She had barely lowered her case to the floor when a voice called, 'Mademoiselle Karen!'
She turned to see the round, smiling face and brown eyes heading towards her.
'Armand,' she said as he squeezed her arms and kissed her on the lips. 'I've just arrived, I -'
'Yes, I saw you. I went to buy some cigarettes and I watched you crossing the concourse. How are you?'
'I'm fine, thank you. And thanks for coming to meet me.'
'Oh, but that is the least I can do,' he replied, taking hold of her case and taking her arm. 'I would not have any lady from Sonia's house arrive alone in Paris, but you are even more special and you have never before visited la belle cite.'
They stepped out into the bright afternoon and Armand said, 'I did not bring a car. It is easier to walk but if you prefer, we can take a taxi as long as you are not frightened of our traffic!'
'No,' she answered, 'I wouldn't mind stretching my legs if that's OK with you.'
'Certainly,' he said, it is a little way to the shop from here. We must first cross the Boulevard Diderot then we go along Rue Abel for some distance.' Away from the station, they strolled and talked in the warm air. 'Over to our left,' gestured Armand, 'is our new Opera de la Bastille. Tomorrow you will tell me all the places in Paris you wish to go, so that I will take you there.'
'I leave it up to you Armand,' she said, tucking her arm into his. 'You and Josephine shall be my guides as long as you have the time.'
'Nothing will give us greater pleasure, Mademoiselle. Nothing.'
The shop, with its small double front, lay in a busy, colourful street a little way north of the Rue du Faubourg. In ornate art nouveau letters in gold on maroon above the door, it bore the name 'Sybaris'. About the street were boutiques, bars and cafes, some of them with their tables and chairs spilling out on to the pavement.
'Gosh, just about everything seems to be going on around here,' remarked Karen as they entered the shop.
Barely were they inside when a voice rang out, 'Ah, Karen, you are here, this is wonderful!'
The figure approached them from where two customers stood by a display of shining black garments on a rack. She was, as Karen remembered her from the night of the party at the house, a little younger than Sonia, with softer features and long dark hair. She wore her black leather catsuit with its accoutrements of small silver chains and zip fasteners. She held Karen and pressed her mouth upon hers. Karen squeezed her arms, tasted her warm, perfumed breath and felt the tingling of her own body as her heartbeat quickened. There was a time, not so long ago, when she would have tried to deny herself the pleasure of a kiss like that. But as Josephine looked into her eyes, she caught her breath and both read the unspoken message.
Josephine released her and frowned. 'I saw you through the window a few minutes ago. You did not come by taxi! Surely this terrible man has not made you walk all the way from La Gare de LyonT
'Oh no, of course he didn't,' responded Karen, seeing Armand's look of injured innocence. 'I wanted to walk and see a few of the shops.'
'But I hope you made him carry your valiseV
'Mon DieuV breathed Armand.
'Of course he did!' laughed Karen. 'Like a true gentleman.'
'Then,' continued Josephine, 'make sure he remains a ge&tfeman and carries it upstairs to your room.' She glanced at the young couple occupied in subdued conversation by the clothes rack. 'I must attend to these people now,' she said, lowering her voice and rolling her eyes. 'I thing they wish to buy something very naughty and I have to give advice.' She regarded Armand with mock seriousness for a moment, then turned again to Karen. 'Do not let this man into your room if you value your honour.'
She returned with a smile to her customers and the bemused Armand took up the suitcase saying, 'Ah, so often I fall the victim to her tongue.'
Smiling to herself, Karen followed Armand up the narrow stairs, reflecting upon the shop. It bore Sonia's stamp, as did the boutique in Beziers, though that sold mainly clothes. Here, the now familiar odours from the secret rooms of the house were evident, and equally familiar were many of the items on display in the shop.
The first floor landing was somewhat dim, being lit at one end from only a single, small window, though with its thick and brightly coloured carpet and the Matisse prints upon the walls, it was far from cheerless. Armand pushed open the pine panelled door and stepped back for Karen to enter. She did so and was greeted by the visual warmth of pine furnishings and oriental rugs. She liked the room instantly. She felt that the room in its turn welcomed her. A shaft of sunlight illuminated one wall and the small chest of drawers standing against it.
