Down a long private drive lined with lavender a black luxury sedan drove slowly, kicking up only a small bit of debris as it made its way leasurely. The sun shown down brightly belying the fact that it was only around 40°FInside the chauffeured vehicle, Chang resisted the urge to wipe her sweaty palms on the new beautiful silk dress she wore. It had been bought for her in Lyons after they landed so that she would look presentable.
After having receiving the new dress she had also been taken to a day spa, where she was cleaned, polished and scrubbed until she shined. The plush leather seats beside her weren"t exactly a good wiping spot either, but with no better alternatives, Chang wiped her palms on material beside her.
"I"m so nervous, what do I say?" Even though she had been a.s.sured numerous times that she had no need to be nervous she still felt it. She had never met the man before and wanted to make a good impression on her Dad"s dad.
At the front the man chauffeuring the vehicle called back to ask if she was good in his heavily accented French. After a second she realized he was speaking to her and answered saying she was fine.
"Except for my nerves.."
The man had been sent by her grandfather to bring her to him and had attended to her all the way through the journey, and was now driving her the last when she had opened the door, she had expected to see her aunt, but instead he had stood there.
As soon as she opened the door he had asked for her mother, Mrs. Dumont. Though he spoke in English it was very heavily affected by a foreign accent.
When he asked it felt like knives stabbed into her heart again relentlessly. It had taken her a moment to respond to the man and tell him that Mrs Dumont was deceased and that she was her daughter Miss Dumont.
"You are mademoiselle Dumont?" The man looked at her up and down to her annoyance before settling his shocked eyes back onto her face.
"Yes." She answered the man in a clipped tone, preparing to take a step back on and close the door again.
"Pardon me I was just stunned for a moment, I thought you would be different.. Miss Dumont, my name is Mr. Poitier, I am here on behalf of your grandfather regarding the letter Madame Dumont wrote him."
Chang was confused momentarily as her mother had told her when she was younger that her grandfather had pa.s.sed away when she was little.
"I"m sorry sir, there must be some kind of mistake my grandfather is already deceased."
"Quoi? I a.s.sure you mademoiselle Jean-Jacques Dumont is very much alive, and would very much so like to meet you.
"Wait is that my dad"s dad? How come they never really told me about him?"
"Why after all this time does he want to meet me?"
"You"ll have to ask him that yourself in France. Will you come with me to meet him?"
"What do I have to lose?"
"Give me a minute to get some things together."
"We can have everything sent to you at a later date."
"I"m not leaving without a few things." Grabbing a small backpack she put her parents ashes as well as the family photo alb.u.m and put them in. Everything else was superficial.
As she left she realized she should leave a note for her aunt Chen Hua before leaving so that she wouldn"t worry. Her aunt had been a really nice lady, she was extremely grateful she had come and shown her care, she might have drowned in her grief if she hadn"t come when she did. At the end of the note, after much consideration she left a note for Jian.
"I don"t know if he"ll ever see this but if he does I want him to know that.
"I wish he had come."
Locking the door she hid the key under the welcome mat and left her childhood home, empty now save for memories.