Memories Of Paris

𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬

It was 4pm when he got the call.

It happened when they were just laying in her bed, just having a lazy day. It was Saturday and both Alex and Iris had a day off today so they could be just as lazy as they wanted without a care in the world.

She was telling him something about Natalie and what had happened to her at work but he was having a hard time concentrating. Instead, he was kissing her neck and trying to start a third round but she just kept talking. How much time did she need between rounds?

"You're so impatient! Wasn't two times enough?" Iris laughed and kissed him passionately on the lips.

"You know I can't keep my hands off you," Alex winked. She was about to answer but the sound of his phone ringing interrupted her. Because they weren't fucking yet, he didn't feel bad for getting up and answering it.

Much to his surprise, the caller was Èlise who never called him anymore. And why would she? She was Gabriel's best friend. It was the unfortunate truth of what usually happened after break up, losing friends who picked sides and he knew that those two would always pick each other.

Besides, she had always had doubts about him even if they started to get along later in their relationship. Then he broke up with him because of what had happened with Leo and she was probably just waiting to punch him in the face.

But she hadn't called in a year, not since their break up and that was was what worried him now. Somehow he just knew that whatever the reason was for her calling couldn't be good. And it was, most likely, about Gabriel.

Oh my god.

Don't let him be hurt.

Don't let his Gabriel be hurt.

Quickly checking the time and doing the math, he realized that it was 9pm in Paris. Something had happened. Why else would she call him this late?

With his hands shaking, he answered the call and tried to speak, say anything, ask about the man he used to love but nothing came out. So he waited for Èlise to tell him the news but that didn't work out either because she couldn't talk either.

The reason for that? She was crying. It was the scary kind, loud sobbing, that made him think of all the worst scenarios. Èlise was crying and she had called him.

"Gabe is really hurt, Alex," was all she managed to say through the tears but it was enough. He was having trouble breathing so he sat down on the floor and tried to calm down so he could actually ask what had happened. It wasn't working, though.

Seeing that, Iris went to get a glass of water and almost forced him to drink it. Then she hugged him from behind and slowly started to count down from ten to one, apparently trying to help him to calm down.

"Shhh... breathe with me. It's okay, calm down. It's gonna be okay. Just breathe. Good, just like that. Follow my lead," she whispered to his ear in a soft, calming voice and made him take deep breaths.

After what felt like forever, he looked up and stared at her in the eyes, begging for help, for her to find a way to help Gabriel, tell him that this was just a horrible nightmare. But she didn't do any of that because this was real and Gabriel was really hurt somewhere in Paris and he couldn't do anything here.

Taking the phone from his hands, she started to talk into it and tried to figure out what had happened just like he should have done. But he hadn't. Gabriel was hurt and instead of trying to figure out what had happened, he couldn't even say hello?

"Hey Élise, this is Iris," she said and listened to her before looking at him, biting her lip worriedly. "Is he awake? Okay, what did the doctors say? Can they tell when he's gonna wake up?" Long pause. "Okay... what hospital are you in? Thanks, he would love that. And Èlise? Don't lose hope. He's gonna wake up."