'That is OK for you?' asked Armand, if you prefer a hotel -'
'Oh no, Armand, this is perfect, it really is.'
Armand's sun-bronzed face broke into a wide grin and he lifted her suitcase on to the bed. He turned to her, brushing with his hand a wisp of black hair which had fallen across his forehead.
'I think you will wish to have a rest now,' he said, smiling, 'and I must return to my apartment. Josephine will close the shop in one hour and then she will talk to you.' He walked to the door and turned to her before leaving the room. 'Each night you are with us, we will go out to dinner, yes?'
'Sounds wonderful.'
'OK,' he smiled, 'so tonight I have a table for us at a place where we can relax. I will call for you both at eight o'clock, unless you prefer later. Often we eat much later.'
'Armand,' she said, walking over to him, 'any time is all right, and I look forward to it very much.' She placed a hand on his shoulder and kissed him softly. 'And thanks again for meeting me.'
'My pleasure, ma cherie^ he said, grinning, then made his way back down the stairs.
Karen opened her case and removed a few items before making her way around the bed to look out of the window. Below was a small courtyard with potted plants set about on the flagstones, and beyond it the elegant old houses and streets with their mixture of smart new shops and more venerable businesses from a different age. It was no surprise to her that the shower room reflected, on a smaller scale, those at the house. Why the consistency? she wondered. Perhaps it was intended that, wherever you went in Sonia's little empire, you would always feel at home. It was not a concept Karen disliked in the least and she wondered for a while if any of the others had spent time here, as she felt they must have. She unpacked the remainder of her things, wondering what she might wear for the evening. Karen had told her not to worry about taking along too many clothes as Josephine would be able to provide whatever she needed.
She closed the small suitcase and placed it against the wall, then sat down on the bed to remove her shoes. After thinking of nothing much for a minute or so, she lay down to watch the sunlight slowly vanish from the wall. A little later, she was asleep.
There was a distant knocking and from beyond the darkness, a voice called her name. Karen opened her eyes and looked about her, blinking. For a moment, she had forgotten where she was. It was still light outside but the illumination in the room was subdued now that the sun had dipped below the rooftops.
'Karen!' came the voice again.
'Come in!' she called, easing herself from the bed.
The door opened. The dark eyes and smiling face of Josephine appeared. 'Hello. I have brought you a cup of coffee.'
'God, what time is it?'
it is almost seven o'clock,' said Josephine gently, offering Karen the cup and saucer.
Karen looked her up and down. Josephine had changed for the evening. The catsuit was gone and she now wore a bronze vinyl jacket with black felt collar and cuffs, matching vinyl mini-skirt, black stockings and ochre, high-heel sandals in textured leather. Under the open jacket was a gossamer sheer, black nylon blouse with a small red bow at the neck. From her ears hung two pendant earrings in the form of ancient Greek coins.
'Oh, you look wonderful,' said Karen, sipping the coffee. 'I wish I had brought a few more things now.'
'But you don'
t need,' said Josephine. 'Everything is here at the shop for you to choose.'
'I'd better make a move and get showered and changed, hadn't I? Is where we're going very far?'
'No, not far - just around the corner. Less than five minutes to walk.' Josephine turned to go. 'When you are ready, put on the gown from the bathroom and come down to the back of the shop. Everything you will need is there.'
Twenty minutes later, Karen was in the shop. 'Well, I just don't know,' declared Karen, eyeing the racks of clothing. 'There's so much here I'm lost for choice!'
'You want to be chic?' asked Josephine. 'You want to be elegant? Or do you want to be, er, courageous? No this is not the word ... audacious, that is it. Do you want to be audacious?'
'Mmm, not too audacious, but -'
'Do you like this?' asked Josephine, pulling a vivid red dress from the rack and handing it to her.
Karen held the dress up and scrutinised it thoughtfully. It was ruffled, frothy and full about the skirt, with shoestring straps at the shoulders and very low cut.
