French Twist

by Glynis Astie

  As we were finishing our delicious desserts, Louis smiled tenderly at me. “You look absolutely beautiful this evening, mon coeur.”

  I blushed. “Thank you, Bluey.”

  “Your hair is particularly elegant. What style is that?”

  I laughed. “It is Kate’s specialty - a French twist.”

  He grinned. “How appropriate, as I am your French twist.”

  “You’re so corny! But I love it.”

  Louis gave me a puzzled look. “Corny?”

  I paused for a moment to think about how to explain this. Louis and I had encountered a number of moments like these already. Many American sayings didn’t translate well to French and vice versa.

  I tapped my finger on my temple and said, “Let’s see....how to explain corny? It means, overly sweet, um, romantic to the point of illness?” I laughed. “It sounds bizarre, but I think my description gets the point across.”

  He pretended to look affronted. “Corny, I am not. I was merely saying I am the twist - the plot point you were not expecting. And I am French.”

  I giggled. “I take it back. You aren’t corny at all. You’re a genius!”

  “Well, now you are mocking me.” He pouted.

  I regained my composure. “I promise I’m not mocking you. You’re absolutely my French twist.” I thought for a moment. “I think I’ll call you my plot point instead of my fiancé.”

  He laughed. “I am over the moon to be your plot point.”

  I considered the wondrous man before me. “You know everyone is going to think we’re crazy.”

  “Crazy in love.” He smirked. “Now that was corny!” He was very proud of himself.

  “You’re now the master.” I laughed.

  Louis stood up from the table. “Please excuse me for a moment. I am sure you would like to send texts to Kate and Maya. But when I come back, I will take you back to OUR apartment and show you what a master is.” He smiled darkly.

  My heartbeat quickened in anticipation. I hurriedly took out my phone and sent messages to Kate and Maya. As expected, both texted back within two minutes. Their messages were filled with smiley emoticons and exclamation points. I was so elated that I almost forgot I would have to tell my parents tomorrow. My dad was going to flip his lid. I wondered uneasily if there would soon be something physically wrong with me...

  Chapter Twenty

  Louis and I spent a magical night in OUR new apartment. I was sharing an apartment with my FIANCE!!! I couldn’t believe how much my life had changed in the last six weeks. Suddenly, I had a million things to do, including giving my roommates notice, packing up my things, moving in with Louis and oh, telling my family and friends I had gotten engaged. I wasn’t quite sure how to go about this, but I was excited! And nervous! Who am I kidding? I was screwed.

  Kate, being the saint that she is, had promised to help me develop a plan to tell our parents. She and Nick invited us over that morning for the major purpose of celebrating our engagement and the minor purpose of figuring out a way to tell Mom and Dad without them wigging out. On the drive over to their house, Louis tried to assure me I was panicking about telling my parents for no reason.

  “You are a grown woman, mon coeur. What exactly do you think they are going to do?”

  I sighed. “Ah, Louis, sweet, naive Louis. You’ve never met my parents. There are plenty of things they can do.”

  He regarded me skeptically. “From three thousand miles away?”

  I nodded. “Guilt knows no boundaries, my love.”

  “I am confused. I thought they wanted you to be happy?”

  “Of course they do.” I shrugged. “It’s more complicated than that.”

  Just then we stopped at a red light and Louis turned to me with a serious look on his face. “What are you not telling me?”

  I avoided his eyes, feigning confusion. “What do you mean?”

  “Sydney Bennett! I know when you are hiding something from me. What are you afraid of?”

  I dropped my eyes to my shoes. Louis scoffed. “Ah hah! I knew it. There is something. Out with it!”

  I exhaled a long breath and met his eyes. “It’s only my theory.” OK, so that wasn’t entirely true, but there was no way I was going to throw Nick under the bus. “I’m concerned my parents are going to freak out...because everything has happened so fast.”

  His look said it all - AND?

  “And...I’m worried they might think you’re in need of a green card.”

