sign {h.s.}

chapter forty-one

MANY TIMES, I have heard French referred to as the language of love.

More than once, I've even thought it myself. I've thought about it as such when I hear Harry speak it to me with its soft curves and gentle peaks. The tenderness of the syllables you say, and the delicate dropping of those that remain unpronounced. I've found myself enamored with the formation of each word leaving his lips. I've thought it when I've heard it in movies, seen it in television shows. When there have been songs featuring French interjections, I've found myself falling in love with the language of love.

Yet, when Nadine speaks to Harry, it hardly sounds like the language that I've led myself to believe that I know. The remnants of love sitting proudly in the language take form in harsh, jutting edges. Her sharp and hollow features seem to be permanently curled up into a sneer. Her icy, blue eyes glare at me with each move I make. Beady, in a sense, she has instilled in me a fear of moving even a millimeter without her prior knowledge and consent.

Nadine's natural tongue is harsh and clipped. Each time I hear her open her mouth, I half expect to hear a softness to her, but each time I am proved wrong. In such a short time, I'd grown so used to the natural cooing from Harry's lips, a sort of reward to the mutual adoration that we feel for each other. Only now I hear the other side of the language; how the language sounds when spoken in anger.

It's not only Nadine that is getting frustrated. Harry is, too. The vein is popping in his neck and he is holding himself back, I can tell. His fingers are clenched into fists as they rest on his kneecaps. At first, I had longed to reach out to them, to unfurl the tension and hold his hand tightly in my own. In fact, I had. Though, my action was promptly waved off by Harry and Nadine's beady, angry eyes watched me the whole way through. Only once I returned to my initial position like a scolded puppy did I see a flicker of a new emotion in her eyes: smugness.

Of course, our day hadn't started so horribly. From the moment in which we had gathered on Thursday evening, preparing to depart for our flight, everything was going great. Lola was excited to see us off. She promised to send Harry the audio from her lecture the next morning and Harry assured her he would translate it as soon as possible. She turned to me and gave me the biggest hug and told me to have a great weekend. Lola was excited for the weekend. She was going home for her mother's surprise birthday party. Everything was working out. Harry carried my bags out of my dorm and down to his car where he gave me a proper greeting. An immersive cultural lesson, he assured me, as he showed me the art to the perfect French kiss.

The only hiccup we had was a minor one. From my dorm, our plan was to head straight to the airport. But, Harry quickly realized that he had packed his European Union passport, instead of his United States one. Usually, when traveling to countries in the EU, he will use his EU issued passport to beat the lengthy lines that are faced by American citizens in foreign countries. But, he hadn't considered that I wouldn't have a similar advantage.

So, our one and only hiccup was that we needed to return back to his apartment to switch out his passports.

On the ride there, we discussed our plans for our return. Harry told me that I could leave anything nonessential at his apartment, if I would like. After all, we were to arrive back late on Sunday. At risk of not wanting to wake Lola up when I return home, he assured me that I would be able to sleep at his apartment. Giddy, to say the least, we finally returned back into the car, ready to embark on our adventure.

Finally, we were off.

Everything went perfectly. There was not a minute of traffic as we drove into Boston to go to the airport. That, of course, being something of a rarity in itself. In hardly any time at all, we got through the security at the airport. We quickly found our gate and stopped to eat some airport food that wasn't awful. I hardly think there could have been a better experience.