The Bucket List (Write Affair Finalist)

Chapter 17: Go to the Eiffel Tower and drive a convertible

~ Chapter 17: Go to the Eiffel Tower and drive a convertible. ~

When I woke up, every bit of last night just came back flooding back to my mind and I felt like a wave of happiness inside of me. I was in Damon's arms, laying on his muscled chest. Just a minute later, he yawned and woke up too. Then smiled.

"Hey."

I kissed him and got up after a little while. We still were in Paris and had a lot to visit so we didn't have any time to loose. Even though, in my opinion, staying in bed with Damon was everything but a waste of time. We both got dressed, then ate the most amazing breakfast on the deck and then we had to give the boat back to its owner.

We decided to go see the Eiffel Tower, cause obviously you can't go to Paris without going there. We went to the third floor of it (by the elevator, cause we are lazy unlike some people who actually climbed the stairs to the first floor) and stayed breathless at the view of Paris below us. People were small like ants and it was crazy to think that they were actually passing by the tower without even noticing it cause they were just too used to it that they had forgotten how amazing it was.

We went back down, walked around the place a little and took a lot of pictures. Then we stopped in a really nice restaurant to eat and there we took out the list to tick out Go to the Eiffel Tower and to decide what we would do next.

"What about that one?" I asked, pointing at Drive a convertible with the top down and music blaring. "It could be fun on the Champs Elysées!"

Damon agreed and we looked up online where we could rent a convertible. And, as it turns out, there was an agency that was renting really cool cars like Ferraris and Lamborghinis. I knew Seth would have been crazy to see those. I can tell you Damon really was. We went there and there were already a lot of people around the cars to take pictures or just see them to say they did. Damon and I got closer and asked the guy who was apparently in charge if he understood English. He waved his hand to say "not really" and Damon got out his dictionary.

"Nous... Um... vouloir..." He flipped some pages. "Louer... Um... La voiture."

The guy apparently understood cause he asked us which car we wanted. Damon and I agreed the red Ferrari F430 that was convertible was the best choice so we chose it and paid after showing we had a license. The guy told us we had to bring back the car here in one hour. We hopped in, with the jealous looks of everyone around and Damon took the wheel first. He took some time to listen to the noise the car was making by hitting the pedals and then we went. Let me tell you, saying the car was powerful was a euphemism. I was holding onto my seat, afraid that I was going to fly away. Damon was laughing and when I found out I wasn't going to fly away, I did too. I turned on the radio and put it really (like really, really) loud and Damon spead up. It was so much fun! We sang on the music but couldn't really hear ourselves cause it was too loud. People were looking at us, sometimes with a smile, sometimes wrong, but we didn't really care. After some time, we changed and I took the wheel. I was a little afraid at first but then accelerated and we screamed.

The hour flew by in a second and we had to give the car back. We drove to the place then thanked the guy again. We took some pictures to remember it and I sent some to Seth. I still wasn't trying to make him jealous. Or maybe I was a little.

We visited the other things in Paris, went back to the "lovers' bridge" and bought a padlock. We wrote our name on it and the date with a little heart that circled everything then we attached it to the bridge in the tiny little space we were able to have, and threw the key in the Seine. I know, we're so cliché, oh my God!

We hung out in Notre Dame at night, ate ice cream and stopped to see different shows: there were dancers, fire-eaters, painters, singers... It was really amazing. When it was a little late and that we realized we were exhausted, we went back to the hotel, after carving our two names and the date in a bench. We agreed we would leave the city in the next day cause we had done the most important stuff so we didn't really have a reason to stay. Even though we really liked it here, we still had a lot to do left on the list.

The next morning when I woke up, I felt really bad. I don't know why but I suddenly realized that, every time I would wake up to a new day, this would be one less that I would get to spend with Damon. Because he was dying. I have no idea why it hit me like that, on a morning not that special.

I was crying and I didn't want Damon to see it so I went in the bathroom before he would wake up. I was shaking uncontrollably and bawling my eyes out, trying to breath in and breath out to calm myself but nothing worked so I just kept on crying like a mad person. Finally, some time later, I managed to calm down and I sat on the bathtub's ledge and wiped my eyes with a towel. I put some water on my face and verified the result in the mirror. I still had the eyes a little red but I don't think Damon would notice anything.

The idea of Damon leaving me was unbearable. I just wanted to shut those ideas in my head up and still live in the thought that we would live happily ever after. But unfortunately, we weren't in a fairytale, which don't exist I know. But some people get to marry the person they love. I wouldn't.

I would never have the chance to marry Damon. Or have kids with him. Ok, maybe I'm a little young to think of these stuff but I had the feeling Damon was... you know, the One. The man of my life. I know, it's cheesy, girly and whatever else you want but that was what I felt. The idea of him being away from me for even a day was unbearable and I knew I was in love with him. Like totally in love with him.

But he was dying.

"Leah? Are you ok?" Damon asked while knocking at the bathroom's door.

"Of course, I'll be out in a second."

I put on some makeup to pretend that's what I was doing and got out. He wrapped me up in his arms and we fell on the bed kissing. But I didn't have the mind in it this morning. Besides, we had to get our suitcases ready cause we were leaving in the afternoon.

I got out of Damon's arms and we started packing with some music in the background. We had decided yesterday to go back to the United States. I had to check on Seth and on the house and I knew that Jenny would be home this week. I missed them and I just wanted to spend some time with them too before going back abroad. We would still do something from the list, but it was going to be something that didn't require us to be in some special city.