1.2 | Je T'aime Encore ✓

10 | nostalgia

10

n o s t a l g i a

Anita ended up exactly where she guessed she would; the park where you could see the illuminated structure of the Eiffel Tower.

Anita remained coming here over the summers to sketch, and then go for a walk or a bike ride around the park, enjoying the fresh air and the French atmosphere.

During the night, everything was different.

It felt more serene, less occupied by kids, and the Eiffel Tower was lit up in a beautiful yellow color that Anita couldn't help staring at, mesmerized.

The beauty of her surrounding almost let her forget what happened at the gala. Almost. Anita had always hated that word. "Almost" was the word someone used when they weren't good enough.

"Almost" was the word that could describe Leon and Anita's relationship. She was almost in love. Leon was almost good for her. She almost waited for him. They almost made it. Almost... but not quite.

Anita's vision blurred, and she wiped away her tears hastily. Somewhere off in the distance, probably from the Eiffel Tower, a song started playing. It was a soft melody that eventually built up and... oh, fuck. Anita realized a moment later what song it was. It was their song. Anita and Leon's. Leon and Anita's.

And she was listening to it alone. Anita leaned against the pole she was next to, laughing at the irony while tears filled her eyes.

God, she was so sick of this. She didn't like pretending, and she was never an actor. She never could be. So, why was she trying so hard?

In her frustration, Anita got up, intending to walk home when the champagne kicked in. She almost doubled over in her drunk state of mind before a strong arm circled around her waist. For a minute, it was almost like her stomach fell and the rest of her body didn't. That wasn't good for a drunk person, and Anita figured she had 1 minute tops before the champagne came back for it's revenge. Obviously, the person knew this too, because they gently released her, giving her space to empty her stomach's content into the nearest trash can.

The person who caught her seemed to know her, because they pulled out a stick of gum, and a water bottle before offering it to Anita, whose cheeks were a light pink in embarrassment.

"Thanks," she said, putting the stick of gum in her mouth, before looking up and realizing who it was.

God, it was Leon. "Was Anna too boring for you?" She scoffed, before turning to look back at the Eiffel Tower. She could hear Leon sigh and rake a hand through his hair before sitting down next to her. Anita felt her shoulder's tense as he began to talk.

"Do you remember this song?" Leon asked, looking at Anita, a sad smile on his face.

"No," Anita said, as Leon's face fell.

Yes, I do.

"Oh," Leon said, and they sat in uncomfortable silence for a few seconds before Leon started talking.

"Do you remember our future plan to live here? We would move into my loft after we graduated, with art degrees, and I would open my own studio a street down the block while you became a famous artist. Do you remember any of that?" Leon asked, looking at Anita while his hair flopped into his face, covering half of one eye.

Anita's fingers twitched to fix his hair, but she stilled her fingers, and clasped them tightly in her hands, digging crescent moons into her palms.

"Do you remember any of that?" Leon said softer, staring at her.

A lone tear slipped down Anita's cheek. "Stop," She said hoarsely. "Stop telling me stuff like that. After what you did with Lindsey, we're fucking over."

Leon pursed his lips. "Anita, if you gave me the chance, I would explain exactly what happened. But, you're not letting me."

"Okay," Anita said, looking at the Eiffel Tower.

Leon frowned. "Let's walk through the city for a while, shall we?"

Anita glared. "No, thank you."

Leon raised an eyebrow, looking as if he was trying not to smile. "I'm not exactly giving you a choice right now,"

Anita glared at Leon's outstretched hand, and she slowly touched it.

"Come on," Leon said tugging her along.

And for once, Anita didn't resist.