Free The Man Who Risked It All by Laurent Gounelle

met those of one of the men in dark suits. No doubt a security guard. I had the impression he was looking at me strangely.
    We went into another, bigger room. The few customers here were not at all like the tourists and office workers passing by outside on the Champs Elysées. Sales assistants glided around the room like silent phantoms, preserving the calm of the store.
    Instinctively, I located the little cameras placed at strategic points. I felt as if they were all pointing at me, slowly turning to follow each of my movements. I wiped my forehead with the back of my sleeve and tried to breathe deeply to ease the tension. I had to contain my mounting stage fright, as each step brought me closer to a collection of watches for the super rich that I would have to pretend to be interested in and pretend to be in a position to buy.
    We took our places on either side of an elegant counter.
    The gold collection was more extensive, and the assistant showed me the models through the glass top.
    “I like this one,” I said, pointing to a rather large watch in yellow gold.
    “It’s the Ballon Bleu model, with an eighteen-carat yellow gold case and fluted crown in yellow gold, with a sapphire cabochon winding stem, for twenty-three thousand, five hundred euros.”
    I had the distinct feeling that she had announced the price with the intention of informing me that this model was beyond my means. She was toying with me, gently humiliating me.
    I felt cut to the quick, and that pushed me to react, to come out of my lethargic state.
    She was far from suspecting that she was doing me a service by annoying me.
    “I’ll try it on,” I said in a curt voice that surprised me.
    Watching her obey my command and remove the watch from the case, I felt for an instant a very new emotion for me, a tiny pleasure that had been quite foreign to me until now. Was this what a taste for power was?
    I slipped the watch on, looked at it for a few seconds without saying a word, and then delivered a final verdict.
    “Too heavy.”
    I took it off and casually held it out to her, already looking at the other models.
    “This one!” I said, pointing to a second watch without giving her time to put away the first one.
    She sped up the movement of her nimble fingers, the red varnish on her nails reflecting the light from the spotlights subtly angled toward the counter to accentuate the natural brilliance of the watches.
    I was carried along by an unsuspected force. Affirming myself was suddenly becoming intoxicating.
    “And I’ll also try on that one!” I said, pointing to another, forcing her to follow the rhythm I was imposing.
    I didn’t recognize myself. My timidity had completely vanished, and I was becoming more and more dominant in the relationship. Something unheard of was taking place in me. I felt an indefinable sense of jubilation.
    “Here you are, monsieur.”
    I had the sad feeling that she had started to respect me since I had become demanding. I was displaying an authority that was totally new to me, and she stopped looking down at me with her haughty gaze. She kept her eyes down on the watches, as she carried out the tasks I dictated. I stood straighter than ever, as her expert fingers briskly manipulated the objects.
    I don’t know how long the scene lasted. No longer quite myself, I slightly lost contact with reality. I was in unknown territory, discovering a singular pleasure, inconceivable an hour before. A strange feeling of omnipotence came over me, as if a heavy lid had fallen off all at once.
    “Come back, now.”
    Dubreuil’s deep voice suddenly brought me back to earth.
    I took my time in leaving, and she insisted on showing me out, following me as I walked back across the shop with a confident step, my eyes sweeping the place like a general surveying conquered land. The rooms seemed smaller now, the atmosphere more pedestrian. The men in black opened the doors for me, thanking me for my visit. Everyone wished me a good