Take Me To Paris

Chapter Three

The next two day went by quickly. They went something like this: Wake up, eat, fix the bakery, eat if there's time, French class, eat, sleep, repeat. And since I was so tired, I didn't get the pleasure of  Paris at night. Next thing I know, my aunt is waking me up on the opening day of my bakery.

"What if no one is there?" I said. "What if no one cares? What if-"

"Piper! Stop. And. Calm. Down. If no one wants to come, that's their problem. No yours." Aunt CC said as we walked out of the apartment building and down the street.

"But we spent so much time cleaning." I said, looking at the ground.

"Good exercise. Also, we spent time together." Aunt CC replied.

"And the baking." I said.

"If no on wants the baked goods, we'll have a good treat." Aunt CC said. I still didn't look up.

"And the French classes?" I said as we rounded the corner.

"You need those anyway. Besides-" Aunt CC stopped where she was.

That was enough to make me look up. My mouth dropped.

Standing in front of my bakery, as little as it is, was a huge line of people.

"I'd say that's about half of Paris right there." Aunt CC joked. I elbowed her and grinned.

"No joke, though, that's a lot of people." I said.

"They must've liked your 'French and English' touch to it." Aunt CC said. "And it's not even nine thirty.

As we squeezed past the people, someone said, "Pas de ligne de coupe!"

"Elle est la propriétaire!" Aunt CC said back.

"What did he say?" I asked quietly.

"He said, No cutting line!" Aunt CC said. "I told him you are the owner."

We could barely squeeze in before  everyone crowded in behind us. Aunt CC had come earlier to put more bread in the oven and we could now smell that sweet smell of French bread baking. I stopped for a moment to take it all in.

I slipped behind the counter undetected. Aunt CC was already in the back, the kitchen part.

Around noon, it got even more crowded, if that was possible. But around two things started clearing up a bit. By then we had sold well over a hundred items. There were only about five or six people now. And I was glad.

Then, it was at that. moment, I saw him.

He was about two inches taller than me, with black hair and brown eyes. He lookedd around then saw me. We locked eyes. After a moment, he walked up to the counter.

"Bonjour." He said shyly. How cute.

"Bonjour." I said back.

"Je m'appelle Oliver." He said.

Je m'appelle? He said Oliver, so maybe he's talking about his name...

"Je m'appelle Piper." I Said and smiled at him, all the while writing down notes of what he said.

"Pourrais-je obtenir votre numéro?" Oliver said.

"Um... " I said. I had no idea what that meant. Numéro sounded like number, and it was said in a question. That I could tell. Maybe he was asking for my phone number. I scribbled down my number on a piece of paper and gave it to him. He smiled.

"Merci, Piper." Oliver said. So je m'appelle did mean 'my name is'. And I guess that was what he wanted.

I smiled and nodded. I hadn't yet learned what 'your welcome' was in French.

He put five euros in the tip jar.

"Merci." I said.

"Vous êtes les bienvenue." He said, then turned and left. That must mean 'You're welcome'.

"Excuse me, miss?" Someone said. She came up to the counter.

"Yes, how can I help you?" I said.

"I would like to buy a slice of your strawberry cheesecake please." She said.

"That will be one euro." I said. She handed it to me. The woman looked to be in her early twenties or at the very least eighteen.

"By the way, I love that you also can speak English. I'm here for a year and a half for college, and I'm happy to have this little touch of home." She said. "I'll probably be a regular customer."

"Oh, no problem. I figured there would be some English speaking tourists who don't know French." I said.

"Well, that's very thoughtful of you." Said the woman. "My name is Rosyln."

"I'm Piper." I said.

"It's very nice to meet you, Piper." She said."See you tomorrow."

"Ok, see you tomorrow." I said. "Au revoir!"

Aunt CC came out from the kitchen. "Who was that?"

"My new friend Roslyn. She's also from America." I said. "Or as we French call it, The States. And she appreciated the English and French thing."

"Well that's nice." She said.

At five we turned the sign that said FERMÉ and under it, it said CLOSED. Aunt CC took me to a little outdoor bistro, and like everything in Paris, it was different but amazing. After that we walked around town. Stopped at some stores. We basically went sightseeing. If Paris was beautiful in the day, it was gorgeous at night. Although I already knew that from the start when I was in my room.

When we got home it was nearly nine thirty. After I had showered and gotten ready for bed, it was almost ten. I told Aunt CC goodnight and headed for my room.

But I was not tired. I waited for Aunt CC to go to bed, which wasn't much waiting, then walked out onto my balcony and sat at one of the chairs and rested my arms on the matching table.

The light show was going on tonight. I could've watched it forever. A month ago in the States, if you had told me I would be on my balcony in Paris watching the Eiffel Tower light show, that would've bored me to death. I would've much rather been watching YouTube secretly in my room. But this was much better.

I watched until my eyelids got heavy and it was hard to hold up my head. I sleepily walked back into my room and got in my bed, still thinking about the light show.

Like anything in Paris, it was spectacular. Different maybe, but spectacular.