Children of the House of Four Seasons: Rose Aubrey
The direct continuation of MAXI SKINNER
By Atonia Walpole
(Picture creations also by Atonia)
Part 1
Rose was thankful Jacky had come back from the House of Four Seasons with her. She was virtually ignored for a couple of days. With Maxi gone to California and Jacky’s reunion with her mother she had time to gear herself up for the confrontation she knew was coming. She kept mostly to her room or out on the property somewhere, in the pool or riding a bike, taking long walks. She’d had a few looks from her Dad so she knew he’d told her mother.
Jacky hadn’t stayed as long as she would have liked. His father called him back to London to work. Two days went by and nothing had been said. But she knew her mother.
Toni went up to Rose’s room and opened the door. Rose was in the bath. She could hear her singing to herself so she sat on the bed and looked around at the walls, one wall covered in life-sized movie posters. She couldn’t’ for the life of her see what Rose saw in that pirate in his eyeliner. Her dressing table held an autographed picture of the actor. She’d made a collage of small pictures of him and it was hanging on her wall next to a painting of her father’s ship, HMS Surprise. Toni wished Jack was there to help her with Rose but it had always been like this. Max had been aware she wasn’t his and although he had no problem with disciplining her when she was a young girl, he stepped back now and left it to Toni.
“Mummy…”
Rose had her bathrobe wrapped around her and her hair up in a towel. “Now then…Rose.” Toni fixed her with a look.
“Yes, Mum. I suppose you have come to punish me over Maxi.”
“I’ve come to find out how such a thing could have happened in this house without me knowing about it. I want to know, Rose, exactly what happened and when.”
“You want the details?”
“Don’t get smart with me.”
“I’m sorry. It started the year I was fifteen and Maxi was sixteen.”
“Started…how many times…?”
“We don’t do it anymore.”
“When did you stop?”
“Um, maybe last year…longer.”
“Rose Aubrey…four years!”
“Well, I don’t know. You know I don’t keep…it was my fault and Dad hit Maxi.”
“I know he did. Why was it your fault?”
“I knew what I was doing. I teased him. I make him crazy. I was fifteen.”
Toni thought back to that summer. Rose had developed early and certainly had a woman’s body at fifteen. She remembered Max saying something about her needing a larger bathing suit.
“You paraded around in that bikini I told you to get rid of.…”
“And you took me to the clinic for a checkup and I got birth control pills.”
“You never told me that.”
“No…I didn’t.” She bit her lip. “I knew I was ready for sex.”
“You must have had a good laugh when I talked to you about protection. How old were you then, sixteen?”
“I didn’t laugh, Mummy. You were doing your job as a mother.”
“I’d left it too late.”
“No…no. Maxi knew. He always used something.”
“But, Rose, he was your brother! Why did you…?”
“He was my cousin…you know…we thought so anyway. I let him touch me and then, well…you know I want to touch him, too. Maxi is beautiful, you know.”
“Where did this take place?”
“In his bedroom. I went there. Later we'd go to Chambord after Grandpa passed away…in his room there.”
“He deserved to be hit.”
“No, no Mummy! I used my…I flooded him.”
“Rose…”
“At first I don’t know what it is that I’m feeling but I…did let it happen. The second time I did this. I feel this power…he explained to me what it felt like, as though he was being flooded, like water…waves.”
Toni knew full well what it felt like to be flooded by water…Jack. “Did your Papa tell you about…flooding?”
“No, he told me I was water, my element was water. Maxi is air and he found his own element. We learn, you know, with each other.”
“For four years you learned…?”
“Well…we did, yes. He was mine. I could do anything with him. I went away to school and he found girls and then we stopped.”
Max called Toni to the phone. It was Terry…Jacky had been shot.
Rose dried her hair and dressed. She thought about Maxi and she didn’t regret him. Like she said, they learned with each other. What they were capable of, what they could do to each other. She knew they loved each other a little but not in love, like she was with her pirate. She left her room to find out what had happened to Jacky.
Later on Toni told Max about Rose as she was finishing up dinner.
“No wonder he went around with a boner all summer. Oh, yes, I noticed that but most sixteen year old boys…well.”
“You never thought to ask him if he had a girl?”
“I assumed he did…I know he did. He told me about a girl in Bonnieux. Of course this might have been before Rose got hold of him. I never knew, and you know Maxi…I thought he told me everything, but never a hint about Rose. Did you ask her about Jacky?”
“No…surely she…but I will.” Toni didn’t trust her not to have seduced her own blood brother. She caught up with Rose again after dinner while cleaning up the kitchen.
“I want to ask you something. Did you seduce Jacky as well?”
“No, never with Jacky.” She laughed a little. “Jacky told me to put some clothes on…Jacky was my brother.”
“You tried?”
“No, Mum, I didn’t. I never did with Jacky…only Maxi.”
“Did Jacky know about you and Maxi?”
“I didn’t tell him anything. I don’t know what he knew. Maxi didn’t tell either.”
“How do you feel about him now, Maxi?”
