Colourless walls govern, as the night sucks all life from the surroundings. Pale feet, icy cold; provide a stark contrast to the darkness which swallows the world. Pale white hands reach far ahead of the limp body, balancing on the floor boards which creak when one hopes to be quite.
His fingers danced around the metal switch, he stroked, he gripped, he pushed. He squinted, the light was bright it obliterated the dirty darkness and painted a beautiful bathroom. The glossy green tiles reflected the luxurious light, making the surface mirror like.
His feet stuck to the tiles as he walked across the vast space, clinical but somewhat homely. He rested his hands on the roll top bath and dragged them along feeling the porcelain smoothly flow along his skin. His eyes darted around the room; he inhaled the ambience, the coolness of the air, the greenness of the tiles and the brightness of the light. He continued to look around searching for a toilet but un-able to find one. He let out a breathy protest and walked over towards the sink. He fixed his eyes on his own and looked at his body in the large mirror. His white skin further whitened by the glare from the lights; all shadows removed. Automatically he ran his fingers through tufts of his sandy hair, messy after a bad night’s sleep.
He watched as the golden liquid ran down the side of the basin, travelling quickly down to the metal plug. Translucent water washed away the gold, Michael stared at himself in the mirror, rubbing his cheek with his rough hand. He walked away, replacing his penis to its rightful position. The light left his face, the darkness enveloped the bathroom once again. Michael was alone, the octagon had become eerily foreboding, the doors warped in the darkness, it again reminded him of 'Alice in Wonderland' so much that he almost expected to bump into a little table, with a bottle on it.
He walked through the living room, passed the pillows, and reached the disguised door, which he had left agar before. Darkness flooded out from behind the door, his eyes widened as he reached out to grab the door handle as though some monster lurked behind the old door. The door flung open as he erratically tugged on it and winced as the air escaped and caressed his face. He gradually opened his eyes, to find nothing there, his fears all to no avail.
His eyes quickly came accustomed to the darkness, he could see Evangeline’s door remained open and could hear her muffled sobs. He walked past the door and glanced in momentarily to see the mound shaking as before. He continued down the hallway to find his own door. He jumped on the bed, trying to avoid any reaching hands under the bed. He rested his hands behind his head his muscles relaxed after being tense throughout his venture. He closed his eyes and drifted off away from the apartment and towards the past…
***
“Up! Up! Up!”
The high pitched voice rang in Michael’s ears dragging him out of his sleepy state but into the savage world. He opened his eyes wide and saw those huge emerald eyes staring back at him. She was positioned similar to the night before, hovering over Michael, disregarding any idea of privacy. The sun shone in bright beams through the gap in the shutters as she watched.
“I’m not dressed” said Michael almost whimpering clutching the white sheet. She regarded him carefully rising from his face and standing up next to him, stroking his arm and smiling tentatively. She turned sharply at the sound of a knock at the door and walked away and shouted.
“Meet me in the kitchen in 5 minutes or I’m coming to get you” her voice grew quieter as she walked along the corridor.
Michael quickly wrapped the sheet around his body and shuffled to the door and locked it. From behind the wood he could hear a murmur of a conversation far away. Evangeline had a visitor.
***
Evangeline turned as she saw Michael walking down through the living room in his tuxedo from the night before.
“You remember Michael don’t you Pierre” said Evangeline looking at Michael as he entered the hexagon.
“Michael” said Pierre putting out his hand for him to shake.
“The meal was wonderful thank you very much” said Michael in his posh English accent, while he continued to shake Pierre’s big aged hand.
“Good, I am… glad you liked” responded Pierre kindly.
Evangeline watched carefully her eyes darting from face to face as she usually does. Pierre said his goodbyes and turned down the long hallway to the door, stroking the material which remained hanging from the cracked plaster ceiling.
As the door slammed shut Michael and Evangeline walked into the kitchen, on the old stove, lay a frying pan cooking a crepe. On the table lay a selection of bowls, one filled with strawberries another with broken chocolate and one with berries of all kinds.
“I do hope you like…Pancakes, that is what you call them isn’t it?”
“Oh..Yes thank you”
“I thought you would” she said while flipping one of the crepes over and tucking some loose hair behind her ear. Michael watched, the way she elegantly moved around the kitchen and talked her eyes often wide and enticing. The street below was noisy, it is know that the French love morning and its true, people passed by the window on bikes, walking and talking, some reading the newspaper or taking the dog for a stroll.
He looked up from the street and saw Evangeline open the fridge and take out a carton of jus d’orange. His blue eyes saddened as he watched her, remembering her tears the night before. She seemed happy as she whizzed around the stylish island, chopping more strawberries and the whipping the cream.
The smell wafted around the kitchen fighting off the new air which floated in through the window bringing in the smells of the street.He began to think he must have been dreaming about last night, but remembers the reason he awoke was because of his own dream. Raising the question once again why was she crying….
Michael rubbed the plates with his young hands, washing the warm water over them cleaning them tentatively while Evangeline dried those he’d already washed. They talked of travels, of where they had been in the past and hoped to visit in the future.
Michael broke the conversation and asked “Do you live here alone”.
Evangeline stared back at him and answered quickly “My parents are away for a while” she broke of the eye contact as she spoke and looked down at the cloth she was using to wipe the dish.
“Oh…Where have they gone?”
“Bordeaux” she said while turning and placing the dry plate in the cupboard.
“My parents always go on holiday I hardly ever see them, not that that’s a bad thing of course”
“Don’t ill wish your parents Michael it isn’t a nice thing to do” she interjected and walked off, into the octagon.
“Sorry” he shouted from the kitchen.
“Don’t be” she said turning back to stare at him. She walked away, taking off her night gown allowing Michael to see her bare back. She held the night gown over her bottom but chose to drop it just at the right time so that Michael saw the material float away but didn’t quite catch what it was floating away from.
YOU ARE READING
Le Gai Paris
Romance*Winner of the REAL watty awards* Amidst the dirty and dangerous backstreets of Paris, three young adults embark on a journey to find themselves... ...Michael, a posh and naive boy travelling from England... ...Thomas, Micheal's equally refined frie...
