situations that don’t suit us or to ignore words that they didn’t want to hear.

  Whatever the truth is, I was certain that I shouldn’t let myself fall in love with the young one however intriguing such an encounter would be.

  Besides, she might have a boyfriend. She is at an impressionable age so whatever she experiences and goes through in these years may, to a great degree, define the rest of her life and I am not going to be the one that is going to ruin that. A worthless bachelor.

  After all my negative thoughts, I went back to work to prepare the rare painting for the Spaniard, who was going to come over next morning to pick it up.

  It started to go dark. I was tired of restoring that painting and I couldn’t sleep. Instead of going to bed and lying down, I felt an inexplicable tension. I desperately needed to go for a walk. I wanted to walk around and not to sit inside the house.

  I wore my black gabardine and started walking aimlessly through the traditional alleys of romantic Venice. I was just wandering.

  As I reached my favourite place, the Bridge of Sighs, I sat at the edge of the bridge to rest. My breath was creating small clouds of mist in the cold darkness and it seemed like they were forming ghostlike figures and were then lost in the black veil of the night. The cold was freezing my face. I rolled some tobacco in the thin piece of cigarette paper I was holding and I licked it, I put it in my mouth and I lit the end with a match, breathing in deeply the unique smell that the burnt tobacco left. I closed my eyes and when I opened them again they were fixed on the amazing view of the city. The bright stars in the sky were reflected on the peaceful water of the canal and the scene literally left me speechless.

  As I was smoking my cigarette, overwhelmed by the beauty of this magnificent city, I suddenly heard male voices and a loud racket. I turned around, looked right and left but I couldn’t tell where the voices were coming from.

  I was completely relaxed, in total peace, and I sprung up to see what was happening. I threw down my cigarette, stubbing it out with my brown boot, leaving behind a grey smudge on the flagstones.

  I was trying to find out what was going on but I couldn’t see anyone in the street and I could hear the voices becoming more aggressive.

  I began to follow them to see where they would lead me. I followed the commotion and the loud noise and as I got closer the voices got even louder.

  As soon as I turned into a small, dark alley, I saw two men drunk, harassing a girl and terrifying her!

  I headed towards them straight away, quickening my pace and I reached them.

  “What are you doing? Aren’t you ashamed?” I yelled in Italian and I pushed one of the men with both my hands, throwing him on the ground. He didn’t react. He kept on laughing showing the few remaining teeth he had left, holding onto a bottle of cognac in his hand and spilling it on the rough asphalt.

  The girl was hunched over and scared. She didn’t seem to be hurt but she was certainly in shock. I went behind her and took her hand to calm her down. She turned her head to look at me and we were both astonished!

  “Jacques?”

  “Eve? What are you doing here by yourself at this hour?” I asked her, looking again at her innocent and angelic face.

  She grabbed me and clung on to me and was begging me to take her away from that place. I held her around her waist and we started walking quickly to get away from the drunken men.

  “Thank you, Jacques,” she told me, blinking her bright blue eyes.

  “You didn’t tell me, Eve, what are you doing here all by yourself?” I asked again with a strict tone this time.

  She opened her bag and took out a camera. I couldn’t tell what she wanted to show me and she moved closer, holding the camera in front of me.

  She turned it on and started showing me amazing photographs of beautiful scenery and traditional alleys of Venice and more.

  “Are you a photographer?” I was looking at the pictures.

  “Not yet…but it’s my passion. In a year I’m going to begin my studies in photography and I’m hoping to become a very good photographer someday.”

  “In a year?” I asked her with an angry look, when I heard that she hadn’t started studying yet.

  “Yes. In a year I’ll begin studying, Jacques,” she replied with a naïve and frightened look.

  “Eve?”

  “Yes, Jacques.”

  “How old are you?” I was making her nervous.

  She immediately took the camera from my hands and put it in her bag and she turned to leave without saying a word. I grabbed her by her shoulder and stopped her.

  “Eve?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.

  “Let me go. You are hurting me,” she said, trying to get away.

  “How old are you?”

  “Let me go; I’ll tell my father,” the young girl replied.

  “Good. Let’s go to your father together. I want to meet him,” I said, taking her by surprise and I let her go.

  She stopped trying to get away from me and remained standing with her back to me, without walking away.

  “We can’t go to my father…” she whispered, bowing her head.

  “Why can’t we?”

  “Because I don’t even know him,” she murmured.

  “What?”

  “What I said. I haven’t seen him and I have never met him,” she exclaimed and began running into the darkness.

