I think Fran noticed that something was wrong because she came back to see me after her performance, while she was usually going back home when she was done.
Performing was taking a lot of energy from her.
“What’s up with the gloomy face?” She asked as I was sitting at my usual spot at the bar.
“I’m an asshole.”
I thought this was a pretty accurate summary of my situation.
“And is there something anyone can do about it?”
I chuckled sombrely.
“I think it’s pretty much engrained within me, you know? Being a selfish bastard.”
She looked at me like she meant business.
“Joe, everyone is bad.” She stated seriously. “Everyone. I’m old enough to have seen a lot of the human nature, and most often, it ain’t pretty. But trust me, you don’t seem like the worst kind of scums.”
“Good for me.”
I drank another scotch.
I was not easily drunk so it was fine.
“What is going on, really?” Fran insisted.
“It’s complicated…”
“It always is.”
“I think that I imposed myself in my daughter’s life, in her relationship with her boyfriend, and now, they’re not… I’m afraid I’m the reason they’re going to break up.”
Nothing I had said there was a lie, although, admittedly, I was omitting the main part.
I had been fucking said boyfriend for weeks, months even.
“The three of you live in a tiny apartment, right?”
“Correct.”
“Because your farm burnt down?”
“Yes…” I replied, jaded.
“Well, first of all, that doesn’t seem like your fault.”
“You don’t know the entire story.” I cut her off.
“Maybe. But second of all, there’s an easy solution to that problem and I’m not really getting why you whine so much instead of fixing it.”
“I’m not a whiner!” I immediately replied defensively.
It was my core identity not to complain or to overthink like a wuss. I hated being seen as a weak fragile thing.
“Men and their egos…” She rolled her eyes.
“What do you mean by easy solution?”
She softened up.
“You’re not in prison, right? You can move out.”
“Where?”
“You can live at my place, obviously! Joe, I am alone in a damn castle.”
I was not expecting this at all.
We barely knew each other, Fran was a much older woman, an artist, and I was only chatting with her a few times a week.
We were not really roommates’ material.
“I’ve already told you; I’m not interested in accepting charity.” I grunted.
“And I’ve told you, I need some help at home. The house has six bedrooms and four bathrooms, I only use one of each. If you can help with the renovation as we had already discussed, you can take one of the free bedrooms and live there rent-free.”
“Are you serious? You don’t even know me. What if I’m a serial killer or something?”
“Aaah… I know you enough. Besides, I’m no longer at an age where I’m scared of taking chances or risks.”
I had to make something very clear though.
“I’m not a gigolo.” I said seriously.
She burst out laughing.
“When I was talking about renovating the house, it was not a metaphor, I was not implying drilling me! Not that I have anything against gigolos…”
I laughed too; this was a pretty funny come back.
“I just want to make sure we’re on the same line.”
“Look, you’ve been coming at that club anytime I was singing here for the past couple of weeks. I should be the one being worried that you’re hitting on me. I’ve had some crazy erotomaniac fans in the past.”
“Sorry, Fran, you’re a little too young for my taste.” I replied cheekily, in reference to something that she had told when we first met.
That made her grin.
We discussed a bit more and she turned out to be really serious about her offer.
We both decided to meet at her “castle” the next morning and see if I could really help her with her repair works.
One thing was for sure, Fran had not lied about the size of her mansion.
Up in the hills of the city, it was located in an area filled with large manors and old houses. The perfect place for the upper-class families of the region to live between themselves, away from the common people.
As Fran had mentioned, the “castle” did not have any tower, but it was one the most ancient buildings of the area and it was standing out, even in this classy neighbourhood.
She had a very large backyard, including a well-tended garden, a heated pool… The house was huge in itself: three stories, two living-rooms, an immense kitchen which had been renovated recently, no less than six bedrooms…
I was impressed.
I was nearly 44 years-old and I had never entered such a luxurious home.
Fran had a room only dedicated to her career with posters, CDs (so old school), many awards… She did look beautiful when she was younger.
I also noted a few family pictures.
That was the sad part, the people she was not seeing anymore.
I wondered if I would be like her in the future, not being able to see my own grand-children… This kind of thoughts were the ones giving me sick feelings in the pit of my stomach.
I ignored them, everything would be fine.
I would leave the apartment and move on with my life.
“What do you think?” Fran asked me at the end of the tour.
“I think we have a deal.”
I would have a couple of months to renovate two of the guest-bedrooms and one bathroom situated in the west aisle of the building, and once this would be done, I could go back to my farm and my old self.
I would be staying rent-free in a nice bedroom with a great view to the city. The issues with Blake aside, it was a blessing to get rid of the damn couch.
The situation almost seemed too good to be true.
But it was very real. Fran did need my help, and honestly, she wanted some company. I think that we had simply found each other at the perfect time.
Blake did not seem to think it was the ideal situation though…
He was mad when I explained that I would be moving out the day of.
“You’re gonna live with an old crazy woman?! That’s your plan? Joe, that’s stupid.”
“Stupid? Mind your words, Blake! Why would it be better for me to stay in this tiny apartment?”
“Because you need to stay with family and not with someone you don’t know at all. That’s just the way it is.”
“Family? Come on!” I was getting heated too. “Why do you even care? We’re all over each other and I talked to Liv last night, she… She’s not happy with the current situation.”
“This is the reason you’re leaving, then? Because of Liv?”
“Of course, it’s the reason why! Blake, seriously, we cannot live together when we cannot keep our hands off each other.”
“Well, maybe we should stop hiding then!”
Fuck, he was really not making things easy.
What was he talking about? Coming out clean to Liv? That was just insane.
“Blake, when I came back yesterday, Liv was crying, saying you were distant. She’s afraid of losing you and I cannot see her like that. I cannot be the reason she’s suffering. This ain’t right.”
“What do you want me to do? Fuck you in the afternoon and then, fuck her at night?! Keep everyone happy?”
“No! This is exactly why I’m leaving… We have to stop this!”
He puffed.
“Fantastic. Now, you want to stop, after everything! I have tried to break things up Joe, and YOU came back! Remember?”
“And that was a mistake!”
“You didn’t like it? The past few weeks?”
“Of course, I did, but that’s not the point. We have to end this; we both know it. The back and forth have lasted for long enough.”