Gastien Pt 1 (12 page)

Mic burst out laughing. “Well, that is one way to get attention in the city! Can’t say I have ever heard of someone trying that. Did you have a drawing attached to it?”

“
Non,
” Gastien said, gasping for air as he laughed, “my
bite
is a true piece of art in itself! I wanted all the women in Paris to see what they were in for…but no one took me up on the offer. I do believe the large size of it scared them off!”

“Ahhh! Spoken like a true young man hoping to get his
bite
dipped for the first time. That’s what I think!” Mic raised his eyebrows, waiting for affirmation.

“Oh, you wish, Mic! I have had so many women – “

“
Oui
,
oui
, probably so. Maybe you can give me some pointers. I get my share, but could use some help!”

Gastien looked at him with increased respect. Mic knew what sex was like! He was too embarrassed to admit that he had fibbed and was a virgin. If the friendship grew, he would ask him about it later. He wanted details!

“So, lover boy, do you have a shortened version of your name that
amis
call you?” asked Mic.

“Non.” Gastien kicked at the ground, embarrassed. “Actually, I have never had an
ami
,” he stated simply.

Mic looked dumbfounded. “Seriously? How can that be? Have you lived under a rock or what?”

“Close. My father worked me every day until it was time for supper. I never got to go out on my own. I am embarrassed to say that I just have never had an
ami
, other than my oldest brother.” Gastien blushed.

Mic punched his new friend lightly in the arm. “Well, you do now. I think we are going to be
amis
for a very long time, Gaz.

Gastien lifted an eyebrow. “Gaz???”

“
Oui
. Gaz. Unless you have a problem with it. I figure a man’s first real
ami
gets the honor of choosing the nickname. Although, because of your earlier bragging, perhaps I should call you Bullcock!” Mic said challengingly.

Gastien chuckled. “Um…
non
. I think Gaz will be fine.” He laughed again, shaking his head. “Bullcock! Jeezus.”

“I knew you would see the value of Gaz. Now, show me those damn drawings! I want to make sure I am better than you!”

Suddenly, Gastien felt nervous. He had never shared his work with anyone before, let alone someone studying art. Mic’s painting had been lovely. It was obvious that he loved doing landscapes. Gastien reached into his tote, pulling out the work he had done earlier.

“I did these all today. They will probably look beginner to you,” Gastien said quickly. He looked away as Mic took the drawings.

As he gazed at the first drawing, Mic whistled. He stared for a moment and then moved on to the next. “Man. These are very, very good! You seriously did all of these today?”

“
Oui
. That is probably why they may not look at good as they should.” Gastien was so nervous he had not heard the compliment.

“Is there something wrong with your hearing, Gaz? As I said, these are very, very good! Some of the best charcoal renditions I have ever seen. I don’t know too many people that would get even one done in that amount of time and have it look like this.”

“Really? You really think so?” Gastien could have exploded with joy. Someone like Mic thought he was good!

“Think so? I know so. You are truly great at drawing! You just have to own it. Dear God, what I would give to draw like that!” Mic stared at the drawings with a dumb look on his face. “Are you pulling my leg? Did you really do these?”

“
Oui
, I really did. In between waving my
bite
around on the riverbank,” Gastien teased, breaking the seriousness.

“Well, damn, boy! You’ve got it!” Mic looked excited. “You are a rare one, Gastien. You just simply have it in you. Not much training will be necessary, just some help with technique and how paints work. Then, plenty of practice and you will be on your way! Not that money will come easy. Art is a hard road to walk. But, honestly, if you don’t make it nobody should. How are you going to learn oil technique?”

Gastien looked at the ground. “Well, I am hoping my new
ami
will show me.” Gastien looked up and into Mic’s eyes, smiling shyly. “That is, if it is not too much trouble.”

“I would be honored. What fun! I can say I knew the famous Gaz before he became famous and his ego got so big.”

“Let’s just hope it gets to that! Mic, you have to realize that you also are extremely talented. Your painting that I saw was really eye-catching!”

