Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Contemplation Indigo ❯ Languedoc Noir ( Chapter 16 )

Languedoc Noir

By

Diane Louis

"Would you like to see the desert menu?" The waiter asked crisply, clearly addressing this particular question to her, even though every other question he had previously asked had quite pointedly been put to Wufei.

Sally glanced across the table toward Wufei, saw the look of hope that crossed his features and smiled. She knew he would not order a desert if she did not, but she also knew that, though he would die before admitting it, he had an extremely sweet tooth and took every opportunity of indulging it.

"Yes please." She said and took the proffered menu.

Wufei also took a menu, but he immediately laid it aside and sat looking expectantly across at her. She sighed resignedly and proceeded to read to him from the list of delights on offer, just as she had done earlier, when they had ordered their appetisers and main courses and just as he had then, he laughed heartily throughout. While his vision was still severely impaired following his corneal transplant surgery, he could see perfectly well enough to read the menu, however, the mirth he derived from her atrocious pronunciation of the complicated French dishes on the menu was too priceless an opportunity for him to pass up. Having placed their order ('tourte aux pommes avec crème Chantilly' for her, 'petits rouleaux de noix au chocolat' for him and a glass of Sauternes apiece), she waited patiently for his laughter to subside.

"Oh for goodness sake Wufei," She said with feigned annoyance, after allowing what she deemed a reasonable interval for him to enjoy his little joke at her expense, "It wasn't that funny."

"Oh yes it was." He replied, dabbing at imaginary tears with the corner of his napkin.

"I think you deliberately chose a French restaurant for just this reason." She asserted.

"Correct." He replied with a self-satisfied smirk.

"Bastard!" She retorted, but there was no malice behind the word.

"You know you love me really." Wufei said affably.

She looked up at him sharply as the words pierced her heart like a barb. His exotically beautiful face smiled benignly at her from across the table, and she knew that he had spoken the words without guile, with no real idea of their aptness or veracity. As he looked at her she saw his brows draw together in a slight frown, and rather than give herself away, she babbled the first nonsense that came to her head.

"I can't believe you can actually speak that language fluently." She said in a prattling manner that utterly disgusted her. 'Of course he can you fool' she chided herself mentally, 'he's lived there long enough'.

"What, French?" Came the obvious reply, "Well I have lived there for some time, so it's only to be expected that I would have picked up a word or two by now. Are you alright?" He added casually, but a frown of concern still clouded his brow.

She was saved from having to provide a response by the arrival of their desert and wine. As the waiter fussily lay what was ultimately a slice of apple tart with whipped cream before her, she surreptitiously looked down at her hands. As Wufei had unwittingly uttered his throw-away comment, she had involuntarily clenched her fists so tightly that her nails, freshly shaped and manicured that very morning, had pierced the flesh of her palms and she now bore four bloody crescents on each hand.

"This is probably the most expensive apple pie I shall ever eat." She said with a light laugh, merely for want of something to say that would lift the atmosphere she could feel descending. There were no prices displayed on either the menu or the wine list, and this fact alone convinced her of the veracity of this statement, if the décor and ambience of the restaurant and the demeanour and attentiveness of the waiting staff had failed to do so.

"Probably." He agreed, but without any noticeable concern. "It's quite a nice restaurant though, don't you think? Treize likes to come here." He continued, without waiting for an answer to his previous question.

She groaned inwardly. They were now coming to the part of these meetings that she found difficult to bear. Her meetings with Wufei were few and far between, basically only coming around whenever Wufei flew over from France for some reason or other, and sometimes not even then. She relished every minute they spent together and hung on every syllable he uttered..., until he began to speak about his husband. Although she was sure she gave no sign, she deplored having to listen while Wufei innocently recounted various anecdotes of their life together, little knowing how each word was like a sabre-thrust to the heart to her. The gist of his stories was always that he was perfectly contented with his life and happily married to his husband. Though he complained of Treize's fussiness and over-protectiveness towards him, she knew that deep down he loved every minute of it and wouldn't have it any other way. It made him feel special, made him feel... loved. She hated the duplicity, but what else could she do? How else was she to feel when the man she loved held forth at length about how much he loved another?

