Out of control Read Online Free PDF Page A

Antoine met Madeleine and they had got married. On the honeymoon in the south of France they had been staying in a villa in the country which had been lent to them by a friend. One morning Antoine had driven down to the village for provisions when, round a sharp bend, he had smashed into a tractor which had slowed down to turn into a field. The car was written off and Antoine was left completely paralysed from the waist down and condemned to a wheelchair.
    “Madeleine has devoted herself to looking after him ever since,” he concluded.
    *
    Over dinner I learned a bit more about Antoine and began to appreciate him more and more. He was quick and had a sparkling wit – something not often found in a Frenchman. The conversation ranged over politics, his previous business career, wine and many other topics. I was made to feel completely welcome. I had to tell a little of my history and Pierre and I recounted how we had met and the dramatic consequences that had ensued.
    Antoine no longer worked. He had had to leave his job at a big pharmaceutical company called LyonPharma and he had exercised his stock options and they had done well over the last ten years. I also discovered that he had invested some money in a small start-up medical research company which was based in Scotland. It was apparently run by a young lady who had worked for him in a previous job and who had decided to go home to Scotland and try her luck on a research idea she had.
    “You never know,” said Antoine. “Maybe she’ll succeed and I’ll make a big return.”
    That was what made me suddenly think of my grandson, Liam. I had just recently had an email from my son, Callum, out in Australia. He wondered if I could help find Liam some gainful employment in the UK because he wanted to take a year out before carrying on his studies. As he planned to go into scientific research it occurred to me that this could possibly be an opening for him.
    I asked Antoine where the company was based and told me that it was on the Innovation Park on the Stirling University campus I explained to Antoine about Liam and asked him if he might be able to give me an introduction to this lady. I wondered if there might be an opening for Liam. He was more than happy to help. He said he would phone her in the morning before we left.
    He was as good as his word and gave me the name and address of the company. If Liam sent a CV he would have a reply in a few days. It so happened that she was looking for someone as their research was going rather well.
    We made our farewells the next morning and set off back to Geneva. The car boot still had a little room so we stopped off at Chateau Langlois and filled it with a dozen bottles of red.
    I t was on the journey back that I learned a little more about the Pierre, Antoine and Madeleine friendship.
    Cruising down the A6 towards Lyon, Pierre brought the topic up.
    “Something for your ears only, Bob,” he said, “but I think it would be better if you know.”
    I looked across at him but his eyes were firmly on the road.
    “You’ve probably guessed,” he said
    “Guessed what? That there is something between you and Madeleine?”
    He smiled. “Yes. When I disappear from time to time for a weekend it’s because I go to see her.”
    Having observed them yesterday I had had my suspicions.
    Pierre explained. “In fact, I’d rather you knew. Antoine and Madeleine are very much in love with each other but Antoine does realise that he can’t give her the type of life she deserves. She is utterly devoted to him and wouldn’t dream of leaving but she can only really live half a life.”
    “So you and Madeleine have something going and Antoine turns a blind eye?”
    “Exactly. We never talk about it. He never asks any questions. He knows how much she has to sacrifice for him and how her life could have been different. It has just sort of happened.
    “Antoine spoke to me once – and once only – and made me understand that he could