'No,' said Karen after some consideration, 'it's too bright - too frivolous.' She pushed through more of the clothes. 'Ah - now this looks more like it!' She lifted out a dress in cobalt blue lurex and turned to Josephine. 'Well, what do you think?'
'You must try it on,' she replied. 'Come, I will help with the zip.'
Karen turned her back on Josephine and undid the soft blue gown, slipping it from her body and draping it over the clothes rack. She pulled the dress over her head, assisted by Josephine, "who let her hands run over Karen's slim body as she helped with it. Karen allowed the hands to pass over her breasts and down her stomach without, or rather, taking care not to show, any sign of objection.
it is perfect!' declared Josephine when Karen turned around to face her and pushed her hair back over her shoulders.
The dress was sleeveless and held up by thin straps, scooped low over her breasts and close fitting above the waist. Below the waist it was looser and flared slightly, ending well above the knee without being conspicuously short.
Karen walked over to the nearest full length mirror and spun around in front of it. 'Yes, definitely. If it's OK with you, I'll wear this one.'
'Of course!' responded Josephine. 'And now, to go with the dress we will have -' she stooped down and ran her finger back and forth above a selection of shoes '- ah, these I think.' She lifted up a pair of dark blue leather open sandals with medium-high stiletto heels.
Karen regarded them for a moment. 'Yes, I agree, they look fine.'
'And to complete the ensemble,' laughed Josephine, picking up a small flat packet, 'these!'
Karen reached out and took the transparent packet from her. 'Josephine, I did manage to bring a few pairs of tights!'
'No, no,' put in Josephine, 'those are better to wear, you will see.'
'I needn't have brought anything at all,' laughed Karen, 'except underwear!'
'Not tonight!'
'What?'
'Not tonight - do not wear anything beneath!'
Karen stared at her with amused surprise. 'I can't ... I mean, I've never been out like that ... I don't think I -'
'But you must!' insisted Josephine. 'Be daring - nobody will know except you and I.'
'Yes, but...'
Josephine slipped an arm about her waist and smiled into her eyes. 'You must be naughty this evening, ma cherie.'
In the closed intimacy of the shop and with the urging and compelling Josephine, Karen laughed and said, 'Yes, what does it matter, I will.'
Back in her room, Karen opened the packet and pulled out the tights. She had removed the dress and stood perfumed and naked before the long mirror on the wardrobe door, slipping her fingers down the heat of her stomach and over the smooth skin about her sex. The small clock on the chest of drawers told her that Armand would arrive in only ten minutes. She wanted him to find her as she was. And not only Armand, but Josephine too, for something had happened to her since she had arrived in Paris, or certainly, since she had arrived at the shop. What it was she could not be sure. The atmosphere of the street and the shop? Armand and Josephine? Her own long years of sexual repression which Sonia had first released? She did not know. Nor did she care.
She began to dress, pulling on the tights, finding them completely open and cut away from front to back, sheer and seamed. The blue lurex dress might have been made for her, the way it flattered her breasts and defined the smooth curves of her body. The gossamer nylon on her legs reflected the light of the bedroom in a soft sheen. The blue leather sandals enclosed her feet with a comforting intimacy which seemed entirely natural. About her neck hung the silver locket but something was still missing. Josephine knocked on the door and called her name.
'Ah, magnifiqueV pronounced Josephine as Karen opened the door and revealed herself. 'I think you look wonderful also!' Karen reached up to where her light brown hair fell in loosely ordered abundance about her bare shoulders and touched her ear.
'I'm going to scrounge some earrings off you as well, I'm afraid. Yours look so much nicer than the ones I brought.'
'Oh, these!' replied Josephine. 'You know these are genuine. They are coins I bought a long time ago from a dealer in Italy. They come from Sybaris. You have heard of this town? Its people - they have a life of pleasure and luxury until they are destroyed. But the image remains -that cannot be destroyed and so I name this shop after it.' She reached up and began to detach one of the earrings. 'You shall wear these tonight and I will -'
'No! No, Josephine!' cut in Karen. 'I've taken too much already today! I'll borrow something from the shop but I won't take those from you!'
