Catherine, can you hear me clearly?
Yes, yes, perfectly. How are you? Is everything going well?
I'm fine, yes, don't worry. I don't have much time, so I just wanted to say hi and hear your voice.
Thank you, Marc…I'm in your apartment!
Oh, that's great, I'm really happy you dared to come. I didn't really believe it when I sent you the message.
It took me a few days to decide, but I was really exhausted from all the commuting, so I thought, okay, why not one night. And actually, I feel good here, so I stayed.
That makes me really happy, I'm glad to hear you like it there.
Where exactly are you?
In a warm country, with sunshine every day. I'm going to come back all tanned, you'll see.
Oh yeah? But isn't it dangerous where you are?
Don't worry about me, I'm transporting people to take them back home, everything's fine. I'll have to let you go. Can you call my mother to tell her I'm okay?
Yes, of course, I'll call her right away. Thank you for calling me, then.
I don't know if I'll be able to call again, so I'm doing the best I can.
Yes, yes, I know. Be careful.
I always am. See you soon… I'm kissing you.
**************
Wait, I'll fix my hair a bit first and then we'll go.
Okay, I'll give you five minutes while I watch the news—no more, I'm starving.
All good, boss! We can go.
Wait two seconds, I'm just watching the end of this report.
Another civil war…
Yes, but I need to know what's going on there in case they send us there too.
Send you there too? What do you mean?
We're waiting to see if they need us there. Marc and the others might need help.
Marc?
Yes, Marc is there.
No, you're mistaken. Marc called me briefly two days ago, he told me he was in a warm country, that he was transporting people, that he'd come back all tanned.
Yes, that's not wrong—but it's there. I'm sorry, I thought you knew.
Why didn't he tell me the truth?
Cathy, wait—please don't be mad at him. He didn't want to scare you, that's all. He does have to repatriate civilians to the main base to evacuate them, so he's not necessarily in the war zones.
But it can still be dangerous, right?
Yes, there's always a risk of course—but Cat', we're in the army, I remind you, so you must have known he wasn't transporting tourists.
Yes, but it's so much easier to bury your head in the sand. Do you think it'll be okay?
No, I don't think so—I'm sure it will. And now we're going to go eat to change our minds, because when he finds out I slipped up, I'm going to get chewed out.
*************
Catherine?
???
You're here! I'm so happy.
Sorry, I jumped on you, I didn't even let you put your things down.
No problem—such a welcome was worth it. I was actually really looking forward to tomorrow to see you, and here you are already.
I wanted to come back this afternoon, and with all the tidying up, I kind of lost track of time.
Yes, indeed, I've never seen my apartment this clean and tidy. And it smells good too—what did you make?
I figured you'd be hungry, so I made you something you can reheat whenever you want.
That's really kind, thank you. It makes me so happy to see you—and it's strange too, seeing you here. I never thought one day… well… that you… well, seeing you in this apartment…
You look exhausted. Are you okay?
Now I am.
Oh, Marc, I watched all the reports on TV, all the news—I was so scared, you know.
Scared? Of what?
Peter told me where you were, so I kept watching to see if I could spot you or if something serious was happening over there.
Why did he do that, damn it!
No, he didn't do it on purpose. He didn't know you hadn't told me where you were going. He came by one evening, the TV was on, and he told me he was waiting to see if he might have to go there too. That's when he told me you were already there.
I didn't want to tell you, precisely so you wouldn't worry unnecessarily.
Yes, yes, I know. He said you were going to tear him apart for his slip-up.
Yeah, there's a good chance. I'm sorry—I didn't mean to hide something from you, I promise.
I know, I know, there's no problem. It's just that…
Just that what?
Actually, I realized for the first time what you really do. Your training, the base, your deployments—until now it was kind of fake, let's say, there wasn't any danger. But for real, you're in the army, so of course you're going to operate in war zones. And this time, it was the first time I was confronted with that directly on TV—imagining you there, without being able to get any news from you, it's terrifying.
Yes, I can imagine. I won't lie to you and say there's no danger—but it's my job, I have to go.
Yes, I know. Come on, I'm going to head out too and let you rest.
You're going to let me eat alone?
Yes, I'm going back to my parents' and I'll come back tomorrow.
That's a lot of traveling for you. You could maybe stay here.
But I can't stay here tonight!
Of course you can. Your things are still here. I'll sleep on the floor—given the conditions I've been sleeping in lately, that's pure luxury, believe me!
No, precisely—you absolutely need to sleep in a real bed. Maybe we could… sleep together?
I wouldn't have dared suggest it, but I'd love that. I'll start by taking a shower and putting on some civilian clothes. Then we'll eat, because that smell is calling me!
Okay, I'll take care of dinner.
***************
Catherine?
Hi, Sleeping Beauty.
I was afraid I'd dreamed it. Hi. You're already ready? What time is it?
No, I'm really here. Almost noon. Did you sleep well?
Oh yes, it seems so. Why didn't you wake me up? I just ruined half of our day together.
Hey, it's not a big deal. We already got an extra evening. And you were sleeping so well—you really needed it. I tried not to make too much noise, but I still took a shower, went to get croissants, came back, and you hadn't moved, so you were really sleeping deeply.
It's true, I feel better than yesterday. Croissants, you said?
Shall I make you a coffee?
Yes, please. I'll dash to the shower and then we head out, okay?