dialogue | lest they leave

[dinosauro]

“Tesoro, it would have been awful if you hadn’t been here tonight! Did you hear Caron mess up that delivery. Ugh, awful, I say!”
“Ah, you brought a guest, and she’s dressed for afternoon tea, pity I have none of that here, but I do have a Dom Perignon waiting.”
“When I didn’t know she was such a doll, Charles, it’s a sign that you need to talk about your sister more.”
“My nose gets so stuffy.”
“Tell me about yourself, Sylvie.”
“Why not? It’s true, after all, we’re very rare. Like dinosaurs.”
“Everyone does, chérie. At some point.”

“Relax, chérie, it’s just good, old me.”
“Disappointed? Were you waiting for some guy?”
“You’re sweet, little Sylvie.”
“Where has Charles disappeared off to?”
“Ciggy?”
“I hope not, he still needs to pay for my new automobile.”
“We’re not those kinds of lovers. He buys me things, I pay him back, that’s it. No strings attached.”
“Who do you think suggested it? I’m not doing anything he doesn’t want or like, there are no benefits to that.”
“Know what? That your brother was that kind of man, or that I am that kind of woman?”
“You’re an odd one, huh? Charles’ ward.”
“Sylvie. All right, call me Eloisa.”
“Don’t slap me.”
“Deep breaths, chérie.”
“You have no idea.”
“I guess, home’s calling, topolina.”
“Shuffle along, now.”
“Everyone does, little Sylvie. At some point.”

“Charles, tesoro. You came to see me in this little hellhole, how kind. And you brought friends!”
“Monsieur Dubois and little Sylvie who has never seen a redheaded Italian before.”
“That’s fine, topolina. I like being a girl’s first.”
“Isn’t she sweet? Did you enjoy the performance?”
“Really? This piece of rubbish? Maybe I should invite you to come every night, in that case.”
“Listen to the good monsieur Dubois, tesoro.”
“You are sweet. Come see me, little Sylvie.”

“I thought I’d managed to scare you off completely. How silly of me.”
“Topolina. It’s okay, everyone’s scared at first.”
“More than you could ever imagine.”
“We don’t have much time. Kiss me now if you want.”
“What you have to learn is that we have to create the right opportunities ourselves, chérie.”
“Fix your mouth, you look like you’ve been eating pomegranate.”
“Here. Get yourself in order.”
“To get us alone, of course, silly. Why do you think I invited you?”
“No, don’t look at me like that, you make me want to keep your lips otherwise occupied.”
“Come see me. We’ll figure something out, topolina.”

“Come in.”
“Little Sylvie, I was afraid something would keep you.”
“So sweet and so anxious. Topolina.”
“Don’t worry, Sylvie, I’m not going to deflower you tonight, I’m too tired, but soon. I promise.”
“It means little female mouse. Only the cutest girls get that name.”
“What do you want me to say, that when I kiss you, it means nothing? Well, when I kiss you, Sylvie, it means nothing what I call Charles.”
“You’re not only sweet, chérie. That’s what’s so enticing about you. You’re like acid drops, and who can get enough of those, right?”
“See you next week, and give Charles my love.”

“I heard about the Dubois boy. Sorry for your loss, chérie.”
“That’s what they all say.”
“Oh, now you notice. I thought you were too busy feeling self-righteous. I prepared a gift for you, to cheer you up, now that your other lover is out of the picture.”
“Undress for me.”
“Did you think of monsieur Dubois even once?”
“Then, you live in the wrong world, topolina.”
“All right, little Sylvie, make the operator connect you to Elisabetta Paolo, and we’ll be dandy. There’s only one of her in Paris, don’t worry.”
“Elisabetta is me.”
“Only the whole Gallard household.”
“He paid my car, topolina, giving him my number was the least I could do. Don’t think I lick his fanny the way I do yours.”
“There are many things you don’t know.”
“We’ve already started, my good girl.”

“Topolina. I know a secret about you, and you mustn’t ask me how I found it out.”
“That you may ask, chérie.”
“The secret is that on Saturday, something very special is happening.”
“I’m taking you out, little Sylvie.”
“You’ll see. I simply need you to have your chauffeur take you to some theatre in town, no matter which one, buy a ticket for a show, the longest performance you can find. I’ll pick you up at that venue.”
“I have a new car, after all. And I can drive it, I’ve been taught well.”
“You’re so sweet, topolina. How did I know you’d say that?”
“Say it anyway.”

“I have my sources, my secret spies.”
“That would be a silly question. It doesn’t matter. Ask me the other question.”
“We’re going to see Giovannina Roux.”
“She has money and power from her dead husband, that’s all you need to know. Because most importantly, little Sylvie, she has founded her girls’ club, have you heard of such a thing before?”
“They’re like gentlemen’s clubs, but for a particular type of girl. Guess which type.”
“You have to be silly and pretty to get in, sure, and flappers are very welcome, but that’s not the type, topolina. Girls like us, chérie, who like our fannies licked by other girls.”

“And this is my friend, Sylvie Gallard.”
“Oh, she’s a good girl. Be a good girl for Giovannina, now, topolina. It’ll serve as your access ticket.”
“This is your birthday present, little Sylvie, the freedom to be everything and anything you want, in full view of everyone.”

“Chérie, not many. All of them. We’re not exactly a whole battalion, we must take what’s there.”
“Little Sylvie, you’ve got some memory on you.”
“Why do you think I said that? Because I thought you’d hit me? The difference between you and every girl here, topolina, isn’t that I’ve slept with you, it’s that you’re so very good, you would never hit me, no matter what I did. Every other girl in the world, inside this house and outside of it, they would jump at the chance. That’s what makes you special.”
“And the thing about special things, chérie, is that they make a fool out of you, if you leave them behind unclaimed.”
“Listen, I’m not promising I’ll always be here, but I promise you, for as long as I am, you’ll be mine.”

“You do know how to pick them, Charles. Your own sister.”
“You should buy your sister new roses, Charles. Be a good older brother now.”
“No faces like that. Remember the world I showed you. I gave you that experience, I will give it to you again. Be patient, chérie.”
“Play a game with me.”
“It’s called waiting, topolina. Play it with me, please.”
“A kiss for your brother to thank him for his present, too.”

“Eloisa Paolo speaking.”
“What hour is this to call, really now, chérie.”
“Am I alone? I’ve just got home from the theatre. You do know our premiere is in a week, little Sylvie, I sent you that invitation myself.”
“Now? Why?”
“What happened, topolina?”
“Meet me on the corner of rue Crémieux, I’ll pick you up. Within the hour, chérie.”

“You told him about us?”
“Well, no matter. Little Sylvie, where are you going with those heavy suitcases?”
“I can’t stop you, can I? You’re going with or without me, aren’t you, chérie?”
“Will you believe me when I say, starting over somewhere foreign and strange is a hard exercise and you may not gain what you want from it?”
“You silly, little mouse.”
“You’re blemishing my spotless career, topolina. But fine, I’ll come with you. England is the birthplace of Shakespeare, everybody knows.”
“No, no, no. No ‘we’, chérie. If you’ve run away from home and your brother knows about us, here’s the first place he’ll go to look. You must spend the night somewhere else, then pick up the tickets at the train station tomorrow. I’ll meet you there. Then, we’ll go.”
“There’s a hotel three streets over, it’s very good, you can bill it to Charles.”
“No, no, no. No ‘but’. This is my one condition. Either we do it my way, or we don’t do it at all.”