“I love him, Mummy. I always will but he is my brother, not my lover.”
“I want to make sure of that. Maybe you need some counseling of some kind, get over this obsession with Maxi.”
“No, I’m not obsessed with him any longer. I found someone else.”
“You have a boyfriend? Oh…is this the, um, pirate?”
“He’s not just a pirate.”
“Max told me you wanted a season at the House…with him?”
“Yes!” Her eyes brightened.
“That’s not going to happen. You’re too young and, regardless of what age you are, I would never let you go there with that intention.”
Rose looked down at the pot she was drying. “Yes, Mummy.”
Toni looked over at her. “I mean that. I’ll tell your Papa.”
“He knows. He said no, too.”
“You need to find something to do, Rose. You’re entirely too into sex.”
“Mummy…how can you be too into it? Look at you and Dad.”
“That’s none of your concern…what we do.”
Rose hung up the dish towel. “But I am your daughter.” She walked out of the kitchen.
Toni watched her leave. Yes, that was the problem, wasn’t it…but she was her father’s daughter, too, and likely to do the unexpected, bold enough not to care. She needed to be kept busy….”
Part 2
Toni did some research of the area and invited Rose to go into Bonnieux for lunch one day. After their meal they wandered around a little and then Toni set off down a narrow, winding cobbled street.
“What is back here? We never go here.’ Rose asked.
“I’ve found you a summer job, Rose.” She stopped in the doorway of a building.
“But….”
Toni smiled and opened the door. After greeting the woman at the front desk, she added, “This is the girl I was telling you about. Rose, this is Mme. Rondo.”
Rose looked wide-eyed from her mother to Mme Rondo. “Hello, I am pleased to meet you.”
“Rose, I’ve volunteered your services for three weeks. You will be under Mme. Rondo’s supervision.”
“What place is this?”
“It is a home for the elderly. I’m sure your bright beautiful face will be a welcome sight here.” She smiled and kissed her daughter and left.
Rose was stunned. She narrowed her eyes and looked toward the door her mother had just disappeared behind. She was bustled off to find a uniform that would fit her small frame but all the while her mind was working on how she could get out of this. She could get sick, run a fever. Her mother thought she was being clever. Well, she would see about that.
Three hours later and thoroughly disgusted, Rose stood outside the door of the home and waited for her mother to pick her up.
Toni never asked her a thing about her day. She could tell by the way Rose held herself she was upset and she wasn’t about to give her leave to vent.
Rose went straight to her room and scrubbed herself down in the bath. Dressed in shorts and a tee shirt, she sat on her bed and started the DVD player. He would take her mind away…he would take her away.
“What did she have to say?” Max asked, pouring Toni a glass of wine.
“Not a thing. I didn’t ask her anything because I don’t think I wanted to hear it.”
“Will she stick, do you think?”
“I’m not sure, Max. She bears watching.” Toni looked out over the garden.
“Actually, “ he sat down at the table, “I think it’s a little harsh. Perhaps a day care for children might have been more appropriate.”
“She might have enjoyed that. I’m not happy with her. I love her to death but she has no remorse about Maxi. Not that I don’t hold him accountable, too, but it was her…she flooded him. He could have after a time done something about it but by then he was hooked on her. She said he was hers; she could do anything she wanted with him. He was a toy to her, Max.”
“She was a shameless little hussy…like someone else I know.” His eyes teased her.
“I was never like that!”
“You hooked me…and never let me go.”
“But not against your will! Maxi….”
“A sixteen year old boy has no will against girls. He knew better, Toni, but his blood supply wasn’t helping his brain at the time. It was filling something else.”
Toni sipped her wine. “Rose needs to marry early. I know that sounds crazy coming from me but…she does, Max, and God help whoever she sets her sights on.”
“No chance of that anytime soon. She’s in love with a cardboard cutout attached to her wall.”
Toni smiled. “I know,” she sighed. “We never should have let her go to Cannes. She hasn’t been the same since.”
“She’ll be 21 next year, not much we can do about her then. Like Maxi she can take off whenever she likes. “
“I don’t guess you’ve heard anything from him…?”
“No. I believe he’s all right, though. He’d let me know if he wasn’t. I know he would.” Max finished his wine. “More?”
“Why not? Looks like it’s just the two of us for awhile. Rose doesn’t like me right now.”
Rose ran her hand over the signed photograph. He’d touched it and looked up at her when he handed it back. It was only her first year of college but when he’d asked her if she was an actress she’d said no, she was an oceanographer. He’d tilted his head, impressed, and smiled a little at her. He had her heart in that moment. She wanted his. It had only been a dream…but now it could come true. Now she knew how it could come true. Her mother had done it and look what she had now, Max Skinner, Jack Aubrey, Terry Thorne and John Biebe. She frowned a little and rolled over on the bed…but who else would she have? This would have to be thought out and planned. She only wanted the one. She really needed to know how this worked, remembering her uncle John’s description they each had married and that seemed a necessary thing. Oh, but she wouldn’t want to marry anybody but him. Rose decided to question her parents about the House separately and very carefully because they both knew her interest there.
