Beautiful strangers

That evening, Jean returned home, his face alight with joy. Without even removing his coat, he called out across the house, his voice ringing with excitement. Jean: « Chère famille ! Je suis devenu l’aspirant d’un savant respecté, un certain Xavier Lamarque ! Quelqu’un a déjà entendu ce nom ? À la radio, sûrement ! » "Dear family! I have become the assistant of a respected scholar, one Xavier Lamarque! Has anyone heard that name before? Surely on the radio!" From the kitchen, his wife Céline stepped into the doorway, leaning against the frame, a kitchen utensil still in her hand. Céline: « Quoi ? Sérieusement ? Bravo, mon cher, tu as vraiment atteint ton but. » "What? Seriously? Bravo, my dear, you have truly achieved your goal." Jean: « Ah oui… Ce n’était pas en vain que je priais Dieu chaque jour pour cela. » "Ah yes… It was not in vain that I prayed to God every day for this." Céline: « Que Dieu soit avec nous. » "May God be with us." She crossed herself, then embraced Jean, pressing a brief kiss to his lips, followed by quick ones on his cheeks. The children, coming down from the upper floor, pulled faces at the sight of their aunt and uncle’s displays of affection. Étienne: « Beurk ! Vous devez vraiment faire ça ? » "Ew! Do you really have to do that?" Marie: « Et alors ? C’est romantique ! » "So what? It’s romantic!" Étienne: « Je me demande parfois ce qui se passe dans ta tête, Marie… » "Sometimes I wonder what goes on in your head, Marie…" Céline bit her lower lip, resting her hands upon her husband’s shoulders, gazing into his eyes, and whispering. Céline: « Et si on travaillait ensemble, un jour, sur ton futur projet de recherche ? » "What if we worked together someday on your future research project?" Jean: « Quoi ? Oh… désolé, Céline, mais ça doit se faire individuellement. » "What? Oh… sorry, Céline, but that must be done individually." Céline: « D’accord… bravo, mon professeur. » "Alright… well done, my professor." Pulling away with a small smile, she returned to the kitchen, where the children were already clamouring for food. "À manger ! À manger ! À manger !" Upstairs, Louis had heard the commotion and stepped out of his room, while Pierre remained on his bed, deeply absorbed in a book. Louis: « Tu as entendu ? » "Did you hear?" Pierre: « Entendu quoi ? » "Hear what?" Louis: « À propos de Xavier Lamarque… je crois que c’est l’homme qui m’a vu en premier et qui a appelé l’ambulance. » "About Xavier Lamarque… I think he’s the man who first saw me and called the ambulance." Pierre: « Comment pourrais-je oublier ? » "How could I forget?" Louis shook his head and stepped closer, looming over Pierre, who suddenly felt as though he were being cornered. Louis: « Je l’ai rencontré à la bibliothèque ! Il lisait un livre très savant… malheureusement, on n’est pas devenus amis, mais il avait l’air d’un vrai roc. » "I met him at the library! He was reading a very scholarly book… unfortunately, we didn’t become friends, but he seemed like a true rock." Pierre: « Tous les savants sont comme ça. » "All scholars are like that." Louis: « Mais ça ne te dérange pas qu’il soit allé dans une bibliothèque privée ? » "But doesn’t it bother you that he was in a private library?" Pierre: « Ha ! Dans quel monde vis-tu, Louis ? Cette bibliothèque lui appartient probablement, alors il y va de temps en temps. » "Ha! What world do you live in, Louis? That library probably belongs to him, so he goes there from time to time." Louis: « Vraiment ? » "Really?" Pierre nodded in confirmation. Louis’s eyes drifted toward the book his little brother was reading; he frowned, then grinned wickedly. Louis: « Eh bien, Pierre… tu aimes quand les femmes disent : “Prends mes mains délicates” ? » "Well, Pierre… you like it when women say: ‘Take my delicate hands,’ huh?" Pierre, realising what Louis was reading, snapped the book shut and sat up. Pierre: « Je pense qu’il n’y a rien de mal à lire des romans érotiques. Je suis un homme, après tout. » "I think there’s nothing wrong with reading erotic novels. I’m a grown man, after all." Louis smiled, sat beside him, and placed a hand on his shoulder. Louis: « Mais non, je ne dis pas que c’est mal… c’est même utile : ça élargit ta vision des relations. Mais tu devrais pratiquer dans la vie réelle, pas seulement dans les livres. Mon conseil. » "No, I’m not saying it’s bad… in fact, it’s useful: it broadens your understanding of relationships. But you should practise in real life, not only in books. My advice." Pierre: « Comme si tu avais eu plus d’aventures que moi… » "As if you’ve had more romances than I have…" Louis: « C’est le cas. » "I have." With a satisfied nod, Louis left the room and headed down to the kitchen. At Dinner They were all seated, enjoying the meal in a quiet but contented manner. A hearty stew was served, accompanied by bread, cheese, and clear water. Jean hummed softly to himself, something that did not go unnoticed by Antoine. Being a craftsman, such absentminded melodies were perhaps foreign to him. Justine, Antoine’s wife, glanced from him to Jean, aware of the differences in their lives, before turning her