Suzanne's Career (La Carrière de Suzanne)

SIX MORAL TALES

SUZANNE'S CAREER

The café le Luco, on Blvd St Michel,

was where we met Suzanne.

I lived above it, at the Hotel de I'Observatoire.

I was 18, in my first year of pharmaceutical school.

Bertrand.

Hello. Sit here.

May I take this chair, Miss?

How are you?

"I Promessi Sposi".

You seem to know Italian.

Are you at the Sorbonne?

More or less. I'm taking evening classes

at the Interpreter's School.

During the day, I work

at the National Tuberculosis Foundation over there.

Do you like it?

You can't always do what you like. And you?

Hey Martine!

Martine Bachelet.

Suzanne Hocquetot.

- Have a drink? - Thanks, I have an appointment.

I didn't get your name... was it Anne?

Suzanne...sadly!

Why sadly? You're not a snob are you?

No! But I don't like my name.

It's better than Suzon.

Idiot.

I'm Guillaume Eucque Drumont.

I'm Suzanne Hocquetot.

With an "H"?

And "t-o-t" at the end.

Are you from Normandy?

Yes! And you?

No, I study onomastics. Know what it is?

- The science of names? - Of surnames.

Give me a name, any name, and I'll tell you...

Will you have your car Saturday?

...where it's from, its etymology.

Will you have the car?

No, my mother's in Paris till the 17th. Why?

Party at Pfeiffer's.

Anyway I won't go.

Why?

Because.

Saturday I'm giving a dinner. Will you come?

Yes.

What about you?

Why not? Where is it?

Bourg-la-Reine. I'll come pick you up.

Do you like paella?

I'm not sure I've ever tried it.

I do it pretty well. Do you live with your parents?

No, with some people Pt. de Clichy.

But I'm hardly ever there.

I'm in class till 10 pm, and I getup at 7 am.

And Sundays?

I work on my Italian... usually in a café,

it's nicer.

Nothing's worse than staying home alone on a Sunday.

It's not even my home.

Guillaume...

usually worked fast. But Suzanne held out

until that dinner.

- Where've you been? - I've had a lot of work.

Hurry up. I'm parked illegally.

I may not come, I'm behind in my work.

- I like people who keep promises. - 1 didn't...

You heard it.

I'll take you home at midnight.

You always say that.

I have to take Suzanne home too. Come on!

All right, o.k.

Who'll be there?

Jean-Louis, Catherine, Francois, and your girl friend.

- Who? - Sophie.

- 1 don't know her. - You're sweet on her.

Oh, she's not bad.

If he says she's not bad, she's fantastic.

But you saw her, the other day at the bar, the Irish girl.

Oh yes! She's lovely, that girl!

You really have good taste.

Who's Jean-Louis?

The guy on the terrace the other day...smokes a pipe.

Most of the year, Guillaume

lived alone in the house,

as his mother was travelling.

Suzanne took her "lady of the house" role seriously,

but Guillaume went straight after Sophie,

and seemed set on breaking down her resistance.

I stayed

in my corner, but Suzanne was on the verge of tears.

I thought any minute she'd grab her coat

and run to the station,

for I felt she still had some self-respect.

- Want a cigarette? - No!

You 0.k.? You're not very talkative tonight.

Sophie scared me.

In fact his monopolizing her was a help.

I hoped he'd go too far and be put down,

but he was careful.

What a fantastic player!

I saw him on TV in England, when he won at Wimbledon. But...

It's totally abstract.

Like Mondrian.

Bertrand.

Going to the kitchen?

Bring the bottle of Sylvaner please.

- Where is it? - Behind the fireplace.

By the window?

Yes, that's it.

- How's Sophie? - You're always with her!

Just to piss the other one off. Is she sulking?

A bit...with reason.

Good, easy ones are murder. It drags on and on.

Anyway, I think she's about ready now, don't you?

Yes, maybe.

Sophie's too stuck up for me. You have a chance.

Do what you want. She's not mine.

I swear, she likes you. You can always tell.

What was I going to say? Oh yes...

You've got to do me a little favour.

When the others go, the three of us will stay.

I can't be left alone with her.

If you like. You know...

Bertrand could squeeze in with us.

No thanks. Goodbye.

Anyway, Suzanne has to be taken home.

So, the 3 of us stayed.

Happy back in his arms, Suzanne forgot the time.

I began to get impatient.

- Bertrand can make tables move. - Really?

Bertrand, is what Guillaume says true?

Sure.

You could make this one move, now? Really?

It's not possible!

Suzanne, stay here.

Put your hands here.

Make them flat, Suzanne. Touch my fingers.

Now we have to concentrate. Don't move.

Relax.

Very calm...very calm...

Don't think about anything... let go.

Come on, Suzanne!

Quiet.

- Do I have to... - Quiet!

I think it's starting.

Good.

Let's summon the spirit.

Spirit, are you there?

One. That's yes.

Who are you?

D? Danton?

Let's continue.

D.O?

Doumergue?

Bertrand, you're pushing.

Not me, it's the spirit.

D.O.N.?

D.O.N.J.? Must be Don Juan.

What does Don Juan say?

Hey, it's aT.

Let's go on.

L.M.N.O...O0.?

B.?

B,C,.D,E...

To bed? Hey, it's "to bed."

Bertrand, you are so vulgar!

I'm really feeling tired.

I can't face taking you home.

You can stay. The two of us will sleep here,

and you can use my mother's room.

Do you know where it is?

Goodnight anyway.

Oh women!

Then, having bowed to convention, he rushed to join her.

I should really go console her.

The next day I was up with the first light of day.

I'd already spent a Sunday at Bourg-la-Reine,

and Guillaume would certainly have asked me to stay,

happy to have an audience for his triumph.

But I felt my role had gone too far.

Sleep had not begun to dispel

the shame I had felt all evening

at playing along with my friend's game.

Not that Suzanne's conduct mattered fo me.

It was her business, and hers alone.

But I saw the pleasure he took in involving me in his schemes...

for he loved to surround everything he did,

no matter how trivial, with an air of wickedness.

Then however, I rather idolized him,

and accepted him for what he was.

And he accepted me equally, which flattered me.

8 days later, I saw him Blvd St Michel.

- Where've you been? - And you?

- What's up? - Oh, problems...

Suzanne?

She calls me all the time...

I always get stuck with these clinging types. Seen her?