Amélie

I was the most naïve and emotional angel among all of my girl friends. Most of them were always looking forward to have a nice boyfriend. They were really curious to know how boys will treat them well and praise them like princesses, and were envious to know what was the feeling of being loved. And of course, I was one of them.

My name is Amélie, the first time I had a partner was at the age of 16; and him, Nicolas 20. Much more older than me obviously. We met each other in the beginning of February, 4 years ago in my hometown ¡§Torcy¡¨, 15 minutes from Disney Land by taking the tube¡K

I was walking through a shopping mall when someone bashed into me. Normally I would have said : ¡§Hey look where you¡¦re going.¡¨ But as I turned around, there was this gorgeous man in front of me. He was tall, well built, dark Asian skin, with attractive brown eyes.

¡§I¡¦m sorry¡¨ he apologized. ¡§Are you alright ?¡¨ He was so charming that I couldn¡¦t blamed him. ¡§I¡¦m OK don¡¦t worry.¡¨ I said smilingly. ¡§By the way, I¡¦m Nicolas, it¡¦s my first time in Torcy, I came here to visit my grandmother, could you tell me how to get to 1 Allée Lamartine, please ?¡¨

The address he gave me was familiar, that was where I used to tutor English to my mother¡¦s friend¡¦s kid. I showed him and guided him along to his destination, during our walk; we had an absorbing discussion. Soon we realized that both of us had the same nationality and ethnicity background. He was Vietnamese from Saigon and lived in France so am I. He asked me for my phone number then few days later, after my ballet presentation, I received a call from him who intended to ask me out.

¡§Hello ?¡¨

¡§Hey Amélie, this is Nicolas, do you remember me ?¡¨

¡§OH Hi !!!! How are you ?? I¡¦m so surprised you¡¦ve called¡¨

¡§I¡¦m fine.. Yeah.. I was just wondering if you were free to go out for a drink this Saturday ?¡¨

¡§Oh huh ?? Well ? Yeah sure, why not ?¡¨

¡§Then, I¡¦ll wait for you this Sat at 2:30 in front of the Casino Coffee Shop.¡¨

¡§OK, I¡¦ll see you there !¡¨

After hearing his sensual voice, I was pretty shocked since I barely knew Nicolas, but I accepted his proposition. How could I refuse a lovely man like him? I felt delighted because I had never expected that such an amusing, kind and polite person like him would had the desire to go out with me.

I was waiting impatiently for that day to come, I was counting the days left and when the crucial day arrived. I was so stressful, was wandering in my room for more than 2 hours; I was wondering what kind of clothes should I put to attract him? What hairstyle would have suited my outfit? Should I put make up or should I be natural? Should I appeared sexy, elegant or adorable at the first time?

¡§Jesus !!! Just make it simple and nice !!¡¨ I convinced myself.

* * * * *

 

He was waiting for me at the coffee shop in Val D¡¦ Europe, a new shopping mall in my town area. I recognized him at the first sight because of his incredible and irresistible smile. We spent the whole afternoon chatting and when time was up. He left to see his friends and asked me if we would had the chance to meet up again.

 Eventually we met up for a second time. From that time on, we started seriously dating each other and he always bought me red roses and my favorite dark exquisite Nestle chocolates. He often offered me cute and amazing caricature us together, which symbolized our everlasting love. He would picked me up everyday after school then walked me back home. He would kept on repeating how beautiful and charming I was, plenty of times in a day. He would murmured in my ears how much he loved me and how much he cared about me. When he first met my mates, they stared at him as if he was a celebrity. They thought I was kind of showing off, arrogant and conceited because I was going out with the most handsome man in the town. My parents even considered Nicolas was awesome.

Everything was perfect and harmonious for the first 5 months; I had never been that exuberant in my life. He was a part of me, my life was devoted to him and sometimes, I would had imagine myself absolutely holding his hand until our wedding day and to be his beloved wife forever.

About end of June, Nicolas got himself two part time jobs which were working in a garage and working as a lifeguard at a primary school. He hated working in a garage, one night about a month after he had started working there that is to say about July; I got a phone call.

¡§Amélie¡K¡¨ he said with a scary voice, ¡§I¡¦ve stolen 8000 bucks from the safe.¡¨

¡§What ?? Are you crazy ??¡¨ I couldn¡¦t believed what he had done. I spent the next 15 minutes ordering him to put it back but he said it was too late. ¡§The only thing I can do is to leave !¡¨ he added, "I want you to come to Spain with me¡¨. It was foolish and I refused but Nicolas persisted ¡§If you loved me you¡¦d do it.¡¨ He also included he might be sent to prison and it would be all my fault.

I didn¡¦t want him to leave me and I definitely accepted. The next few days, Nicolas drove in a taxi at two in the morning, I slipped out of the house with him. Why did I agree to go ? I was in love with Nicolas, I didn¡¦t want him to go to jail, and it was really an exciting experience too. I had never been out of my hometown ¡§Torcy¡¨.