attention to Louis. Justine: « Écoute… je ne veux pas te mettre de pression. Tu ne te souviens déjà pas de grand-chose, et peut-être que ce n’est pas très confortable pour toi de dîner avec nous, mon petit frère… mais dis-moi, aimerais-tu retourner travailler ? » "Listen… I don’t want to pressure you. You already don’t remember much, and maybe it’s not very comfortable for you to have dinner with us, my little brother… but tell me, would you like to go back to work?" Louis: « Ah… je ne sais pas… j’ai vraiment tout oublié. Je ne sais plus comment enseigner. » "Ah… I don’t know… I’ve really forgotten everything. I no longer know how to teach." Antoine cast a stern look at his wife. Antoine: « Justine… Louis s’habitue encore. Pourquoi veux-tu précipiter les choses ? » "Justine… Louis is still adjusting. Why do you want to rush things?" Justine: « Parce que je pense qu’il se remettra vite sur pied et qu’il se souviendra peut-être de quelque chose. » "Because I think he’ll get back on his feet quickly and maybe remember something." Antoine: « Je doute qu’un retour au travail le ramène à son passé. » "I doubt going back to work will bring him back to his past." Justine: « Voilà pourquoi tu es toujours aussi sceptique, Antoine ! Tout est possible, il en a peut-être besoin. » "That’s why you’re always such a skeptic, Antoine! Anything is possible, maybe he needs it." Antoine: « Regarde-le… est-ce qu’il a l’air pressé de partir travailler ? » "Look at him… does he look like he’s in a hurry to go back to work?" Their argument carried across the table, prompting Marie to cover Étienne’s ears before leading him away. Aunt Madeleine, seeing the chaos, struck the table with her palm. Madeleine: « Assez ! Mais enfin, que faites-vous ? Sérieusement… Aujourd’hui seulement, notre Louis est revenu, et vous vous disputez ? Vous n’avez pas honte ? » "Enough! What on earth are you doing? Seriously… Only today has our Louis returned, and you argue? Aren’t you ashamed?" The room fell silent again. Justine lifted her eyes toward Louis. Justine: « Pardonne-moi, Louis… c’est juste… c’est très dur pour moi de te voir comme ça. » "Forgive me, Louis… it’s just… it’s very hard for me to see you like this." She began to cry, excused herself, and left the table. Justine: « Excusez-moi… il faut que j’aille aux toilettes. » "Excuse me… I need to go to the washroom." I watched her leave, understanding her grief—or perhaps not fully. After all, I remembered nothing. To be in the body of a man who had been loved for years by his family, and then to be found lying in a hospital, wounded and in a coma… that was not a picture anyone would want to see. But what could I do? I couldn’t bring back their loved one. I couldn’t even return to my own time. Maybe taking up a teaching position was for the best… and I could speak to this Elizabeth. Aunt Madeleine glanced at me with a guilty expression, while Antoine kept his eyes firmly on his plate. Jean and Céline had both felt the tension at the table. When Jean rose to go after Justine, I half-expected Céline, as another woman, to comfort her. But Jean, being Justine’s younger brother, understood his sister’s feelings better. With fewer people left at the table, those who had finished their meal quietly drifted away to their rooms. Seeing no one moving to clear the table, I decided to do it myself. Céline came over to help. Céline: « Tu sais… je pense que c’est bien que tu ne retournes pas travailler, Louis. Tu n’es pas obligé. » "You know… I think it’s fine that you don’t go back to work, Louis. You’re not obliged to." I simply nodded while washing the dishes. Louis: « Céline… je suis désolé de ne pas pouvoir être le Louis d’autrefois pour vous. » "Céline… I’m sorry I can’t be the Louis from before for you." Céline: « Tu n’as pas à te sentir coupable. Ces choses arrivent parfois… Moi, par exemple, je voulais devenir savante, et pas seulement une épouse utile à la cuisine… Oh… je n’aurais pas dû dire ça. » "You don’t have to feel guilty. These things happen sometimes… For example, I wanted to be a scholar, not just a wife useful in the kitchen… Oh… I shouldn’t have said that." I smiled faintly, understanding her situation, and placed a hand on her shoulder. Louis: « Je pense que tu ferais une bonne savante. Tu pourrais aller à l’université, même maintenant. » "I think you’d make a good scholar. You could go to university, even now." Céline: « Tu as raison… mais je ne sais pas comment Jean réagirait. Et s’il se sentait humilié ? » "You’re right… but I don’t know how Jean would react. What if he felt humiliated?" Louis: « Pourquoi le devrait-il ? C’est ce que tu veux, toi. Parfois, en amour, il faut faire des sacrifices pour se compléter. » "Why should he? It’s what you want. Sometimes, in love, you have to make sacrifices to complete one another." Céline froze, lost in thought at my words, before quietly resuming the work beside me. Later, I went to bed. Pierre was already asleep. I simply collapsed onto the mattress, which felt like it was worth a single dollar. Oh, where was my penthouse and my enormous bed? I would have to survive in this medieval setting… ha ha.