LITMIR.BIZ

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you call, monsieur?

      – Where is your mistress? She came home? – Instead of answering, he bombarded the servants with questions.

      – Yes, she came ten minutes ago and immediately went up to her room and said that she wouldn’t have dinner.

      “Very good,” with these words Louis ran up the stairs, and Louise heard the door slam in Vanessa’s room. She remembered this evening for a long time, because it was the first time she saw the owner of the house like this. A conversation in a raised voice could be heard upstairs.

      Louis burst into the room and began to say :

      – What are you allowing yourself to do?

      Vanessa was sitting in a chair at that time and raised her head to look at her husband. Her gaze was completely calm, and her voice was as if nothing had happened:

      – Something happened?

      Louis was taken aback for a second and did not know how to react to such behavior. These were the first signs of mental illness in his wife, but then he did not pay attention. Louis calmed down and said:

      – Let’s go have dinner.

      “Okay, let’s go,” Vanessa rose from her chair, and together they went down to the dining room. By this time Olivia had already returned to the house and they sat down to dinner.

      Chapter 3 Dijon. Captivated by dead roses

      Having chosen a place of residence, Olivia and her father purchased a chateau, which was not far from Lyon. The region was called the Gold Coast, it was located 25 km from Dijon. She lived there alone for a year, opened a wine store, her father visited her periodically, but she was not very happy about this and waited for her parents to finally move to Sicily. Louis never warned her about his arrival, and now he arrived unexpectedly once again. But he decided not to immediately go to his daughter, but to visit his old friend. His path passed through the place where her store was located, and as he passed by, he noticed that there were rose bushes near the entrance. He smiled and thought:

      “Did Vanessa really manage to instill in her a love of flowers? Wow.”

      Life flowed like a river, and time inexorably ran forward. Louis clearly felt how age was taking its toll and how his feelings towards his family were intensifying; tenderness for his daughters and warm feelings for his wife began to appear. Now, when the time had come to part with Olivia, he thought about how she would live here all alone. They were never close, and this is probably why the daughter endured separation from her parents so easily.

      Having bought a bottle of red wine, Louis went to see his old friend. Daniel was originally from Düsseldorf, but left there at the age of seventeen. His parents were not rich people and were able to give him little; looking at how they lived, he decided to move to France. In the country of grapevines, he organized his own business and managed to make friends with influential people, including Louis. When they met, they discussed more than just business issues, since he was a member of the de Grasse family and knew a lot. Louis’s friend was aware of the family’s move to Sicily and the fact that Olivia was strongly against it. He was the eyes and ears of Louis, because his friend trusted him very much. When Louis approached the fence, Daniel was sitting in the gazebo and smoking a pipe.

      – Daniel! “You will open the gates of your house to your old friend,” smiling, Louis called his friend

      The friend, hearing his name, rose from the bench and walked towards the gate. Seeing Louis, he was happy, although he understood that his friend most likely came again on his daughter’s business.

      – Louis! Glad to see you, come in,” he opened the gate and extended his hand to say hello.

      Louis passed and they shook hands.

      A lot of time had passed since they last saw each other, and he knew nothing about what was happening at Louis’s house. Daniel, seeing that his friend was tired after the journey, invited him to immediately sit down at the table and open a bottle of wine.

      “Let’s sit down, you’re obviously tired, let’s open the wine, here’s some more cheese,” Daniel said, taking out several types of cheese from the refrigerator.

      – Yes, perhaps we can drink some wine. I’m here for a short time, for a day or two, so I want to immediately ask how my girl is doing.

      – Olivia is doing well, we sometimes meet on the street, and I go to her store. Why are you here for a day or two? – Daniel asked, pouring wine into glasses.

      “Vanessa hasn’t been feeling well lately and I need to be with her.

      – Something serious? If you need help, you can always count on me.

      From Louis’s eyes, his friend realized that this was not just an illness, but something more serious. He was frightened by his own feelings towards his wife, because before he had not been interested in her condition. Attachment and sense of duty that appeared at the end of life. He was torn between Olivia and his wife, because they both needed his time and attention. Louis was silent, lost in his thoughts, Daniel broke the silence.

      – Let’s talk about Olivia. The more I watch her and how she runs her store, the more I think that she should think about opening her own restaurant.

      – Why such conclusions?

      “People come to her store because they like the way they are served.” Good service, pleasant staff and of course the attention of the hostess. Talk to her about it.

      – Okay, I’ll talk to her about this after we move. And I came this time to tell her exactly this news. You can congratulate me on purchasing a house in Sicily.

      “Already,” Daniel became a little upset, “this means this is our last meeting here.”

      – Yes, everything happened quickly, unexpectedly for many.

      Hearing his friend’s sad tone, Louis felt a pang of conscience, because he and his friend had gone through a lot and he was one of his close people. He drove away his sentimental thoughts, but his resistance was not as strong as in his younger years, it seemed that the great Chinese wall in Louis’ soul had collapsed. The ice that had shackled his heart for many years was broken. The iceberg began to melt.

      – I know I know. I’m sorry it turned out this way. But as I mentioned earlier, it’s about Vanessa. She asked for a quick solution to this issue.

      – Did you ask for it yourself? – Daniel asked in surprise, “who would have thought.” After so many years of traveling, she still hasn’t lost her love for it. How are you doing with her?

      “Something has happened to her since we’ve been living together.” Something strange, Daniel. She abandoned her roses and garden. She doesn’t care about Olivia at all. They sometimes talk to Inessa, but also less and less. She spends more and more time in her room, only letting Louise in, but when she leaves, she is always depressed, as if it were contagious. Her condition worries me, because this has been going on for three months now. I can’t leave her alone anymore, although I never thought about it before. She doesn’t always have dinner with me, sometimes she just comes to the table. And the strangest thing is that at these moments she puts on her diamond necklace.

      Daniel did not have the patience to listen to the end, and he interrupted and said his thought regarding all this:

      – Sorry Ludovic, but it seems to me that she is suffering from depression. Maybe she should see a psychotherapist? I can make inquiries about good specialists.

      – Do you think? I doubt she’ll like it. She never liked doctors. And to be honest, I’m at a loss. I don’t know what to do, for the first time in my life. When we have dinner, we talk about the theater, cinema, weather, wine, but not a single word about roses or daughters. I don’t understand what’s going on.

      – Have you tried

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