Mic shrugged his shoulders. “
Oui
, I am good. Very good. And you are right, people will buy my work. I am going to do all right. But, you? You will be one in a million…if you can pick up oil technique. And I am sure you can. Do you have supplies?”

“
Oui
, I just bought them yesterday. “

“Well, how about this: Just bring yourself tomorrow and we will meet in the park at two o’clock. I will bring the blank canvas. You can watch while I paint, talking you through it. Then, we will walk you through how it feels.”

“Well, I hate using your supplies and canvas.”

“Don’t worry about it. It won’t be much paint and the canvas can be primed to use over. We will be fine. We may “practice” quite a bit on the same canvas for several sessions. I wish I could come sooner, but I have classes. I am almost finished up, only about four months to go.”

“Great. I will see you tomorrow at two o’clock,” Gastien turned to walk away.

“Do you want to grab something to eat with me?” inquired Mic.

Gastien’s face turned red. “Um.
Non
. I better not. I really should be going.”

Mic then realized that Gaz had no money for food. “Gaz, listen. Don’t be embarrassed. Starving artist is a reality a lot of times. I would like to buy you a bowl of soup. It is not much, but it will help you feel a little warmth in your stomach. We can talk about your plans.“ Gastien hesitated. “Please?” urged Mic.

Gastien looked at him soberly. “Just this once, though. I don’t expect you to provide for me.”

“Nor will I. I can’t afford it. But I can buy my new
ami
one bowl of soup! Let’s go.”

 They ended up at the second restaurant that Gastien had applied at,
Le Procope
, where he had seen Mic at a table with friends his first night in Paris. After they sat down, Mic told Gastien, “I work here part time as a server. I have worked here a few years while going to school and became a server a year ago. The owner is quite nice. Because I work here, I can have unlimited soup. I will eat one bowl while you eat yours. Then we will switch bowls and I will fill up as many times as you can hold. It will not matter to him as long as only one of us is doing that. He is quite good to artists that work here.”

“Are you sure?” Gastien asked nervously. “I would not want you to lose your job!”

“I won’t lose my job. Like I say, it could be me eating the soup. If I eat just one that would be yours, it is fine. I have eaten today, you probably have not.”

“
Merci
.”

Gastien ate four big bowls of soup while they talked. He never thought vegetables could taste so good! He told Mic a little about his home life, hitting his father, and about his experiences in trying to get a job. “So, I have no job and no prospects. I have no food, but at least for now I have a place to stay. I am hiding out in
Notre Dame
.”

“
Notre Dame
? That is quite a walk each way. You will certainly be getting your exercise. I hope they don’t catch you sleeping in there and throw you out. Chances are they will, sooner or later.”

“
Oui
, I know. But I will worry about that when the time comes. Right now I have to worry about money for food.”

“Sell your drawings, Gaz,” Mic said. “Offer them to people on the street who are window shopping. It will be hard, but some will buy. For now, let them pay whatever they want, just so you can eat! In fact, you can draw in the mornings so that you have a few to sell every day.”

“
Oui
, I thought of that, too. I will start doing that right away tomorrow. In fact, maybe I will ask a few people tonight on my walk back.”

“By the way,” consoled Mic, “it does not surprise me that you did not find work. This is the wrong time of the year, with all the students in the area. Like I mentioned, I am going to be leaving this area in about four months. The owner of this place really likes me. He would hire you if I asked him, if you knew what you were doing. That gives us another project. I will teach you how to serve, how to pair wines with food, etc. That is, if you are game.”

“
Oui
! Oh,
oui
, for sure. I know that this restaurant does very well,” exclaimed Gastien excitedly.

“Then it’s a deal. I have a full day off on Sunday. We will “study” serving then. I will have you practice carrying things. The owner is not in on Sundays, the cooks will let us practice with trays and things. It will be awhile before you get hired and it would be part time. But, in the meantime, you will get ready. Because maybe someone will leave sooner, who knows?”

