Never Had ~ A Louis Tomlinson Love Story

Chapter 18: Love & Memories

The third and final day in Paris seems to be the most relaxing given that the boys are done with shows, just working on some press stuff. They got up early in the morning for some Parisian morning show and are at a radio show right now, waiting until 2 when they have yet another interview. Yeah, even though they're busy, Marlee and I have had some nice, quiet time to ourselves.

Speaking of Marlee, Louis and I found the two feeding each other their lunches yesterday. Of course, it didn't last long until she flung a noodle in his face and he threw a pickle slice at her. I was really afraid they were going to start an actual food fight, but they suddenly changed their minds and kissed instead. Guess they had enough of fighting. In the end, Louis and I were caught when some girl screamed his name and both Niall and Marlee spotted us on the other side of the restaurant. We smirked, shrugged our shoulders, and ran out of the place before the lovebirds or the fans could get to us.

Finishing up a lovely lunch at a classic Parisian cafe in the heart of the city, Marlee and I decided it was time for us to explore one last time. Even if we had been here for only three days, we had found a lot of time to roam around the city and find cool places, but there were of course places we had missed. Today's mission was to search down the less populated and quiet streets for something cool and vintage; something that looks like it would come out of an Audrey Hepburn movie.

Finally we found that picture perfect scene: an old bookstore on a backstreet of what seemed to be downtown Paris. It was definitely old, and just looking in through the dirty windows you could see hundreds of books lining the walls. Now, I knew Marlee enjoyed reading as much as I did, so this was perfect for us. We smiled at each other before opening up the large, green wooden door and getting a whiff of the old book smell that filled the small shop. Literally, all that could be used to describe this place was vintage. It was perfect. No one else was inside except for an old lady who was working in the back, organizing some books on a tall wall. I turned around and saw that Marlee was already digging into the shelves, adventuring through the pages of about twelve books quickly. I laughed to myself and went to the other side of the store near the old woman. I looked up at her and she smiled at me before going back to her work as I began my search.

So, if you don't already know, I know very little french. I took two years in high school, but that was so long ago I can barely remember. Some of the books were written in French, but lucky for me, most were in English. Some I had heard of, some I owned myself, and some were new to me. But none had grasped my attention yet. My search was interrupted when a loud thud sounded throughout the small room. I looked to my left and saw a book on the ground, right below the old woman as she was trying to stack about twenty books on a very high shelf. Was she really running this place all on her own? Even if they don't get too much business, this is too much for one person. I sighed and picked up the book, handing it to the women as she stepped down from the ladder attached to the bookcases.

"Merci." she spoke in French and I nodded, giving a warm smile to her. "Puis-je vous aider Mademoiselle?" she asked and I gave her a look, basically saying I didn't speak French. She laughed for a moment and then I spoke up "Sorry, I'm not too good with my French," hoping she would understand me. She nodded and this time spoke in English: "That's alright, many tourists aren't. But is there anything I can interest you in?"

"I don't know, I haven't really found anything that excites me." I shrugged and she tapped her finger on her cheek, thinking. "Well maybe I can help you. Tell me about yourself. What brought you to Paris?" she sat on one of the ladder steps and gestured for me to speak. I looked over at Marlee and saw her sprawled across the floor, indulged in a book. I turned back to the woman and spoke softly, "My name is Emma and I'm from England. My best friend invited me to come with him and some of his friends on a worldwide trip to get away from home, and for some reason, I said yes to him. I was just looking for an escape, but things have been really complicated lately, with him and my family." I stopped, not wanting to continue. Hell, I didn't even know this lady! Why was I telling her my life story? Have I really become that mad?