Right At Your Door

Chapter Ten

"I've flown to every part of the world looking for you, only to find you in this very corner of a cage, reminding you that you too have wings."

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“What?”

The word escaped Aimée as she tried to push herself away from Christophe but he held her steadily.

“Aimée,” Christophe called softly but she continued to struggle.

“I told you I would stay as long as you wanted me to,” Aimée forced out, successfully worming her way out of Christophe’s hold, only to knock down half of his fort. His face fell and a pang of guilt pierced Aimée, but she closed off all feeling. Shock and hurt surrounded the air about her, becoming her protective walls. “You don’t want me to stay,” she murmured.

“I want you to be happy,” Christophe said, looking away.

“I am happy,” she protested. “This is the first time I have ever been with you and I realize that with you is when I am the happiest.”

“But you still miss Paris,” Christophe said, shaking his head.

“What good is sending me away?” Aimée asked, avoiding his statement. Tears were falling freely now but she swiped at them violently. “I leave and I would still have to go to Munich. Then, I would be twice as unhappy.”

“You made your own decision about coming here to stay with me,” he stated. “Make another choice of your own to stay in Paris. There’s nothing here for you.”

“But you’re here,” Aimée sobbed, no longer understanding what is happening in her life.

“But you’re not happy! You wander around with nothing to do and nothing to see! I see you when you don’t think I can. You don’t think I can tell but I do!” Christophe looked away, raking his fingers through his messy hair in distraught. His voice lowered as he told her, “Trust me, I understand how it feels to stay here, like you’re trapped in some goddamn bird cage. And it’s worse for you. You had a taste of the world and now life is nothing without it.”

Aimée shut her eyes, smearing the tears on her lashes against her skin. He was right, about everything. She thought she could convince herself that this was how she wanted her life to be, but she was wrong. Aimée was used to the constant turn of the world and thought she did not want it; now, with time dragging its feet from one day to the next, her soul craved for change.

“We’re together now,” she whispered. “I have had a taste of that too. Of being with you. I can’t leave that behind. I can’t leave you behind. You hate it here too.”

“I thought I did,” Christophe said quietly. He watched Aimée intently, his irises full of softness for the girl his heart had a soft spot for. “But then you came. And I realize that I just hated here because this wasn’t where you were. Now that you’ve been here, I think I’ll be fine. I’ll be able to go to the places we’ve visited and appreciate them because I’ve now experienced Seattle with you. You’ve made it truly feel like home.”

“I don’t know where home is,” Aimée cried softly. Another second later and she was safe in Christophe’s embrace, clutching on to the security she felt while it lasted. Her time in Christophe’s arms was now limited. “I don’t know where to go or what to do. All I know is you.”

They sat there in silence, Aimée’s soft sobs filling the emptiness of the large house.

“I know you think you’re lost,” Christophe whispered, kissing Aimée’s hair. “But I also know that this isn’t what’s best for you. The world’s your home and here, you’re trapped in the corner of it.”