"...fitting for his outfit for the wedding." Wufei was saying. "He said he would grab a quick bite at the club before our next appointment." She had been listening with only half an ear and was vaguely aware that he had been saying something about what Treize was doing while they were lunching together.

"It's a pity he couldn't join us." She said suddenly, with a sincerity that surprised her. It obviously surprised Wufei too.

"Really?" He said with eyebrows raised in wonder, "I always assumed that you would rather he wasn't with me whenever we arrange to meet, that's why I always come alone. Somehow I always got the feeling that you didn't really like him."

"Of course not!" She retorted with just enough righteous indignation to give some credence to her words. They were given greater asperity by the realisation that she had not hid herself as well as she thought she had. "Anyway, I hardly know him so how can I not like him." She added, this time on surer ground since at least part of this statement was actually true.

"I know, I'm sorry." He said contritely, "It's just..., I don't know, I just thought..."

"It's alright." She said, hastening to forestall his superfluous apology since he was perfectly correct in his assumption. "Anyway, I've gotten to know him a little since your operation, and he seems very nice."

This was perfectly true. Since their initial meeting (at Treize's instigation) to discuss Wufei's operation, they had met several times. She had helped him to secure a suitable nurse to aid Wufei during his post-operative recovery and she had also run into him a few times when she had gone to Wufei's hospital room to pay him a quick visit. On each of these occasions Wufei had been either anesthetised or asleep, so she had had no option but to exchange a few words with Trieze. She had to admit that each time they had spoken she had come away with an impression of him that grew more and more favourable with each meeting and she had quickly come to realise that he was exactly what Wufei had always insisted he was - just a very caring, very considerate, very nice man. So much so in fact, that the worst that she could now say of him was that he had bagged the man that she wanted, and she could hardly hold that against him... could she?

For many years she had convinced herself that she despised Treize for no other reason than this and she had steadfastly avoided any situation that might give an indication to the contrary, regardless of anything Wufei could say to her about him. Now all her cunning had come to naught, and circumstances had conspired to throw them together so that she could no longer bury her head in the sand as regarded his true nature. She now saw that not only did he in no way deserve her contempt, he actually elicited a great deal of admiration and respect from her, albeit grudgingly bestowed. She now found it extremely difficult to maintain her position regarding him, even though her feelings for Wufei remained as inexorable as they were unrequited.

"He told me." Wufei said ambiguously, then explaining himself he added, "He told me that you had come to see me. He didn't tell me that you and he had spoken though."

"I expect he didn't think it was that important. Is your desert not good?" She asked, nodding towards his almost untouched sweetmeat.

"Yes, it's fine." He said, and as if to prove this fact, he speared a 'petit rouleau' with a desert fork and popped it into his mouth. They attended to their deserts for a minute or two, then Wufei spoke again. "I could ask him to come and join us if you like. His fitting should be over by now and the shop is not that far away."

"That would be very nice." She heard herself say, and before she knew what was happening, while beaming broadly at her Wufei had retrieved a cellphone from somewhere about his person and was already dialling a number. She listened apprehensively to his half of the conversation, smiling surreptitiously behind a hand when almost the first thing Wufei did was to snap angrily at Treize.

"Hi..., yes of course everything's alright, why must you always think that something is wrong every time I phone you? Where are you? Will you be long? Good. Why don't you come and join us? We're having desert so come as soon as you can. Shall I order you something? Okay, see you soon... bye." He cut the call and dropped the phone carelessly on the table beside his plate. "He's just finishing so he'll be here soon. I'm so glad; it will be nice for us to all be together for once."

He smiled broadly at her once again and she suddenly felt a pang of remorse for her selfish behaviour over the years. Wufei had so wanted her to know the Treize that he knew, to become as much a friend to Treize as she was to him, but she had wanted no part of it. She was now beginning to get a taste of what she had missed and the regrets were stacking up, not least because of how happy their burgeoning acquaintanceship seemed to make Wufei.

