Paris and us

Chapter 5

I had not seen the sun for a long time. Winter in Paris was always cloudy with 80 percent chance of rain. Winter depression was real. The windy and rainy days made me lose my mind. Winter in Montreal could be dangerously cold, but I must admit the sunny day after an epic snow storm was magical. A real Winter Wonderland. I couldn't believe what I just thought, I missed the winter in Montreal? Winter in Montreal was unbearable and miserable. The French who decided to settle down in Quebec in the 17th century must be suicidal (same as those who signed up on a one way mission to Mars). There were better ways to die than freezing to death in the -20C winter. There was no global warming at that time, may I remind you. They had the real winter deal, plus the Little Ice Age and minus the electric heaters. While most of the North Americans complained about the Polar Vortex on the news these days, Europeans from the Middle Age must be laughing out loud in their tombs.

We always long for what we do not have.

Talking about wanting what I couldn't have. No, I did not desire someone's boyfriend. I had not met Louis de Vallois for two weeks. He said he was busy for the preparation of Paris Fashion Week. He sent me some text messages, I either answered in a few words politely or ignored him. I considered blocking his caller ID, but he was still a Director in the company. It might related to works that I could not simply ignore.

Valentine's Day today. I planned to buy a nice steak and a piece of cake for the candlelight dinner with Mr Grey. He would have a fancy canned chicken liver pâté. I would watch the romantic French TV series Plan Cœur with Mr Grey by my side. Romance for one. Best plan ever.

One day I would become those crazy cat lady, who would die alone for days in my studio apartment and my cat would eat up my corpse, because he loved me so much. I was kidding, he was just hungry. Cats are picky eaters, by the way. They won't eat my eyeballs. They will start with the soft tissues like the lips, nose, and earlobes first. See? They were just trying to kiss us to wake me up.

I was checking my Instagram account when I entered the elevator. My friends were either skiing in the Alps or sunbathing in the Caribbean. Life was so perfect in Instagram.

"Spying on your friends? You did not follow me on Instagram though."

I looked up and realized that Aurélien was here. We were alone in the elevator. 5 floors, we would be alone for 5 seconds maximum. It was fine, no panic.

"Uh huh......because your life is boring. I am not interested in seeing photos of strangers holding Mare's handbags in the the streets in my newsfeed."

"Free advertisements, instead of paying millions on the printed papers, my followers looked at my Instagram feeds which are actually an ad. When will you give me your answer about the job?" He smiled.

"Give me some time to think about it," I looked at the sushi Joan ate at Nobu London. Yummy. Maybe I should get some sushi today.

"Let's make a fresh start and pretend that we did not know each other before, come and work for me. It will be a great challenge, you won't regret it," he sounded like a pushy salesman.

"Have a good evening, Mr Portier." The elevator arrived on the ground floor and the door opened.

He grabbed my hand and dragged me back in. "Let me drive you home."

The door closed. He was still holding my hand. My heartbeats ran so fast when I felt the icy touch of his hand. I did not want to make a scene. There were security cameras everywhere. Rumours could spread like wildfires, and I would probably be the one who got fired. Mr Portier would not fire his son, would he?

"I would follow you to the car, can you let go of my hand first? There might be people watching," I whispered.

"You wouldn't run away from me, you promise?"