She found Max in his study later that night going over figures on John Biebe’s accounts. He turned and looked over his glasses at her. “Hi, Rose, lovey. What’s up”
“I was just thinking about you and mum when you were at the House of Four Seasons. You loved her enough to marry her there.”
“Yes, I did.”
“What kind of a marriage was it? You gave her a ring?”
“Oh, yes, I did. A circle of diamonds I placed on her finger and asked her to be mine for eternity. I never wanted to be parted from her. She didn’t know it was coming. It was actually our first anniversary. We’d had four seasons together and she thought that made a year and so our anniversary. She planned a wonderful dinner. There was a large white tent on the lawn with music and food. We danced, drank champagne... that was our wedding.”
“It sounds beautiful and so romantic.” She sighed and sat on the side of his desk.
“Yes, it was. I even conjured up a heart-shaped bed and we slept there under the tent by the ocean.”
“You are a very romantic man, but then when you had to leave, it must have been very hard.”
“It was,. It always was. I never wanted to leave her.”
“Did you know she would marry Uncle Terry in the fall?”
“Yes, I did. I’d set it off; he had to. We’d formed our circle, you see, the four of us. That was the next step…that we would marry her.”
“I can’t imagine she would marry someone else after you.”
Max smiled, “That’s the way it worked and at that time she loved us all equally.”
“I think that would be very hard to do.”
“That was the only way it could work for her. It began because she loved John and the only way she could have him was to have four seasons. She had to love them all the same or it wouldn’t have worked.”
Rose hugged his neck. “You have been a good father to me. I love you.”
“You’re a good daughter, too, lovey.” He hugged her back.
“Well, I'll go see if I can help Mummy.”
“Um…how’d it go at the old folk’s farm?”
“Oooh, you don’t want me to tell you about that.” Her eyes flashed and she was out of his study.
Max chuckled.
“Hello, Rose.” Toni put her book down.
“Mummy, I was thinking about you when you were at the House of Four Seasons. How did you know who to choose next when you had to?”
“Hmm and here I thought you were going to discuss your day. I didn’t always know and I didn’t always choose them myself.” Toni looked at her closely.
“I wonder…they were all characters by the same actor, so they are all the same man.”
“I wouldn’t say that. They’re very different. Their bodies may be the same in different sizes and their features are very similar but they are not the same personality, not in their minds. Can you see Max wielding a sword or holding a knife to someone’s throat and killing him?”
“Oh, no…no, I see what you mean. But you could have had anyone. You chose the same actor’s characters.”
“That’s because I liked them and I liked the actor.”
“Why didn’t you call the actor or could you not do that?”
“I suppose I could have but that would have been very difficult had I taken him out. He would be who he is now, there can’t be two. That’s what happened with my Grandmother. She did choose the actor and he was unable to spend very much time with her.”
“I see….and he has a family already.”
“Yes.”
Rose tilted her head back. This was not going to be easy for her. "You could have picked someone else’s character, couldn’t you? It didn’t have to be the same actor.”
“I suppose so. Anyone really. Now do you want to tell me why this is on your mind tonight?”
“It just popped in,” she smiled.
“Right. Rose, you will never know how many tears I cried in that house, what heart break I suffered. Yes, I loved my seasons, all of them. When one left it always hurt. I never wanted a season to end. It was only the coming of the next that kept me going.”
“It must have been horrible for you, Mummy, but look what you have now.”
“Yes…look what I have. My heart is divided four ways. I love each and can only have one. Imagine making such a choice. Don’t think you can do it, Rose. It’s not worth the price you pay.”
“They love you, my Papa.…”
“I know they do and I love your Papa, too. I could never have him, all of him. He was married and he had a life beyond the movie. You must read the books, Rose, now that you know about him and who he is. I have them in my bedroom.”
“I will read them. I'll begin tonight. Mummy, about the elder care place…do I have to…?”
“Yes, you are committed for three weeks. You can do it. Do you want me to go up and get the books for you?”
“Yes, Mummy.” Rose waited while her mother went upstairs. Four seasons and she would have to choose wisely, somebody she could love…for a year.
Part 3
Maxi was back and Rose couldn’t be happier to see somebody. He was suntanned and she thought he looked good…but he was her brother now…like Jacky. He’d grown a beard…hmm?
“What have you been up to?” she asked when they got a chance without parents around.
Maxi looked at her. “Nothing you would be interested in. I hear you’re a caretaker now.” He grinned a little.
“Ah, not for long. Twelve more days and I forget the hours. I told Mum and she knows it all now, knows what I did. This is my punishment so I take it, you know.”
“Sorry you got in trouble. I wanted to tell Dad at that House but I couldn’t look at him and tell him. He says it’s over now and not to talk about it anymore.”
“I’m surprised they leave us together. Mum doesn’t trust me. She even asked me about Jacky, like that would happen.”
“It didn’t, did it?”