She pasted on a smile for his benefit while she steeled herself for the forthcoming ordeal. She had never actually seen them together; at least she had been spared that. She had seen them photographed together many times in the society columns of various news papers and magazines, and had sometimes seen them on the television, arm in arm, treading red carpets as they made their stately entrance to high society functions, but these were always formal occasions where Treize looked glacial and aloof and Wufei looked either bored, irritated, or a mixture of both. She had never actually seen them interacting together as a couple. Well this was about to change and she was surprised to find that she didn't mind half as much as she thought she would, as she might have done had this happened say, a month or so ago. In fact, she was forced to admit to a mild curiosity and found herself quite looking forward to Treize's arrival.

"How about you, do you have a dress to wear yet?" He asked her.

"I have part of my outfit," She said guardedly, "I just have to find the rest."

She was being deliberately reticent because she did not know how much he knew, but the part of the outfit she was referring to had come courtesy of Treize himself and was yet one further reason why she found herself forced into re-evaluating her opinion of him. It had been delivered to her home address by special messenger and had arrived one Sunday morning a fortnight or so ago, while she was lounging around the house in an oversized t-shirt and precious little else. After having assured herself that the messenger had not made a mistake, she signed for the package and opened it hesitatly. She vaguely recognised the name of the exclusive jewellers on the velvet covered box inside, but thought nothing of it, fully expecting that this was someone at the hospital's idea of a joke and that a toad (or worse) would leap from the box when opened. However, when she did open the box she soon realised that this was no joke.

Nestling inside was the most beautiful diamond necklace she had ever seen (not that she had seen all that many), complete with matching earrings. She knew very little about fine jewellery, but she needed no expertise to tell her that what she held in her hands were 100% genuine and extremely valuable. The diamonds (she knew that the large, white stones were diamonds because she was almost dazzled by their brilliance) were set in a pale-coloured metal, either white gold or platinum, she could not tell which. The necklace had a large teardrop pendant, which was at least three quarters of an inch wide and at least an inch long and it made her breathless to think of the value of this stone alone. There were a great many others besides, albeit smaller in size. She was by this time convinced that this was most definitely a mistake. With her heart pounding in her breast she retrieved the card that had fluttered to the floor as she had unwrapped the package and read it. She could still recall every word:

Dearest Sally,

I hope you are well. I hope you will forgive the liberty, but this is just a small token of my gratitude for all the kindness you have shown to Wufei throughout his illness. I hope that you will approve of my selection but if not, the store has instructions to exchange it for anything you prefer. I will phone you later to check that the package arrived safely and to give you some information that you may find useful.

It was signed simply 'Treize' in the same flowing cursive script that the rest of the message was written in. He had indeed phoned her, around ten minutes later. She had thanked him fulsomely, but had stated that she could not possibly accept such a gift. 'Nonsense, of course you can' had been his blunt reply, and that had been the end of that particular discussion. He had gone on to say that while the set was quite valuable, she need not worry about the responsibility of owning such items. The jewels were fully insured, and provision had been made for her to deposit them with his bankers for safe keeping. He also informed her quite plainly that if she ever needed to 'realise the asset' as he had so delicately put it, she need feel no qualms about doing so and he even gave her the name and address of someone whom she could trust to undertake this for her. It was when he said this that she had finally guessed his purpose, or at least part of his purpose in giving her such a gift. He was too much of a gentleman to offer her money directly, but this way he had ensured her financial security for the future as well as giving her something that most women could only dream of. While Treize had forborne to mention the actual value of the jewels, she was certain that if she sold them tomorrow, she could live out her days in splendour on the proceeds and never have to work again. What with one source of income and another she was actually quite comfortably off financially, but a little extra security certainly couldn't hurt.

It was fully two weeks later and she still sometimes thought that she had dreamt the whole incident. The jewels were now safely on deposit with Treize's bankers, and now only the card (and a safety deposit box number) remained to attest to the fact that, yes, she was the owner of diamonds... real diamonds! She had intended to wear them to the 'Wedding' as Wufei had taken to calling it despite the fact that Treize and he were already married, but now she needed a gown worthy of them (black satin - her heart was set). It was to be quite a grand affair, and it was the only opportunity she could ever hope to have of wearing them (unless she splashed out on the outrageously high cost of a ticket to the next Winner Foundation Dinner & Dance.)

