MICHEL TOURNIER
341
know what to do with them anymore. But then, bit by bit, she got
worried. It was all very well for me to tell her that I'd had a raise at
the bank, she wasn't an idiot, and she could count. But it was like a
vice with me, a drug , I couldn't stop . And then there was the busi–
ness of Mademoiselle Francine's bra , which wrecked everything.
Mademoiselle Francine was a cashier, a colleague, in short, ex–
cept that she exercised her profession at the Majestic Cinema. U su–
ally though, cashiers are perched high up, they dominate . The Ma–
jestic is a cinema in a basement , in a cellar, you might say. The cash
desk is halfway down the stairs. Which means that when you arrive ,
you go down a few steps, then you stop at the cash desk which is a bit
lower still. You pay, and then you go on even farther down. Only
there's no point anymore, because you've seen the show in the mean–
time . Well, I'm speaking for myself. Because Mademoiselle Francine
always wears breathtakingly low-cut tops. So when you go down
toward the cash desk, obviously, you plunge ... into the cashier's
decollete. You plunge , and what do you see? You'll never guess. A
bra, an adorable little bra in mauve satin trimmed with lace . Well,
after that , you could have shown me anything you liked, a western,
a thriller, a spy story: there was only one thing on the screen for me
- a satin bra, and mauve in the bargain, because my imagination
has always been in technicolor . The worst of it was that Antoinette
loved the movies . She dragged me off to the Majestic at least twice a
week, and it was the torment of Tantalus for me . I was madly in
love, you see! I had to put an end to it.
I made a few little inquiries. I discovered that Francine was the
girlfriend of the manager of the Majestic, and that he had fixed her a
studio apartment on the floor above the auditorium . Joining the two
- the auditorium and the apartment - was a little spiral 5taircase. All
this rather favored my plans. One evening I went out a little before
midnight, telling Antoinette that I would sleep better if I stretched
my legs a bit. I made straight for the movie house. I knew that a
quarter of an hour before the end you could go in without being
seen . No more ca&h desk; no more usherettes. Obviously , no on e
would want to go in a few minutes before the end of the show . I hid
on the spiral staircase and waited . The house lights went up and
everyone left. The projectionist shut the doors . I stayed there in the
dark for quite a while. Then I very cautiously went up the stairs, one
by one. I listened at the d.oor for a long time. Nothing. No sound .
Was Francine there? I tried to open the door. It was locked. I didn't
know what to do . I sat down on the top step . I must have made a