“No…you know it didn’t. There was only you. Maxi, what do you think would happen if I disappeared for a year?”
“I think Uncle Terry would have the world torn upside down looking for you. Why?”
“Well, I think it might happen.”
“What are you planning? You’re not still on about that House of Four Seasons?”
“I am, yes.”
“Forget it, Rose. I’d tell and they would all be over there bringing you home, and your Papa…oooo.”
“Why would you tell on me? I keep your secrets.”
“My secrets aren’t worth keeping, besides the biggest one is out. Now you’ve got nothing on me…”
“I’ll find something. I need your help.”
“Not for this…no, Rose.”
“I have to do it, Maxi, but when I do, it will be planned out. I will know for sure what I am doing.”
“Why don’t you aim your, um, weapons toward some guy at school…that Roger, wasn’t it? You liked him. Or even Jean Paul’s friend, the young one.”
“They are babies. I want a man, a man who can appreciate what I have and who I am. Oh, you don’t know what it’s like to be in love!”
“You’re right, I don’t, not really, but at least I’d pick somebody real, somebody warm instead of a cardboard man.”
“He would not be cardboard. He would be as real as you are. And you, Maxi, are very real. I hate it that you’re my brother now.”
Maxi looked off to the side. “Yeah…I know.”
“Why is it wrong today and not yesterday?”
“Because it is, because we know, because you’re my half-sister now just like Jacky. I love you, Rose, and you’ll always be more than a sister to me but don’t ever come into my room again.”
“I won’t. You don’t have to worry about that. You can sleep in peace. Well, what do you think about Jacky?”
“I can’t wait to hear the story from him, and he’s in love.”
“I know,” Rose smiled. “That's wonderful for him. Mum says his wound is not so bad, but to get shot, oh!”
“Yeah…what a guy, eh?” Maxi smiled.
“I want to see you fall in love. She will be a lucky girl.”
“I'm too young for that. I’m not even looking for love.”
“Sometimes you don’t have to look for it, it finds you. That’s what happened to me in Cannes. I looked into his eyes and I know if he knew me he would be mine. But there is no way for him to know me. I only ever love two people, you and him. I cannot have you and what I feel for him is different. I am young, too, but I know love.”
“It’s different for guys. They need to be older, especially older than twenty-one.”
“I like your beard. It makes you look more mature, more, um, worldly.”
“Yeah, you think so?” Maxi rubbed his chin. “I kinda like it, too.”
“You look like Dad.”
“Oh… maybe I should shave?”
“No, leave it. It looks good on you. You’re a man, Maxi.” She smiled at him and touched his beard then got up and went up to her room.
Maxi stretched his arms out and leaned his head back. His Mum was in the doorway to the patio. “Mum, how long have you been there?”
“I came up on Rose’s little speech on love. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. I know the subject is closed. Your father told me it was, Maxi, and I’m not going into it again but right now I don’t trust Rose and you shouldn’t, either.”
“Mum, Rose has this big love and nobody to give it to. Don’t worry about me. I already told her tonight she’s not ever to come into my room again.”
Toni sat down at the table where Rose had sat. “She has this fixation on an actor. You know about it. There is nowhere for it to go. I worry about her and I wish she’d find somebody.”
“Maybe she needs to find Johnny Depp. She might not like him so much if she knew him.”
“You’re a lot of help! I’m trying to steer her away from that and.…”
“Well,” he shrugged, “she knows her own mind. She wants him.”
Toni looked at him a minute. “Don’t help her get him…okay?”
“I won’t touch it, Mum, I promise." He held his hands up.
Toni believed him for about that long.
Rose went up and lay across her bed with a pen and a notebook and began writing down names of characters.
Jack Sparrow
Will Turner
Sands
Roux
The problem was, of course, that Johnny had played some strange characters. She didn’t want Edward Scissorhands or Willy Wonka. She really wanted himself. He lived near St. Tropez…if she could get there, but Mum would never let her go alone. But with Maxi if Maxi would go with her. She knew he had a vineyard and made wine. Rose sat up on her bed. Maxi would go; he would for that. She decided to try and if it came to nothing then she had the House of Four Seasons as a backup plan. While she was busy on her laptop looking up places to go near the town where Depp’s villa was located, she heard Maxi coming down the hall.
“Maxi, would you come here a moment?”
Maxi opened her door. “What, Rose?”
“Come in. I have an idea.”
Maxi left the door open and glanced down the hall before coming into her room.
“What do you think of a trip to St. Tropez?”
“I don’t think.”
“Why not? It’s not that terribly far. It would be fun. You know, go see how the rich people live.”
“We are the rich people, Rose. Where did this idea come from?”
“Well, I was just thinking of something to do after my punishment is over.”
“I’m not sure Mum will let you travel with me.”
“OH…this is not good! I know you would like to go. There are vineyards.…”
“In St. Tropez?”
“Close by, only an hour and a little away. Please, will you think about it?”
“Why do I get this feeling about right here?” He pointed to his belly.
