A Night in Paris

La Vie En Rose

We walked down the huge stairs and walked out of the resort grounds and out into the cobbled streets of Paris.

"Fuck..." I realised.
"What?" Tom asked.
"I left my bag at the wedding which has my phone and wallet..." I slapped my forehead with the palm of my hand.
"We can come back and get it." He said. "No...it's fine. Anna has probably found it and burned it." I laughed.
"You sure?" He asked cautiously.
"Yeah." I shrugged. We walked in silence for a bit.

"I have a question." Tom said. I looked at him. The nearly set sun made him glow and his open collared white shirt made him look more tan. His curly hair that was once slicked back with gel was now slightly loose, and a curl hung below his brow.

"Shoot." I said.
"You seem like a negative person." He said.
I scoffed, "That was more of a mean statement than a question, Tom."
"No, I mean like...do you consider yourself a pessemistic person?" He asked.
"Wow we're getting deep fast." I said with wide eyes.

"Well...why not?" He shrugged.
I sighed, "I consider myself a realist. If someone is being positive in a situation that isn't positive...that's fucking stupid, it's not positive." He laughed.
"And if someone is being mean when you're trying to be 'positive'," I used air quotes.
"Then they're just...an asshole." I smiled and looked down at my heels clicking on the ground.

It was quiet around. There wasn't a single soul out in the area we were in. Tom and I were just walking around on the dimly lit streets like we were in some romance movie...and I liked it.

"Why do you think like that?" He asked. I looked back up at him. His chocolate eyes were dilated and serious and his brow furrowed slightly as he asked me the intense question. I thought about it for a second.

"I guess I just...don't trust people." I looked ahead.
"My parent's divorced when I was about 10. I always looked up to them for love. They always seemed so perfect together...and then Charlie got sick and I-"
"Who's Charlie?" Tom asked.
"My twin brother." I said. He nodded and I continued.
"Charlie got sick and he had to be in hospital all the time. I mean he had lukemia so..."
"Shit I'm so sorry." Tom said softly. I shook my head.
"So I was never the priority anymore. I switched between my Dad's new mansion with his girlfriend that was only 8 years older than me and my Mum's crappy apartment in downtown LA with her abusive boyfriend." I could feel my ears burning just thinking about it.

"And then...Charlie died...I woke up one day to Mum screaming and I went through to her bedroom and she was on the floor sobbing with her phone on the floor, smashed. I was so confused and then she managed to spit out what happened and I felt a shooting pain in my chest. Like someone had ripped out half of my heart. Charlie was my best friend, and he did not deserve to get sick and he didn't deserve to die." I wasn't aware of the tears falling from my face until one landed on my shoe. I quickly wiped my face and smiled.

"Anyway...then it was hard getting over that and getting used to life...then I got sent to an all girls boarding high school which was so bad. And then I got out and I pursued my dream. I met Will and I thought that I had met the one and I was finally happy. And then everything happened and here we are." I looked at Tom who hadn't taken his eyes off of me.

"So...to answer your question. I have a lot of issues that I haven't sorted out yet so I'm just..."
"Figuring out as you go along?" He suggested. I smiled.
"Exactly." I sighed.

"I have twin brothers." He said with a smile. "Aw cute." I smiled.
"Harry and Sam. They're 21. And then my littlest brother Paddy who's 15."
"That's so cute. I miss sibling love." I laughed. "Oh it's super fun." He chuckled. We started to hear the distant noise of people and music coming.
"I think we're close to town." I said.

We finally got into the small town centre where different shops and restaurant's were open. "Oh my god there's a live band." I pointed to a bunch of buskers who had an accordian player, a violinist, a piano player, a drum-kit player and a singer.

"You should sing." He said next to me and gave my arm a nudge with his elbow.
"No." I shook my head.
"Come on! If you do, I'll buy you an ice-cream." He said cutely and held his hands together. "No." I said.
"Please?" He pursed his lips and gave me puppy dog eyes.
I laughed, "No!"
"Will public humiliation work for you to do it?" He asked.

"What?" He suddenly got down on one knee and took my hand.
"Isabella Rose, will you sing for me?" He asked dramatically. I pulled him up by his shirt. "People are looking." I said, holding back a laugh.
"I must declare my love for you!" He smiled and tried to get back down but I pulled him back up.
"Fine. But that better be a big fucking ice-cream." I rolled my eyes and walked up to the band.

Thanks to boarding school, I was fluent in French. I asked them if I could sing 'La Vie En Rose' and they all said yes. The singer handed me the microphone.
"Boujour?" I said into the mic to test if it was on. It was as I earned multiple 'Boujour's' from the onlookers. Tom stood a good distance away, folding his arms across his chest and smiling at me.

"C'est La Vie En Rose." I spoke and nodded to the piano player. He played the intro and I started to sing.
"Des yeux qui font baisser les miens, Un rire qui se perd sur sa bouche. Voilà le portrait sans retouche. De la femme a laquelle j'appartiens." Tom's face was immidiately in shock when I began my French singing.

"Quand il me prend dans ses bras, Il me parle tout bas, Je vois la vie en rose," People started coming around to listen and I started to feel more at ease, weirdly.
"Il me dit des mots d'amour, De mots de tous les jours, Et ça me fait quelque chose." I swayed back and forth on my feet and Tom looked at me in awe.

"Il est entré dans mon cœur, Il parle de bonheur, Dont je connais la cause." I closed my eyes as I went higher.
"C'est lui pour moi, moi pour lui, dans la vie, Il me l'a dit, l'a juré, pour la vie! Et dès que je l'aperçois, Alors je sens en moi, Mon cœur qui bat." I sang and stopped for the music break.

...

I finished and the now crowd around the band and I all applauded and threw coins and notes on the floor. The drummer graciously went and collected all of them.

"Merci beaucoup!" I said in the mic and then handed it back to the singer. I thanked the band then escaped back to Tom who clapped as I walked up to him.
"And you can speak and sing French too. Wow." He smiled.
"I was a rich white girl who went to boarding school...of course I speak French." I laughed. "Now where is that ice-cream?"