Chapter 9

65 14 23
                                    

Be Alright – Dean Lewis,

I Can't Help Falling in Love with You – Elvis Presley.

What a Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong.

Unchained Melody – Righteous Brothers.

Listen respectively (I'll put the asterisks to separate the sections)

"You are the answer to every prayer I've offered. You are a song, a dream, a whisper, and I don't know how I could have lived without you for as long as I have." ― "The Notebook" Nicholas Sparks.

***

🦁Alexandre🦁

"I'm leaving Alex, don't you see that?" she asks putting a blanket in one of her suitcases.

"What do you mean leaving Isabelle? Where are you going?" I ask kicking her neatly packed suitcase across the room.

"I'm leaving you Alex and I'm leaving this country. I'm going back to France" she says stomping past me.

"Merde Alexandre, pourquoi fais-tu ça?"  she hisses her accent thick as she forces the clothes back into the suitcase.


"You're leaving me and you're going back to France?" I ask ignoring her question walking behind her.

"Oui" she says not even looking up at me.

"When are you leaving?" I ask her, trying to think of a way to convince her to stay.

"Aujourd'hui" she says nonchalantly, still trying to cram everything back into her suitcase.

"Today?" I ask her in disbelief.

"Oui. My flight leaves in two hours" she says, still not looking up at me.

"Were you going to tell me?" I ask, standing over her.

"No but I was planning to leave a note to tell you that I wasn't coming back; but you came home early so call that luck I guess" she shrugs looking up at me, a sweet smile on her face.

"Why are you doing this Belle?" I ask but she doesn't answer.

"Isabelle, regarde-moi!" I kick the suitcase from before her.

"Alexandre ce qui ne va pas chez toi? Don't you see I'm trying to get my things together?" she hisses walking towards the suitcase.

"Are you in trouble Belle? Is that why you're leaving? Because if that's it then I can help you, whatever it is we can fix it. Please mon amour, just let me in" I plead walking behind her.

"In trouble? You think I'm in trouble?" she asks laughing humorlessly.

"Oui mon amour that's the only reason I can think of to explain all of this" I say taking her hands in mine.

"I'm not in trouble. I'm leaving because of you Alexandre, I'm tired of you, you drive me nuts" she pulls her hands away from me in frustration.

"Je ne comprends pas mon amour" I say walking behind her like a lost puppy.

"What don't you understand Alexandre? I'm going back to France because I can't bare being in the same country as you. You disgust me so much I can't even stand to breathe the same air as you" she says looking me in the eyes; her eyes are rock hard and her face is emotionless.

"Mais Isabelle"

"But what Alexandre?"

"Je t'aime" I tell her trying to hold her hands again.

"Tu m'aimes" I reach for her hands again.

"Nous sommes amoureux" I give up trying to touch her.

"So, I don't understand mon amour, what is all this about you being disgusted by me? What is all this about me annoying you and driving you nuts? The only thing I do is ensure that you're well taken care of and that you feel loved so why would you say all this?" I ask rubbing my temples.

"Pourquoi tu me fais mal comme ça mon amour? "I ask her confused.

"I'm not trying to hurt you Alex, you should have seen this coming; we weren't meant for each other, it has been obvious from the beginning that this was only meant to be a fling" she shrugs folding an orange blouse.

"A fling Belle? That's what you're going to call our relationship? A fling? Flings don't last for six years Isabelle. I just introduced you to my parents six months ago. They love you Isabelle, as do I. There is no need for you to be doing this, I can't come up with an explanation for all this; but whatever it is, whatever you're going through we can get through this together. Come on mon amour, don't go. Stay with me mon amour, tell me the truth s'il te plaît" I plead with her but she just keeps folding as if she doesn't hear me pouring my heart out to her.

"You don't love me Alex, it's all in your head. I never loved you either we just got carried away. We lost each other in ourselves and we convinced ourselves that we were in love but that's over now and the sooner you wake up from this silly dream the better it will be for you. I'm tired of wasting my time with you, I'm going back to France so that I can live my life far away from you." she says closing the suitcase.

"Don't say that Isabelle, you don't mean all that, you're just saying this because you're upset. What did I do to upset you? What can I do to make it up to you? Just name it and it's done. I'll do anything for you Isabelle. Just say the word Belle, come on." I try to touch her but she pulls away.

"Isabelle please" I walk after her.

"Belle"

"Please look at me Isabelle" I walk behind her as she pulls her other suitcases to the door.

"Isabelle" I groan frustrated.

"Talk to me Isabelle please"

"Somebody will be over before the end of the week to collect the rest of my stuff, maybe my brother, maybe my mother I'm not sure yet; but they'll be here before Friday so just look out for one of them. Be kind to them when they come, they have nothing to do with me and you" she says completely everything I just said.

"Isabelle" my voice is stern and it makes her look at me.

"Que voulez-vous Alexandre?" she hisses in frustration.

"I want to know the real reason you're going back to France" I ask her, holding her gaze.

"You don't get to know everything in life Alex. Just know you'll be better off without me. The love you need, the love you deserve, I can't give it to you. You deserve happiness, you deserve the world, you deserve better than me" she says walking closer to me.

"I don't want the world and I don't want better; I want you" I close my eyes as she brings her hand up to caress my left cheek.

"Ce n'est pas ce que tu veux mon amour, c'est ce que tu mérites" she whispers against my ear.

"Forget me my love, don't follow me to France, set your heart free, accept love and give love ferociously. You'll forget me eventually, but when you meet the woman you deserve, you'll think of me again, and you'll see that I was right, you'll see that you deserved better than me all this time." she places a chaste kiss on the side of my cheek.

"Au revoir mon amour"

And with that she left.

****

Trials and Consequences of LoveWhere stories live. Discover now