Hopes of Paris

Chapter XV: Repressed Anger

Winter, the eleventh of November in the year two thousand and twenty four. It was the middle of sunset after a rare day of snow in Paris, and the sky was a weird shade of orange today. Sall sat on the balcony of Aiden's house. Two chairs, with a wooden table in the middle. The wooden table had an ash tray, a packet of cigarettes and the two mobile phones that belonged to the guys. Soon after, Aiden followed up by placing two cups of hot chocolate with whipped cream on that table. Sall had been sitting on the chair with his legs crossed over it, watching the distant Eiffel Tower in utter silence. He came to when Aiden placed his cup ahead of him, nodding him a thanks. Aiden sat opposite of Sall and threw a cigarette towards him.

"Here." Aiden exclaimed before throwing it to draw Sall's attention.

Sall caught the cigarette so smoothly with a single hand, stared at it momentarily before throwing it back. "Thanks, but I quit a while back."

"Oh," Aiden caught it back, regardless of the fact that he wasn't as smooth and responsive as Sall. "How would I know anyway? I haven't been seeing you, or hearing from you to begin with."

"I owe you an apology," Sall leaned in to grab his cup. "I owe everyone, actually. It's not just you, I haven't been talking to anyone at all."

Aiden lighted his cigarette up and blew the smoke slowly while staring at it in his hand. "And Lara? How's she?"

"A mess," Sall replied immediately, the tone of his voice unchanging. "I'm watching her lose more and more weight every other week as the life and glow both get sucked out of her eyes."

The wind suddenly picked up and a violent breeze hit the quiet atmosphere of Paris. Sall's wavy hair's ponytail moved around in response to the wind as he remained still, while Aiden blocked his eyes with his free hand to stop the irritation of his eyes. Their cups of hot chocolate still sent out a certain feeling of warmth when grabbed, but the temperature would soon get sucked away by their cold hands, and by the extreme weather outside. Aiden couldn't handle taking another puff and ended up putting his cigarette out. He leaned his back on the chair again after having leaned in towards the ash tray and spoke to Sall.

"You chose this, you know."

One of Sall's eyebrows furrowed as he looked at Aiden. "What do you mean?"

"You could've backed away any second after learning of her illness, and yet you haven't," Aiden replied. "You claim to undergo heavy pain and misfortune when you're the one bringing it to yourself."

Sall's eyes slowly closed down, and a smirk grew on his face before it had turned into smile of laughter into his giggle.

Aiden's eyebrow was the one that furrowed this time. "What's so funny?"

"Aiden," Sall's tone changed once more, and he was serious again. "If you were to make friends with someone who helped you during war, and then learn that they're the enemy, would you kill them?"

"If I'm ordered to."

"Nah, let's assume you're the one of the highest position. You make your own calls. What would your decision be?"

Aiden's eyes slightly widened as he realized the point Sall was getting across. "I wouldn't kill them, no..."

Sall closed his eyes and nodded once to Aiden before taking a sip from his cup.

"So... You fell for Lara before learning of her condition, and now that you learned afterwards, it doesn't make any difference for you?" Asked Aiden.

"Precisely," Sall made quite the loud sound as he set the cup back on the table. "I would never let such a thing be a reason for me to walk away. I'd rather suffer with her than let her suffer on her own."