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She swiftly made coffee and then returned with plates and warm croissants.
“Is this about Philippe? Here, drink.” She poured coffee into a cup and put it in front of Grace. “Did you go back to his place after the concert?”
“I didn’t go to the concert.” Grace took a sip of coffee but didn’t touch the croissant. “Something came up.”
Audrey bit back the rude joke that came to mind. Not the right time, Aud. “But you loved that concert. Hearing him play.” She ripped a corner off the croissant. “What could have stopped you going?”
“My ex-husband.”
“What?” Audrey paused with the croissant halfway to her mouth. “Did he email you or something?”
“He called. He’s here in Paris.”
“Well, shit—I mean, darn.” She put the croissant down. “Why? I mean, are you going to see him?”
“I saw him yesterday afternoon. I went to his hotel. My grandmother is with him. I wanted to see her. I was angry that he’d brought her here, but if I’m honest no one ever made Mimi do anything she didn’t want to do, so it probably wasn’t his fault.”
“Let’s pretend it’s his fault. It will help us to pile on the mad. So what happened?” Audrey picked her way carefully over the broken fragments of Grace’s emotions. “Did he want a divorce? No, it couldn’t be that.”
Grace took another sip of her coffee. “How do you figure that?”
“Because he would have called or sent an email.” She ate the piece of croissant. “He flew all the way here, so I’m guessing that means he had something important to say. Something he thought you wouldn’t listen to unless he was face-to-face.” She stopped chewing. “He wants you to get back together, doesn’t he?”
“Yes.” Grace sat slumped in the chair. “It was…unexpected.”
“No shit. What did you say?”
“I can’t even remember. I think I told him he was deluded and walked out.”
“But it made you feel like crap. And that’s why you canceled Philippe. Because you couldn’t have lighthearted fun after seeing your cheating ex.”
“How do you know so much?”
“Because hairdressers are like priests and psychologists. We’re very experienced.” Audrey leaned forward. “Are you going to forgive him?”
“No! Definitely not. I mean, I don’t think so. No.” Grace stared miserably at her plate. “I thought I was doing so well. I thought I’d moved on. And when I saw him standing there all I wanted to do was run to him and hug him.”
Audrey thought about her mother. About how she still loved her despite everything. “Love isn’t that simple. At least, that’s what you told me and I believe every word you say.” She was rewarded by a glimmer of a smile.
“Of course you do. In particular when I tell you about fashion and street smarts.”
“It’s weird, though, isn’t it? You can hate some things about someone, and still love them. That’s the way I feel about my mum. I hate that she drinks. I hate what that does to her and the things she says and does when she’s drunk. But it doesn’t stop me loving her. You can hate a person’s actions without hating them. And that’s the hard bit. If you could just switch it off, then it would be easy, wouldn’t it?”
Grace managed a smile. “How are you so wise?”
“Because although I look eighteen on the outside, inside I’m, like, a thousand and fifty.” Audrey pushed the croissants toward Grace. “I asked for these in French. You’d better eat one or I’ll be offended.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“When I’m upset you always make me eat, so eat.”
Grace put a croissant on her plate. “How could he think I’d forgive him that easily? I never thought he was that insensitive.”
“Maybe he’s desperate. Maybe he wants you back so badly he is willing to try anything. Let’s face it, that’s not a conversation that would have gone well on the phone.” Audrey leaned forward, broke off some of Grace’s croissant and held it toward her mouth. “Open and chomp.”
Grace sighed and ate. “How can he love me one minute and not the next?”
“Maybe he always loved you and he had, like, a mind explosion or something.” Audrey made a gesture with her hands. “I mean, people fuck up—I mean, mess up—all the time, don’t they?”
