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Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine:

Hope

I couldn’t fall back to sleep after that dream; I couldn’t get it off my mind. The thought of Harry getting hurt was more than I could handle, and bringing him to France didn’t guarantee safety for either of us; it was the only country I could think of that Jared didn’t visit regularly, but I couldn’t be too sure.  I just had to make sure that Harry didn’t know what dangers I had brought into his life.

We were walking for what seemed hours. Concrete pavement turned to cobblestone pathways and finally faded out to grass beneath our feet. I would have sworn we were walking off the edge of the earth, but eventually the emptiness opened out onto a quaint street lined with bookshops and cafes. ‘La Chambres Rose’ was a hotel on the outskirts of Paris with a pink picket fence and a handwritten sign pushed into the grass outside of the entrance.

            “Looks like our best bet.” Harry’s eyes were heavy with sleep, the soft green colour interrupted by barely visible red lines surrounding each iris. He hadn’t slept on the plane either after I had woken up screaming. He spent the following hours pointing out shapes in the clouds and keeping me company until we landed.

“This is what we get for not booking a room at a decent hotel before we arrived. Karma exists after all,” I whispered under my breath as we entered. Harry chuckled, walking up to the old oak counter and ding, ding, dinging the bell until, after a five minute wait, a man with a name tag reading ‘Victor'  showed up. He placed his mug down on a coffee stained ring and cleared his throat. “Are you looking for directions?” He asked. Harry and I exchanged a glance before laughing.

      “Non, nous aimerions réserver une chambre,” Harry addressed him in French, something I didn’t know he could do. “No, we’d like to book a room.”

Victor looked confused for a few moments before lifting a shoulder. I could understand his surprise; the place looked like it hadn’t had any residents since the 80’s- the psychedelic pink and black carpet gave it away. “Quand allez-vous partir?”

“When will we be leaving?” Harry translated to me, a hint of playfulness in his smile. It was obvious he found the situation amusing. I wondered if he had noticed Victor's slippers, too. I stammered slightly, before giving an impulsive answer.

“A week.” I hoped that a week would be enough time to figure out some sort of plan, but I couldn’t imagine what came after Paris. There was no way that Harry could go back to San Francisco, and no way I could go home. My lungs tightened.

      “You okay?” He asked.

“I’m okay, I think. Just tired.” Seeming unconvinced, he nodded. Victor’s slippers brushed against the carpet as he locked up the windows and handed us a rusted key. He disappeared through the back, humming a 50’s tune and leaving us to find our room alone.

As it turned out, room number fifty-one was at the end of the hallway on the top floor, with a balcony overlooking the Eiffel tower and sheer curtains fluttering in the breath of the wind. Surprisingly, there was no sign of any tacky carpet choices, but a lot of white, appearing almost silver in the light of the moon peering in through the windows. The view of Paris relaxed me, convincing me that we hadn’t strayed too far from the rest of civilization on our long walk from the airport. Harry joined me on the balcony, wrapping both arms around my waist and resting his chin on my shoulder.

            “What did you dream about?” He whispered.

            “I don’t remember now,” I lied, tipping my chin back so that my head rested against his chest. “It was just a nightmare. It wasn’t real,” I added, mainly for my own comfort. Harry chuckled slightly, lacing his fingers together with mine. Our breaths fell into a synchronised rhythm as we watched the city ahead of us, the sparkle of the Eiffel Tower lights; narrow pathways below lined by buildings and homes with pastel coloured doors. A man leaned his bicycle against the brickwork below and blew a kiss in our direction before walking into his house. I laughed, finally calm.