89

I can say it now: Madeleine would end up spending a whole month in Los Angeles. And their separation didn’t last long, because Yves would come to visit her in Paris the following summer. The three of us would have dinner together. They would continue to tell me stories from their past, but by then I had already finished writing my book. Perhaps Madeleine would slowly lose her memory, but to this point she still seems to me perfectly lucid and full of life. What if this adventure had woken in her brain the missing part of her memory? Or perhaps it was, once again, the power of literature? I don’t know. All I know is that, during the dinner we had together, Yves told her that she was the love of his life.

90

For now, it was early morning, and I had just landed in Paris. I took a taxi to the Martins’ apartment. I had no idea what was going to happen or who would be there to welcome me. I was surprised to discover all four of them sitting at the table, waiting to have breakfast with me.

Even more surprisingly, it was Jérémie who spoke first: ‘Since you entered our lives, my parents have started loving each other again, my sister has become depressed, my grandmother’s gone to Los Angeles, and I’ve become popular. What exactly were you trying to achieve?’ This final question reminded me of something Lola had said, albeit more aggressively. It didn’t seem to require a response; it was more of an observation, really. I didn’t understand what he meant about being popular though. ‘I still can’t believe it …’ he said, handing me his phone. There, I saw a video of him, already shared more than 100,000 times. And no, I did not imagine any of those zeroes.

‘It’s completely crazy,’ Valérie agreed.

This was what had happened. The day he was fired, Patrick told his children everything. They had a sort of emergency family meeting. He detailed the humiliations and the psychological violence he’d suffered at the hands of his boss. Although it had been mentioned in passing during our first dinner together, this was the first time Jérémie and Lola had truly understood their father’s increasingly withdrawn behaviour. It helped them all immensely to put a chaotic situation into words. Still high on his new energy, Patrick had no hesitation in sharing the story of burning the curtains. His children listened to this account in amazement. They both regarded it as an act of heroism, irrespective of the consequences. Patrick might have lost his job, but he had won his children’s undying admiration.

An hour later, Jérémie had posted a video on his social networks, in which he expressed how proud he felt of his father for fighting back against his bully of a boss. He added two hashtags to his post: #JeSuisPatrickMartin and #BalanceTonPatron, the latter a reference to #BalanceTonPorc, the French version of #MeToo. The video was quickly shared by hundreds of other users, racking up an impressive number of views. Many other people shared their stories of workplace bullying; inspired by this new spirit of solidarity, they’d found the courage to tell all. Once the stories went public, the risk of reprisals was obviously reduced. It was a sort of small revolution for France’s employees.