"And do you have a date?" Wufei asked with a wry grin.

"Oh, not that old chestnut again!" She sighed, passing her hands wearily across her eyes then on to push her thick, honey-blonde hair back from her brow.

"Yes, that old chestnut again." He reached out across the table and caught her hands in his. "I just can't understand why a beautiful and intelligent young woman like you doesn't have anyone." Their waiter stood a few paces away, looking on at what to all intents and purposes appeared be a pair of young lovers, with an indulgent smile. Wufei looked up, caught his eye and summoned him with a curt nod.

"Yes Sir?"

"Could you bring another chair please, my husband will be joining us shortly." He said this while gazing warmly into Sally's blue eyes, and even as he closed the statement he raised her hands to his lips and planted a kiss lightly on her knuckles. The waiter looked down at their conjoined hands, focussing on Wufei's wedding ring, then turned away to do as he was bid, wearing a look that distinctly said 'I don't want to know'.

"Has it ever occurred to you that I might not want anyone?" Sally resumed their previous conversation.

"Rubbish!" Wufei said flatly, "Everyone wants someone."

'Yes, and I want someone I can't have' she thought, but all she said was, "Well I do have a date actually."

"Great!" Wufei said animatedly, "Who is it - tell me it isn't Warren?" He added guardedly.

"Yes, it's Warren." She said, almost triumphantly.

"Oh but Sal..." He began, but then countered, "Well I suppose he'll have to do. He's nowhere near good enough for you but still..." Wufei raised her hands to his lips again as the waiter returned with another velvet upholstered ormolu chair. He shook his head as he walked away, having taken an order for coffee and 'petits fours' for three. "I just want you to be happy Sal," Wufei said earnestly, "As happy as I am. I want everyone to be as happy as I am, and anyway," He dropped his voice conspiratorially and leaned across the table towards her, "You don't look at the mantelpiece when you're poking the fire."

"Chang Wufei that's an outrageous thing to say!" Sally cried as she reached out and slapped Wufei playfully across the upper arm. She had leaned forward to catch his words, emulating Wufei's conspiratorial manner and now she sprang back in her chair as they both dissolved into helpless, childish giggles.

"I sincerely hope that that was not the one about the clergyman and the chorus girl," Came a rich, melodious voice from somewhere on Sally's left, "That particular story is not fit for the ears of a lady."

Sally's laughter stopped as abruptly as if a switch had been thrown. She turned sharply to her left and saw the tall, statuesque figure of Treize Kushrenada standing beside her. He was expensively dressed in a dark suit of a lightweight fabric, exquisitely cut and perfectly tailored as usual, with a rather garishly patterned shirt which was obviously designed for a man half his age, but a man, she thought, who would be hard pressed to look half as good in it. The shirt was open at the neck and his jacket was unfastened. This, she had come to realise, was a trick he seemed to use that made a relatively smart outfit look quite casual. His belt and shoes were correspondingly dark, and both as spotless as ever. As far as she had hitherto observed, he never seemed to make any bold fashion statements even though he could quite easily afford to do so. This man knew what suited him and he stuck to it. No one could ever accuse Treize Kushrenada of being mutton dressed as lamb. His grooming was once again as impeccable as ever, and the now familiar scent of his cologne assailed her nostrils. His piercing blue eyes bored through her as they always did, but there was nothing but warmth in the gaze.

"Sally, so good to see you again." He said as he held out a hand to her, drew her firmly towards him and kissed her warmly on both cheeks. This had become the customary greeting between them, but she still could not quell the small leap that her heart made each time. It was not a perfunctory gesture and his languid grace gave his movements an easy pace which manifested his sincerity.

