I poured my coffee into my travel mug and added cream and sugar. Nothing different. Nothing was ever different. The same boring routine every day for the past 6 months.
I grabbed the top to my mug and snapped it on. I turn my head and reached for the sketch book sitting on the edge of the counter. My phone sat in my back pocket so all I need was my headphones. After a while of desperately searching I finally found them. I threw everything in my bag and slung it over my shoulder. I closed the door behind me and made sure it locked.
When I reached the "lobby" of my apartment I waved to the women behind the front desk offering a friendly smile. I had seen her before and we said are hellos but in the 6 months of living in this apartment I still hadn't learned her name.
Paris was so beautiful in the spring. All the flowers were in full bloom and the sky was a perfect blue. I made my daily route towards the Eiffel tower. When I finally got there I sat on an open park bench and sat my bag to the left of me. I pulled out my headphones and plugged them into my phone. I put one headphone in and left the other one hanging. I reached in for my sketch book and opened to my previous design.
This is how the day always went, don't get me wrong I loved it, it was everything I always dreamed of as a kid. I was an interior design for a big company in Paris I mean what else could you ask for. My company had me working on a small office space for a family, I had been working on it for a couple or days since it wasn't a quick project. I picked up where I left off yesterday allowing my music to play but still allowing me to hear the voices around me.
After about an hour past I noticed the noise around me died down and the people had started to migrate in different directions. Some people still walking around the open plain of grass admiring the Effie tower another women actually sat on the wall reading a book a short distance from me.
I glanced around to notice a few larger looking men walking towards my direction scanning the area around them. One peered around his shoulder and started talking into his phone still facing whatever he was looking at. The other one walked by me and stopped when he reached the end of the path leading to the tower.
My attention was drawn back down towards my sketch book but I didn't continue to draw. I was stuck, at lost of what could make this space look complete. I crossed my legs and bit the end of my pencil in frustration. I noticed more voices but continued to ignore them as they got closer I narrowed my eyes in their direction without lifting my head. All I could see was the large man I had seen moments before still standing where I last saw him.
I picked up my phone and changed the song before looking at the time. I placed it back down next to me and looked back again at my sketch book. I grew more and more frustrated with myself until I heard a voice that almost made me jump. I could hear it from just down the path, I didn't look up though, I was almost scared too.
I recognized that voice all to well, then when he laughed I felt weak in my seat. Was this actually happening, I slowly turned my head, I dropped my pencil in complete shock at what I saw.
