Chapter 47 – Portrait of Juliette Courbet

I wake up sitting on the ground.

And I burst into tears.

I cry for what just happened to me. I cry for what could have happened to me. It could have been a lot worse. It could have been so much worse...

I cry because I'm so tired of all of this, so exhausted. I thought things were getting easier now. I thought the horror was done. I thought the suffering wasn't going to be this gruesome again.

I really should stop expecting things to be okay. This is not a fun adventure. It is a curse. I cannot forget it.

But for now, I'm just going to cry. So, I do.

I cry like a baby, letting myself sob a little uncontrollably.

Eventually, I feel a little better.

But then I realize I'm not alone.

A young girl is standing a few feet from me.

"Oh, sorry," I say, and get up on my feet, wiping my eyes with my hands.

That must have been quite the show. I'm immediately on the defensive. The paintings have not been kind to me lately.

"It's fine. I assumed you were going through something and it was better just to let you be," she replies.

She doesn't seem threatening, or dangerous.

Her eyes feel familiar. It's the strangest of feelings. I look at her and I feel like I know her.

"Thank you," I reply, not sure if I can actually trust her.

"Is there anything I can do? About whatever it is that made you cry like this?" she asks me.

"Unfortunately, I do not think so. But thank you," I tell her genuinely.

She keeps looking at me with gentle eyes. Not the ones of someone that would have a pack of rabid dogs ready to attack me.

A kind soul. I haven't met a lot of these.

"What's your name?" I ask.

"Juliette. And you?"

"Melody."

"My brother's wife is called Melody," she tells me, almost like an afterthought.

I stopped breathing.

It can't be. It's not possible. It couldn't be this easy.

But these eyes. I know these eyes. And I know his sisters' names.

"By any chance... is your brother named Gustave?"

The young girl grins back at me. But then she frowns. "Wait? Did my brother make you cry like this? When you just got married?"

It's Gustave's sister! I can't believe it! That's impossible. I'm freaking out.

But also we just got married? Have we not been parted for long then?

"I'm not crying because of him. Your brother is the sweetest," I tell her.

"He really is," she agrees.

He's talked enough about them for me to know that he's probably a good brother. He really adores his little sisters.

"And where is he now?"

"Somewhere out there, painting," she says, gesturing to a trail behind me.

No. That can't be.

I was assuming I was just going to be with his sisters. I hadn't thought I would actually have the chance to see him here. He's not at this parents' place that often.

My heart is beating frantically.

"Can I go look for him?"

She laughs at my question. "Of course," she replies and leads the way.

We start out trek. The landscape his gorgeous here. I kind of know this place too. I was here before. The first time I met Gustave was here.

I feel all sorts of emotions.

This is Gustave's sister walking with me. It makes things feel more real somehow. Juliette knew about me. I exist here more than just in Gustave's head.

It really just makes all of this feel more real.

We don't have to walk for too long for us to find her brother.

The second I see him, I sprint to him.

He sees me too, and looks completely shocked.

I jump in his arms as soon as I reach him and he lifts me off my feet.

"How? How?" he repeats, his face buried in the side of my neck.

I'm squeezing him in my arms as tightly as I can. I never want to let go. "I guess you painted your sister."

"I can't believe it," he mumbles against my skin and then sets me down on my feet again.

"How long as it been?" I ask him.

"Two weeks."

My eyes widen in surprise. "Wait? Only two weeks? That can't be right, even for us?"

He grins, kissing my temple. "I know."

"Is the time between our meetings shortening?" I ask him.

It feels like it as. Or maybe I'm completely wrong here. This would be an interesting turn of event.

Gustave frowns, thinking about it. "Wait... you're right."

"You think this is a good sign?"

He brushes a strand of my hair, tucking it behind my ear. "Good sign or not I'll take it."

Juliette clears her throat behind us.

Oh. Oops.

"Oh, right, Juliette, this is—" Gustave starts to say but his little cuts him off.

"Melody, I know."

She rolls her eyes. Gustave is beaming with joy. "You've introduced yourselves already."

"I found her crying by the barn," Juliette explains.

Gustave cups my cheek, looking in my eyes. "You're okay?"

"She says she wasn't crying because of you, but I'm not sure if I believe it. Who leaves his bride behind," Juliette says to him in a chastising tone.

"An understanding husband," I reply for him.

Leaving him on that beach broke my heart. If anyone is a bad spouse, sham or not, it's me.

Gustave is looking at me with eyes full of love but heartbreak too. He probably knows what I'm thinking.

Juliette notices this too. "I'm going home now. You guys have fun," she says amused, after snorting.

"Wait. We'll go with you," Gustave automatically replies, his attention going back to her. "You need to meet my other sisters," he tells me.

"What about your parents?" I ask, a little worriedly. Meeting his sisters is fine. Meeting his parents might be a problem.

I'm not exactly a reliable prospect.

"They're away on some business. I'm the one in charge," Gustave says proudly.

