Beach Side Romance

Chapter 18: Cite

Olivia POV

I wasn’t sure how jetlag worked, but I woke up at 5AM feeling energized as heck. Julian was sleeping on the other side of the bed. Before the night ended yesterday we finally got into an agreement about who sleeps where. He was still snoozing facing my direction and I had a minute to take a good look at him. 

He has always been attractive, but with the Karen incident before we left the other night, and I called myself his girlfriend during that time pushed a button. A good button. I won’t tell him, well not now, that I understood when he introduced me to Arthur as ‘ma petite amie’. Did I want to be his real girlfriend? I was tempted, too tempted to touch his face when my phone rang like crazy causing him to stir. I shot up from my bed and clicked the green button. “Owi-vi-yaaaaa are you awake noooow?” Andrea asked. “Hi sweetie, yes I am. What time is it there?” Trying to walk out of the room quietly. “Momma said it’s 7PM, say hi Momma and Dada!” She squealed as she handed over the phone to our parents. Mom wanted a look at the view we had from the room and get a walking tour of the room at the Pullman. I told her last night that we were in a King Suite.

“Oh the view is just beautiful, Olivia. Where’s your date though?” “Present, Good Morning Amber and excuse the face,” Julian greeted from behind. “Is that Joow-yan, mommaaaa? Hi Joow-yan!” Andrea greeted making my mom pane the camera towards her. I turned towards Julian who just got out of bed with messy hair in his boxers and white tee, wearing his glasses. “Hi cutie, I’ll bring you your present when we come back, okay?” Julian told her. Andrea gave him a bright smile and refocused on her food. “We won’t keep you, Andrea just really wanted to call and say hi,” mom said before saying goodbye.

Julian ordered room service to bring us breakfast and set it up on the balcony. He was taking care of that while I was in the shower, locking the bedroom door in case. “Merci beaucoup,” I hear Julian say with the door clicking to a lock. I quickly got dressed in an ankle length button down dress and grabbing my white sneakers out of the luggage. I went out to the living area seeing Julian looking seriously at his laptop, “everything okay?” I asked walking towards him. He looked up and smiled, “yes, just had an email come in about something but it’s all good. Let me get a quick shower in, but feel free to start your breakfast if you’re hungry,” he offered walking away. 

I quickly ran back to the room while he was in the shower to get my make-up kit, and the blow dryer. Not sure how today would go, but I feel like it would look good in pictures if I had my hair down. I was out on the balcony looking at the recently awoken Paris, sipping some coffee. “Your dress is good for this weather, it’s not super cold today, but tomorrow might be a different story,” Julian said sliding out in his jeans and a button down shirt, pulling down his sweater as he was settling to his chair. Breakfast was quiet, we just ate in comfortable silence taking in the view. 

I traded my tote for a small leather backpack, and placed two water bottles inside before heading out. Ile de la Cite was about 15 minutes away by train. We took the metro to the little island and rented bikes to get around and happily we can bike back to the Pullman since there was a bay for the rented bikes near the hotel. Sainte Chapelle was our first stop, and it was nothing short of amazing. The stained glass that encircled the Cathedral had me blown away. I was looking through the whole area and lit a candle when I had the chance, “what are you wishing for?” Julian asked, lighting his own. “For good weather this whole trip, you?” I returned. “For everything to go as planned… you know based on the itinerary and all,” he quipped. The Concierge was interesting, it took me back to books explaining Marie Antoinette’s life, but Notre Dame was far more amusing. We weren’t able to go inside, since the Cathedral was closed but pictures were allowed from the outside. 

“Sit here, and cross your legs with you looking away from the camera,” Julian suggested while taking a picture of me. I was seriously getting tired of pictures where it’s just me. “We need to take a picture too,” I suggested. We had a small camera with us that Julian brought and a tripod for scenic pictures. I was still sitting down as he set the timer to 15 seconds and quickly ran to where I was sitting to stand behind me, “it’s a burst shot for 5 frames,” he said as he placed his hands on my shoulders. He readjusted his watch for another burst shot. After our little photoshoot, we were lucky to see an empty table for two at Au Vieux d’ Arcole, a little cafe near Notre Dame. 

“You look so cute sitting in this colorful shop,” I said taking a picture of Julian who was looking at their menu. “Mhmm, I won’t ignore the fact that you called me ‘cute’ Ms. Mason, not today,” he smirked without directly looking at me, “what are you having?” “I’ll have the Seafood Crepe, with some orange juice, and an eclair,” I said. “I'll probably have the same,” he acknowledged standing up to order inside. I looked around the view of the little island and still couldn’t believe that I’m here. “Merci,” Julian said, taking the plates from the young waitress. The food here was amazing, and apparently not that expensive according to Julian. “There’s a little souvenir shop nearby if you want to visit before we go to our next destination,” I nodded and told him that I wanted to buy something for every place we will visit as keepsake. 

Biking to Ile Saint Louis meant that we would be catching a better glimpse of the Seine River. We stopped at the bridge connecting the two islands just looking at the boats travelling through, “what’s on your mind?” Julian asked while taking a quick timelapse of the river. “I just couldn’t believe you’d take me here on a first date,” I admitted. “Hmm.. well, if I could be honest with you, I did plan on taking you on a trip already since I knew my office rewards such as incentives post-project completion, pre-opening. I was thinking of flying within the US. But, Amber mentioned it and I knew I had to make it happen,” he explained. I looked at him intently, “why, though?” The wind was blowing across my face because of a boat that recently passed through. He tucked a loose hair behind my ear, “parce que vous le valez bien (because you’re worth it)”. “Don’t sweet talk me with your french, sir. I won’t forget that you called me your girlfriend yesterday,” I said rolling my eyes. “Oh? And how did you know I addressed you as such?” He asked, raising his eyebrow. “Google translate.”

