Page 76 of You + Me – Against the World

Felix pulls out all the stops with his gallantry, and I can’t help laughing.

“Don’t start, Fe, you promised!”

“Okay, okay! Alma, here’s the thirty dollars I owe you.”

“And?” Vadim looks pointedly at his buddy.

“And I apologize for asking you for money when you were at your lowest, like a doe in distress while your rutting stag was pacing around in his cage,” Felix adds with a laugh, clearly proud of his metaphor.

“Good for you, you brushed up on all your forest animals before you came here,” Clémentine responds dryly. “What are you going to do next to impress us? Count to ten?”

“C’mon, everyone relax. We haven’t even started eating!” Vadim cuts in, fully embracing his role as mediator. “I’m sure we’re gonna find lots of things to talk about.”

“Should we start with the graffiti on the gym wall, Alma’s new man, or the naked pics of you two?” Felix asks, as inspired as ever.

“What man?” Vadim barks.

“What photos?” Clem roars.

“Okay,” I jump in, trying to calm things down. “Caleb is just Mr. Abrams’s son. I bump into him at the professor’s place sometimes, and we get along well. That’s it, nothing more. And anyway, he has a girlfriend.”

“Because if he was single, you’d be interested?! So, you’re finally admitting it!”

Vadim shoots me a challenging look. I hold his gaze for a moment before turning to Clémentine.

“And second,” I continue, “I didn’t tell you, Clem, but Vadim and I received some compromising photos of the two of us in the middle of… well, you know. There have been two. They were sent via anonymous emails, one to Basile, and one directly to me. So thanks, Felix, for throwing that grenade into the room.”

“I love that I’m finding this out from him,” Clem grumbles.

“I could help you discover so many other things, babe,” Felix says.

“Why don’t you shut up and go study the animals of the savanna, Alonso?”

Her acerbic comeback manages to lighten the mood, and everyone bursts out laughing.

Clémentine immediately gets back down to business. “So, who took the photos then? Someone follows you guys and takes pictures of you, just for fun? Or do they want something from you?”

“No idea,” I sigh, feeling irritated.

“They probably want to freak us out,” Vadim adds, “or try and break us up.”

“Timothy!” Clem cries out, throwing her arms up in the air. “It’s obvious. He wants to get revenge on the guy who stole his toy!”

“Nah, it would be embarrassing for him to take photos of Alma with someone else. Unless he really is that stupid,” Felix says.

“Right, so it could be him,” Vadim quips. “But I’m leaning toward Basile. He can’t handle the thought of his sister being with a guy like me. It tarnishes the Lancaster image.”

“So, he sent an email to himself?” Clem wonders aloud. “That doesn’t add up.”

“Well, it would be a pretty clever thing to do!”

“Oh, so it definitely can’t be Basile,” Vadim replies.

“We might never know,” I say. “All I want is for the photos to stop!”

“Well, in that case, you two are going to have to quit meeting in public places or ones that are visible, in any case. In front of windows. In the street…” Clémentine says, ticking them off on her fingers.

“Yeah, you two seriously need to tear yourselves away from each other! And don’t start saying you just can’t help it,” Felix snickers with a world-weary shrug.