“Everyone has expectations on their name, everyone is carrying weights on their shoulders, it’s just a matter of how heavy in comparison.” She told me, sharing a little truth.
"I've been a selfish bitch haven't I?" I groaned, taking a seat by the water fountain and she sat down next to me.
"No doubt in the world about that." Victoria replied sarcastically, "If you can't accept losing Armani darling you'll never win. I believe it was Norman Vincent Peale who once said that "If you believe you've been defeated and if you believe it long enough, it's likely to become a fact."
"I hate that you're always right." I groaned,
"Come on, let's take a walk," Tori suggested holding out a hand to me and pulling me up.
We took a break from the hustle and bustle of the museum and took a walk down the Seine, and even then I couldn’t help but see him in everything. Victoria stopped and pulled out a pack of Marlboro cigarettes from her purse and began to light it.
"Are you going to do that, right now in front of me?" I asked and she laughed, placing the cigarette to her lips and taking a swig.
"My last smoking buddy ditched me." Victoria disclosed looking over across the deep blue waters of the Seine.
"That sucks, where are they ?" I asked and she shook her head with a contradictory grin,
"Over there." She said gesturing to the Père Lachaise Cemetery across the river, "Six feet under."
"Who was your last smoking buddy?" I asked, and I gave her the benefit of the doubt but I felt as though I already knew the answer.
"Jace Monet." She told me, "que son âme repose en paix."May his soul Rest In Peace.
It felt like I'd heard his name more than my own since I'd arrived at St Kathrine's like his presence loomed over me and everyone he’d ever met despite him being long gone. Jace Monet was dead but it was evident to me that his spirit lived on and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't escape it. A cold gust of wind caught us both and I wrapped my arms around myself to soothe my goosebumps.
"Did you know him well?" I asked,
"Jace and I talked to each other, right here, when life and everything got too complicated," Victoria told me,
"Can I ask you something?" I wondered in the hopes that maybe she could finally be the one to tell me,
"Of course, little bird." She smiled,
"What was he like?" I asked, I'd only ever seen one picture of him and it was only for a few seconds and what I knew about him was minimal considering nobody I knew wanted to talk about him.
"He was like a fever dream." Victoria said taking one long puff from her cigarette, "Sometimes it feels like he was never really there."
"Incredibly vague description there Tori, I didn't take you for one to beat around the bush." I reproached and she shut her eyes for a moment with a knowing smile playing in her lips,
"Jace and I met here in Paris a summer before we started at St Katherine's, he said he was offered a place here a year before but he gave it up." Victoria disclosed and I couldn’t imagine why anyone in their right mind would give up a place here.
"Why would he do that?" I scoffed and she looked up at the gloomy Parian sky,
"For friendship. For River." She told me and I was taken aback, "I told him it was a mistake but he insisted that he was willing to wait, and make a sacrifice for his friend whom he believed had much more to offer the school than he ever did."
"That's...that's-" I began but she cut me off,
"Impulsive? Careless? Yes. Jace Monet was a lot of good things but he didn't come without a fair number of flaws." Victoria asserted, "I knew him well, and we spent quite a lot of time together but I'll tell you one thing you mustn't forget."
"What is it?" I asked and her sharp dark eyes held a level of solemnity I'd never seen before,
"It was as though Michelangelo wished on a star and two came true, In Jace there was River and in River lives Jace too," Victoria said and she tossed the remainder of her cigarette onto the pavement and crushed it beneath her heel.
"What do you mean?" I asked, “Sorry, I don’t speak Shakespeare!”
"All in due time, little bird." She foreshadowed and kissed me on the cheek, "Now go make it up to him or you'll regret it."
I realised that I'd been a total dick to River earlier, I was just jealous and angry at myself for not taking Monsieur's advice. I didn't even stay to watch him get his award, nor did I bother to congratulate him on his achievement. That was low, even for me.
