XLIV

Thiage limited himself to observe silently while his sister hurriedly handed him her guitar and strode towards the tall, dark haired man that was making his way down the aisle of the empty church. Who IS this guy? By the look on Frédérique’s face and the way the sadness in her eyes had vanished, Thiage kind of got the idea, but asked himself again the same question when he observed his looks: easily ten years older than Frédérique, shaggy hair, earring, silk white shirt with only the two lower buttons done and sleeves rolled up to mid-forearm, brown velvet jacket hanging from arm, expensive jeans and boots, rosary hanging from neck, the cross resting on his stomach just above the first done button of the shirt and a shorter chain with something that looked like a dagger, leather wristband.

He couldn’t see his sister’s face, but the interesting looking fellow smiled warmly and spoke in English, then they hugged tightly for a few moments before the rest of the family interrupted them and swarmed into the church. When Frédérique started introducing him to their parents, Thiage decided it was time to approach the group and have a closer look at the mysterious visitor.

“Thiage…”, the young man heard his sister call him and smiling but without taking her eyes off of the newly arrived, she introduced the two men in English, “Meet Richie”. Then she turned to look at her brother and gave him a wink. “He’s my…sweet music man”.

So American, OK.  His left hand appeared to be glued to Frédérique’s lower back while he used the right one to shake hands or place it on someone’s shoulder if they greeted him with a double peck. His eyes regarded her with intentions that were…hardly appropriate for a sacred place, but it was his own sweet sister’s lustful stare at the handsome man what disturbed Thiage the most. However, he couldn’t help but notice that evidently, there was something more than just lust in their eyes, and the happiness Frédérique was experiencing put Thiage finally at ease.

During the ceremony, and specially while they were singing, Thiage noticed Richie’s rapture with Frédérique, almost as though he was going to eat her alive by just looking at her. As they walked from the church to the garden for the party, Thiage approached Emilie, who was probably the only source of information available, to do some investigation. So a rockstar. Yes, he’d heard of the band. Knowing his sister that wasn’t a shock: though the few men she had allowed her family to meet were rather standard in all aspects, he knew that someday she’d hook up with someone related to music and most of all, someone absolutely non-standard like herself. What was, indeed, a shock was that he was one of  her clients - that one he didn’t see coming. This guy must be someone more special than he’d thought at the beginning.

The majority of the Balbé family components, except for their mother, talked at least a little English, so Richie had been able to exchange a couple of words with some of them, but Frédérique’s brother was surprised that he had also managed to pull off some Italian phrases and handle a short conversation with his mother. He was definitely a charming man with a magnetic personality and engaged in conversation easily while Frédérique was all over the place talking, greeting, smiling - all her usual adorable self - but from time to time she approached Richie and asked him how he was doing or if he needed anything and he had replied negatively.

Not even when lunch was served did Frédérique attempt to sit down and eat, but Richie gently made her sit down and fed her himself with his own fork, while they looked deeply into each other’s eyes - the moment seemed to be reminiscent of previous comfortable and natural intimacy. She then thanked him with a wink and a smile and left the table as soon as she was done chewing and swallowing. This operation was repeated several times and each time Richie resumed the animated conversation he and Emilie had engaged in.

After lunch, Thiage saw Frédérique take Richie by the hand and tug him to join a conversation group, but was soon taken away by a friend or relative that wanted to greet her or congratulate her on her performance and Richie had been left alone among French talking people with a confused look on his face. Thiage decided it was time for him to have a little chat with the man that seemed to provoke such attentiveness and endearment in his sister, so he walked over and addressed him.

“So…Bon Jovi, huh?”. He was actually rather excited to be in the presence of an experienced musician, but tried to tone it down and keep it casual.

Richie nodded and pulled a proud smirk, “That’s right”. He took a sip from his glass of wine, he'd bet his ass that it wasn’t Frédérique who had told him that, so he added, now grinning, “I see rumors spread quickly”

Richie’s smile was so contagious that Thiage barely managed to stiffen a smile and nodded, but soon regained his composure and inquired with a shrug.

“Are you planning on playing something for us?”

Richie chuckled and spoke lazily while he tipped his head in Frédérique’s direction. “Nah...She’s the rockstar here - today I’m happy to be just the guy that tunes her guitar”. As soon as he finished talking he prayed that Thiage hadn’t caught the possible second meaning of what he had said. Too late: Thiage chuckled and kept the subtle undertone.

