Love, Eternal

Bordeaux

Nola and Charles weren't Monaco long, and the days breezed past. They were leaving for Australia on Sunday, and it was already Friday. Nola felt sad to be leaving again but so excited to see what Australia was like! She hadn't seen Pierre the rest of the week, but she knew he was still here because he was also joining their flight on Sunday.

"Nola, hello. What about this one?" Freya called her friends name trying to get attention, she had spaced out, she kept doing this recently and it concerned Freya, whenever Nola was in her head a lot it easily went bad.
"Sorry I spaced, I like it but I preferred the blue one" Nola said. Freya nodded and went back into the changing room. She was shopping for a dress as her and Olivier were celebrating their two year anniversary on Saturday night, she was so excited he was taking her for a romantic dinner. Nola was very happy for them, she loved Olivier, he was such a great person.
"This one?" Freya said coming back out. It was a turquoise silk dress and it looked lovely on her
"Yes I love it! Some silver or white heels I think" Nola said, Freya nodded and looked in the mirror
"I think this is the one!" She said, Nola clapped excitedly. "I can't believe you're leaving again, I'm going to miss you like crazy!"
"I know, but we'll be back in Monaco in a months time for that race" Nola said, she was sad to be leaving as always but she was actually really excited to go off again, especially to Australia
"Just call me whenever you can" Freya said coming to hug her friend
"Of course I will"
"Especially if it's about a certain someone"
"Stop it you" Nola said laughing, she knew who Freya was talking about
"Well at least you're laughing about it now, that near kiss must of been something special"
"I don't know what you want me to say"
"Charles basically gave you his blessing already, just go with it and see what happens. Doesn't hurt to have a little fun" she said winking as she went back into the changing room
"I'm not messing about for the fun" Nola said seriously
"Why not, that's how me and Olivier ended up together"
"Because if I mess with him and something happens and he gets hurt, physically or emotionally" Nola said, any small distraction could hurt Pierre, particularly with his job
"I love you dearly, so don't take these too harsh, but stop living in the past and thinking those traumas are going to reoccur" she said. She was right, she was totally right and that's what made Nola even more annoyed. She needed to let it go but she didn't know what to do
"But if I forget about it and let it go, that's like forgetting him"
"You will never forget him, you'll always love him. Letting go isn't about forgetting, it's about forgiving yourself and doing what's best for you" she said coming out of the changing room in her own clothes holding the dress
"Yes mum" Nola said laughing. Both Freya and Charles were saying the same things it was creepy. But mentally Nola knew she wasn't there yet.
"Now let's go find me some shoes!" She said excitedly, Nola laughed and followed her through the shop.

Saturday night Nola had packed everything up ready to leave. She was at Freya's house helping her get ready for her anniversary meal. She was so excited for her. While she was putting on her dress, Nola got out her phone.

"If you're not busy, do you want to go and get a drink?"

Nola sent the message before she could regret it and put her phone down, she had to see if there was actually anything there, and she was getting bored of this narrative. Freya come out with the dress on and Nola looked up and smiled at her best friend
"Absolutely stunning!" Nola said to her, Freya did a little twirl and laughed, "let me just go over your hair once more to make sure" she sat down in the chair and Nola made sure her hair was in place and put some hairspray in before putting her necklace round her neck.
"Perfect, and right on time to!" Nola said putting her hand on her shoulder
"Thank you for helping me" she said putting her hand on Nola's. Freya was grateful for her friend, she didn't know where she would be sometimes without her.
"Always, now I'm gonna shoot off. Have the most amazing time, and I'll call you when I can to find out the details!" Nola said. She was excited to hear what Olivier had arranged for them. Freya stood up and gave Nola a big hug
"I miss you already"
"I know, but I'm only a phone call away. I love you"
"I love you to" she replied

As Nola walked out the door her phone buzzed in her pocket, she pulled it out to see the reply: absolutely, I'll meet you at the beach

Perfect. Nola walked away from Freya's house and down towards the beach. She wasn't wearing anything fancy, she wondered if she should of gone home and changed but it was too late now. She replayed all sorts of greetings in her head of how she could say hello, and should she hug him or not. Nola knew she was overthinking it but she then started worrying. She didn't need to worry because when she walked onto the beach, he was already standing there looking out at the ocean, when she saw him she felt better, she felt good.
"Hey" Nola said to him, making him turn around. His blue eyes sparkling in the evening sun
"Hey" he said, "do you want to go somewhere nice, or we could just go to one of the beach clubs? Or we could sit on the beach?" He asked
"The beach club sounds good to me" Nola answered him
"Great, let's go" they walked side by side towards the beach club, nothing felt awkward or weird as Nola originally thought it might.

Pierre pulled the chair out for Nola and let her sit down before sitting in his own seat across the table.
"I always joke with Charles that he's too much of a gentleman with me and I'm going to expect it from everyone and now you've done the same"
"Well lucky for you, I can be a gentleman as well" he said joking.
The waitress came over and interrupted their conversation, she was ogling Pierre the whole time.
"What can I get for you?" She said, no reference to Nola at all
"We will just have a bottle of Boredeaux, that's good for you Nola?" Pierre was used to attention, but the only attention he wanted was from Nola, so he turned the question to her as well
"Yes, perfect" Nola said
"Sooo, how's Charles?" He asked once the waitress had gone
"We're going to talk about my brother?" Nola laughed at the question
"No but I don't know what to say"
"I'll start the questions. How come you're living in Milan now?" Nola said. She had heard about Pierre moving there, all his family live in France so the move was weird to her
"It's nice, it's just where I seemed to have settled, but I can still fly back to France easily from there to see my family, but it works and it's all fashion and trendy" he said, "do you still speak Spanish as well? He asked. Nola laughed and nodded, as Pierre poured the the wine that the waitress had brought over
"Why do you ask?"
"I want to learn Spanish" he said
"You can learn easily"
"Oh are you going to teach me?" He asked, maybe if she taught him a language it would be a reason to see her
"Well I'm more fluent than you" Nola smirked
"Alright alright, we can't all be as smart as you. How many languages do you speak now?" He asked
"Erm four? English, French, Italian and Spanish. Currently wondering what I can learn next" Nola said. He laughed, only the four for now. That was Nola through and through, she always wanted to do something new
"See, smart. You should come to Milan. You would love it, fashion, food and music" Pierre said. Nola was as fashion forward as him, she had a very individual style and was creative with what she did. Milan would be perfect for her
"Maybe I'll take you up on that one day" Nola said. She noticed that Pierre smiled
"What made you want to come for a drink tonight then?"
"I was preventing the inevitable" Nola said shrugging. She was, she wanted to see what it was like and she knew, especially with the people around her, it was going to happen, so she wanted to do it on her terms
"Right.."
"Meaning I wanted to anyway, and I thought why the hell not. Freya keeps going on and on about go with the flow and Charles is like live in the moment. It's actually exhausting"
"Exhausting being the only one that can't see you're standing in the way of your own potential happiness" Nola was shocked at his words, he didn't say it in a harsh way but it was blunt and direct. He is French, it's the only way they speak. But for Pierre, he had to say  it for exactly what it was
"Basically, yes" Nola admitted it and sipped her drink and carried on talking. There wasn't a minute Pierre and Nola didn't speak, Nola had butterflies in her belly the whole time but she didn't feel anxious or weird at all. Nola laughed more than she had done in a very long time. Pierre was thrilled to have Nola with him, they spoke and drank and had a really lovely time. He was glad she had asked to go for a drink, he went to bed happy. Nola went to bed happy.