  An expression of thunderous anger appeared on his face in an instant. Shit. I shouldn’t have said anything.

  His voice was very quiet. “This is what they think of me.”

  “No!” I panicked. “I’m only concerned this will cross their minds. They aren’t very romantic and they’ve always known me to be an extremely cautious person. This will seem very out of character for me and they’ll worry.” I was so frustrated. Why couldn’t I find the words to explain this in a way which made sense?

  Louis was silent. I tried again. “Bluey, please. I’m deliriously happy. It’ll take a little time to for my family to get used to this. It’s hard for them to be so far away and…not to have met you yet,” I finished lamely.

  He parked the car in Kate and Nick’s driveway. I took his hand in both of mine and kissed it. “Please don’t be upset.”

  Louis sighed. “I am not upset with you. I only hope your family will be able to see your happiness and celebrate with you, instead of making you feel I am using you for a green card.”

  “I don’t want to give you the wrong impression of my parents or of Charlie and Zoe. They’re all wonderful people.” I paused. “They’re protective of me. They’ve seen me get hurt many times.” I squeezed his hand. “As soon as they meet you, they will have no doubts. Trust me.”

  As we walked towards the house, I concluded that given the latest development, we were going to have to go to New York for Thanksgiving. I decided not to bring this up to Louis for a few days. We had to get through telling our families about our engagement first.

  We rang the doorbell and stood looking at each other for a few seconds while we waited for Kate or Nick to answer the door. I could see some of the happiness from last night come back into Louis’ face and felt relieved. I never should have said anything to him about my suspicions of how my parents would respond. Maybe I was overreacting? Maybe they would be supportive. Maybe my estimation of how they would react was way off base. And maybe I was on crack.

  Kate opened the door with an enormous smile on her face. “Congratulations, you two!” She engulfed us in a hug and squealed for good measure. When we were eventually released, Louis smiled genuinely. Thank God for Kate. She always made everyone feel good.

  Louis kissed Kate on both cheeks. “Thank you, ma belle-soeur. Well, soon to be.”

  Kate giggled. “I’m very much looking forward to being your sister-in-law.” Kate had much better knowledge of French than I did. I was going to have do something about that before it became embarrassing...

  “Where is our new family member?” Nick called from the kitchen. We followed the sound of his voice to find him flipping pancakes on the griddle.

  I inhaled the heavenly scent of butter laden pancakes. “Nick! Those pancakes smell good.” I rubbed my stomach in anticipation. “When do we eat?”

  He chuckled. “I bet you’ve worked up quite an appetite, little sister.”

  Louis laughed and clapped Nick on the back. “I think we are going to have some fun, Nick.”

  I blushed furiously. “You both suck.”

  Kate brought me a cup of tea. “Like two peas in a pod, Syd. At least now Nick has someone to keep him company while we gossip.”

  While I knew Louis and Nick would spend many an evening laughing at my expense, it warmed my heart to see how easily Kate and Nick had accepted Louis into their lives. They loved him because I loved him. If only it could be this easy with my parents.

  I hooked my arm through Kate’s and brought her i
nto the living room. She studied me for a moment and sighed. “You’re worried about telling them, aren’t you?”

  I stared at her incredulously. “Wouldn’t you be?”

  “Of course; I’m not trying to downplay your concerns.” She paused. “I know how important their opinion is to you. Try to remember you’re an adult and you’ve done nothing wrong.”

  I nodded. “I know. I just don’t want them to worry.”

  She laughed. “Syd, they’re Mom and Dad; they’re going to worry. There’s nothing you can do about that. And you have to admit this has all happened rather quickly. The best thing you can do is to tell them how happy you are. Help them see why you proposed to Louis.”

  I put down my tea and sat on the couch. “I am positively blissful.” I grinned. “Do you think they’re going to be reasonable or go completely nuts?”

  Kate thought for a moment. “Well, Mom will appear composed on the outside and will most likely have a thousand theories running through her mind. Dad will say everything he’s thinking, which will most likely include a high degree of profanity.”