  “Eve wait!” I shouted, as I ran after her to catch up with her.

  After an exhausting chase, I caught up to her and I stopped her.

  “Please, leave me alone,” she said and when she turned her head to look at me, her eyes were red.

  “Calm down I won’t hurt you,” I said reassuring her.

  “You don’t understand.”

  “Understand what, sweetheart?”

  “That my father does not exist. My mother took off and left me when I was young and I grew up in England with my stepmother.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t be. I’m used to it after so many years.”

  “Yes, I understand. And how did you end up here all alone?”

  “‘My stepmother wasn’t a nice person,” she replied with tears in her eyes.

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “You can’t imagine what I was going through every day.”

  “Like what? Talk to me.”

  “When I was younger she beat me continuously
for no apparent reason. And there were more than a few times that she brought different lovers in her house and they were mocking me and taunting me.”

  Her cheeks had turned a slight red colour that made her look vulnerable and scared.

  “I’m truly sorry. I understand you completely.”

  “You don’t understand anything. My life was a continuous hell,” she whispered and crept into my arms.

  How much pain must this young and innocent soul have felt! I asked myself. So much terror and so much hatred she must have endured…

  “And now? Alone in Venice?”

  “Now I’m alone. When I came here I wasn’t alone…” she answered with a riddle.

  “What do you mean?”

  “My stepmother was from a very rich family of Venetians. She had roots in Italy and recently she inherited an apartment in Venice, as well as other properties in Italy.”

  “So you came here with your stepmother to live together?”

  “We used to live together…”

  “Why are you taking in the past?”

  “Because my stepmother died the day before yesterday from a heart attack,” she said in a low voice.

  “What?”

  “Yes. In our apartment in Venice. Very near Saint Mark’s square.”

  “And now are you telling me you are here all by yourself, without anyone?”

  “Yes…”

  “Stand up, let’s go!” I exclaimed, pulling her by her arm.

  “Go where? What are you talking about?” she asked, scared.

  “We are going to the police.”

  “No. Please. Don’t do this!”

  “I have to, Eve. You are a girl all alone in a city you know nothing about. The dangers are immense for a girl your age. We must find a relative of yours and contact them immediately.”

  “There is no one!”

  “Not even a cousin, a sister, a grandfather? Someone must know of your existence?” I asked perplexed and Eve lowering her eyes, shook her head.

  “If we go to the police they will send me to an orphanage because I’m a minor!”

  “A minor?”

  “Yes, a minor. I’m under eighteen…” she whispered, frightened.

  “How old are you?” I noticed that her eyes were sad.

  “Almost eighteen,” she responded softly but wasn’t very convincing.

  “Eve, look at me and tell me, how old are you?”

  “But I told you…”

  “The truth!”

  “It’s the truth, Jacques.”

  “…If you are nearly eighteen as you claim, you should be getting ready for college and you wouldn’t have said that you are going to begin your studies next year. So tell me, how old are you?”

  “Okay. Don’t shout!”

  “I’m listening…”

  “I’m seventeen and four months exactly!”

  “That’s crazy! It’s unthinkable! You are only a child, a baby!” I screeched, pulling my hair gently and holding the back of my neck to calm myself down.

  “Please, not the police,” she pleaded in tears.

  “And what do you want me to do? Why did you come to me?”

  “I asked in the neighbourhood where I could learn Italian, but not in a language school because they would certainly ask about my parents and such. I wanted private lessons and the grocer on the corner spoke highly of you. In fact, he said that you are the most decent man in the neighbourhood.”

  “The grocer? Oh, Luciano in what kind of trouble did you get me into,” I said, addressing my friend.

  “No, no. I didn’t want to get you in any trouble. Really, I will disappear and you’ll never see me again,” the young one said with absolute honesty.

  “Where are you going to go Eve? A young girl, seventeen years old, wandering alone in the streets.”

  “Seventeen and four months…” she interrupted me.

  “Anyway, you are way too young to keep wandering around by yourself.”

  “Jacques, I have enough money to rent a flat and I will live there.”

  “Do you think that money is the only problem? How can a child sign a lease without its parent’s consent?” I asked rhetorically and sat on a small wooden bench. “Everyone will take advantage of you! They will try to ruin you” I kept on saying.

  “But how?”

  “How? In various ways. You will be in danger of being stolen from, of being deceived, of being led astray down the wrong path or even your life being put in danger. I insist that we have to go to the police.”

  She sat next to me and didn’t speak. I admit that her expression worried me. I turned towards her and saw her looking down at the road.

