‘Yeah, but you’re so young. It’s OK not to know yet.’ She put her hand on his and he put a second one on top and smiled at her gently.
Great. Now she was his mother.
‘We arebothso young.’
She lifted her glass to take another sip but realised it was empty. Obligingly, Henri lifted the bottle and filled it up again. ‘It’s not really his decision. If you don’t want to, you shouldn’t have to,’ she added.
He nodded. ‘I agree. Only my father is the one with all the money. So he is used to getting his own way. The money gives him power and he knows it.’
‘But couldn’t you—’ she stopped herself.
‘What?’
‘No. It’s none of my business.’
‘No, tell me.’
‘Well, do you need his money? I know it’s difficult, but you could… get a job maybe?’
He laughed. ‘Yes. You have found my flaw. I am very, very lazy.’
‘There are worse things.’
‘Oui, it is true.’
‘Can I ask you something,’ she paused, wondering how to put this into words. ‘Do you ever feel bad?’
‘Bad?’
‘Yes, for letting your father believe you’re going to join him one day.’ She looked at him, her eyes searching his face.
There was a silence. ‘Yes,’ he admitted. ‘A little. But sometimes if lies do not truly hurt another person, perhaps they are necessary.’
‘Maybe.’
He reached for her hand again, and she was surprised, as she always was, how much his skin made hers tingle at the slightest touch. She half felt like suggesting they forget dessert and go home. But she couldn’t – there was so much work to do.
‘But for now, I am trapped in this gilded cage,’ he added.
‘What, the house share? Not really “gilded” is it.’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘More like a standard cage. Or a cave, maybe.’
He laughed, throwing his head back in a way that felt gratifying. ‘Oui, it is not so gilded there. But my father gives me a generous allowance. And I am too frightened of losing it right now.’
‘So he still thinks you’re going to join the business eventually?’
He grimaced. ‘It is too hard to say no to him. He has put me on the board. I have to go to meetings sometimes. But nothing much. Only, yes, he believes that when I have my doctorate, I will be joining the company. And that when he dies, I will step into his shoes.’
‘Is he dying?’
‘No, he is as healthy as a flea! But one day…’
‘You know, you really should tell him. You might find that he’s more understanding than you think.’
Henri made a face. ‘If you met my father, you might not be so sure.’
‘He’s not a nice guy?’
‘Oh, he’s nice, he’s just very traditional. In fact, my sister would quite like to run the business I think, but he has a fixed idea that it should be his son. It is a man’s job, apparently.’ He made a muscle and laughed.
