All That Remains: Day 4

Word Count: 24,034

Summary of Events:

Owing to his upset at having survived the crash, Will refused to eat his supper no matter how earnestly Enka pleaded with him, as well as refusing to eat his breakfast for the nurse the following morning, which prompted the nurse to inform him that he wouldn't be getting the nutrient drip removed from his hand if he wasn't going to eat, but he tried to take it out anyways, although he stopped when Enka told him an infection from his taking it out on his own would be a long, slow, lingering death. To avoid what she felt was the over-dramatic weeping of Tristan's mother and sister, Chloë was sitting in her office, not doing a whole lot of anything, when Tristan's sister knocked on the door, prompting Chloë to let her in…

Excerpt of the Day:

She sat down as if she’d been instructed to sit in a particular way for a shot to be taken for promoting the clothing she was wearing, which, even though all black, was still highly fashionable. Indeed, everything about her seemed to indicate that Amandine wasn’t actually in mourning for her brother, but had simply chosen to wear an all-black outfit.

“Maman would like to know if she could have your permission to dress, Tristan for his… final… public appearance,” Amandine said, dabbing at her eyes with careful fingertips not only to undoubtedly keep her makeup from smudging — not that Chloë was sure why she bothered considering her more emotional response to the present circumstances — but also to keep from undoubtedly damaging her eyes with her long, manicured fingernails, which she’d gotten done in solid black before she and Elle had left France.

“I’ve always been better at taking photos than choosing outfits for people,” Chloë replied.

“So your answer is yes?” Amandine asked.

“Yes,” Chloë replied.

“Are you preparing photos to show at the funeral?” Amandine asked.

“I haven’t been, no,” Chloë replied. “Should I?”

“We’ll at least need a photo for the card,” Amandine replied. “Or maybe even two, and maybe a photo for display at the funeral too.”

Chloë nodded, her mind turning to her memories of Papi’s funeral.

“And since you are professional, you would have the best shots,” Amandine added.

Considering that she’d supplied the display photos of Papi, including the 55^th Anniversary photo up on the shelf to her left now that she was facing away from her desk, Chloë wasn’t surprised that she would be having to supply photos of Tristan. She probably had a good number of them.

“We will probably want to hire a different photographer to photograph the funeral, however,” Amandine said. “I doubt you would be inclined to take photos there.”

Chloë shook her head. She’d not taken any photos at Papi’s funeral, even if she had accepted some photos Rini had taken of the event, as she’d attended the funeral as a friend, but she didn’t have those photos on display.

“Do you think Rini would be willing?” Amandine asked.

“She’s going to be there anyways,” Chloë replied. “And she took photos at my grandfather’s funeral even though she wasn’t hired.”

Amandine nodded. “I will ask her. Merci Chloë.”

Chloë nodded and watched Amandine rise to her feet and stride out of the room like she was on a runway. That sort of confidence had always eluded Chloë. Even if being the wife of Tristan had given her more time in front of the camera lens, she’d not relished it, as she always felt like she looked awkward, no matter how hard she tried not to. Even photos of her taking photos didn’t come out looking nice, in her opinion.

Pronunciations:

Amandine: ahmahndeen

Maman: mahmoh