Hometorius : Coming Home

chapter 49 : Sakura in Clair de Lune

Fleur POV

The flight was great. Probably because I slept the entire trip. Almost. I woke up at some point, but only for a moment. Just to admire the views. And to contemplate.

It was my first solo airplane trip. Initially, I wanted to take a bus or the subway, just like my grandmother advised. She said that airplanes were dangerous and prone to catastrophes. And even though I usually agreed with her opinion, this time I considered her warnings unjustified. Adults always say such things to scare us. But the truth is that plane crashes occur just as often as any other disaster, maybe even less often. The only difference is that plane crashes are always talked about, just like shipwrecks or more serious railway accidents. So, I chose the airplane.

I was lucky because when I arrived at the airport, I was informed that the next flight to Poland would leave in half an hour. If I argued with my grandmother for a bit longer, I wouldn't have made it on time. And then I would probably have to wait another few hours.

As I said, I slept most of the flight, so it was over before I even realized. Before I knew it, I was already there. In Warsaw, which meant I basically reached my destination. Now I just had to get to the suburbs where Kate lived. I started looking for the map that Kate sent us during our last joint Facebook chat. I was sure I had printed the file at home, but now I couldn't find it anywhere.

Already ready to call Zarina for help, I remembered I also saved the photo on my phone. So I stood at the curb and waited for a taxi, while scanning my photo gallery. It wasn't even a minute when a beige Mercedes stopped in front of me. It had a huge black "TAXI" on the door. Stolen from English. How original. That's why I didn't like Poland. The country of thieves. Exactly how they teach us at school.

I reluctantly got into the taxi, still feverishly searching for the necessary photo.

"Where are we going, madame?" the driver asked with a funny accent.

"C'est 'mademoiselle' [T/N: "it's 'miss"]" I corrected him and without thinking if he even understood French, continued: "Un instant, s'il vous plaît. [T/N: "one moment, please"]"

The man nodded, smiled and switched the aggressive pop song that was playing on the radio to quiet classical music.

"Is this Claude Debussy?" I asked, but I didn't need an answer when I recognized fragments of my favorite piece, "Clair De Lune". "Take me here, please."

I pointed to the tiny "x" Kate had put to her map. The taxi driver looked at the map for a moment, ran a finger over the red line that marked the route and nodded. He checked the rearview mirror and joined the traffic.

I stole glances at him. He was young, too young to be a taxi driver. He couldn't have been more than twenty-three. And most importantly, he was incredibly handsome. He had a rather pale complexion, and his vibrant chocolate eyes reflected in the rearview mirror. He glanced up from the road at me, so I quickly turned my face towards the window to avoid blushing too much. I caught sight of a tall building that resembled London's Big Ben.

"It's the Palace of Culture and Science, mademoiselle," I heard his velvety voice. It sounded so nice I sighed. I think he took it as admiration for the building, because he added, "and the Parade Square. They look even more beautiful at night."

I nodded, and the driver turned his gaze back to the road. Slowly, I turned my face towards him. To avoid him realizing I was looking at him, I first directed my gaze towards the steering wheel. His fingers were long and slender, like those of a pianist. Could it be possible that such a wonderful guy played the piano, listened to Debussy, and was wasting his talent in a taxi? I gathered the courage to speak up.