Romain Rotier

Romain Rotier is a socially confident young man whose role in Anthony Casati’s life changes sharply over the course of the story. Initially associated with the skate park and unwanted attention toward Stéphanie, he later becomes Anthony’s close companion at work. That unexpected friendship does not erase his capacity for intimidation: when Anthony tries to follow Sonia, Romain restrains and strikes him. Romain’s characterization turns on this unresolved contrast between easy generosity and coercive force.

Identity and Public Image

At the skate park near the fire department barracks, Romain appears among the young people who gather around the ramp. The park draws a mixture of rich kids and notorious punks, and skating sits alongside drinking, hash, and flirtation. In one scene, Simon and Rodrigue skate bare-chested while Romain and the girls lounge at the top of the ramp, their legs dangling above the action. Romain is not described as the group’s standout skater; rather, he occupies its social space, where attention and status matter as much as the boards moving below.

His manner there can be brazen. When Stéphanie rejects his advances, Romain takes the rebuff personally, snapping back after she tells him to leave her alone. Clémence steps in, drawing on the leverage of having dated him in seventh grade. Her sharp intervention sends Romain to the far end of the ramp, where he urinates in view of the group. The gesture is crude and conspicuous, turning wounded pride into a public display. The episode presents him as someone willing to test boundaries, and as someone who can answer embarrassment with aggression or deliberate provocation.

Conduct Toward Stéphanie

Romain’s attention to Stéphanie becomes more unsettling when Anthony sees him following her on the road to the new skate park. Stéphanie has stopped to wait for him, but their exchange quickly deteriorates; she wants to continue on her way, while Romain refuses to leave her alone. Riding his small Chappy, he zigzags alongside her, veers away and returns to block her path, then honks at her. The repeated maneuvering makes his pursuit feel less like flirtation than harassment.

Anthony, watching from a distance, initially expects the encounter to go badly and then runs toward them when he can no longer bear Romain’s behavior. The scene places Romain inside Anthony’s early image of him as a menace, while making Stéphanie’s resistance plain: she does not want the conversation, and Romain keeps imposing his presence. The text does not describe what follows their arrival in detail here, but the approach alone establishes a pattern of ignoring her attempt to disengage.

An Unexpected Companion

Two years later, Anthony’s assessment of Romain has changed. They work together around the Heillange Sailing Club, where Romain arrives behind Cyril, dressed in tan jeans and Sebago shoes. Their job is physical and poorly paid: they haul boats from the sheds, while Anthony also spends time on the beach and in the storeroom. The work brings Anthony into frequent contact with Romain and with the club’s visitors, some of whom give unexpectedly generous tips.

Anthony remembers having considered Romain arrogant and threatening, but now finds him easy to like. Romain has grown to six feet tall and is still a major goof-off, yet he can be remarkably capable when he chooses to apply himself. Anthony has seen him haul six-hundred-pound boats up the slope to the boathouse alone. He is also generous, usually in a good mood, free with his money, and widely acquainted. These qualities make their companionship more than a change in convenience: Anthony’s firsthand experience complicates the hostile impression formed at the skate park.

The two also share a taste for showing off. Anthony enjoys driving around town in his father’s Audi Quattro with the windows open, alongside Romain; in those moments, they feel like kings. The car becomes a compact image of their shared swagger, set against the low-paid labor that occupies much of their working day. Their friendship gives Anthony pleasure and helps explain why he is reluctant to create trouble at the club, even when he wonders about the strained atmosphere between Cyril and Sonia.

Conflict and Narrative Significance

The companionship does not make Romain harmless. At a later confrontation, Anthony tries to follow Sonia as she leaves, and Romain stops him by clapping a hand on his shoulder and gripping the nape of his neck with the other. Anthony struggles, first annoyed and then enraged; Romain slaps him hard enough to make his eye sting and tears rise. Anthony fights back, reaching for Romain’s face and trying to bite him. They tumble together in the dark, their blows awkward and ineffective, until Romain pulls Anthony upright, slams him onto his back, and punches him twice.

Romain’s physical advantage is unmistakable in this encounter, but the scene also recalls the social force he exercised at the skate park: when challenged or obstructed, he can make another person’s movement and choices his to control. The novel does not reduce him to that behavior. The generous, capable coworker and the threatening figure are both supported by what Anthony sees, and neither cancels the other. Romain’s importance lies partly in that reversal: he exposes how quickly Anthony’s judgments can change, while leaving the violence inside their friendship unresolved.