French Kisses

trois

a/n:
Writing this book is so much fun for me, it's exciting and comes so easily. Here's an update that will hopefully hold you all over for the next two weeks.

f r e n c h
k i s s e s

"Boyfriend, Laurent," I said.

"I know," he said, continuing after a good minute, "I'm fine with just being your friend."

-

We had swept the streets of Paris in search of something I could wear to Simone and Hermes' engagement party tonight. Laurent swore that it wasn't black tie, but I still wanted to properly present myself to the new crowd of people I would be surrounded by.

With two hours until the party, I had found the perfect jumpsuit for the event. It was a blush color and tied in at the waist, a v-neck with long sleeves for the chilly weather.

When I came out of the dressing room with it on Laurent smiled, his eyes seemingly mesmerized by my presence.

"Do I look good enough to accompany you to the party?" I asked, modeling for him like I did in front of my California apartment's mirror with absolutely no shame every morning.

"You look okay," he said, shrugging, the smile sunken.

I felt my heart drop, my eyebrows furrowed until he cracked a full-teeth smile.

"You don't need my affirmation, look in the mirror. You look beautiful, Arden," said Laurent, making perfect eye contact with me

We stared into one another's eyes for a minute until he tore his away, looking down at his hands in his lap.

"By the way, my mom is going to be at the engagement party tonight, so I suppose you're meeting the parents on the first da—"

"Day," I cut him off with quickly, not wanting any wrong messages to be sent between us.

"First day," he completed, looking back up to me.

I went back into the dressing room, undressing and heading back out into the storeroom. I purchased the jumpsuit, some earrings to go with it, and a pair of heels. Laurent simply followed me as I did my business, staying quiet until I questioned him outside of the store. An unsettling awkward state present between us.

"So, what do you do, Laurent?" I inquired, him now leading the walk.

We decided to head back to his sister's house after I finished scavenging an outfit, he wanted to help set up the engagement party. After all, his sister was catering and she could use a helping hand.

"What do I do? Well, I bum around every day at the airport and kiss the first girl I see. Then I have her meet my family," he joked.

I shook my head and gave a disapproving glance over to him.

"I work as an editor for a local newspaper," he answered in all seriousness, "I majored in Journalism and English in university so being an editor is quite fitting."

I looked over at him while keeping up with his walking pace and said, "Really? I wouldn't have expected that."

"And what did you think I do before I told you, Miss America?" he asked.

"I'm actually half Dutch and half French," I corrected with a small laugh.

"Okay, my apologies, Miss Netherlands-France. What did you think I do?"

I gave him a small smile and shrugged, my lips sealed.

"Oh come on, Michaelson."

I sighed and then told him, "Well, you're extremely charismatic and seem to be around my age so I supposed you could be a bartender."