See you in St. Tropez

“You’re gonna drop dead! I promise you!”

“Tell me!” Eva was begging.

“Hang on. Let us take a walk instead. It is like a tree minute walk, if we cut through the square. Otherwise we will be driving for hours in this traffic. Cuz you’ve got to know the roads…,” that remark and a look of disapproval were addressed to Sasha.

“Knock it off! Sasha’s got nothing to do with the traffic situation. And my car doesn’t have wings!” Eva cut her friend short. She did not

appreciate her friend’s openly expressing her irrespective attitude towards her driver. She sensed the fury of the driver and avoided looking at him.

“You know, you’re right,” she added peacefully. “I am down. Let us take a walk in the fresh air.”

“You mean freshly polluted?”

“It was your idea! Though, I did want to take a walk today. The weather’s fantastic. Let us get out.”

“Look at the rich girl, deciding to take a walk without bodyguards’ entourage – amongst us, commoners. I think, today it is going to snow. I was sure you would say NO…”

Sometimes Elly sounded so dumb.

“Was it supposed to be funny, or what?” she gave her friend a screw loose sign.

“Sorry, boo. I must be under the weather from lack of sleep… and that news.,”

Elly got out of the car. Eva followed her friend, having asked Sasha to wait for them at the restaurant. Just as Elly was about to reveal her mysterious news, her phone rang.

“Gosh… what now?”

“Who is it?”

“Rosa,” Elly sad, look of despair on her face.

“What is up, na?

Eva was walking beside her friend, smiling and listening to the conversation Elly was having with her funny, sweet granny. She loved listening to them talk, their conversations resembled some comedy sketches. Her grandmother would make a great topic for a stand-up comedy, getting her and herself famous altogether. The sun had reached its peak and Eve was hot. She took off her light white leather coat, and was now in a t-shirt. The upcoming summer had been predicted hot. The bright sunlight made everything around them saturated with colored, filling the world with positive vibes. It felt like something magical was about to happen. Have you ever felt like that?

Eva found herself wondering whether a miracle will be happening soon; Perhaps, a fridge will magically pop up in her car and she will finally be able to enjoy her rose champagne on the way to clubs, late Friday nights; Or perhaps something entirely different will happen. She will meet her real – flesh and blood – boyfriend. A young, fit, and handsome guy with piercing blue eyes and big heart… Lost to her imagination, she felt so good as if she had real wings. She felt like she was floating through the green boulevard, smiling to everyone on her way. She saw people smiling back; Although one lady seemed to have freaked out and rushed away which made Eva laugh. She was now contemplating on what kind of news would force Elly to leave her house with no makeup on. Is she finally getting married to one of those idiots she hangs out with? Or maybe she found a sugar daddy among their fathers. While she was consumed in her thoughts, they had reached the restaurant and were now inside. All that time Elly was on the phone with her granny, and seemed to be arguing with her passionately, as if trying to prove something. Eva was convinced she was right about her friend’s marriage soon to take place. “They’re probably arguing about the wedding dress…,” Eva thought to herself.

“Good morning…,” the waiter greeted them. The hostess was nowhere to be seen.

“Morning. By the window, please,” Elly said in an arrogant manner.

“Where would you rather dine?”

“Here, on the first floor, right?” Elly asked Eva, completely ignoring the waiter.

“Is there anything on the patio?” Eva wondered looking at the waiter and smiling.

“I’ll see what I can do. Follow me,” happily replied the waiter, never once having lost the 17th century young man character, the number one rule at this fancy place.

Elly rolled her eyes with disapproval as they followed their waiter. She was ranting on and on about how she would have preferred the first floor and about her conversation with Rosa. Eva kept nodding, but was really consumed by her own thoughts. They picked a table on the patio and ordered cold water.

“And two glasses of wine!”

“Elly, what wine? It’s not even noon!” Eva suddenly felt embarrassed in front of their waiter. “I mean… I wanted to get us some rose bubbles, but you didn’t give me a chance.”

“Ruinart?” the waiter asked

“Perfect. I need a minute to think about breakfast, though. Maybe after the first glass…”

“Hmmm… I don’t know about the champagne…,” Elly seemed hesitant.

“What’s up? What happened that you’ve decided to drink in the morning?”

“I think I’d do a vodka shot.”

“Oh my god, you’re scaring me. What happened? Why vodka?”

“Please, just a glass of white wine. We can’t be drinking champagne after what I am about to tell you…”

Eva felt uncomfortable.

“What happened? Is everything all right?”

“With me – yes, thank God.,” She looked at the waiter who was still there. “You know, we’ll get a bottle.,” Elly said. The waiter nodded and went away.

“Here… listen…”

“You’re scaring me…”

“Well… you’re so easily impressed. I don’t want to traumatize your fragile psyche…”

“Come on already. Tell me. If you are gonna take longer, you will see me kick the bucket, as Sasha likes to say.”

“What Sasha?”

“My driver, Sasha.”

“Oh him…. I should have guessed. Who else would say such a thing…”

“Leave him alone! I’m starting to think you fancy him…”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. So, listen… You remember Bella?”

“Besides traumatizing my fragile psyche, you think I have memory issues?” Eva placed her phone on the table, having enabled the silent mode. “Let me guess… she’s dating one of your idiots, right?” Eva produced a snort while laughing.

“Not exactly…,” she ran her fingers through her hair, fixing a stubborn curl behind her ear. Then, she coldly added: “She died.”

The silence hung between two friends. What seemed to be a semi-smile froze on Eva’s horrified face that had been grinning just a few seconds ago. They started at each other, both not knowing what to say, or even what to do in that instant. As if a computer’s operating system froze and needed to be rebooted.