The Alchemy

Paris

We've begun to settle into our own little routines. I wake up next to him, and he sneaks out of my room, making sure nobody sees us. I go to rehearsals and perform during the tour, then we go out for dinner or order in, talk, laugh and then have sex. During my breaks, we explore the city or just enjoy each other company.

This morning, though, I wake up alone. The sun has just begun to rise, and I can already hear the birds outside. I don't have a show today as we've just arrived in Paris. I get up and walk into the living room area of the suite I'm staying in.

I think I'll never get used to all this luxury. The bed seems like something out of a fairytale. The bathroom is as big as the room I had when I was a kid, with marble walls, a beautiful shower, and a huge bathtub. The paintings on the wall are beautiful—Renoir, Manet—it's just so pretty.

In the middle of the room, there's a breakfast cart replacing the dinner one we had last night. The cart is full of what looks like delicious French pastries, fruits, and coffee. He must have ordered it; that's very thoughtful of him.

The balcony door is open, and I can hear someone talking. I get closer, and what I thought was someone speaking is actually Will yelling at someone on the phone. I don't quite catch everything, but he's talking about money and his brother. It must be about the issues his brother has—I think he owes money to some bad people. I've offered to help, but Will doesn't want it.

I come up behind him and hug him while he's still on the phone. His whole body tenses. His tone lowers as he acknowledges my presence by putting his free hand on mine and intertwining our fingers.

When he's done, he pulls me in front of him and kisses me on my forehead. I can feel his whole body relax as he takes a deep breath.

"Hi, honey. What's going on?" I ask, worried.

"Nothing. Don't you worry," he says.

He wants to protect me by not telling me anything, but I really want to help him and his family.

"So, what do you want to do today? Do you want to go sightseeing, or we can stay in the room?" I ask.

Tempted by his suggestion, I pretend to think it over, even though I've already made up my mind.

"I don't know... What could we do in the room?" I tease.

He raises an eyebrow, knowing exactly what we could do.

I take his hand and lead him inside, away from prying eyes. As soon as we're out of sight, I pull him against the wall and kiss him as passionately as I can. He turns us around and starts kissing my neck, going lower and lower with each kiss. I can feel myself getting wet at his touch.

He's almost at the spot where I need him the most when someone knocks on the door. We jump and separate as fast as possible. We try to keep quiet, but it seems that every time we want to have sex, someone knocks on the door. Last time, it was my father who almost caught us.

I go to open the door, making sure my cheeks have returned to their normal color, as they tend to get red when I'm having sex. It's Tree, and she seems a little out of breath.

"You're not ready yet? Please tell me you saw my texts!" she rushes.

"Good morning to you too, Tree. Oh, how am I doing? Pretty good, thank you for asking. What about you?" I joke.

"Taylor, we don't have time for jokes. I have an interview in 30 minutes!" she exclaims.

The smile on my face fades, replaced by a look of panic.

"What?! No, I didn't see your text. I'm not even dressed!"

"I know. I'm sorry—it's last minute, but it's important. Go get ready; we're leaving in 10 minutes."