To a casual observer, it may have seemed as though he had completely ignored Wufei during this far from brief exchange, but Sally could see that this was definitely not the case. He had extended only one hand to her this time, and her keen powers of observation had not missed the other, which rested gently and fondly between Wufei's shoulder blades. The table was small, sized only for two and it was a simple feat for a man of his stature and 'reach' to perform. She smiled inwardly at this. Perfect gentleman that he was, his sense of etiquette demanded that he give his attention to the lady first, however, he simply could not ignore his adored one for a single moment. She doubted whether he were even aware of what he had just done. He held her hand supportively as she resumed her seat, then he turned to Wufei.

"Fei my pet," He said gently, almost apologetically, "Are you alright?" Obviously a rhetorical question since he immediately leaned towards Wufei and their lips met in a brief but tender kiss, forestalling any reply on his husband's part. This was as far as their greeting went however. Apparently mindful of the fact that their party was a threesome, he turned away from Wufei and angled his body so that his subsequent speech was directed at both his fellows.

"I was the dickens of a time, I'm sorry." He said. "I just had to run into the store to get this." He bent to retrieve something from the floor and for the first time Sally noticed a profusion of gaily coloured shopping bags at his feet. He picked out a small one and placed it on the table beside her coffee cup, the waiter having brought their order some moments previously.

"Oh Treize," She exclaimed in pleased surprise, "Thank-you so much, but you really shouldn't have."

"Nonsense, I practically didn't," He replied dismissively, "It's nothing really."

'Hmmm,' she thought, 'The same kind of 'nothing' as the 'small token' he gave her a few weeks ago. She had recognised the name of the exclusive perfumier on the shopping bag. "Thank-you anyway." She said, and in a bold, impulsive movement, she rose quickly from her seat, leaned towards him and kissed him lightly on the cheek. While she sat smiling serenely at him, her mind recited 'I can't believe I just did that, I can't believe I just did that' over and over again, like a mantra. He gave her a winning smile and a thought suddenly came to her, 'He is so attractive, so why doesn't he attract me, why is it Wufei, always Wufei?'

"He always does this." Wufei's voice came from across the table. "He goes out shopping and buys presents for everyone and nothing for himself. No, actually, scratch that. He buys lots of things for himself and presents for everyone."

"And lots of things for you my pet, don't forget that." Treize said.

"Never." Wufei replied gently, smiling up at Treize. He squeezed the older man's hand lightly as it lay on the table. "And talking of presents," He added, "Did you like your jewellery?"

Sally looked at him with brows arched in surprise. So Wufei had known all along. She could see not reason for Treize to have kept it from him, but she had been equally sure that if he had known he would have said something about it before this. However, as she looked at him she read nothing in his eyes, he only waited expectantly for her reply.

"Y...yes thank-you, it was beautiful." She replied hesitantly. She was still confused, not knowing how much to say.

"Good." Wuifei gave a nod of satisfaction. "I forgot all about it until this talk of presents came up." He continued in a light, conversational tone. "Treize told me that he was going to buy you a little something to say thank-you for helping me. I told him that yes, it would be nice and he went out shopping... again." He added, rolling his eyes heavenward in a long-suffering but good humoured manner. "When he came back I asked him what he had bought and he told me he'd bought you some jewellery. 'Nice', I thought, 'Sal will like that'. So what did you get, a string of pearls? No, don't tell me. Wear it to the wedding and I'll see it then."

She understood then. Wufei had absolutely no idea of the nature or the magnitude of Treize's gift. Well if Treize did not see fit to apprise him then she certainly would not, but the secret would be out within a few short weeks. The date of the wedding was drawing nearer. She stole a glace at Treize and the knowing smirk he gave her assured her that he was fully aware of this and it was all part of his subtle plan.

"Well, lovely though this is, I think we had better get on," Wufei said as the waiter brought their bill, placing it pointedly in front of Treize, "Those wedding rings are not going to design themselves." He added, referring to his and Treize's next appointment. He popped the last of the 'petits fours' into his mouth (which is exactly where most of the others had ended up) as he murmured,"If no one else wants this..."

Sally reached for her handbag but Treize smiled indulgently across at her.