“I don’t know. What did you eat today?” She looked up at him, all innocence.
“I think you are going to get me in trouble again. That’s what this feeling is.”
“No, no, Maxi! I would not get you in trouble.”
“How many times have I heard that…eh?”
“I am being serious here. I want to go there.”
Maxi started out the door and stopped. “It wouldn’t be because a certain actor lives there would it?”
“He might.”
“Then forget it. I’m not helping you to stalk the man.”
“What would you help me do?”
Maxi looked at her for a moment and left her room.
Ah, then he would help her do something…but what?
Part 4
Rose was finally through with her volunteer work and Maxi was just back from London where he’d seen Jacky. He found her in the garden one morning and totally surprised her.
“Rose, aren’t you a member of the Cousteau Society?”
“Yes, I joined in college.”
“There’s a dinner coming up in Paris, one of those speech and fund raiser things. I thought you might want to go. Jean Michael Cousteau will give a talk.”
“To Paris…yes, I would like to go. Are you coming, too?”
“I thought so we could stay with Aunt Penny and Jean Paul.”
This was so out of character for him. She tilted her head and looked at him. “Thank you. That’s very thoughtful of you. How did you know?”
“You had a notice in the mail of the event.”
“You opened my mail?”
Maxi smiled and took himself back toward the house.
“You don’t open my mail!” she called after him.
She came in later looking for him. Ludivine was in the kitchen, mopping the floor, “No,no,no you don’t walk here!”
“Where’s Maxi?”
“I don’t know. Don’t walk….ahhhh!”
Rose walked through the kitchen into the hallway. Her mother was at the round table going through the mail. “Mummy, where did Maxi go?”
“To Chambord with your Dad.” She looked up. “Why?”
“He’s going to Paris with me to a dinner. I wanted to know when this takes place. He opened my mail.”
Toni sighed, “He told me about the dinner…it was your mail?” She shook her head. "Saturday night. I’ve called Penny; she knows you’re coming.”
“He makes all these plans for me and I don’t know about it.”
“Sorry about your mail but I thought it was a nice thing for him to do.”
“I know. That is cause for worry.”
He took her to Paris on Wednesday, time enough to shop a little. He had his tux with him but needed a new shirt. It was his treat, he said, and let her buy herself a new dress and shoes for the event. She had her nails done and her hair put up. Maxi also bought tickets for Penny and Jean Paul; they made a foursome for the evening.
Maxi thought she looked beautiful. She’d bought a red dress and her ample breasts were very much on display. Penny had given her a wrap, hoping she’d cover some of that up, but she let it dangle from her elbows as they entered the hotel dining room and found their table. He’d spent a good deal of money on the tickets, assuring them a table near the front.
The room began to fill up and Maxi looked around. Some celebrities, political types, were taking their seats, flashes from cameras going off here and there. The table in front of them just a little to the left was still empty. The Cousteau’s had arrived, taking their seats at the front of the room to his right. Waiters were bringing drinks around now and two couples had taken seats at the empty table. He smiled a little to himself when he saw three people come in. Oh, he’d seen her and he took a seat right behind her at the table. Did she know? Maxi kept quiet.
Dinner was served and eaten and Cousteau was being introduced. Maxi watched Rose, head down eyes slightly to her left…she knew. Had she sensed him? Was it that strong? He clapped his hands because everyone else clapped but he was watching his sister and the man behind her, who had now turned slightly in his seat to watch the speaker. Rose had turned, too. Would she do it? She would have to have physical contact; she’d have to touch him. She held herself very erect as she always did. Being petite, she always tried for every hair’s breadth of height she could get.
Penny leaned into Maxi. “That’s Johnny Depp,” she whispered. He nodded and smiled at her. Penny had no idea what was about to happen. Across the table he could feel Rose’s energy.
He almost missed it. She’d let her wrap fall carelessly to the floor. Johnny noticed it and picked it up,. Holding it in his hands for a moment, he turned and looked at Rose. Her eyes were on the podium. Johnny leaned over and touched her shoulder and she turned and looked at him.
Maxi was holding his breath. Had she done it? He felt a little thrill of excitement for her. They were still looking at each other and she reached, taking the wrap from him and touched his hand. It was done. Maxi smiled and let out a breath. She turned back to the table and looked across at Maxi, her eyes very deep and dark. Maxi nodded slightly and looked toward the podium. She’d flooded him well, well.
There was a video to watch and the lights dimmed. He heard the slight scrape of a chair and looked across the table. Depp had moved his chair closer to Rose and was saying something to her.
Rose turned in her chair and looked into his eyes. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”
“What’s your name?”
“Rose Aubrey.”
“You are the most beautiful oceanographer I’ve ever met.”
“You remembered,” she smiled.
“How can I find you?”
“Chateau La Siroque in Bonnieux.”
“In Paris?”
“23 Rue de la Ronne but only until tomorrow and I go home.”
“Who is he?”
“My brother.”
“Look for me.” He turned back to his table.
