Going Barefoot In Love

Chapter One : Take Off

"Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please. This is the last call before the doors are closed for flight Air France zero fifty-five to Paris-Charles de Gaulle. We ask all passengers to board immediately at gates A20 and A22. Thank You."

I can't believe I am actually moving to Paris. Me? Emma Ross, in...Paris? Wow! Everytime that thought popped up in my head I felt goose bumps rise on my arms. With this new job almost everything seemed perfect in my life exactly how I had dreamt of, but there was still something missing and that was true love.

Since I was 10 I knew exactly what I wanted to become. I wanted to enter the fashion industry and work for a leading brand. I also always thought about what kind of person I would fall in love with, till the age of 10 my ideal romance was influenced by the happily ever after stories my mother read to me and from middle school it was cliché romance novels and Korean dramas.

"Bonjour! Welcome to Air France" , the flight attendant gave me a warm welcoming smile exposing her pristine teeth, I smiled back consciously hoping she wouldn't see anything stuck in my teeth from the sandwiches I had earlier. Before turning off my phone I wanted to make a quick call to Liz.

I have known Elizabeth Young, preferred to be called Liz, since I was 12. By the end of high school almost the entire school knew we were inseparable. Luckily we got into the same college, she studied engineering and me fashion. She always complains even to this day about how one can at any given time only find me in jeans paired with some boring t-shirt with a shitty quote on it making it unbelievable for people to believe I was a fashion student. She was right. People hardly believe when I tell them what my profession is but it doesn't matter I love designing for others but that doesn't mean I have to love dressing up too right? Whereas Liz loves looking presentable no matter what time of the day she steps out of the house. The day she knew I was moving to Paris she dragged me to go shopping with her for a change of wardrobe.

She was feeling too bad as she had to cancel her ticket the last minute due to an urgent meeting. She was going to stay with me for a week to help unpack and buy new furniture. We had a whole week planned and now I had to do it all alone. I wanted to call and reassure her that I'll be fine.

"Hey Liz! How did your presentation go?"

"It was amazing Ro, my department head loved my presentation and wants to give me an opportunity to present my proposal in the next meeting with the board of directors."

"Wow that's amazing I'm so happy for you. The board of directors will definitely love it too."

"Yah let's hope for the best and also I'm so sorry I had to cancel I feel so terrible for doing that."

"It's okay Liz I'll be just fine. I gotta go I'll call you once I land. Love you, bye."

"Yah. Safe flight. Love you."

In the next 15 minutes the flight had taken off and now I was just 10 hours 40 minutes away from my destination. The aroma of pasta and croissants had filled the air but I was too full so I decided to sleep instead. I really needed sleep, the past month had gone by packing, taking online French classes; luckily I had studied French back in college so I just had to brush up since it was almost 5 years since I left college, assigning my duties to my replacement in my old job and promising my dad time after time that if I was ever to bump into Roman Polanski or Marion Cotillard I would get their autographs for him.

I plugged in my earphones and played my all time favourite Akon playlist and dozed off slowly. I woke to a sudden jerk it took me a while to come to my senses. The plane shuddered as it entered some turbulence. Everything calmed down in the next 30 minutes and the pilot made an announcement telling we'd land in the next 20 minutes.

The weather in Paris was chill and damp in contrast to the pleasantly warm weather in Los Angeles. Luckily just before leaving for airport I put my coat in my hand luggage. I put on my coat running my hands over the soft fabric, it was a vintage Chanel coat my mother gifted me on my 23rd birthday. I loved how it always went along with everything I wore not that I wore much variety clothing but still. The coat gave me a sense of belonging now that I was in a different continent where I knew no one.

After collecting all my luggage I headed to the exit. I was not sure if my realtor was here yet so I reached my hand bag to pull out my phone. I dialled her number and while it was ringing I was looking around in hope to find her. Before she could lift the call I saw this lady with a welcome board in her hand which said "Welcome Ms. Emma Ross" in bold black letters. She had already spotted me and was waving her hand with full enthusiasm and signalling me to come there.

She was taller than I had imagined her to be from all the skype calls we had. She was wearing a black knee length A-Line skirt with a formal white shirt tucked in and a red blazer that matched her matte red lipstick, cream coloured heels which seemed impossible to walk in the whole day and a brown colour handbag in her right hand. Her brown shoulder length straight hair left open, making her frequently push back her hair from blocking her view. Top two buttons of her shirt left unbuttoned exposing the beautiful "s" lettered locket. In short a beautiful middle aged woman giving a strong and confident business woman vibe.

"Hello Ms. Ross"

"Hello Bernice" her full name was Bernice Arquette but I was not sure how to pronounce her last name and almost always got it wrong so I stuck with Bernice.

"So are you ready to go see your abode Ms. Ross?"

"Yes I'm so excited and also please call me Emma I'm not used to being addressed as Ms. Ross"

"Yah sure. So Emma let's get all the luggage in the car and let's get going."

I slept for almost 9 hours in the flight, I felt so fresh. I enjoyed the 45 minutes long car drive to my Parisian neighbourhood. Bernice rolled down the windows just a little, I could feel the cool breeze with the hint of rain, moisture carrying, make me feel relaxed. Bernice picked up a house in the Western part of Paris in the Western suburbs arrondissement around the Champs-Elysées to suit all my needs. Even the engine sounds of cars and trucks sounded so pleasant. The cafés and bistros, the busy streets, the subways, I could see myself living in the city of love. Just when I was so engrossed in my thoughts the car came to a halt in front of an apartment.

" Voilà, Emma" Bernice was clapping her hands with excitement she couldn't wait to show me my new home.