Page 40 of Belle Amour
“I told her, “Love is made up by Disney.” Bastian sighed, feeling his lingering frustration and regret come to the surface again. “And I’ve never regretted a statement so much in my life. Mirabelle took it to mean I no longer believed in love, but what I meant – and this will sound terrible – was that her idea of love, which is big romantic gestures and declarations of devotion, was made up by Disney. She asked if I loved her, and I said yes but couldn’t find the words to explain how it was different.”
Both Victor and Robert winced. “Yes, knowing Mirabelle as well as I do, I can see how that would be difficult for her to swallow.” Victor nodded, looking sympathetic. Bastian chuckled ruefully.
“You can say that again.” He leaned back against the seat, shaking his head. “When we were hashing things out before we got together, she admitted she was waiting for me to make some big announcement and declare I was in love with her. Meanwhile, I'm flat out telling her I love her, doing my damnedest to show her I love her, all without overstepping her boundaries because I was terrified she would reject me, and I didn't want to lose her.”
“I can only imagine the fear that would come with being friends with someone for so long and wanting to take the relationship to the next level, but not knowing if they feel the same way,” Robert said quietly. “I don’t think I could do it; I don’t think I could handle it. It’s easier if it remains unknown than being outright rebuffed.”
“I'm not sure what would have happened if she turned me down. I want to say I would be man enough to move past it, but I don't know that I could.” Bastian admitted. He had promised her he wouldn’t leave if she didn’t want to be with him, but looking back and being honest with himself, he really didn’t know if he would have been able to keep his promise; he was pretty sure her telling him she didn’t feel the same way would have destroyed him. “But thankfully, that's not a concern anymore.” He shook off his thoughts and smiled. “So, what can I expect from this bachelor party?”
“We're going to a football game.” Robert rolled his eyes, looking annoyed by the very thought of being forced to sit through an entire game with Eddie and his friends. “With a bunch of trust fund frat boys.”
“I was a trust fund frat boy,” Victor said, and Bastain noted that he looked vaguely insulted, but his voice was teasing.
“And did you ever get up to the stuff they do?” Robert asked after he finished his water. “Because they all act like they’re still in the frat.”
“No.” Victor shook his head. “I can honestly say I've never goosestepped into a Jewish wedding reception or left my friend tied to a flagpole, naked and drunk in minus five-degree weather...”
“They actually pulled that one?” Bastian raised his eyebrow in surprise. He never joined a fraternity when he was in university, but he did attend a couple of parties with Mirabelle in their first year just to experience them. He came out of them happy he hadn’t accepted the offer to be a pledge.
“Trust me, the list of things they pulled in that fraternity is long and unpleasant. Between hazing pledges and pranks on each other and the other fraternities, plus the fact that theycould not keep their mouths shut about the things they did,” Victor sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “By Eddie’s second year, I had a lawyer on retainer for him, at Francesca’s request, because I felt he needed to deal with the consequences. Still, she’s always had a soft spot for him. It hurts her deeply that he’s alienated himself from us just because he wants to fit in with his friends.”
“Anyway.” Victor released his nose, and for a second, Bastian thought he was going to change the subject. “Yes, they tied their friend to the metal flagpole naked after he passed out while they were drinking. That was the prank that really emptied his trust; skin grafts cost quite a lot of money, and he sued them.”
Bastian choked on his water, and Robert had to hit him on the back. “Skin grafts? What the hell?”
Victor chuckled, but there was no humour to it. “Since you grew up in Louisiana, you probably never experienced this, but if you touch wet skin or your tongue to something metal when it’s below freezing, it freezes to the metal object. If you don’t want to do damage, you have to heat the metal.”
“My son and his friends, in their infinite wisdom, were drinking at a Christmas party in their junior year, and someone made the hilarious suggestion while they were doing shots that whoever passed out first would be tied to the flagpole naked. They all thought it was a great idea and jumped on it. A few hours later, a freshman named Bradley Flanker passed out. So they stripped off all his clothes, which woke him up enough for him to tell them to leave him alone; they ignored him and carried him out to the flag pole and tied him to it front first. It was snowing, and the snowflakes melted on his skin, making him a little damp, and he stuck to it.”
Both Bastian and Robert were struck dumb and were quiet for a few minutes when Victor finished talking. “These guys are sociopathic.” Bastian shook his head in disgust, Robert nodding in agreement beside him.
“I will say they were remorseful for that one, even before he sued them.” Victor allowed. “I think they realized it could have been any of them.”
“How did he successfully sue? It sounds like there was consent.” Robert pointed out, glancing at Bastian. “Bast?”
“I’m not a litigation lawyer anymore, but I would have argued that he withdrew consent when he told them to leave him alone,” Bastian said slowly after a moment of thought. “Of course, that would be hearsay since everyone was drunk, and there’s no actual proof that he told them to leave him alone, so I would have focused on the fact that if he were able to, he would have withdrawn his consent. No one would have agreed to be stripped, dragged outside, and tied to a metal flagpole at minus-five degrees with the front of the body pressed up against the metal.
“I would have called each one to the stand and asked if they would have done it. Would they have consented to it if it had been them, and they could say yes or no? I'm willing to bet not one of them would say yes. They took advantage of his inebriated state.”
“But they were all drunk as well.” Robert pointed out. “They weren’t making choices they normally would.”
“Actually, that argument would go out the window if I could bring up past actions to show they have a history of making poor decisions while drinking, but they still know right from wrong. Being drunk doesn’t take that away; most people, when drunk, still know they shouldn’t drink and drive, theystill know they shouldn’t hurt people, and they still know they shouldn’t steal.” Bastian looked at Victor curiously. “Did anyone protest what was going on or realize there was a problem?”
“According to the video surveillance, they stood around waiting for him to wake up, laughing and joking. It was only when Eddie noticed his lips turning blue that they untied him and pulled him off the pole.”
“They pulled him off the pole?” Bastian eyes widened in horror. He hadn’t realized that part; he’d been thinking that his body weight made him fall one way or the other, and that was why he needed the skin grafts.
“That's why there was so much damage.” Victor nodded, his mouth in a thin, hard line. “Paramedics would have removed him properly. In his defence, Eddie did try to stop them from pulling him off, but the others said if the cops came, they would all be fucked.”
“Well, there it is.” Bastian leaned back in his seat and nodded. “That’s how he won the lawsuit, they knew what they did was wrong, and they admitted it.
Victor nodded. “Yeah, the security footage is what clinched the case for him, but his lawyer did make basically the same argument you did, Bastian. He hesitated and leaned forward. “I paid for his lawyer.” Victor’s voice was quiet as if he were afraid Eddie would pop out of the seat. “I went to the hospital after the police contacted me and told him to find the best possible lawyer he could and to give him my contact information for payment.”
Victor leaned back as they pulled up to the hotel. “The bar for Eddie was so low; I was proud of him for doing the right thing, calling 9-1-1 despite his friends telling him not to as they pulled him off the pole. But the fact that he agreed to itand was definitely one of the ring leaders in the beginning.” He sighed and shook his head. “When I tell you that Francesca and I have been asking ourselves what went wrong with him…” He fell silent, and Robert and Bastian looked at each other, not sure how to comfort him or if he even wanted it. After a few minutes, he looked up and gave them a small smile. “Anyway, myself, Robert, Benji, who is married to my niece Lila, and Peter, who is married to my other niece Caroline, will be at the bachelor party as well, so we can all sit in a corner, sip expensive scotch, and discuss anything but the game.”
“Scotch?” Bastian perked up immediately. “I believe I've found my people.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Spa