We reached the Gare de Lyon station around 3; we caught in a train to Madrid. During the journey, I felt scared and happy. Scared because my parents would had killed me if they knew I could had done such an idiot act, and happy because I would had been living with the man I loved the most.

* * * * *

 

After a couple of hours, we finally arrived. I was surprised that two men were welcoming us. They were Nicolas¡¦s friends, he never told me he had friends in Spain but I didn¡¦t care too much. I was exhausted and all I wanted was a comfortable bed to sleep well. Even though something was suspicious, I was stunned that his friends already planned everything, they already rented a tiny flat in a sympathetic environment called Tolaimido in Madrid.

Nicolas wouldn¡¦t let me phone my parents. He said the call could had been traced. I knew Nicolas was safe from that moment, his friends got him a job, he was working as a server in a little take away pizza restaurant while I was learning the flamenco dance and how to cook Spanish special dishes at my neighbors. I was having a good time for the first 2 weeks, it was thrilling and romantic, and as thought we had just got married.

However, as the days passed I started getting bored. I missed my friends and my parents. Nicolas disallowed me to contact them in case they discovered us and he would had gone all grumpy and quiet.

He was clearly worried about getting caught but I detested him taking it out on me. I could not resisted it, I had to call my parents

* * * * *

 

On a very obscure night, I sneaked out of the house and found a place to call my mother. Unfortunately, Nicolas caught me getting in a phone box. He ran straight away to me and grabbed my hand aggressively.

¡§Who did you want to call ??? I have never allowed you to call anybody¡KWhat the hell is going on your mind, why don¡¦t you listen to me ?¡¨

¡§I¡¦m sorry¡K But I really want to call my parents, I haven¡¦t talked to them for ages and they would be worried if I don¡¦t give them a call¡K¡¨

¡§Shut up ! I don¡¦t want to hear any excuse, don¡¦t you ruin my life¡KYou have to obey me and that¡¦s it !!¡¨ Nicolas was really wound up. ¡§Don¡¦t you ever try to do anything behind my back or I¡¦ll whack you.¡¨ He shouted. I didn¡¦t think he ever would do so I just said ¡§Go on then !!¡¨

The next moment Nicolas's fist slammed into my face. I was so shocked I just stood there. ¡§Better get used to it,¡¨ he said abruptly, walking off. I was terribly traumatised. I had never expected he could have been that cruel to me. I just stood there, crying, looking at him leaving me. I couldn¡¦t slept that night, I was thinking about that incident again and again. I was beginning to notice how absurd and dumb I had been. We couldn¡¦t spend the rest of our lives in a small house in Madrid. It was strange because we had been together for more than 6 months and he was always kind and carrying about me but then he turned up strangely.

Later on, when I heard Nicolas had cheated on me. He even admitted it, I decided to abandon him because what he had done was incredibly harsh.

One night, after diner, when I told him I wanted to leave him and to go back to Paris, he grabbed me by the hair and started kicking and punching me. He warned me not to break up with him otherwise I would got into troubles. He was threatening me, he just got controlling and possessive to a greater extends. I was so fed up I just screamed ¡§Get lost! I don¡¦t want to see you anymore !! You f***cking psycho !!!¡¨ Nicolas turned on me, hit me as hard as he could, I could had tasted blood, and my body was aching. He slammed the door and left, leaving me again crying, curled up in a ball, petrified. I felt like I wanted to commit a suicide. I loved Nicolas, but I hated him is well. In addition, I knew that if he could had beaten up me like that, there was no way he loved me reciprocally.

* * * * *

 

The next morning, at dawn, I heard somebody knocking at the door forcefully. Nicolas was still profoundly into his sleep so I went to consult who was that impolite person behind my door. As I opened it, the man in police uniform suddenly grabbed my hands and put on handcuffs. ¡§Nicolas help me !! Nicolas !!¡¨ I shouted. He walked out slowly into the dining room, his eyes were hardly opened. ¡§What the hell are you shouting for ?¡¨ he asked while he was scrapping his eyes. ¡§What¡K ?? Holly shit !!!¡¨ he interjected with astonishment.

I could had felt the fear that began surrounding him, he sounded like he was asthmatic and was going to die. He had nowhere to run, two other policemen turned up and captured him. Both of us were taken to the police station, I was afraid that I started to weep. I knew we were in big trouble, Nicolas would probably gone to prison for stealing that massive sum of money, but all I felt I was relief. We were sent back to France by plane. All the thoughts I had been avoiding came crowding in my mind. How must my parents be feeling ? What would happen to school ? What would the police do ?

