Unbreakable Ties: An Arthur Leclerc Story

Chapter 4

"Emmy, what is in here?" Sophia grumbled as she helped me carry my suitcase down the stairs.

"You're kidding right? You helped me pack! I only brought half this stuff because you told me too!" I said indignantly.

After my date last week with Arthur, Sophia and I had spent hours debating whether I should go with him to the Spanish GP. Well, I had debated, Sophia thought I was insane for thinking of saying no. She just kept repeating, "He's a Leclerc!" - as if that was the only thing that mattered. Not that I'd miss three days of classes and had known the man for less than two weeks - I had watched enough Netflix documentaries to know this never ended well. But Sophia had strongly armed me into it, and, well, Arthur had been super cute.

The day after our date, a bouquet of wildflowers had appeared with a note about taking photos of them. And two days later he had dropped by the library with a coffee for me when he knew I'd be up late studying. And then there had been all the photos of places in Barcelona that he wanted to take me to, sent in the morning and just before bed. I had finally agreed and now I was struggling with an overpacked suitcase down three flights of stairs.

We had just made it out the front door of our building when I saw Arthur's car pull up. He quickly exited the car and started towards us, "Ladies! Let me get that!"

"Oh, thank god," Sophia exhaled and promptly dropped my suitcase. I gave her a sideways glance before turning a bright smile to Arthur.

"Thank you so much," I said gratefully as he met us. He leaned down to drop a quick kiss on my lips before mumbling something about it being a man's job and I laughed softly.

"Well lovebirds, this has been quite enough exercise for me today," Sophia declared. "I'm going back upstairs and won't move until you're back on Monday. Have fun, be safe and don't do anything I would do."

I gave her a quick hug and shook my head at her.

"Ready to go?" Arthur asked as he placed my suitcase in his trunk.

I nodded, but before he could head to the car I reached out and grabbed his hand. His crystal blue eyes met my green ones. I was feeling overwhelmed and needed something to reassure me that this was a good idea. Before I could second guess myself, I leant up on my tip toes and kissed him firmly. I could tell he was taken off guard, but after a moment I felt his lips move against mine. We had kissed before, but this time it was the middle of the day and I hadn't been drinking. I needed to know the tingles I felt before weren't a result of the circumstances we'd been in - the inertia of romantic dinners and subtle touches. And boy was I proven wrong. If I thought his kisses made me dizzy after a glass of champagne, it was nothing compared to the butterflies that were erupting in my stomach now.

I pulled away and took a deep breath before opening my eyes. Arthur looked dazed but gave me his signature goofy smile.

"What was that for?" he asked as he started to regain focus.

"I'm just looking forward to this weekend. Thank you for bringing me along," I said with a smile. He leant down to give me one more peck and squeezed my waist.

"Let's go," he said with a wink.

+++

About an hour later we pulled into the Nice airport, and Arthur parked the car. Ever the gentleman, he grabbed both our bags and headed inside. We passed through security and then Arthur started towards a gate at the very end of the terminal.

"How did you know which gate it is? I didn't see Barcelona on the board, but I only looked quick," I commented.

He smirked as if I had made a joke before answering, "Oh, I checked before I left home."