✦ ✧ ✩ Curtain Call ✦ ✧ ✩ - Charlie Gillespie

Chapter 38

Before I hung the phone Maeve reminded me again of the surprise they slipped in Charlie's bag referring it as "the thingy" in the little pocket to what Charlie reacted by tilting his head in confusion. I just shrugged my shoulders at him raising my eyebrows and then said goodbye to Maeve and Owen.

"Ok, let me take a quick shower, and then we'll run through the streets of Paris together" he said, and took out his shirt from over his shoulders. I looked down blushing until I remembered I was more than allowed to stare right now.

"Then do, quickly" I said, giving him a little smile. He smiled back and went into the bathroom. When I heard the water I ran to his bag and started searching for the thing Owen slipped in his bag.

I found a little box wrapped in cardboard paper, decorated with little green leaves from our apartment that were smushed and wilted a little during Charlie's flight but still looked really pretty. The paper had a string around it and a clef drawn on it with Maeve's handwriting. As I lift it up and shook it in my hand a bit I immediately knew what it was.

I smiled down at it remembering where we were when I got them and laughed as I heard Charlie singing in the shower. Five minutes later he came out shaking his head like a little puppy and I couldn't help but throw myself on him.

"Well someone is really touchy and hid really it well" He said, as he grabbed me and kissed my forehead.

"Stop" I said feeling myself get a little embarrassed, and hid my face in his neck "I'm just really happy we finally got here"

"I am too. Now let's go. I really want to go see this city. And impress you with my very fluid french"

"I'm pretty sure you already did that" I replied, remembering the night he came in and kissed him once last time on the cheek.

"Yup, I could get used to that"

"Don't." I replied, playfully "I'm just really pumped with adrenaline right now. I go back to being your boss the day after tomorrow, remember that" I said, pushing him away from me trying to be serious as he did a soldier stand.

"Hey maybe bring your guitar" I said, remembering the tiny package I just threw in my bag.

"Sure" He said, throwing it on his shoulders, "Let's go"

I was about to call the driver when Charlie stopped.

"Oh no" he said, tilting his head "We start training today. When we get back to Vancouver we're going on that hike."

I looked down at my very thin flats as Charlie waved at Esmée who came running to me with a pair of sneakers. I just shook my head at them and changed my shoes. After we both thanked Esmée like 100 times we started our walk. We strolled through the streets hand in hand not really having a destination.

"So, where do you want to go?" he said, after we walked around for an hour and a half.

"Is it too cliché to say I want to sit in the general area of the Eiffel Tower and just talk?"

"Yes it is" he replied mockingly. I just rolled my eyes at him. "Let's do it"

We sat in the grass in Champ de Mars. Charlie let his back rest on my chest and put his guitar on his as I looked around and up to the beautiful building in front of us. He started playing a little riff on his guitar that he was improvising and I just sat there mesmerized at his fingers fondling the strings.

"Have you called your family yet?" He mumbled as he kept playing.

"No, not yet. I don't know how they'll react. It's not that they're not proud of me but I'm from this small countryside town, and they don't get how I even got myself interested in 'Hollywood's glamour' as they call it" I said, laughing through my teeth at the memory of my mom visiting one of the sets I worked on "Honey I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore" I continued, unconsciously mimicking my mom's accent and repeating what she said to me that day playfully mocking me as we traipsed the set.