Maxi watched her bosom rise and fall with quick little breaths for a moment then picked up his drink and sat back in his chair to watch the video.
They were in line for a taxi in front of the hotel. Rose came up beside Maxi and took his hand, pulling him aside. “You did this for me!”
“I wasn’t sure.”
“How did you do it?”
“I saw the envelope and it came into my mind about Depp being a supporter of Cousteau. I must have read it or something so I went online and booked the tickets. I found out he was in Paris and so I thought.…”
“I will love you forever for this!” She kissed his cheek.
“Just don’t screw it up,” he grinned.
“Oh, Maxi!” There were tears in her eyes. He hugged her.
Penny was excited for Rose, not knowing exactly what had happened only that he’d spoken to her. “Rose, what did he say?” She leaned over in the taxi, speaking around Jean Paul
“He remembered me from Cannes.” She’d been smiling since she left the hotel.
Rose declined to go to breakfast with them the next morning but no call came and no visitor. She was not discouraged. It would happen sooner or later. She must be patient. She packed up her clothes ready to go back to La Siroque.
Maxi loaded the car and they said their goodbyes to Penny and Jean Paul. He’d driven to Paris in his little sports car but it was raining and the top was up when they set off for Provence.
Rose turned and looked at him as he navigated his way out of Paris. “Maxi, you are the most beautiful person inside and out. I don’t know how I can ever repay you for this meeting.”
Maxi glanced at her. “Wait, Rose. You don’t know him. You may not even like what you find in him.”
“But I do. I know what is inside of him. He’s different, you know, but he is a good man. I could see that in his eyes.”
“Just don’t be thanking me until…well, until you know him.”
“He told me to look for him. He will come to La Siroque when he can.”
“Maybe you should take him to Chambord…until you know.”
“Ohhh, Mummy and Dad!”
“Yeah, I promised Mum I wouldn’t help you with Depp.”
“I won’t tell her. This is my dream come true.”
“It hasn’t come true yet. It may not happen, Rose. Just because you flooded him.”
“Well, how did it affect you? You know it will. He can’t help himself now.”
“You’re very powerful but then you know that…don’t you? Just be careful with him, Rose. You don’t know him.”
Part 5
It was two weeks later that the house phone rang at La Siroque. Ludivine answered it. “Bonjour La Siroque”
“Rose Aubrey.”
“Ah, Rose, moment.” Ludivine covered the phone. “Rose, etre au telephone.”
Rose picked up the phone in her father’s study. “Bonjour?”
“What did you do to me?” He spoke to her in French.
“Oh, where are you?”
“Bonnieux.”
Rose covered her mouth. Her heart was racing. “I will come there. Where?”
“Café Roux.”
“Fifteen minutes.”
“Oui.” He hung up.
Rose was in a state, her hair, her clothes, oh! She ran up the stairs and stripped, pulling on a dress and a pair of heels. She pulled her hair back with a clip. She had no ride. Rose did not own a vehicle. She ran down the stairs. Her mother was out…no way to know where her Dad was. He wasn’t in the house. Oh, what to do? Maxi was in London. "Ludivine, I have to get to Bonnieux.”
“Then go.”
“I need a ride.” She was breathless.
“Francis…I cannot leave. He is in the vineyard.” Ludivine stretched her neck, watching Rose run barefoot, carrying her heels, to the wall. She waved frantically and called out for Duflot. Finally he saw her and stopped the tractor.
“What do you want?”
“A ride to Bonnieux, please! Hurry!”
He got off the tractor, mumbling to himself, and climbed up to the road. “Why are you in such a hurry?”
“I have to meet someone. Please…hurry! I cannot be late!” She ran along beside him as he shuffled to the garage, trying to hurry him along. Duflot backed his truck out of the garage and she climbed in, rubbing her now dirty feet with spit and a finger. Duflot looked at her and shook his head.
She was a nervous wreck by the time they got to Bonnieux. The fifteen minutes she’d asked for had come and gone. She was so afraid he had, too. She jumped from the truck and walked casually over to the Café Roux.
He was still there, nursing a glass of wine. He saw her jump from the truck and put on her shoes. He knew nothing about her other than the burning desire he had for her. He couldn’t think, couldn’t concentrate more than a minute. He had to see her.
Rose saw him, sunglasses pushed up on his head, denim shirt open in the front. She could barely breathe by the time she made her way to his table.
“Hello,” she said with a little smile.
“Sit down, Rose Aubrey.”
“I’m sorry I’m late. I...there was no car or driver for it…I had to…how are you?”
“I’m upside down, inside out. Who are you?”
“I am only a girl. My parents own La Siroque. My Dad is a banker but is now a winemaker. My brother makes wine also but he is in London. I have another brother in London. You came.”
“I had to come. I couldn’t get you out of my mind.”
“But you tried….”
“Yes.”
“How long can you stay?”
“As long as I need to.”
“Well…would you like to go somewhere…and talk…get to know each other a little?”
“I’d go anywhere with you.”
She smiled, “I hope you have a car. I don’t drive yet.”