He got back on my good side by taking me to Berthillon, an ice cream shop. We parked the bike on the nearby bay and decided to walk back to Seine through a different bridge. I sat on the ledge of Pont de L'Archeveche and had my back turned from the distant view of Notre Dame savouring my gelato while Julian was facing the other way, his stomach leaning on the ledge. Snap. I took a picture of him looking at Notre Dame. “Penny for your thoughts, Monsieur?” I asked, smiling at the picture I took of him. “I was just thinking of what to do after the complex opens,” he said, finishing off his cone. “You eat fast, but what about?” I asked. He fidgeted for the camera again setting up another timer as he spoke, “Lizzie’s in her last semester in college, and I’m pretty sure dad will be staying and looking after the resort more permanently now that he doesn’t need to go back to Bridgewood as much, and I, well, am not so sure how it will turn out for me given that the project consumed so much of my time too.” He fixed the camera again on the ledge across since there were no passerbys, and he walked back ready to click the timer we now fixed for just 5 seconds, he was clicking on his watch when I had the courage to speak my mind. “Well, if it helps.. je serai toujours la pour toi (I will be here for you always)”, I said as soon as he settled beside me clicking his watch. “What?” He asked, ignoring the camera. I laughed at his reaction, “take the picture again, I may have purposely timed it to catch you on camera at that very moment.”

Museums weren’t so much of my thing, but Musee d’Orsay was an exception, the history of how it was built, and where it was placed caught me in an instant. After that tour, we went straight to Place du Tertre to see little small shops to grab a cup of coffee and a bag of croissants before heading to Sacre-Coeur Basilica. We sat by the 300th step and people watched. “Good first day?” Julian asked. “Yes, very much so,” I told him. “You know, I have to tell you something again,” he said, “there are so many confessions, what’s up?” I asked, ripping a piece of the croissant he was holding. “Lizzie e-mailed me last night that Karen went to them on campus, but I don’t know what Karen would do exactly. She’s feisty and all, but she’s another level of Drew,” he confessed. “So, tell me, what exactly did she do to woo you?” I asked clearly curious because here he was, taking me almost halfway across the world, but Karen and I had nothing in common with looks, but also so it seems, by our personalities. “She tried to be what I thought was my ideal woman, physically that is” he shyly said, “honey blonde hair, blue eyes, that’s what I thought, but I was wrong.”

Sunset while strolling Montmartre was beautiful. It was full of color and lights, and the busy place was just so overwhelming but in a good way. We browsed through boutiques, and found Andrea a little necklace, and Brandon an anklet. We were able to buy Mrs. Willis a book from Ile Saint Louis earlier and my mom a few ones as well. Sitting outside Le Consulat was refreshing, across the street there were artists sketching for locals who were wanting to buy a nice portrait from everyone and anyone. I ordered Marget de Canard which was duck, salad, and potatoes which Julian again copied. This time I got to pick the dessert, which I chose Mousse au chocolat (chocolate mousse) and some classic white wine to pair with it.

Originally biking our way home was the plan, but we decided to bike only until the Grand Palais and walk our way back. It started to get cold during dinner but I didn’t let that stop me from enjoying the food and company. However, when we got to Grand Palais it started to bother. “Are you okay?” Julian asked, as we approached Pont de L’Alma. “Yes, just a little cold that’s all,” I admitted, rubbing my hands together. He took off the scarf he was wearing and wrapped it around me, and took my hands in his for warmth. “Aren’t you cold?” I asked, “not nearly as I think you are,” he smiled. We stood there for a while until I felt a little awkward standing in the middle of an area where there were a lot of people. He took my one hand as we walked and I put the other in my pocket. “So, first full day, on a 5-day date. How did I do?” He asked as we stopped at a red light, “beautifully well sir, but if there is any area for improvement, I hope you let me pay for the little things at the very least,” I said, whining like a 3-year old kid. “Okay, I’ll take note. Anything else?” He teased. We were now walking by the Eiffel Tower when he asked the question, “nothing, but I want to ask how was your first day on our date?” “Exceptional. I was able to take good pictures, spend time with you, and now here we are,” he said, stopping in the middle of the Eiffel Tower. 

“This wasn’t part of my plan really, it wasn’t for today at least, but here,” he said, pulling out a beautiful charm bracelet. It had several charms, a wave, a ferris wheel, a flower, and a cross, “I was planning to give it to you tomorrow night when I had a charm for the Eiffel already, but I couldn’t wait,” he said. I put my left wrist out for him to place it on me, “it’s beautiful, Julian.” “Not as beautiful as you,” he contradicted, “I told you the ideal girl was what Karen looked like, but I was wrong. Turns out I am attracted to a woman, stubborn, bossy, but strong-willed. Who laughs like a 5-year old,” he said with eyes staring into mine. 

“Brunettes are prettier, especially when they have sparkling brown eyes, and stand at 5 foot 3. She captured my heart the very first moment I saw her, and also broke my heart that same moment when I saw her cry... Olivia.” He called for me. I was staring at him, looking at him, he wiped away the tears I didn’t know I had and kissed my hand. “Seras-tu ma petite amie s’il te plait?” He asked, “for real this time” he added. I was floored, my head was spinning. In this city, the city of love, someone was asking me, ME. To be his girlfriend. “Oui,” was all I could say, in French, and in real life this time. “Oui?” He confirmed. I nodded as he lifted me up in the air in a hug spinning me around.