Reckless Love

3: The Tour Guide

~ HUNTER’s POV ~

Growing up, I was never the outgoing or popular type.

I wasn’t the kind of guy that had a lot of experience with girls before, especially not with girls like her. So it was a no brainer that after our little encounter, I ended up thinking about her for the rest of the night.

A part of me still couldn’t believe that it actually happened. I talked to a really pretty girl, I made her laugh, and she asked me to dance. Throughout the rest of the party, the car ride home, even in my sleep, and even as I woke up and lay in bed in the morning, I still couldn’t stop thinking about her.

Mainly I was wondering if I should have kissed her last night. It was such a perfect moment. We were dancing, swaying back and forth on this rooftop under the moonlight. Nothing could be more romantic than that. We looked like we were in a damn rom-com movie or something.

But jeez, who am I kidding? A girl like her and a guy like me? Not in a million years.

Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had. There was this particular moment back on the roof. We were slow dancing and she was laughing at something I said, and then our eyes met. Something like electricity jolted inside my chest and I wondered if I should have kissed her right then and there.

I really want to know what it would feel like. But I guess now I’ll never know.

I had only kissed two girls in my life so far. The first one was Kimberly and I was thirteen and we were playing spin the bottle. It was okay, but her lips were hella dry. She could have used some Chapstick. It would’ve been a lot better if she did.

Anyway, the second girl I ever kissed was Nina, who was my girlfriend in sophomore year and she was a better kisser than Kimberly. I thought I had fallen in love with this girl, except she was only dating me so she could get close to my best friend, Liam. Suffice it to say, they weren’t all great experiences.

Granted, I didn't have the best track record when it comes to kissing girls, but I had this feeling that it might be different with someone like Maia. She had this warm and inviting personality. And her lips looked so soft and enticing. If only I was brave enough to touch her face and run my fingers over her lips. If only I’d lean down and feel her warm breaths fanning against my cheeks.

I should’ve done it. I mean, what did I have to lose?

I should have grabbed her and pulled her close. I should have let my lips crashed into hers. My hands would trail the back of her neck down to the small on her back. With my arms tightly wrapped around her, I’d kiss her so hard and so deep. I’d taste every inch and corner of her mouth. Then I’d pull her dress up slightly so her bare knees would be touching mine…

Shit, it feels good.

I would relish in the feeling of her body being pressed tightly against mine. My hands would cup her cheeks so tight, she would never forget the feeling of my fingertips against her skin. Her lips would taste like champagne and I would kiss the living daylight out of her—

“Hunter? Darling? Are you coming down for breakfast — oh, dear!” once again, grandma came barging into my room, unannounced like always.

Shit!

Grandma gasped in horror at the sight in front of her and I quickly turned myself over the bed so hard, I actually fell off of it. Quickly, I pulled a pillow to cover myself before grandma could see anything else.

“Grandma… please,” I groaned in agony. “Knock the door next time,”

“Okay, Hunter,” she said with an awkward smile as she exited the room. “We will be waiting downstairs!”

I slammed my head against the pillow as soon as she left, hoping the impact would just kill me. It was only my second day here and grandma’s already caught me j*********f.

Off to a great start.

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“So, I heard you had an eventful morning,” grandpa greeted me as soon as I entered the kitchen.

He sat next to grandma at the breakfast table, who had a sheepish grin on her face. On the table lay all sorts of bread, juices, and scrambled eggs on the plates. Grandpa was reading a newspaper and his eyes were glued to it, even as he was speaking to me.

“Grandpa please, just… don't,” I whined as I took a seat next to him.

“Lighten up, kid. This is France we’re talking about. And you’re in that age where you um, you know,”

“Yes, but can we please talk about something else? Please, anything else will do,” I said as I grabbed a croissant and some butter.

“Did you have a good time at the party last night?” Grandma asked.

“Yes. I’ve never seen anything like it back in Little Falls. It was truly an experience of a lifetime,”

“We lost sight of you for a while back there. Where’d you go?”

“Oh… I was talking to someone. I made a friend,”

“A friend?”

“Yeah, her name’s Maia Rose,“

“Ambassador Du Pont’s daughter?” grandma’s eyes widened instantly.

“That’s the one,” I nodded.

Suddenly, the air in the room shifted. Grandpa shot a quick look over at grandma before he turned back to his newspaper.

“Say grandpa, are you close with the Du Pont family?” I asked him. “Maia mentioned that you guys would come over for dinner a few times,”

“Close is one word to describe it, I guess,” he replied. “I had to learn a lot of things about them. I was the one who wrote Pierre Du Pont’s autobiography after all,”

“Oh cool!” I nodded approvingly. “So, what are they like?”

This time, grandma shot a look over at grandpa and made a fake coughing noise. Grandpa followed by clearing his throat and putting the newspaper away.

“Boy, have you heard of the expression ‘all that glitters is not gold’?” Grandpa asked me cryptically.

“Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?”

