Three Weeks in Paris Read Online Free PDF Page A

childhood sweetheart, Juliette. They grew up together, and their parents were friends. They had a little girl,
    Marie-Laure, and seemingly, from what he told me, they were an idyllic couple … the poster couple, I guess. Very beautiful, very happy together. And then something bad happened.… ”
    Alexa paused, drew a deep breath, and continued. “In July 1985 they went to Athens. On vacation. But Tom alsohad to see a client from Paris, who owned a summer house there. Toward the end of the vacation, Tom arranged a final meeting with his client before he took his family back to Paris. That morning he told Juliette he would meet her and Marie-Laure for lunch at their favorite café, but Tom was delayed and got there a bit late. It was chaotic when he walked into the square where the café was located. Police cars and ambulances were converging in the center, and the human carnage was horrendous. People were dead and dying, there was blood and body parts everywhere, like a massacre had taken place. The police told Tom that a bomb had exploded only minutes before his arrival, more than likely a terrorist’s bomb that had been planted on one of those big tour buses, this particular one filled with Americans from the hotel in the square. About sixty people were on the bus, and they all died.
    “As the bus was leaving the square, it suddenly blew up, right in front of the café where Juliette and Marie-Laure were waiting for Tom. The impact of the blast was enormous. People sitting at the various cafés around the square were blown right out of their chairs. Many were killed or injured—” Alexa stopped, and it was a moment before she could continue.
    After taking several deep breaths, she went on. “Tom couldn’t find Juliette and Marie-Laure, and as you can imagine, he was worried and frightened, frantic, as he searched for them. He did find them eventually, under the rubble in the back of the café … the ceiling had collapsed on them. They were both dead.” Alexandra blinked, and her voice was so low, it was almost inaudible as she finished. “Don’t you see, he’s never recovered from that … that … 
nightmare.
”
    Diane was staring at Alexandra in horror, and tears had gathered in her light blue eyes. “How horrendous, what a terrible, terrible tragedy to happen to them, to him,” shemurmured, and then, looking across at her daughter, she saw that Alexa’s face was stark, taut, and drained of all color.
    Rising, she went and sat next to her on the sofa, put her arm around her, and held her close. “Oh, darling, you’re still in love with him.… ”
    “Am I? I’m not sure, Mother, but he does occupy a large part of me, that’s true. He’s there, inside, and he always will be, I think. But I’m smart enough to know I have no future with Tom. He’ll never marry me, or anybody else for that matter. Nor will he have a permanent relationship, because he can’t. You see, he just can’t forget
them.
”
    “Or he won’t let himself forget,” Diane suggested softly.
    “Perhaps that’s true. Perhaps he thinks that if he forgets them he’d be riddled with guilt for the rest of his life and wouldn’t be able to handle it. You brought me up to be sensible, practical, and I believe I am those things. And after we broke up, I knew I had to get on with my life.… I knew I couldn’t moon around, yearning for Tom. I understood there was no future in that.”
    Diane nodded. “You were right, and I think you’ve managed to get on with your professional life extremely well. I’m proud of you, Alexa, you didn’t let your personal problems get in the way of your career. All I can say is bravo.”
    “You once told me years ago that I must never negate my talent by not using it, by wasting it, and I listened to you, Mom. I also knew I had to earn a living, I wasn’t going to let you and Dad support me, especially after you’d sent me to such expensive schools, Anya’s in particular.”
    Diane