: ̗̀➛ 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...
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✧ ˚ · . CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE . · ˚✧ just shout whenever and I'll be there
paris, february 2023
The lights were off at Café Gardenia, even though it had barely surpassed 3 pm and the opening hours marked on the window clearly indicated 4 pm as closing time. There was only a piece of paper taped to the glass door underneath the closed sign, and as soon as I was close enough to read it, worry coursed through me.
Closed due to personal circumstances. Normal opening hours resumed tomorrow (Tuesday)
"Well, I guess there goes my plan," I said with a forced laugh. Celine stepped closer, heels clicking against the cobblestone, to read the sign herself. The redhead had convinced me to pass by the café on our way back from dress shopping (which had turned into heel and accessory shopping, meaning Celine was now carrying multiple bags on her arm). Mostly because I had realised throughout the afternoon how much I missed Lorelai, even though it had only been a couple of days since I last spoke to her. But here we were, and apparently the universe was not on my side today.
"This is not like Lorelai at all," Celine stated, shaking her head and pulling her phone out of her bag. I waited while she typed and tapped at her phone, but after a couple of rings, the call went to voicemail.
"Maybe she's with Alfie," I suggested, although the words left my mouth slightly bitter. Celine narrowed her eyes at me, and I raised my hands in defence. "What? It's a fair assumption."
Celine set her sunglasses back onto the bridge of her nose, her smooth hair falling alongside her face like a wall of fire. "Call him and ask? I don't have his number." She then suggested, the right side of her lips tilting up—she knew what she was doing, cornering me, forcing me to call my brother and not only make things right with Lorelai, as I was planning to do, but also with him. The sneaky...
She smiled at me and pointedly shifted her gaze to my bag, where my phone was tucked safely away. With an only-slightly-over dramatic sigh, I reached for it and dialed Alfie's number, placing the call on speaker so that Celine could listen along. He picked up on the second ring.
"Hello? Arden? Are you okay?" His voice seemed rushed, as if he was trying to get all of the phrases out in the same breath. I had heard a similar tone too often over the past week for it not to make me huff in slight annoyance, even though I knew the reason for all instances traced straight back to me and my own actions.
"I'm okay!" I immediately reassured him. "I just called because Celine and I are outside Gardenia right now and Lorelai isn't here. Do you perhaps know where she is?"
"She messaged me an hour or so ago saying she went home sick, said she was going to take the rest of the day off with the hope it would help. But I haven't heard from her since, why?" Alfie asked.