  “I don’t want to go to an orphanage; nor to any other kind of institution. Please don’t tell anyone and I will disappear from your life.”

  “Don’t you say that again. I won’t let you be manipulated by any alcoholic pervert. Come on, get up,” I blurted out and stood up.

  “What?”

  “Let’s go.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “I will put you up for a few days until we see what we are going to do,” I told her and began walking towards my house.

  “Jacques, I don’t want to be a burden. From what you said I’m trouble and I don’t want to be a nuisance, so I’m going to leave and you’ll never see me again.”

  “Follow me…” I uttered and kept on walking.

  Eve smiled. The attractive contrast between her bright smile and the tears on her face created a beautiful image. She looked like a real life portrait! Just like a painting!

  She took her bag, put it on her shoulder and started walking, following me.

  To give a defenceless, young girl somewhere to stay was definitely a nice gesture and I felt good with myself.

  When we arrived, Eve threw her bag on the floor and stared at the house.

  “Wow… it looks like an old castle,” she whispered, taking her camera out of her bag and began taking pictures of every corner of the house.

  “I’m glad you like it. Come on up so I can show you your room,” I told her and led her to her room that was separated from mine by only a wall.

  “It’s awesome! It’s huge!” she exclaimed and fell on the bed with her clothes.

  The sound of Niki’s bell was heard, as she came in the bedroom to welcome the new member of our family.

  “What a pretty cat she is,” she said and took her in her arms.

  “May I introduce you to Niki. Besides being just a cute pet, she is my best friend.”

  “She is gorgeous and as it seems you feed her well.”

  “I found her by accident when I moved in and I let her stay in the house. I didn’t want to send her away.”

  “You are an animal lover as well…”

  “I love animals.”

  “Me too. We had a lot of cats and a lovely dog in my house,” she replied with a childlike expression.

  “I’m glad. I hope you feel comfortable in the house and whatever you need I’ll be downstairs.”

  “Very nice. Everything is great and the room is big and comfy,” she said, glancing at it once more.

  “Make yourself comfortable. If you want me to get you something to eat just tell me.”

  She got off the bed and came close to me with an expression that was oozing childlike innocence and her mesmerizing eyes… Glorious. I could look at them for hours, days, months!

  “Thank you!” she said, whispering in my ear in her sweet voice.

  “I thank you, little one…”

  “You?”

  “Yes, me.”

  “But why?”

  “Do you know what it’s like to live all alone for so many years? The house has come to life now. The atmosphere in the house has changed,” I responded with a smile. I shut the door and went down to the living room.

  I turned on the television that I hadn’t watched for a long time. I was never very fond of it. I took my shoes off and put my feet on the wooden
coffee table.

  She is too young to be turned out in the streets. It would be cruel of me. On the other hand, I can’t pretend to be her father, nor her saviour! Even though she is a minor, she is nearly a grown woman and very beautiful nonetheless. I couldn’t take her father’s place especially at that age. No way! Her guardian, maybe. I will try to be a very good friend who wants to help her and nothing more.

  As I was thinking of her lovely smile and her blue eyes, I realized the resemblance she had to the painting I had hidden in the basement! After a while, I couldn’t keep my eyes open and I fell asleep on the sofa.

  Next morning, I gently opened my eyes and saw on the coffee table two slices of bread with honey and a cup of coffee. I opened my eyes wider and got up nervously having nearly forgotten that someone else was living in the house with me.

  “Eve?” I shouted. She didn’t answer. I heard water running from the upstairs bathroom and I assumed she had gone for a shower.

  I sat on the dining table chair and began eating my breakfast, when out of the corner of my eye, I saw the little one on the upstairs floor, wrapped in a towel, coming out of the bathroom and heading to her bedroom tiptoeing.

  I was left with my mouth full without being able to swallow! As I watched her, she turned and looked at me with a pure and innocent smile and waved her hand greeting me with a cheerful, “Good morning”. She then made her way to the bedroom.

  I still had my mouth full and was staring at her bedroom door!

  “Pull yourself together, you idiot! She is just a little girl! A baby.” I was thinking.

  Every now and then my conscience rose like a giant wall in front of my unspeakable fantasies and reminded me of what was logical and moral.

  Her body was so fresh and pure but at the same time so beautiful and tempting that I couldn’t get her out of my thoughts. Smooth legs that seemed so delicate you thought that they would break if you touched them. Perfect, sensitive white skin. All of these combined with the innocent expression of her face, made her explosive!

  I shook my head left and right to dispose of those wild and crazy fantasies and I continued with my breakfast while watching television.