Right At Your Door

Chapter Nine

"What is distance but the glass wall between us two, stopping me from holding you?"

<<<>>>

It was sometime around four in the morning when Christophe woke up to find the other side of his bed empty.

A shot of panic froze the blood in his veins. Through his open bedroom door, he squinted his weak eyes to see the blurry dark mass of what had to be hair. His shoulders sagged in relief. He smiled to himself, remembering what had come about before the two fell asleep. 

They had merely talked once they had climbed into bed, except there was a change; full of whispers and kisses, the two knew they had delved deeper in their relationship, irreversible yet it was what they had both been waiting for unknowingly all these years.

Christophe heard the soft lilt of French as Aimée spoke quickly into her phone. There was no doubt in Christophe’s mind that she was talking to her parents. He could barely catch and translate a few words from her rapid answers.

“No…want, yes…I miss Paris…but I choose…for Christophe…I can be fine here…”

“I miss Paris.” The phrase repeated inside Christophe’s mind flooding him with guilt. But as soon as Aimée bid her farewell and entered the room again, Christophe buried all doubts, deciding to deal with them at a later date.

“Good morning,” Aimée said softly, climbing into the warmth of the bed and Christophe’s arms. “Did I wake you?”

“No,” Christophe responded, kissing Aimée’s forehead. He was afraid that once the night ended, they would reverse back to merely best friends, cross back into a no-kiss zone. He was relieved when she gave him a slight peck on the cheek in reply. Aimée curled into a soft little ball and Christophe turned to his side so that he faced her. “I just panicked when I didn’t see you.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Christophe,” Aimée giggled and Christophe forced out a smile, finding more weight in her words than what Aimée intended.

“So,” he said, trying to change the subject.

“So,” she repeated. “Today is your last day of break.”

“I know,” Christophe replied. “How do you think I should spend it?”

Aimée scooched closer to Christophe. “However you want, although I was hoping you would want me to be with you.”

Christophe kissed Aimée, feeling her lips curve softly into a smile as she kissed him back. “That’s exactly what I want.”

<<<>>>

Once school was back in session, it took all of Aimée’s persuasive skills to get Christophe out the door each morning. 

“I can’t go, you’re home alone without me,” Christophe would argue. With online schooling, Aimée did not have to go to school with Christophe, much to his disappointment. She had finished all her high school as well as college courses early.

“Nice try, but you still have to go,” Aimée would giggle. She would give him a pat on his shoulder and send him on his way, but not before a kiss or two to appease Christophe.

 Aimée smiled until Christophe was gone, waiting for his absence so she could sag her shoulders dejectedly. After one full day of Christophe at school, Aimée realized exactly how her life was before being with Christophe every second for a whole week—terribly boring without her best friend. When Jenica did not have work or she came home early, the two would bake and cook but this only happened once or twice.