"You will be our guest of course." He said as he opened the leatherette folder that contained the bill and signed the slip of paper within with the bold flourish that she recalled from the card she kept so preciously back at home. He closed the folder, and her brow creased as she realised that he had tendered neither cash nor credit card. He had merely signed his name on the bill. She looked up at Wufei in confusion, and he mouthed the word 'account' to her. She recalled his saying that Treize liked to come to the restaurant and all became clear.

'How the other half live.' She thought with bewilderment, and then a more serious thought crossed her mind. She battled with her conscience for a moment and then made a decision. "Wait, now I have you both together I have something to tell you." She began. Having risen preparatory to leaving, both Wufei and Treize sank back into their seats, and having caught their apprehensive attention she continued. "I'm afraid that this is at the risk of ruining your day, but whether I tell you now or at another time will not make it any easier for you to hear. As you know, Steven Scrivener is far from happy about these headaches and blackouts you have been experiencing Wufei, since they seem to be completely unconnected with your recovery from the surgery and to be perfectly honest, neither am I. We have discussed the situation at great length and have decided that the best thing would be for you to undergo a CT scan." She saw the look of shocked dismay on both their faces and it occurred to her how much she hated her job sometimes. She saw Wufei grope wildly for Treize's hand even as Treize did the same, both pairs of eyes trained on her face. Their hands met and clasped desperately. "Please don't worry about this," She implored them, "It's only a precautionary measure as we attempt to diagnose what might be behind it all. It may be absolutely nothing and the scan will tell us that."

"Doesn't it mean that you think there's something wrong with my brain?" Wufei asked, his voice tremulous.

"I won't lie to you Wufei," She replied gravely, "If there is something wrong with your brain, yes, the scan will tell us that, but that is not why it is being done. In fact, we have absolutely no reason to believe that there is anything wrong with your brain, but we have to be thorough and in cases of unexplained headaches and blackouts such as you have been experiencing, we would be failing in our duty as physicians if we didn't perform a CT scan on you with the minimum of delay."

"We understand Sally." Treize said. "When?"

"Three days time. That is the earliest appointment we could make for you. We felt that it was important that we get the scan over and done with as soon as possible so that you can carry on with your preparations and get married without it hanging over your heads."

"Thank-you, we appreciate that." Treize rose from his chair, dropped to his knees beside Wufei and enveloped his husband in strong, comforting arms. "Let me take you home my sweet." He murmured gently as he stroked Wufei's raven locks, "I'll phone Jarvis and ask him to cancel the appointment at the ring designers."

"No!" Came a cry muffled by the fabric of Treize's jacket. Wufei raised his head and eased himself free of Treize's embrace. "I have a brilliant idea for the design, and I'll forget it if we don't go now." He said. "I won't have to stay in the hospital will I?" He asked, looking round at Sally. She breathed a discreet sigh of relief as she replied.

"No, not at all. The whole process takes a few hours and can be performed on an outpatient basis."

"Good. Now it's been wonderful Sal, but we have to go now or we'll be late." Wufei rose and collected some of Treize's packages before he led them all to the door.

A smart black Rolls Royce tourer was parked at the kerb directly outside the restaurant, in complete contravention of any imposed parking restrictions, and a liveried chauffer stood beside it, equally as smart. As they emerged from the restaurant the chauffeur stepped forward and relieved Treize and Wufei of their packages, deftly managing to open the passenger door for them at the same time.

"Pardon me your Excellency." The chauffeur said in a crisp British accent.

"Yes Hansen?" Treize replied

"May we not take the lady anywhere?" Treize looked enquiringly at her but she shook her head emphatically.

"Oh no, thank-you, you guys go ahead. I'm parked right around the corner."

They said their goodbyes and she waved them off to their appointment. As she watched the car disappear into the early afternoon traffic, she wished she could feel more sanguine about Wufei's forthcoming CT scan. He seemed so excited about the wedding and so happy after his recent health worries that she hated the thought of any potential blight.

"Poor Fei," She murmured to herself, "You may be happy now, but for how long?"