1
Lo and Lola are lions. They both have an excellent memory. They are cuddly toys that live with a very nice woman called Lonie. She is young. She is pretty. She smiles a lot.
Lola and Lo remember everything. They were bought by their owners mother, who had spotted them in a little shop in her quartier of Paris. The shop also had some sheep, who were very gentle, and with whom the lions got on very well.
But leaving their first home hadnt been difficult for Lo and Lola because Lonie had immediately made them feel very welcome. That was when she was four.
Today she is 24. She is celebrating her birthday. She has invited her cuddly toy mama and her cuddly toy papa, her neighbour from across the landing and her best friend Linda, who will be bringing her new boyfriend.
Lo and Lola also remember the first time the neighbour knocked at the door. Lonie opened it. He said:
Hello, Im Ral Lapin, I have just moved in next door. I wanted to introduce myself and invite you to my housewarming party next Saturday.
Lonie is a young woman who is always open to meeting people and making new friends. She accepted with pleasure.
What the lions remember above all, was the glowing expression on their mistresss face after that first encounter. As though Lonie was floating on a cloud, transformed. Smiling even more than usual, in full bloom, completely enchanted, unbelievably radiant, wonderfully happy.
The soft toys adopted Ral immediately. They thought of him like a brother. With a surname meaning rabbit in French, was he not an animal, just like them? This Lapin-Rabbit also had a gentle voice that reminded them of their old friends the sheep. And then the name, Ral, sounds a bit like a roar. Theres definitely something of a lion about this neighbour.
Lola and Lo are propped up on the sofa. They see everything that happens in the apartment. Lonie sits next to them when she watches television, and these are moments of pure joy, when they each feel the presence of the other at their side.
Lonie had gone to the neighbours housewarming party with her great friend Linda. The soft toys love her too. Her hair is a veritable mane, just like theirs. And yet she is not wild. Linda is an electronic engineer.
As for Lonie, she is the President of the Republic. At least, thats what the little lions understood. In reality she runs a pressing on Place de la Rpublique, a dry cleaners called The Art House.
One day, her dry-cleaning machines broke down. She called a repairman. And who turned up? The young woman who looks like a tigress; an expert with machines; kind, funny, lively and cheerful: Linda. So that is how they met, thanks to a breakdown, a blockage, an accident. If Lonie hadnt found herself in a hole, she wouldnt have called SOS Machine Repair, and would never have got to know this wonderful woman.
Once the repairs were done, in no time at all, the pretty and kind Lonie offered the efficient, cheerful and sparkling Linda a coffee. There was nothing but laughter, big smiles, a shared feeling of absolute lightness, of being in a very, very good mood. And when it was time to say goodbye, there was spontaneous hugging and kissing, and a promise to see each other again.
Lonie does not only put all her art into cleaning the clothes that are entrusted to her as well as she possibly can; she also has the gift of creating special moments for herself and meeting interesting people.
The engineer and the President were already very good friends when the time came for the Lapin-Rabbits housewarming party. Linda was eager to meet this charming new neighbour about whom Lonie had told her so much, and who had left her feeling most intrigued, most tantalised.
The Art House usually remains open on Saturday afternoons. But so she could make herself really beautiful for Rals party, Lonie had preferred to close the shop. She had gone to the hairdressers, then been shopping to find herself a little dress that said housewarming party. She had settled on something simple, black and sexy; not too eye-catching, but potentially heart-stopping.
Linda also wanted to be at her best for this promising engagement, but didnt hesitate for long over her choice of outfit for the evening. It would be her finest dungarees. Orange. She wears blue all week for work, so at weekends likes to be comfortable but sport really bright colours.
Ral hadnt got worked up about what to wear either. As usual, he had put on some casual jeans and a white unironed shirt. He had, however, worked hard to prepare the supper: a selection of toasts topped with pured olives, avocados, anchovies, salami and foie gras.
Ding-dong! It is 8 oclock. Someone is ringing the doorbell. Ral doesnt have to wonder who it is, he has only invited his neighbour from across the landing. She had asked whether she could bring her great friend, and as Ral is a young man who is always open to meeting people and making new friends, he had accepted with pleasure.
Love is an earthquake that is going to turn the lives of Lo, Lola, Lonie, Linda and Ral upside down. Ding-dong! It is time.
Good evening.
Good evening.
Good evening.
A team is formed.
Come in, come in.
And Lonie and Linda go in, one holding a bouquet of flowers, the other a bottle of champagne. Not only do they sweep into Rals apartment, that has been entirely decorated for the occasion, but also into his universe. One of friendship and adventure, imagination and childhood, wonder.
Come in, come in.
What an extraordinary world! The dcor is totally original, superb. They feel as though they are in the clouds. Pink clouds. Strangely, the apartment seems to have no end. It feels as though they could walk through it, get lost in it, be always, eternally, following its path.
Its so lovely! exclaims Lonie, impulsively. And she hasnt seen anything yet.
Ral invites his guests to invent the evening for themselves. With a nod of the head they agree, yet without knowing quite what that means. They will gradually find out. There is a lack of restraint at Rals that they cannot help but submit to. It is everywhere: in the creases of his crumpled shirt, in the avocado cream he spreads on toast, in everything that he says.
Ral is a Spanish name. Lapin is pronounced Lap een in Castilian. When he arrived in France, a long time ago now, Ral Lapeen brought his country with him. This evening, he is going to offer it up to his visitors.
