The way she asked was so natural that Milo thought he might faint. He felt his face grow longer, his eyes widen beyond his control, and he did the last thing he should have done: he looked at Tiphaine and Sylvain as if seeking their approval. As he did so, he felt an overwhelming desire for the ground to open and swallow him up.
“Yes, why don’t you take Milo and show him your room?” Nora agreed. “I’ll call you when dinner’s ready.”
Inès turned on her heel and Milo followed her.
Then it was Nassim’s turn to take off, leaving the adults to themselves. Nora served drinks and began talking about the neighborhood, which was all they had in common. The conversation flowed; Tiphaine and Sylvain heard about Nora’s recent separation, and how the relationship with her husband remained strained. Speaking candidly, but without going into detail, she told them that despite the upheaval, she had no regrets.
The evening went off wonderfully. By the time they sat down to dinner Tiphaine felt completely relaxed. She smiled and chatted throughout the meal. Sylvain, too, was in good form. He talked a little about himself, told a few anecdotes about his work, they discussed the political situation in France and discovered that they pretty much agreed on everything.
Meanwhile the teenagers were also getting to know each other. They did some gaming on the PlayStation, listened to music, smoked cigarettes out of Inès’s bedroom window, and compared their interests.
Tiphaine was slightly worried that Milo would tell Inès about their family situation. The fact that he wasn’t their biological son. She thought he might reveal the awful circumstances of the “events.” It was so nice that Nora knew nothing about it, and she couldn’t bear the thought of one day seeing the familiar sympathetic yet accusatory gleam in her neighbor’s eye. When the two young people joined them at the table she looked to see if anything had changed in Inès’s manner, but she couldn’t spot anything. When they went back upstairs after dinner, she reassured herself that Milo would never reveal something so private to a girl the first time he met her. He, too, was hungry for normality.
Was it really the first time they’d met? And what was going on up there? Was it reasonable to leave them alone for so long?
“Are you aware that my son and your daughter are alone upstairs, unsupervised?” she said to Nora, affecting a mischievous tone.
“Does my daughter have anything to worry about?” Nora replied, imitating Tiphaine’s tone of voice.
“Given your daughter’s looks, I’d say it’s more likely Milo who’s in danger,” said Sylvain.
Nora gave him a confused smile, as if she thought the compliment was for her.
“Anyway, this is the age of first love,” he said with a fatalistic air. “No matter how much we watch them, if something’s going to happen, nothing and nobody will be able to prevent it.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Nora said. “They’ve only known each other for two hours and we’re already marrying them off.”
“Some things are unavoidable,” Sylvain murmured pensively. Tiphaine turned to her husband with a confused expression on her face.
“What are you talking about?”
Sylvain didn’t answer. He seemed lost in thought. For a few seconds, there was silence around the table.
Sylvain’s comment disturbed Tiphaine, though she wasn’t sure why. She had the uncomfortable feeling she hadn’t quite grasped what he meant.
“Coffee?” Nora suggested, as she began to clear.
Tiphaine and Sylvain nodded, and Nora disappeared into the kitchen.
Tiphaine took advantage of being alone with Sylvain to take him to task.
“That really was going a bit far.”
“What? She’s very pretty.”
“They’re just kids...She’s barely thirteen.”
“You’re being very naïve,” said Sylvain.
Nora came back in, and the two fell silent. Sylvain stood up and began to clear the rest of the table, obliging Tiphaine to do the same so as not to appear rude.
“Leave it, I’ll do it later,” said Nora, which didn’t stop them.
The evening drew to an end. They finished their coffee and Nora offered them a liqueur, which they politely declined. Tiphaine, eager to go home, threw Sylvain a pointed look that he registered, then continued chatting for a few minutes before giving a nod to indicate he was ready to go. It was time to gather the troops (it took Milo a good five minutes to come downstairs). In the entryway, everyone hugged goodbye and they all promised to get together again soon.
Back at home, the Geniots began getting ready for bed. Tiphaine was in the bathroom and Milo in his bedroom. Sylvain wandered around in circles in the living room for a few minutes, then went up and knocked on Milo’s door. Milo responded with a grunt that Sylvain wasn’t sure how to interpret. To be on the safe side, he pushed open the door and poked his head around.
“I was just wondering—did you have a good time tonight?”
