written five bestsellers in France so far, and was published abroad in translation as well. This was the second movie based on one of his books, and he was well known in France, and even in the States. He had everything he needed to be a happy man, and now he was having a flagrant affair with a young movie star.
It broke Rose’s heart to think of it, and how Nadia must feel. It was a sure way to destroy the marriage that had been so happy and satisfying for both of them for eleven years. She had no idea what had gotten into him. At forty-two, he was old enough to know better, and too young for a midlife crisis, in Rose’s opinion. And Nadia wasn’t one to complain if she had a problem.
Rose dialed Nadia in Paris, after she and Venetia hung up. She wasn’t sure how to broach the subject. Nadia was so private that Rose wasn’t sure she would open up to her. After asking about the children, and Nadia telling her about a new client in the South of France, Rose decided to take the plunge.
“I heard something that worried me today,” Rose began gently, and there was silence at the other end. Nadia was smaller than Venetia and her mother and had dark hair. Athena and Olivia were blond, as Rose had been. Nadia and Olivia were much shorter than their sisters and mother. Nadia was a beautiful girl, the only dark-haired beauty in the family. Despite her dark hair, she had her mother’s blue eyes and creamy white skin. Her sisters used to say she looked like Snow White.
Nadia sounded hesitant and subdued, and finally let out a sigh that sounded like air being let out of a balloon in a slow leak. Rose could almost feel her daughter’s shoulders drooping as she did. “I know what you heard, Mom. It’s about Nicolas. It’s in all the tabloids here. He made an ass of himself at the Cannes Film Festival, and the press is having a field day with it. I didn’t have the heart to call you.” She hadn’t called her sisters either. She was too upset.
“Was he drunk?” Rose couldn’t imagine what had gotten into him.
“Maybe. I don’t know. I wasn’t there. I was working in Madrid. He says he got involved with her when he was making the film. She’s a beautiful girl,” Nadia said sadly. “I’ve been busy and he got carried away.”
“You’re a beautiful girl too,” her mother reminded her, furious with her son-in-law. “Did you know, or suspect something?”
“No, I never thought he’d do that. I trusted him completely. It all came out after Cannes, when I saw it in the papers. I feel like an idiot. Maybe it’s partially my fault. I’ve been working a lot, and very hard.”
“Was it some kind of one-night slip?” Rose asked her. Not that she found that acceptable either. She had never cheated on her husband, nor he on her, to the best of her knowledge, in forty years of marriage, in spite of her career. One-night stands were not acceptable to her, but they were better than a serious affair.
“No. He says he’s in love with her, or infatuated, or something. At the same time, he says it’s not serious. He’s confused. He promises he’ll get out of it, and he says he loves me and the girls and doesn’t want to leave me. He expects me to sit and wait.” As an only child, Rose knew he had been indulged and spoiled in his youth. This was more of the same to an extreme degree, at her daughter’s expense.
Rose was deeply unhappy at what she heard from Nadia. “Has he done this before?” She was trying not to sound unduly shocked, or too judgmental, so she could be helpful to her daughter. Righteous indignation wouldn’t get them anywhere, although Rose was livid with him for hurting and betraying her daughter.
“Once,” Nadia said honestly. “When I was pregnant with Laure. I don’t know what happened, some kind of panic and insecurity about his book not doing well and the responsibility of two children. He went crazy for about a month, and then he got out of it. It was with his editor at the time. He changed editors after that. That was eight years ago, and everything’s been fine since then. I never told you because it was over in a matter of weeks and it was