Josephine lowered her arm and smiled. 'Very well, ma cherie, but you have taken nothing, for it has all been offered to you first, and Sonia says you must have everything.' Josephine slipped her arms about Karen's shoulders and the two drew closer until their lips were almost touching. Each breathed in the perfumed warmth of the other until their lips met with electric fire and Josephine said, 'There is plenty of time for us yet, Mademoiselle Karen.'
They walked down the stairs and back into the shop. Josephine led her to a display case inside which were arrayed a selection of gold and silver earrings. She lifted up the glass lid and reached inside.
'Do you like these?'
Karen examined the earrings in the artificial light of the shop, for now, outside it was dusk. They were in the form of small Renaissance sun disks, with full lipped imperious faces radiating silver flames.
'Le Roi Soleil!' laughed Josephine.
'Yes,' enthused Karen, 'I love these. I must pay you for them and take them with me when I go back.'
'Go back?' said Josephine. 'Do not think of that yet. This is your first evening and you have seen nothing of Paris!'
They left the intimacy of the shop and stepped out into the bustling street. In the warm air and half light, everything was becoming alive.
'We have only a short walk,' said Armand, who had now joined them, 'to the end of this block and left. Then we are almost there.'
Armand did not exaggerate, for in no more than five minutes they were at the doors of Le Coq d'Or and he was confirming his reservation with the receptionist.
The restaurant was not large but warm and intimate and irregular in shape. Its ten or so tables, mainly occupied, were scattered about in apparent randomness, some near the centre of the room, some within the odd shaped alcoves which gave the place its unplanned character. The soft, diffused lights illuminated pastel-coloured walls upon which, where space allowed, were hung oriental prints depicting scenes from the Arabian Nights. The ceiling was painted dark blue with a myriad of gold stars and a crescent moon upon it, and from here hung at odd places multi-coloured bead curtains, some to pass across other openings to the room, others to lend a hint of privacy to the alcoves.
It was to one of the alcoves that they were led by the waiter, who pulled aside the bead curtain and gestured for them to pass through. The table inside w
as, like the other tables, circular with a heavy, white damask tablecloth reaching down almost to the dark brown, polished wooden tiles of the floor. Karen saw that within this alcove were three niches. Inside one stood an ornate metal jug of indeterminate eastern origin, and in the other two, small oriental style metal and glass lamps whose squat candles were each topped by a small waving yellow flame. Karen moved around to the back of the alcove.
Josephine removed the vinyl jacket and placed it, carefully folded, upon the spare fourth chair. Karen could not help but look at her breasts, of average size but well formed and perfectly visible with the prominent nipples pushing out at the front of the chiffon blouse. She realised that Armand, the tips of his fingers resting against his lips, was watching her in turn. She shifted her gaze to the bead curtain and out into the restaurant to the other diners, then back to her own hands.
'Well, what do you think?' asked Armand, smiling into Karen's eyes. 'Do you like this restaurant?'
'Yes, it's gorgeous,' replied Karen, feeling the contours of the red brocade seat through the thin material of the dress, remembering that she had nothing on beneath except the open body tights. 'I'd like to read all of the Thousand and One Nights. I know only a few of them from school; the ones they allowed us to see.'
'Ah, well,' said Armand, 'Le Coq d'Or was not one of them. He was an invention of the Russians! Perhaps the people who opened this restaurant did not know it!'
'But who cares?' added Josephine. 'So long as the food is good.'
As if on cue, the waitress pushed through the bead curtains. She, like all the restaurant staff Karen had seen, wore oriental style loose-fitting trousers in deep blue silk and pale blue top in similar material but adorned with gold swirls and scrolls. They ordered their food and wine, Karen at last able to utilise her knowledge of French properly for the first time since her return.
Soft music played from concealed speakers as they talked, ate, drank and laughed together through the evening, losing all sense of time. After a third bottle of champagne appeared on the table, Josephine asked, 'Do you know, will there be another party in the fall?'
House of Intrigue Page 22