Christopher felt as though he could breathe for the first time in 15 years. The thought of being in the same city as her made him happier than he'd been in a long while. He had visited Paris before, plenty of times, but knowing she was there too made him see the City of Lights differently. He realized he hadn't spoken in a couple of minutes, but Dalia was staring towards what he knew was the Musée d'Orsay, so he didn't say anything else for a while.
He felt conflicted. He knew that Anna had probably moved on with her life. If she had truly been forced out of his life, she knew he was bound to marry the beautiful brunette in front of him. He couldn't say he had feelings for her, he didn't know her too much, but he had been engaged to her for the better part of his life, even if he had known for only 15 years of them; he felt a pull towards her that was probably caused by their, until a few days ago, unavoidable situation. On the other hand, he remembered what it was to love Anna, the redhead that had shown him what living meant. They both shared a wild side that was both intriguing and scary.
"Does she have anyone?" he asked, the curiosity getting the best of him. Dalia turned towards him, her face giving nothing away.
"Why don't you ask her yourself?" a mischievous smile now spread through her face, and tasted bile in his mouth.
"Is she here?" He asked way too fast for it to be normal.
"Only if you want her to" She replied. She then turned on her heels and stated walking towards the inside of the suite and sat on one of the sofas of the common area. Christopher followed her inside; even in the morning the summer heat was making him sweat, although it probably wasn't the only reason.
"Just tell me. I don't think I am ready to see her just yet" he pleaded ad Dalia nodded.
"She was married for 4 years" She gauged his reaction, but his face was expressionless, giving away nothing, but the sheer layer of sweat on his face made her feel a bit sorry for putting him in that situation. Nevertheless, she reached for her bag and searched for the file she had carefully stored inside one of the three binders she had in there. Christopher raised both of his eyebrows in a questioning matter, a playful smile on his lips and she just shrugged.
"Do you have a file on me too?" he asked teasing her, but also curious of the answer.
"Off course I do" She responded as if it was the most common thing, opening the file and scanning through the first page, before moving on to the second one. "She filed for divorce three years ago, citing marital breakdown" she moved on to the following one, her eyes rose for a brief moment, looking for sings that he wanted her to stop, he gave none "She has had one relationship since, but it only lasted six months. That was a year and a half ago" her tone made it seem like she didn't have to read the file at all, but he guessed she was baiting him to take it and see all the information about her.
"This is the reason why you chose Paris, isn't it?" he asked, although it sounded more like a fact rather than a question.
"Partly yes" she agreed, but Christopher didn't seem pleased with that answer, so she sighed and kept talking. She at least owed him an explanation "I've know about Anna for a few years, 7, to be more precise. When I told you I've been planning this for a long time, I wasn't lying" She paused, debating herself whether or not to disclose that information, but he was helping her, so she carried on "Everyone has a weakness, I figured she was yours. That was my way of getting you to cooperate. When I found out she was in this city, I started planning everything around it."
"You are quite a manipulative woman" he interrupted her, even if the commentary was meant to be hurtful it sounded more like a compliment.
"I would rather the term calculating or resourceful, but I can't deny I can be" She didn't seem offended at all. She had learned that it was necessary if she ever wanted to live a normal life. "Anyway. I knew I had to appeal to your weakness in order to gain your help. Although it did take me by surprise your timeframe, it put me in a bit of a pickle, but nothing too worrisome" she laughed to herself, and Christopher couldn't help but be astonished by the woman he was watching. He was always searching about any type of information about her, but they were always the same, everyone described her as reserved, poised and really just average, not too smart, not too dumb. Nothing like the Dalia he was seeing now.
"What did you study?" he asked, he couldn't remember at the top of his head, although he was fairly sure he knew.
"I did my undergraduates' degree on human, social and political science and a Master's on social anthropology," she answered.
"That explains a lot, actually" he felt the need to explain further, but he still wanted to hear the rest of her story "carry on, please" he was starting to relax himself around her, even if he did not trust her completely.
"Ok. So after I figured out how to get you to help me I needed to figure out how to vanish, but I am not telling you that part, the less you know about it, the better" she fidgeted with the file that was still on her hands, so she put it aside on the sofa before continuing to speak "but I am not as horrible as you think. I do want you to be happy. Even if I've hated you for as long as I could comprehend what an arranged marriage was, I was not about to ask something so big of you without giving you something in return" she motioned towards the file with her head.
Christopher's head was spinning. He was mad at her for using him, but at least she was honest about it. On the other hand, she was indeed giving him something he thought was lost forever to him, even if it was just a possibility. Dalia stared at the handsome man in front of her. She couldn't deny his good looks, his light stubble complemented his dark complexion, and his hair was cut short, plus even through his clothes she could see he was well built. But she had made the decision to not marry him many years ago and she was way too stubborn to let his appearance deter her from her goal. Besides, she knew now that he couldn't love her the way he love Anna.
"I can't say I am happyabout your ways, but I will still help you. Not because I owe you anything orbecause you brought me here to see her. But because I feel like I can relate toyour situation. But my terms still stand. You get caught and they still want usto marry, we will," he said with a sense of finality that left no room fordiscussion.
YOU ARE READING
72 Hours
Romance"That was so corny" That was Dalia's response. He took the bracelet and locked it in her wrist "And we've been engaged since I was 5" "Yes, I know. My parents felt the need to wait until I was in love and off age to tell me" he retorted. "See. I hav...