“
Oui
, who knows!” Gastien’s face lit up and he smiled happily. “I think perhaps meeting you is the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

“Well, if that is true, then I know you are a virgin, lover boy!” Mic winked. “Because, believe me, sex would be the best thing that had ever happened to you! Something tells me you weren’t having sex with the animals on your farm, so where did you find the women?”

Gastien laughed and admitted. “Ok, so I lied. My virginity is the least of my worries right now. However, any sexual experiences you want to tell me about would be much enjoyed. I have so much I can learn from you!”

They got up and walked out, parting ways at the door. “See you at two o’clock tomorrow, Gaz. Don’t be late. And keep your
bite
in your trousers tomorrow, instead of waving it around by the river, agreed?”

“Agreed. I will give Paris a break. See you then.”

If someone could have told Gastien what events were about to unfold that evening, he would not have believed any of it. He was about to sell his first piece of artwork, which was a milestone in his young life. He was also about to lose his virginity. Being an unsophisticated boy just off the farm, barely in the city for a few days, one might think he would only stumble through. However, he not only took control of both situations, he quickly mastered them. Life had been unkind to Gastien in many ways. Fortunately, he had been blessed with some traits that would cause him to excel in any area that really mattered to him.

He was inexperienced, but not unintelligent. Quite the opposite. He was highly intelligent, very well spoken, and quite well read. Realizing the potential in him, his mother provided Gastien with as much guidance as any child who attended formal schooling. Additionally, his mother had taught all of them to speak and write the classic French that people used in Paris, instead of just their regional dialog. His father felt this was important because of business. Reading material was only limited by their means of obtaining it, and his mother made sure that they had plenty to read. He was not a typical peasant farm boy, in that he not only knew how to read, he read a lot.

More importantly, he was highly intuitive, extremely quick at reading people. He noticed nuances that most people missed, more quickly than others who did. These were not only physical characteristics of people, but subtle clues of what made the person tick. He could also sense, right away, who had power and who did not. The ability to see things others did not would benefit him greatly as an artist. The ability to know things that others missed would benefit him greatly as a survivor.

He knew before he left for Paris that he had huge disadvantages to overcome. He had no money, no power, and no art education. None of those were things that he could not achieve on his own, but in order to do so, he would have to be extremely good at using what he already had.

There was an extreme ability to focus, combined with an urgent drive that pushed him to go forward even when common sense would tell most they did not have a chance to succeed. He had raw talent. He had been blessed with an artistic ability that is only given to a rare few. Once he learned technique, the talent, drive and focus would make him unstoppable. The ability to quickly process information that he read or saw in people would make him able to take control of situations and use them to his advantage.

His looks were another asset, one that he had not been aware of until he was on the way to the city. Hearing it first from Matt was a surprise. He heard it many more times after arriving in Paris. Mic, restaurant owners, he even heard young women giggling on the streets after they walked by. They always gave him a second look. The words “gorgeous, cute, delicious, handsome” all were murmured through the giggles. Women looked even more boldly at him. As a male, he quickly got the message that they liked what they saw and wished they could do more than look.

Knowing you are good looking is a very heady thing, especially for an eighteen-year-old boy about to become a man. It is sometimes said – usually by people that have never been good looking – that looks are not as important as other traits because they fade. Not so. Looks are as great of an asset as any other. Fair or not, being extremely good looking can open many doors. You just need to be savvy enough to knock. Gastien learned quickly to use those looks, especially those huge eyes, to knock.

Lastly, Gastien had passion. His passion for art was his top priority, but his passion to learn about lovemaking was quite literally an obsession. He did not realize it consciously, but he would go on to use sex as a way to feel loved and to get physical contact with other humans. Subconsciously, Gastien was very needy in regard to feeling loved. The sheer intimacy of sexual union would be a substitute for him. In addition, passion for everything he did in life was what truly defined Gastien. People would comment in the future on how “alive” he seemed, how he “lit up” a room. Passion was the one word that described the very essence of his spirit and soul.