* * * * *

 

As soon as we landed in Paris, beginning of August, the French immigration sent us to my hometown police station. There, I saw my mother, I thought she was going to scream but she was agreeable. ¡§I¡¦m so glad you¡¦re home,¡¨ she kept saying. That¡¦s when the guilt really hit me. She immediately saw the cuts on my face and guessed what had been happening. ¡§Nicolas has been doing this, hasn¡¦t he ?¡¨ She questioned. I left open mouthed, I lied to her at first I said I had fights with some girls but then torrent of tears were coming down on my face and I confessed the whole situation. ¡§Come home !¡¨ she said.  ¡§You¡¦re going to be fine.¡¨

Nicolas and I were separated when the police officers took us in for a questioning. It was hell at the police station. I had to introduce myself, my injuries all over the body were taken in pictures by a generous policewoman. They didn¡¦t stop asking me why I ran off and didn¡¦t comprehend what I'd put everyone through. It was really awful. I was told that they had launched a manhunt for us and also there were missing person¡¦s posters with my face all over the place. Besides, they proclaimed that we had been in all the newspaper.

                  * * * * *

 

When I knew Nicolas got led away to the cells I felt sick. My mother flung her arms around me, and cried. It was the final straw. I felt so brainless for having ran away with Nicolas. Mum told me he wasn¡¦t even meant to be in France as he was an illegal immigrant and he had some illegitimate cases. He was selling drugs, he had connection with drug dealers.

My parents never got angry, but since they had became very protective of me.

* * * * *

 

Nicolas got sentenced to eight months for theft and violence and was sent back to Vietnam. He wrote me from prison, but I didn¡¦t want to know anything about him. He had turned out to be a big mistake. I¡¦d be a lot more careful about my next boyfriend¡K But as for me, I didn¡¦t have any punishment but I had been moralized at. It¡¦s strange but I missed him at first. Luckily my mother understood, every night she cuddled me and reminded me I was worth more than that. Moreover, I know she¡¦s right. It still hurts when I think about it again that he could had done that to me and had never told me about this thing dealing with drugs. I knew I deserved more and that one day I¡¦d gone out with someone who would treated me right.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

I¡¦m getting 20 soon, I was single for 3 years because I¡¦ve lost confidence and was too horrified with that nightmare. Nevertheless during 3 years, honestly, the only thing that was drifting in my mind was that I missed having a boyfriend¡K

But now it¡¦s been few months that I¡¦m with Gavin, he¡¦s very supportive and is always willing to help me out, we hooked up magically I guess¡K

                           * * * * *

 

One day, a best friend of mine, Christelle, told me that I should go to this very well known Chinese temple in situated in Paris 13ème, the China Town. She said she went there to pray once, she wished to have a gentle boyfriend. It worked, it happened; few weeks later she ended up with a nice man whom she is still with. She suggested that I should give it a try because it very grants. One day after school, I went there by interest, it was about March. I prayed the goddess by shaking this sort of bamboo pot which there were numerated bamboo sticks in it for divination or drawing lots. I had to shake it until one fall down, I went to collect a yellow paper with red Chinese characters written on it, which was impossible for me to decipher. That colored note corresponded to the numerated fallen stick. Afterwards, I went to see the clairvoyant to get some help in order to elucidate the meaning of it. ¡§What did you ask for ?¡¨ she interrogated me. ¡§For love, I would like to know if I will have the chance to meet a nice man and to live joyfully with him ever after ?¡¨. That old lady revealed that I had to be patient and serene, she even predicted that I might luckily got to know the man of my life this summer. After hearing her, I felt she had bullshit all the way and I wasted a lot of money.

* * * * *

 

Summer holiday came finally, I had been in this small house under the pines, close to the beach, that promised to be divine, for 1 week already ! I had worked days and nights the whole year in order that my parents had sworn to leave me the free field during the summer holidays.

      The flat I lived in was opening on a terrace in front of which a pine forest was spread out, and was divided in two apartments. The second remained two days unoccupied, then one morning....

¡§Gavin ! Could you carry my suitcase ? It¡¦s terribly heavy !¡¨

¡§I told you not to charge it so much !¡¨ 

Lied on a deckchair, I discreetly rose the eyes above my book to see who were those people¡K

¡§Good morning ! I said happily in the hope to slacken the atmosphere.

¡§Hello !¡¨ The boy replied and disappeared inside the house. The woman standing in front of the car who shouted for help, dropped the suitcase and precipitated towards me¡K

¡§Do u live here ? Are you sharing the flat with us ?  Nice to meet you. I¡¦m Priscilla. This is such a delightful place ! Absolutely delightful !¡¨ 

She had a certain charm, wasted however by her abundant make-up. No need to have a diploma in psychology to guess that she wanted to appear younger than her age. She told me the boy was her brother. And later on, we all went to have a drink that afternoon. I started to get to know them very well because I had passed half of my summer vacation with them. I realized I had a crush on Gavin. We started dating each other, everything was going fantastic, but I know I should be aware of.

One early morning around 5, we walked to the beach to admire the sunrise; we sat down he put his cheeks on my legs and fall asleep. I starred at him caressed his hair¡K And suddenly, out of the blue, something very weird recalled me¡K The old woman¡K My memory lighted up, she said I might got to know a man this summer¡K

 

 

 

That is how I got to know Gavin, I¡¦m living happily in love again, who knows if we are destined to be with each other, who knows it might be him, the man of my life ?