“How old are you?”
“Twenty.”
“You are a girl.”
“Not so much. Um, I would like to take you to my brother’s chateau…first. It’s not far, ten minutes away. He’s in London.”
“Okay.” He smiled a little, dark eyes opaque, revealing nothing.
She directed him to Chambord. Maxi had left two days before. The house was clean and still fresh. “This was our grandfather’s estate. He left it to Maxi, my brother. Our place joins this one. Come in.”
“He’s a winemaker?”
“Yes, and a very good one, too.” She watched him move around the living room, still feeling like she was in a dream…that he was here…she could…touch him. She wasn’t sure what to do now that she had him here alone. His eyes told her nothing of what he was thinking.
He walked toward her, standing very close. “What did you do to me?”
“I don’t know I just….”
“I felt you flowing into me. One look, that’s all it was. Are you a sorcerer?”
She smiled, “You believe in such things.”
“Yes, I believe in a lot of things. Things can’t always be explained.”
“I know. I am not to be explained…if you knew…”
“I want to know…I want to know how you taste.” A hand to the back of her head, he pulled her in for a kiss, a slow exploration of her mouth. He felt it a wave building inside of her, inside of him. Her sweet mouth. He pulled away, feeling the wave settle out. “You are a sorcerer, aren’t you?”
“No, I am Rose Aubrey. You will know me; you will know who I am.”
He still held her behind her head and he looked down at her breasts in the silk dress. Her scent enveloped him. It had followed him for two weeks. He slowly looked to her eyes, deep , dark and mysterious. He wanted to go...go where they would take him.
She felt him give way to her, the ebb and flow, and finally surrender. They ended up in her room at La Chambord, a room that was once her Aunt Penny’s. Clothes discarded from the hallway to the bed, she took him into herself and filled him and made him hers. She’d never felt this way before, not with Maxi, not with the boy Roger. This was different. He was full of her now. She could see it in his eyes, soft and loving as he kissed her.
It had been that way for him, too, something he’d never experienced, waves building and seeking release, yearning for the shore and being denied time and time again until at last the thunderous crash and then the deep, deep solace of the sea. He kept thinking of the sea, of waves. Where it had come from he didn’t know. She was a sorcerer, whether black or white magic he didn’t care. He was lost in her. He slept.
Rose had lost all consciousness of time, holding him in her arms, running her fingers lightly through his dark hair. He was hers now and where it would go she didn’t know. It didn’t matter.
The sound of a door closing somewhere in the house brought her back to the world in which she lived. She eased herself out from under him and found a robe across a chair. Tying it around herself, she quietly left the room. Stepping over their clothes, she walked down the hall to the living room where her Dad stood with his hands on his hips.
“Rose….”
“Dad,” she pushed her hair back, ”what are you doing here?”
“Who’s car is that out in the drive?”
Rose’s breath came in gasps. “Um, Johnny’s.”
“Johnny? Johnny who?”
“Dad, um, please….”
“He’s here now…presumably in a bed…one that you’ve just left?”
“Yes…but it’s okay. It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not okay, Rose. Find your clothes. You’re going home.”
“I…I can’t do that…not right now. I love him and he’s…mine.”
“Oh, Rose.…” Max felt completely defeated. He sat on the arm of a chair.
“That’s how it is now. I love you, Dad, but…I’m with him.”
He still thought of her as a little girl. She was so small but he knew she wasn’t; she was a woman. “Well, I, um, should go then. Will you bring him home with you?”
“If he will come.”
“I don’t know how you pulled this off, when or where, Rose.” Max stood up and ran a hand through his hair. “I’ll let your mother know, take the edge off for you.”
“Thank you. It’s okay, Dad. I’m happy, happier than I’ve ever been in my life.”
Max looked at her radiant face and smiled a little, lifted his chin and walked back to the door.
Rose ran her hand over her mouth. A few minutes earlier and.…
She went back to the bedroom. He was still asleep, beautiful man. She eased herself back into the bed and he cuddled against her.
Part 6
Johnny woke and rolled over on his back, turning his head toward Rose. “You’re still here?”
“Of course I am. Where else would I be?”
“I thought it was a dream. It was a dream, wasn’t it?”
“No, it was no dream. The dream I had has come true…in you.”
“I don’t understand it, Rose. You’ve got me under a spell. You have cast a spell, haven’t you?”
“I am no sorcerer, no witch, but I do have a little magic that I inherited from my parents. I think you would understand it, accept it, because of who you are.”
“You don’t know who I am. Do you think I’m Jack Sparrow?”
“I know who you are and what you can do with your talent. I fell in love with you in Cannes when you looked up at me and handed me the signed photo.”
“Are you really an oceanographer?"
“I will be. I will start my second year in September. My whole life is the sea. From the time I was little my Papa would come and take me sailing on his ship. He taught me all the sails. He is very special, my Papa. I don’t see him that often but when I do…I want you to meet him one day.”
“Is he your father or grandfather?”