“She certainly seems happy with your work”, then looked at Richie and couldn’t see his eyes through the sunglasses but he made sure that Richie did see his, and grabbed one of his shoulders. “And she deserves to be happy so I’d hate to hear her guitar is out of tune again”. He smirked and didn't wait for Richie's response, then walked away.

Richie chortled softly and kept quiet: it was probably the first moment since his arrival at the church that he was able to pause and evaluate what was happening. Up until now, everything felt like a play he was acting in, only no one had given him the script. However, he felt relaxed, and decided not to add his own intentions to the action that was developing in front of his eyes and just observe and enjoy.

A few yards in front of him Frédérique sat on a chair under the sun with her little nephew straddling her on her lap, playing with her shiny hair. The boy was telling her something in French which of course Richie couldn’t understand, but he seemed to be excited about it and Frédérique listened with her head tilted to one side, sparkling eyes and that delicious smile of hers.

Seeing Frédérique in her natural habitat only made him want her even more: all her qualities seemed to be enhanced. He had seen her sing before, but never in French, with such emotion or in such a beautiful place. He knew she loved her family, but seeing and experiencing that love up close warmed his heart. She usually and naturally attracted some attention in whatever place she was, but here the amount of attention she got was only overcome by the one attracted by the bride and groom. Even when she spoke French it sounded so much deeper and sexier as her lips formed a full blown pout. And her beauty…she looked stunning and more beautiful and radiant than ever.

Richie had only been able to catch quick glimpses of her universe, but now he was in it. And he wanted it. All of it. Still, there was something standing in his way.

Emilie had let him know at one moment that she knew what had happened, so Richie didn’t need further explanation when she stood by him, following the same direction of his glance and asked him before taking a sip from her own glass of wine.

“Have you two talked yet?”

“Not a chance…” Richie shook his head slightly, “Have ya seen her? She hasn’t stopped for a second”, then chuckled softly, “I got tired just by looking at her running around”.

There was a moment of silence.

“She thought she’d lost you, Richie”, Emilie confided without further ado, “…When she saw you with her”.

Richie felt the sting of Emilie’s comment, but he thought that since he hadn’t been able to talk to Frédérique yet, he could take a shortcut so he explained in a low voice.

“I wasn’t ‘with her’ that night, Emilie, it was just a kiss Nikki gave me as a congratulation”, Richie felt his frustration build inside him so he paused and breathed before continuing. “Why didn’t she talk to me? Yelled at me, slap me on the face or somethin’?”

Emilie chuckled. “Is that what you expected?”, she shook her head when before continuing. “Here we see things in a different way, Richie”, explained Emilie. “When you decide to let someone go, it’s because you’ve thought it through and arrived at the conclusion that it’s the right thing to do, whatever the reason is”, she paused to make sure Richie was following. “If you later regret it and the other person has moved on, you respect their decision and suck it up, then move on yourself. If you are the one on the other end and someone leaves you, you respect the other person’s decision and move on. As simple as that”. She finished with a shrug.

Holy Shit. Simple my ass. Of course, Richie’d been unlucky enough that his behavior matched precisely that pattern. He turned his glance back at Frédérique. “But one thing after the other just went wrong, and I tried to set things straight but she shut me off”.

Emilie rolled her eyes. “It’s frustrating, I know. It just means that she’s done discussing the subject and the more vulnerable she feels, the worse it is. She’s been hurt, Richie. A lot. And that defense mechanism has, in the past, protected her from more than a couple of idiots”. Emilie looked askance at Richie, evidencing her innuendo. Richie finally took his eyes off of Frédérique and turned to look at Emilie, but she interrupted him before he could utter a single word.

“But don’t worry”, she patted Richie’s shoulder and smiled reassuringly, “You’ll get the hang of it”.

Richie chuckled. “Any hints?”

“I'm sorry, you're on your own...”, she grinned and then glanced at Frédérique again, "...but I don't think you'll be needing any, anyway".

Richie turned his head back to Frédérique: her nephew gave her a quick peck on the lips, jumped off her lap and ran away, getting lost among the bushes in the garden. She then started walking toward them so Richie excused himself and walked to meet her. She took his hand, tipped her head to the dance floor and smiled when she invited him.

“Let’s dance”