Or had she?
Her eyebrow moved up as Mme. Landlord spotted some paints with the reduced
price. She asked a shop assistant if it
was suited for painting over a dark color.
The assistant replied ‘Non, it is semi-transparent.’ Now Jupiter had left black wallpapers on the
wall and yet Mme. Landlord wished to paint the walls in light beige. She should
have a professional painter remove the black wallpaper or invest in high-quality paint. She chose neither because both options were costly. She
purchased the cheap paint and decided that I should paint many layers to
compensate for the poor quality. And yet
such was my loyalty to her that I did not oppose. I wished to help her economize, just like I
did all the printing jobs she needed for nearly two years.
I had to carry all the heavy cans of paint
back to her apartment because of Mme. Landlord who would not spend 50 euros for
delivery. Mme. Landlord thought I
deserved some reward and served me a pumpkin soup. It was the weakest soup that I had ever
tasted that even water would have had more flavor, but ‘it is the thought that
counts’ I told myself. Then one of her
gentleman friends knocked on the door.
She had asked him to come give her some advice on the best way to paint
her apartment. I was amazed by her
transformation. She behaved coy and
flirtish, her voice was a pitch higher than the one she would use with me. Well, that’s French woman for you, I was
amused…until she started telling lies.
The gentleman said the painting of the
entire apartment was a bit much for an amateur woman like me. He advised Mme. Landlord to use a good quality
paint to compensate for my want of stamina and experience. I was relieved that he had spoken some sense
into her, however, Mrs Landlord replied ‘oh, I have bought the best that the
shop recommended to me.’ My French had
improved enough to understand her lies, but my speaking ability was never to be
on par with a native speaker. As soon as
I opened my mouth and uttered a few words of French, Mme. Landlord spoke over
me to shut me up. She went on to say to
the gentleman that it was me who insisted on doing this favor for Mme. Landlord
because I wished to repay her for her kind services. It was true, but the minute she boasted it publicly,
it lost its class. I felt used by Mme.
Landlord to impress her gentleman friend. She went on to plead him to tie two chairs
on a small lorry. The gentleman obliged
and asked if she wanted him to deliver the chairs to her other apartment. Mme. Landlord declined saying that she could
not be so impolite to her good friend. And
yet, as soon as the gentleman left, she turned around, back in her normal tone,
and told me to deliver her chairs across the old town of Paris at 23:30 at
night. On her lips there was a sheepish smile,
but her eyes were malicious.
To be continued.

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