  The mere thought of it made me feel ill. “Great. That’ll be fun.”

  She sat down and put her arm around me. “Then they’ll both calm down and realize you’re ridiculously happy and they need to get with the program. It’s going to be fine. Besides, you keep forgetting about the big picture.”

  I smiled. “I am? What a shock! Please, enlighten me.”

  She turned towards me and took me by the hands. “You’re engaged to the man of your dreams! That is something to celebrate.”

  After a quick tap on my nose for emphasis, she took me into the kitchen to begin our celebratory brunch.

  Kate and Nick had made an amazing meal for us, which they started with a champagne toast. They both said incredibly sweet things and congratulated us on deciding to spend our lives together. Louis and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and I started to feel like telling my parents wouldn’t be as scary as I had originally thought. After three wonderful hours, I could put off this daunting task no longer. Kate and Nick wished us good luck and Louis and I set off for our apartment to make the call. Kate, of course, made me promise to call her the minute we hung up and tell her everything.

  As we walked through the front door of our apartment (Yes, I have been practicing saying ‘our apartment.’), I felt my heart skip a beat. I put down my purse, picked up the phone and stared helplessly at Louis.

  “It’s now or never,” I murmured.

  He smiled at me. “Are you ready?”

  “Not really, but that’s not going to change any time soon.” I took a deep breath and dialed my mom’s store. My heart began to race as the phone rang.

  “Duck!” Oh shit. I wasn’t prepared for my dad to answer the phone.

  I cleared my throat. “Hi, Dad. How are you?”

  “Oy vey, all the usual bullshit. You just made my day better though. How are you? How are things with Linus?” Nice, Dad. You’d better get his name straight soon!

  “Great, Dad. Louis is doing really well.” I had to get this over with, but there was no way I was going to tell him first. “How’s business? Is Mom crazy busy?”

  “The store is a bit slow today. She’ll be thrilled to talk to you. Hang on, let me see if I can find her.” I heard him walk to the front of the store in search of my mom. (He kept a phone in the back so he could help my mom with the phones while he balanced the books. He had...interesting customer service skills, so it was best he was hidden away somewhere.)

  “Lyn! Duck is on the phone!” Wow. I had forgotten how loud he can be. The phone actually vibrated in my ear.

  My mom picked up the phone. “Thanks, Ted. You can hang up now.”

  “Actually,” I stammered, “...would you stay on the phone, Dad? I have something I’d like to tell you both.” I knew they were within sight distance of each other, exchanging quizzical looks.

  “What is it, Duck?” Dad was always impatient.

  “Um...well...Louis and I have exciting news.” I paused. Hurry up, Syd. They probably think you’re pregnant. “We’re getting married.”

  Silence. I waited for as long as I could stand it.

  After dislodging the frog in my throat, I asked, “Any opinions on this?”

  My mom was the first to recover. “We’re sorry, Syd. We weren’t expecting that.”

  I laughed. “I bet you’re glad I didn’t say I was pregnant!”

  “You’re not?” My dad sounded relieved.

  “No, Dad, I’m not. We aren’t having a shotgun wedding.”

  My mom exhaled. “Wow! Congratulations! How did this happen? Fill us in!” Uh oh. Her voice had climbed about three octaves. She was totally freaking out.

  I told them about Louis’ suggestion of Las Vegas (So they would know he had alluded to the idea first.) and finished with a brief version of my proposal.

  My mom was the first to speak. I could tell she had been crying. “Oh, Syd. How beautiful! I’m thrilled for you!” Phew. She sounded genuine. Although I certainly wasn’t dumb enough to think this was over. I knew she would interrogate me at a later point in time.

  “Well! You certainly are a modern woman.” My dad’s voice sounded gruff. He didn’t get emotional often, but I guess when your youngest daughter gets engaged, it hits you where it hurts.

  “You taught me to be strong and independent, didn’t you, Dad?”

