: ̗̀➛ part three of the
one for the road series
SNOWFALL / CL16
in which two childhood friends reunite. a formula one driver wants to learn how to snowboard and it just so happens that the daughter of his mum's be...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
✧ ˚ · . CHAPTER THIRTY. · ˚✧ met you at the right time
paris, february 2023
Traffic in Paris is obscenely loud, I realised, and it was a privilege to barely ever be bothered by it within the safe bounds of Lorelai's Montmartre café. It was unfortunate that that same privilege was not offered by the café Celine and I were currently sitting at, both of our laptops out on the small circular table with two steaming mugs of hot chocolate beside them.
As my fingers curled around my mug and pulled it towards me, I was forced to duck forward and take a sip to refrain the contents from spilling over the edge. It earned a smile from Celine, whose blue eyes glittered with humour in the light.
Her auburn hair was held from her face by a pair of Fendi sunglasses, perched on the crown of her head like a commoner's crown, and if it weren't for the fact that I knew her better than most, I would never have assumed she had just gotten through a breakup.
We weren't here to talk about what had happened, per se, but the topic of that night had constantly been on the tip of my tongue since we sat down ten minutes ago, even though our laptops were open and ready to discuss some meeting points. I had refused to go ti Lorelai's, even though it was Monday and I went in every Monday with Celine to do what we were doing now.
I twitched uncomfortably in my seat, the iron-carved back support painfully aching in all of the wrong places, while the cushion kept slipping from underneath me. How did people stay sitting here for long periods of time? This was torture. It felt like a betrayal to Lorelai to be sitting here, and yet the knowledge of that made me want to smugly cross my arms and shout see! I can hurt you as bad as you did me! Even though that was, of course, completely childish and unfair.
"What's going on in that head of yours?" Celine asked, her body angled towards the street with her legs crossed. She was forced to pull her Louboutin-wearing foot in every other minute to accommodate another guest shuffling by to their chosen spot. I wanted to remind said guest that the chairs were uncomfortable and the spaces were cramped, unlike the café in Montmartre that was the complete opposite—spacious and comfortable and perfect for meeting with Celine.
"I'm just upset about Lorelai," I admitted honestly. "And the fact my pettiness is biting me in the butt right now. I don't think I've ever been this uncomfortable since the last time I got my bikini line waxed."
Celine let out a laugh before glancing around us at all of the amenities this place lacked. "Yeah, I can't say I disagree. Lorelai's is definitely more accommodating."
I hummed noncommittally in response, taking another sip of my hot chocolate, allowing the thick liquid to warm me all the way down to my stomach. "I think it's the point. They want you to pay for their overpriced hot chocolate but drink it as quickly as possible so they can lure more people here with their pretty decorations and five stars on Google Reviews. But then, once they sit down, the cycle starts all over again."
