by Colette Rosenhof » Fri Nov 17, 2017 1:41 am
"I come into ze room to find a woman kissing you. Of course you know what my first zoughts were. What would yours have been had our situation been reversed? What would you had zought had you walked into zat room and seen a man kissing me?" Colette turned around to stare at Basil, the sadness in her voice giving way to anger.
"But did I level accusations at you? Did I rush over and pull Madame Crusek off of you? No, I did not. Because even zough I may have zought what I did I still trusted you, and I trusted you to tell me ze truz and explain yourself. I was willing to be patient, and it was Madame Crusek who was more forzcoming zan you. I am sorry if I show my emotions too much but you can hardly blame me for taking some time to come down from ze, ze... adrenaline rush."
Colette's voice was growing louder as her mass shifted so that she was no longer looking up at Basil, but down at him. And perhaps it was fortunate that she began speaking in French since it meant that fewer people in the surrounding rooms would understand what he was being scolded for.
"I apologized, but that was not enough for you. You had the audacity to admonish me for reacting in any manner to seeing the man I am in love with being kissed by another woman, to vilify me for the fault of having emotions like any other human being. This was a matter that we could have discussed in private, a silly misunderstanding that we could have all laughed about. But instead you chose to humiliate me in front of Miss Crusek. Do you think I do not feel ashamed for having jumped to such a conclusion as I did? You told me how much thinking such things hurts you Basil, and hurting you is the last thing I wish to do. That was why I was upset Basil, not because of what I had seen but because of what I had allowed myself to think for even a moment. When you saw that I was upset did it never occur to you to console me in some way? No, instead you chose to belittle me.
"And then you dare to speak down to me and command me as though I were some dog who sits and heels at your every beck and call?" It was at that moment that Colette drew her hand back and struck her palm and fingers across Basil's cheek with a loud, wet slap. Being made of jelly meant it didn't sting nearly as much as it sounded, but it did leave a rather damp and unsettling aftermath to his face and shirt.
"I thought you were a man of honour and character, Basil Oliver Benson, but it appears that I was gravely mistaken." Condensing to a more typical shape for her, Colette turned on her heels and headed down the hallway toward her own lodgings, and could be heard muttering "espèces de mérinos mal peignés" as she left.