  “That I did. And I’m proud of you.” He cleared his throat. “Now, I think I need to have a talk with Linus.”

  “Dad, stop pretending you don’t know his real name. This man is going to be my husband and a very important part of our family. Be nice to him!”

  He feigned offense. “I’m always nice!”

  I laughed. “Mom, please make him promise.”

  “Don’t you worry, Syd. I’ll make sure of it. Now, please, put Louis on the phone so we may congratulate him too.”

  “OK, but don’t scare him.” I was absolutely serious.

  I nervously handed the phone to Louis. “They want to congratulate you.”

  He grinned. “Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Bennett. It is so nice to meet you...over the phone.”

  He listened to my parents for a few minutes, interjecting small comments here and there, all the while smiling. He thanked them, said good-bye and handed the phone back to me. He kept the receiver covered.

  “You see? I told you it was not going to be so bad! They were very kind.”

  I was still skeptical, but I took the phone from him with a smile. “So? What do you think?”

  My mom was gushing. “He sounds as lovely as you’ve described. I can’t wait to meet him!” I breathed a sigh of relief. Louis definitely had a way with the ladies.

  My dad’s tone was a little more cautious. “Yes, Duck. When will we be meeting our future son-in-law?” Before I had the chance to answer, he added, “Let me suggest it be soon.”

  “Well, mom asked me a little while ago if I would bring Louis home for Thanksgiving. Is that soon enough?”

  My dad was weighed his response. “I suppose so, but plan on staying for a few days. I have some grilling to do and I need to see his facial expressions and body language while I do it.” Was he serious? My dad was an accomplished interrogator, a skill he had honed in the army. I didn’t want this unleashed on Louis during his first visit with my family.

  “Dad, promise me you won’t go crazy. I do actually want to marry this man.” I tried to laugh, but was unsuccessful. I have no idea how to describe the bizarre sound which came out of my mouth.

  His silence was answer enough. He still didn’t trust Louis.

  My mom came to my rescue. “Sydney Bennett, of course your father will treat your fiancé with respect. Don’t you worry; we will show Louis a good time. We know how special he is to you.”

  I choked back a sob. “You’re both exceptionally special to me too. I hope you’ll love him as much as I do.”

  The emotion in my voice finally broke throu
gh to my dad. He sighed. “I’m sure we will, Duck.”

  “Well, now it’s time to call Louis’ parents.”

  My dad chuckled. “Good luck, Duck. At least you’ll have no idea what they’re saying!”

  “Dad! From what Louis has said, they’ll be completely nonplussed.” This may have been a bit of an exaggeration, but it made me feel a little better.

  I heard a muffled yelp from my father and knew my mom had swatted him in the back of the head.

  “Syd, what your father meant to say was they’ll be lucky to have you as part of their family. I’m sure they already know that from everything Louis has told them about you.

  I suddenly realized I had no idea what Louis had told his family about me. I had often heard him on the phone with his family, but I knew very little French, so he could have been plotting a bank robbery and I would have been none the wiser. That’s it! Tomorrow, I’m signing up for French lessons. I need to be able to communicate with my new family.

  I felt the tension building in my stomach. “I hope you’re right, Mom.”

  “Of course I’m right. Now, promise me you’ll call me later today to give me the extended version of your proposal. And I want to hear about your ring!”

  I winced, wondering what my mother would think of my nontraditional choice. “Sure, Mom. I’ll call you later.” I was about to say good-bye when an important thought occurred to me. “Please don’t tell Charlie or Zoe. I’ll call them as soon as I can after we speak to Louis’ parents.”

  My dad coughed. “You’ve got it, Duck. We won’t say anything to them, but make sure to call them today. I can’t hold on to gossip this hot for too long. We love you.”

  “Thanks! I love you too.”

  After I hung up the phone, I glanced over at Louis. He walked over to me and pulled me to his chest. “You see? It wasn’t so bad, mon coeur.”