The World Is Her Oyster

Day 2: Soaked in Marseille

Annabel ran along the river bank and when she had lost the sight of Christophe she figured that it was the right time to snap herself away. She had only 5 minutes remaining before she would turn.

I don't want to go somewhere far from him. He was so fond of Marseille, maybe I would go and take a look of the wonderful beaches and the old port that I have heard of.

Annabel snapped her finger and the world started to turn and as always she felt like she had been sucked into the centre of a tornado. After a couple of seconds she fell into the Mediterranean Sea. Annabel found herself in the chilly water in the biggest beach of Marseille.

Bugger! Why I can't end up somewhere nice? For instance in a cosy motel.

The problem with her power to travel everywhere she wanted was that she could only choose the overall region, for example a city like Marseille, but where she ended up there, god only knew.

She swam out of water and even though her dress was soaked she enjoyed swimming in the moonlight. The weather was warm enough and she adored how peaceful this beach was at night even though only a kilometre away the streets were packed with bars and clubs full of night lovers.

She tried to try of her dress and made a little midnight jog by the sea side barefoot and then headed of to find a hotel. Lucky for her she had put her mobile into a small plastic bag before she had travelled. Once she had snapped herself in the pool in a fitness centre at night so she was now always prepared for these kinds of occasions. She googled motels that had reasonable prices and that were still opened. She found a youth hostel not far from the city centre. She had a pair of sneakers in her purse that she put on and jogged towards the hostel.

"Hello, Miss. Oh dear, you are soaked. What on earth happened to you?" asked an old lady at the reception with a worried expression.

"Oh, that's nothing. A friend tried to joke around and pushed me into the sea, " said Annabel coming quickly up with a small white lie.

"Young people these days! Not a care in the world! We have to quickly find you a room so you could put on some dry close so you wouldn't catch pneumonia. But dear, where is your luggage?" asked the receptionist baffled.

"In fact, it's a funny story. I lost my keys while pushed into water and it's too late to call someone to fix the problem so here I am soaked with just my purse", said Annabel feeling pleased that she had a wild imagination.

"Well, here's your key and wait a minute I'll go next door and see if my niece has something you can put on. She seems to be your size, " said the old woman hurrying out of the hostel.

At last Annabel was in her hostel room that even had a bath. She decided to wind herself down and have one. She had to think all this through that had happened. Meeting Christophe, the kiss and the feeling that she was totally amazed by him. Annabel was thinking long about the upsides and downsides of contacting Christophe and decided that it just wouldn't work. She dozed off into restless sleep at 3 in the morning.

At the meanwhile, Christophe was planning to head to Marseille to see his dearest home town after 80 years and maybe he could also get Annabel out of his mind. He needed distraction because the feeling of the softest kiss they had was still lingering on his lips. He had already called the pilot of his private jet and arranged the flight to Marseille for 7 in the morning. He planned to cherish the weekend by having a walk in the old town and maybe also a quick swim in the sea, before his big purchase deal of the Hotel Dieu.

Before he would let his body to rest and maybe even have a dream about Annabel he figured that a little detective work can maybe let him know a bit more about this mysterious woman. He was browsing in his mobile through Facebook and Instagram but nothing, so he decided that morning was smarter than the night and went to sleep.

In the morning Annabel felt well rested and headed downstairs to have a cup of coffee and a croissant. The old lady greeted her enthusiastically and gave her today's Le Figaro to read with her coffee. Annabel had read a couple of stories about the upcoming Tour de France and Macron's decision to lower the taxes when she stumbled at the back of the paper in the gossip section across a picture that made her choke on her croissant. There it was in full colour Annabel and Christophe kissing with the title "Has billionaire Christophe Leblanc found a new bedwarmer?".

What on earth. How could this be. He lied to me. An accountant my ass.. I should have figured that he had to be loaded to afford the front row seats in Moulin Rouge. I really thought that he was different not like those lying bastards that I have met one too many occasions in my life. He was so sweet and charming and a true gentleman. He definitely uses these charming tricks to woo each day a new woman. How could I have been so stupid?

Annabel needed to take her mind off this rage that she felt towards Christophe now so she decided to quickly buy some sports attire and go for a jog by the sea.

At the same time Christophe had landed with his private jet to Marseille and his chauffeur took him to the Hotel Dieu that he was going to buy for his company on Monday. It was the most luxurious hotel in Marseille with an inside gym and a rooftop swimming pool just near the private beach where models in tiny bikinis served drinks to customers.

Christophe had just got out from his Ferrari when he saw a girl running ahead of him. She reminded him of Annabel, but probably it was just his imagination playing tricks on him. A wishful thought to see the woman who had captured his heart with one night. When he came out of his daze his eagle eye caught that the girl had earphones on. There was a car turning to the street that she was going to run across in a few seconds. Christophe didn't hesitate and started to run towards the girl shouting her to be careful. He arrived just in time to pull the girl back, but on the process they landed on the pavement.

"What? What happened? Help!!" shouted Annabel in panic. Then she saw Christophe's face merely inches from hers breathing rapidly.

"Why did you do that? What's the matter with you? Are you stalking me or something, " said Annabel being annoyed out of her mind.

"Where are your manners girls? I saved you from an early death by a truck and no , I'm not a stalking kind. Women stalk me, " said Christophe smugly.

"Oh, I know all about that mister accountant slash billionaire, " said Annabel raising an eyebrow and waving her finger intimidatingly in front of Christophe's face.

"So you figured it out. Yes, I'm loaded, but I didn't tell you because when you didn't recognise me I was happy to be just Christophe, the accountant for one night. I know how women can get if they know that my credit cards don't have any limits on them, " said Christophe coldly.

"Of course you thought that I was like that also. That I'm interested in your money. I have to say to you that you're wrong. I'm not some shallow bimbo and I don't tolerate people lying to me! Why I always meet only assholes? You, You.." said Annabel kicking Christophe to his chest.

"Calm down woman!" said Christophe catching Annabel's hands to keep her from kicking him any further.

"No, I wouldn't. Lying womanizers don't deserve it, " said Annabel freeing her hands and kicking him again and again like a child.

"Then you give me no other choice, " said Christophe catching her hands with one quick motion and placing them on her sides on the pavement, at the same time smashing his lips forcefully on hers.