Louise gives me an umbrella

I am hugging one of my closest and toughest friends Louise Paquier with tears streaming from my eyes. It is kind of ironic that we are as close as we are now since we started out as enemies when I first started working for Raphael's magazine City Of Love. I really can't blame her for protecting what was hers now that I think about it. I found out later that Louise felt threatened by me even if there was no reason to be. There is no way a mouse like me could threaten someone as tough as Louise. Working to stop Vincent from poisoning Paris with his stupid Elixir Of Love really brought Louise and I closer together. Right now, my tough friend is rubbing my back and allowing me to get the back of her shirt wet. My tears stop after a few minutes. My pal helps me to sit back in the bench and gives me a pink handkerchief from her purse so I can blow my nose.

"Wait here while I make a few phone calls and then we can talk," Louise promises me.

"Okay," I respond while trying to give my tough buddy a smile which wasn't very much of one.

I watch my friend as she walks out of earshot and takes her cell phone out of her purse. She looked kind of gruff during the first phone call and of course I am very much used to seeing her that way. I got to see another side of Louise during the other two phone calls since she looked a lot more peaceful. I have always thought of Louise as a pretty woman and she looks almost the same as she did the last time I saw her except for the few wrinkles that she has around her eyes. A slightly bigger smile appears on my face when my tough friend finishes with her phone and walks back to me.

"Are you okay, Connie?" Louise asks me with a look of concern.

"You can call me yo-yo," I answer to make a weak attempt at humor.

"That's to be expected," my gal pal responds.

"I just hope that my string doesn't snap," I warble as my voice cracks.

"At least you aren't trying to get through this by yourself," Louise responds while patting my shoulder.

"I imagine that you are busy," I guessed.

"Actually, I'm not," my friend answered while shaking her head. "I'm taking the rest of the day off of work and I made arrangements for Luc to spend the night with a friend."

"You're doing all that for me?" I asked in shock.

"I'm glad to see you," Louise explained. "I really missed you when you ran off to do your Forrest Gump impersonation and I just wish our reunion could have been under better circumstances."

"I just wish that I hadn't left!" I snap.

"We all could tell that you needed to get away from things after Kat dumped you," Louise reasoned while sitting beside me on the bench and hugging me.

"If I hadn't left, I could have seen this coming and put a stop to it!" I yell at myself. "Kat would still be alive!"

"You're being silly!" Louise chides me.

I do not hear what Louise is saying because I am wrapped up in another downfall. I can feel my body tensing up and my voice starting to crack again. It would not take a weatherman to predict that another major downpour is due to happen within the next minute.

"And... and an-another thing, just... just before Kat died she told me that she was going to meet someone," I revealed with much difficulty. "It h-had to have been the k-killer. I offered to go with her, but... but she blew me off and told me to g-go sightseeing. I... I should have put my f-foot down and insisted I... I go with her."

"Kat would have gotten mad at you and went off by herself anyway," Louise protests.

"I... I s-should have shadowed her," I debated.

"The murderer would have probably caught you and killed you as well!" Louise snapped at me.

Louis sighs in frustration as tears start gushing from my eyes again which causes my friend to squeeze me tighter. I am just glad that I have a friend to hold me when I get like this. It takes me at least five minutes to get settled down again at which point Louise does something unexpected. She grabs my right shoulder and lightly shakes me.

"W-what?" I gasp in shock.

"Connie, I want you to listen to me now!" Louise sternly suggests while pointing her right index finger directly at me. "None of us can predict the future no matter how much we would like to. There is no way that you could have known what was going to happen. There is nothing that you could have done to stop it. It is not your fault!"

"I know what you say is true, but..." I start to argue.

"Would Kat like what you are doing to yourself?" Louise asks to interrupt me.

My female buddy's argument absolutely floors me so I can say absolutely nothing.

"I am sure Kat would understand it if you were crying because you missed her, but she would not understand you blaming yourself for her at all," Louise spoke to end the debate.

I know that my gal pal has me beat so I just nod my head. Louise smiles and pats me on the back, but her smile does not last long. She pats my back a few more times which causes a deep frown to appear on her face.

"I have never seen anyone so tense in my life," Louise complains. "I am afraid that you are going to crack. I am very worried about you."

"I appreciate that," I reply with a half smile.

"I think that I should take you for a drive and show you some of the things that I like to do when I get tense," Louise insists while pulling me off the bench with by my right hand and leading me towards her car to show me that I have absolutely no say in the matter.