“My father, he is my father. Our family is very complicated but I want you to know about them. You have to believe in magic.” She smiled up at him and he touched her nose with his.
“I can believe you’re magic.”
“My Dad, not my Papa, came here a little while ago. He was looking for me. He knows about you now.”
“And I’m still alive?”
“He’s not like that. Will you come home with me?”
“Home to meet the parents?”
“To meet them, yes, Johnny. I am not asking for anything except time with you.”
“I can’t promise you anything, not until I figure this out. I still think you’ve cast a spell on me. I’m going to come out of it and wonder what I’m doing in Bonnieux.”
“If I tell you what I did to you then I would have to tell you everything and it is a fantastic story, but it is true. You may even recognize my Dad when you meet him.”
“Is he an actor?”
“No, he’s a character. Shall I tell you a story?”
“I’m already fascinated. Tell it.”
“It could be somebody else…some other Johnny she’s met.”
“I don’t think so, Toni, not with that look on her face.”
“But she hasn’t been anywhere except Paris…do you think?”
“I have no idea but she’s managed it and she’s made him hers. I can’t imagine what kind of life they’ll have if any.”
Toni sat down at the table. “It’s my Grandmother all over again. I had so hoped she’d find somebody to lead a normal life with.”
“She’s like the rest of us, darling. None of us are normal.”
It was two hours later when Johnny brought Rose home. “This is a beautiful place, Rose. Is it magic?” He smiled and turned off the motor.
“Yes, actually it is. You said you had watched this movie A Good Year so you know this place already. You will know my dad.”
He looked at her a moment. “Let’s go meet him, the real Max Skinner.”
The front door was open and she walked hand in hand inside with him. He was taking in everything. They walked through the house and out the back French doors. Max and Toni were at the table on the patio with a bottle of wine.
“Rose.” Toni looked up.
“Mummy, Dad…This is Johnny Depp.”
Max stood up and Johnny came over to him and walked all the way around him and looked into his face. He reached out and touched his arm.
“You are real, the real thing.”
“Yes.”
“I told him the whole story of our family and how we came to be.”
“Did you? Well, I’m surprised he didn’t leave you at Chambord and beat a path back to Paris.”
“No…” he turned to Toni, “Toni Thorne, you are the woman who started this fantastic tale.”
“I am, but it’s no tale. She told you who her father is?”
“She did. I thought she was a sorcerer but she told me she was magic. I believe her.”
“I’m glad you do. It saves a lot of explaining. It allows us to speak freely with you.” Toni picked up her glass.
“Would you like a glass of wine?”
“Yes, thank you.” Johnny and Rose sat down. It was late in the day, not much sun left, only a glow from the hills in the distance.
Max came out with two more glasses and opened another bottle. “We make this here. Actually my son does at his winery but the grapes are grown here.”
“A magic elixir!” Johnny’s eyes widened and he sipped the wine. He was totally into the whole magic thing. “It’s very good.” He looked at the label. “Four Seasons. I have a small vineyard near St. Tropez. So far I have succeeded in making a nice table vinegar.”
“You should get Maxi to blend for you. He has an excellent palate.”
“This is the brother, the one who was in Paris?” he asked Rose.
“Yes, that was him.”
“Paris?” Toni said. “So that’s where you met. I couldn’t think where.”
“At the Cousteau event; he sat behind me, Mum.”
“That’s when she drowned me.”
“A rather pleasant sensation, I know. Her father used to do that to me.”
“It is rather…pleasant.”
Max settled back in his chair and looked at Johnny. “So what do you think about all this, about us, about Rose?”
He smiled a slow smile. “I am intrigued and amazed. It could happen to me. Some character I created might someday walk this earth as a real man. It makes me think and that’s always good…to think. I’d like to meet the rest of the family.” He looked at Rose. “Not sure about her father. He might take me on.”
“He leaves his sword in his world,” Rose smiled.
“Oh, well, then!” Johnny sat up a little straighter. “As for Rose, she is as beautiful as her name. She’s only asked me for time, time with her.” He met her eyes. “I can give her that I…will give her that. You know what my life is. I can’t make any promises beyond…time.”
“Did she tell you about my grandmother, her great grandmother? She found herself at the House of Four Seasons. I know no details about her stay there, only this. She took an actor out; his name was James Dean. You’ve heard of him, I see. He bought her a house in Virginia which I still own. It will go to my son Jacky someday. They had one child born after his death. He was my father and he and my mother died when I was young in an accident. My grandmother raised me. It was only after she died that I found out about my heritage and by that time I was already at the House of Four Seasons, had been for a few years. All she had with him was time, but for her it was enough. Johnny, if you really want to experience magic…let Rose take you there.”
“Mummy, you would let me…but….”
“I would let you go with Johnny, just not on your own.”
“Would you go with me to the House?”
“I would love to see it, to experience it. Yes, I will go with you.”
“When...when could you go?” Rose asked.
“Now.”
ON TO CLAIRE BIEBE
ON TO ROSE AUBREY: THE GIFT OF MAGIC
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