Grandma shot another warning look over at grandpa.

Looking into my eyes meaningfully, grandpa said, “Let’s just say that we’re all just human. Sometimes even the best of us still have to fake it until we make it,”

“What? Are you saying that they’re a fake?”

“Okay,” Grandma got up quickly, “I think that’s enough. Hunter, dear, I’m going into town to run some errands. Would you care to join me?” she sounded somewhat persistent.

“Okay, sure, grandma,” I nodded slowly with my mouth full of buttered croissant.

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I knew there was something about the Du Pont family that my grandparents didn’t want to tell me. But I figured I had plenty of time to ask them about it later.

Meanwhile, I was now stuck running errands with my grandmother, and it was nowhere near fun, but at least I got to see some more sights of Paris. We were in the middle of Avenue Montaigne, walking around in this really cool street where you could see the Eiffel Tower towering nearby. Grandma was busy talking to this baker at a bakery when my eyes caught sight of something shiny at the next door’s antique shop.

Walking closer to the shop’s window, I saw a small wooden music box with two little figurines dancing inside it. I thought it was cute. It reminded me of Maia and our time together on the roof.

I opened the glass door of the antique store as she shopkeeper greeted me in French. I smiled politely at him before making my way to the music box. And the closer I got to it, the more surprised and excited I became.

Was I hearing this right?

The music box was playing a familiar tune. It was the song ‘Moon River’. We danced to this exact song last night and Maia said it was her favorite song.

I mean, what are the odds? This is so insane… like it was fate.

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I was getting hungry.

I looked at my watch and it was almost 7 PM. I hadn’t had anything since lunch and I had been standing here, in front of the Du Pont chateau’s gate for almost an hour. It was a windy day too and the cold, dry air was making me tremble in my boots.

Maia wasn’t home. Bernard, the house butler, said something about her attending music lessons. He offered to let me wait inside the house out of politeness, but I could tell he wasn’t completely trusting of me. He kept eyeing me from head to toe like I was some weirdo. I supposed he thought I was some party crashing, cigarette smoking, bad seed or whatever. I didn’t feel like intruding, so I decided on the polite option of waiting outside.

I was just about to give up waiting when I saw this big black car pulling up to the gate. I looked through the window as the car was passing by, and the girl sitting in the backseat was looking right back at me.

“Hunter?” Maia said as she swung her car door open and stepped out.

“Maia — hey, how’s it going?” I was stammering, for no apparent reason.

Way to be cool, my man.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

Her face was beaming. Her hair was neatly tied into a ponytail and she was wearing this summer dress under a light coat that was fit for a princess.

“I, uh, was just in the neighborhood,” I laughed nervously with my hands in my pocket.

She raised an eyebrow in disbelief. Right, of course, what was I thinking? I was standing here for almost an hour.

“No, actually I took a cab over. I wanted to stop by and give you this,”

I took out the small box wrapped in some old newspaper and handed it to her.

“What is it?” she asked as her fingers slowly tore through the packaging.

“I realized I never got you anything for your birthday, so um, happy belated birthday,” I replied.

Maia’s fingers finally got to the box that was under the newspaper wrapping and her eyes lit up instantly. She opened the box opened and the familiar tune began to play. She was staring at the miniature people dancing inside the box and I swear I saw her eyes glazing a little.

“You said it’s your favorite song…” I trailed. “I found it at a store while I was shopping with my grandma today and—“

Before I could say anything else, Maia had lunged herself at me. She wrapped her little arms around my body and hugged me tightly.

Girls in this country are very friendly. But no, I’m not complaining.

“This is like, the best birthday gift ever. Thank you,” she murmured against my chest.

I know she was just saying that. I was at the party last night, I saw the stacks of birthday gifts that she was receiving. There was even talk of a 5,000 Euro pair of shoes. This was nothing compared to that.

“Ah, it’s nothing,” I shrugged.

“You know, I was actually looking for you. I called your house earlier, your grandpa said you were out,” she said as she pulled away.

“You were looking for me?”

“Yeah, I wanted to thank you for what you did last night, you know… with Bernard. You totally saved my ass,”

“Oh, yeah. Sure, anytime,”

“So, as a token of my gratitude, I would like to offer my services of being your personal tour guide in Paris,” she announced happily.

“My what?” I gaped.

“You heard me. You’re an American in Paris, Hunter. There’s so much you need to learn,”

My breath was stuck in my throat. I couldn’t believe this was happening. And I just stood there like one of those annoying people holding up the line at Starbucks because they couldn’t make up their mind about their order.

“Come on, are you just going to stand there and gape at me all day?” she said as she walked back to the car, leaving the door open for me.

I had no idea what was happening at this moment, but that seemed to always be the case with Maia. You could never tell what she was gonna make you do next. So, I did what any mere mortal in my position would do, I followed her.

“Get excited Hunter, we’re going sightseeing!”

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- - - - - To Be Continued - - - - -