Juliette rolls her eyes. "Please, Zoé is the one in charge while they're gone. Not you."

Gustave chuckles, looking fondly at her.

It's such a precious thing. I never thought I would be able to witness it, Gustave with his family. I never thought I would have the change to meet his sister.

He's talked to me about them so many times. And I know Juliette is his favourite. He doesn't have to say it explicitly. I could sense it in the way he talked about them.

So we walk back to his family house while Juliette chats about gossips from their maids and mundane things.

It makes our relationship feel normal for once.

And Juliette is a great story teller, so she's amusing to listen to.

When we get to their house, I meet Zoé and Zélie.

The four siblings all have the same eyes and the same inherent kindness.

I'm suddenly very curious to meet their parents so I can figure out how they got like this.

We spend the whole day chatting and getting to know each other.

His sister all love art and literature in different degrees. They're actually interesting to listen debate about paintings or books.

I see it here. How could have Gustave given up art when he was surrounded by these lively girls.

How could he want to paint something fake, when he grew up with them. They so authentic and unique.

I adore them almost instantly.

And I'm grateful to be part f their family now, even if only through a sham wedding.

"We should probably have you guys do a proper wedding," Zoe says at one point."

"Next time she comes here," Gustave replies.

I hope there's a next time.

I eat at the table for dinner, and then we play cards all night long with his sisters. I don't know how much he told them about me. I assume he did not tell them about the curse. They would probably think he's crazy. I don't even know how he's going to explain to Juliette how I just appeared randomly, and how he's going to explain to all his sisters how I'm going to disappear suddenly.

I don't care for now. I'm just grateful for their presence and acceptance.

The next say the girls go to sleep, but Gustave and I go for a walk.

We end up in the same field where we first met.

"How many years as it been? Since we met?" I ask him.

"Ten years now," he replies, the hand that was holding mine, giving a quick squeeze.

"It's crazy that you've known me for s long while it's been... well a guess weeks maybe? Maybe less."

I have no idea how many days I've spent in paintings so far. I don't even remember how many paintings I've been through. I've never kept count. Maybe I should start doing that.

"Proof that I'm the one that loves you more," he teases me.

"I'd love for you centuries if I could."

"Alright, I'll accept it."

We sit again in the field, like when he was young. Gustave brought paper and fusain to sketch, so I look at him as he does, smiling happily.

We snack on the bread and cheese and wine he brought along.

This is happiness.

When the sun starts to set, we go back to the house.

We dine with his sisters again.

But this time we don't stay up all night again.

I'm feeling tired. Laying under the sun all day drained me of energy somehow.

And it would be weird for his sisters if we skip sleeping again.

His servants drew me a bath, so I take one quickly, grateful as always for the opportunity to wash away all the bad that happened to me before.

I wrap myself up in a robe and head to his room. I know this house.

I'm back in his childhood room.

"Is either one of us going to have to sleep on the floor again?" I ask my husband teasingly after I close the door behind myself.

"Definitely not," he replies, and comes up to me, pressing a kiss to my lips, his arms going around my waist.

My skin feels warm all of a sudden and it's not because of the bath.

"We got two more days together," I whisper, my forehead pressed against his.

"We did," he replies, cupping both my cheeks in his hands.

"Two wonderful days."

"I'm really grateful. This is what I wanted. I really wanted you to meet my sisters," he says.

"I'm so so glad I got to meet them."

"Now, you need to find a way to stay here forever so I can introduce you to my parents without it being a problem."

"I'll work on it," I reply teasingly.

We kiss again, this time more urgently, more feverishly. My whole body is pulsing with anticipation. I've missed him, all of him.

Gustave lifts me up and takes me to his bed, our lips never parting.

My robe comes off. His clothes come off.

We make love like this might be the last time we see each other because it might very well be.

The incertitude kills me, but I don't let myself think about it. All I think and feel and taste is Gustave right now.

Only him. All of him.

I kiss him like I'm trying to brand a seal on his skin. He's mine and mine only. I need to come back to him.

Eventually we're both exhausted, and stay in the bed, wrapped up in each other.

I think I might fall asleep right away, but Gustave suddenly gets out of the bed, and goes to a trunk in the corner of his room. "Here, I got you a new dress," he tells me, taking it out.

"You want me to put it on right now?" I chuckle, feeling to tired to move.

"I'm not going to have my wife wake up naked in the next painting," he explains.

That's fair. I laugh at this, getting up. And put it on.

It fits well, as the other dresses have before.

"Here," he says after I'm dressed up, handing me his jacket. It smells like him. That's going to be both comforting and a torture to wear it in the next paintings.

While I slip back in the bed, Gustave opens one of drawers and gets a ball of red threat. He unravels a part of it and ties one hand of it to my hand and the other to his.

I look at him intently as he does this. My eyes fill with tears.

Our own red thread of fate.

"There, let's make sure you'll come back to me this way," he whispers, slipping back in the bed with me.

"As soon as I can."

We fall asleep face to face, holding each other hands.