Can You Hear Me Now?

Emma crossed her legs, smiling. Jacques sat across her at the table.

She had spent all morning getting dressed- picking out the perfect outfit, doing her makeup so it covered up her dark circles and puffy eyes from her allergies and suffering through the drowsiness of the medicine she had to take for it.

The Parisian café was crowded and the road noise was loud.

Jacques took a sip of his coffee and smiled. “You look beautiful.” he said, nudging his foot against hers under the table.

Emma felt her cheeks get a turn pink and looked down at her crème brulee. Jacques laughed. “You don’t need to be shy, Emi.” Emma smiled at the nickname. He was the only person that called her that besides her parents.

A baby started to cry behind her as Jacque went on to say something she couldn’t quite make out. His blue eyes sparkled and Emma was sad she couldn’t understand what he was saying.

She felt her heart drop. She seriously didn’t need this right now. Jacques was sweet in a cutely awkward way, but he had a quiet voice. What made it worse was that he was from the country and still clung to a bit of an accent. Emma could still hear his voice, but the words were starting to run together. She was only getting about every fourth word, but kept smiling to make it seem like she understood. He didn’t know about her hearing problems.

Emma had always thought of it like a bubble. Her hearing bubble; things she couldn‘t hear outside of it, and things she could inside. It quiet places like a school classroom or in the library, she could hear fine, with only occasional trouble. But in places like Café du Monde, where they were now, her hearing bubble was excruciatingly small.

A motor boat started up at the dock in the River Seine. Her bubble got even smaller. A street performer began plucking away on his guitar for the tourists. Her smile began to fade.

Jacques was still talking and gesturing with his hands. Emma had noticed right away that was a habit of his, back when they met a year or two ago. She couldn’t even hear his voice now.

Emma felt a lump in the back of her throat and swallowed hard. She knew she needed a hearing aid. But Dad needed it more than her and it wasn’t like her family had the money to just go out and buy one. Besides, even if they somehow managed to get the money somewhere, the hearing aid would go to Dad, who was nearly completely deaf.

At home, with a family fluent in sign language, it wasn’t a problem. Even when they went out to dinner, it was fine. If she or Dad couldn’t hear, then her mother, who’d been blessed with impeccable hearing, could interpret and they’d communicate with the waiter through her.

But Jacques didn’t even know the sign language alphabet, let alone how to string together a sentence.

He touched her hand and Emma snapped out of her thoughts. He said something. Emma felt her brow crease and she focused hard on his mouth. He repeated what he’d said.

“Am I okay?” she asked, making sure she got it right. He nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little headache.”

He said something else. By his facial expression, she guessed it was a question. Jacques pulled a pen from his pocket and wrote on a napkin, then held it up.

“You can’t hear me, can you?”

She shook her head.

He wrote some more. “Is it always like that?”

“Just in crowded places with a lot of background noise.” Emma said.

“Do you have a hearing aid?”

Emma sighed, shaking her head.

Jacques stood up and came across the table, bending down in front of her. He tilted her chin up with his hand and kissed her.

Emma blinked at him as he drew away. That was her first kiss. He leaned in close to her hear and said “Can you hear me now?”

Author's Note

Based on a true story.
By the way, Cafe de Monde is a real place. It's a French cafe in New Orleans. :)

Reviews

[Calypso]

Just a few grammar problems, but over all, it's good.

[miSS LEaf]

That was really touching.. great way to tell a story, enjoyed this

[Rose of Gondor]

Sad and sweet at the same time. Beautiful imagery, and I loved Emma. She was a very connect-able character. I always told my teacher that in order for a story to be a good one I have to be able melt into the characters and see their minds--you gave me the ability to do that. The ending was beautiful.

[Viki Rachel]

Aw that is so incredibly cute! It's touching how soft and gentle he was with her.
I felt really connected with Emma. I can't relate to her, but I felt completely in her shoes, which goes to show how well-developed she was (good job on that!).
I loved all of the details and the romance of it all. I wish I could know a little more about the guy, but this story was just so fantastic I don't really think you should change a thing.
A very enjoyable and endearing read!

[Victoria PoetryBunny]

That was bit said, but very sweet, i like that ending a lot.