When in Paris

(5) Five

Chapter 5

Cathreese’s fingers hovered nervously over the black keys of her laptop. Nathan was online, but her nerves were getting the best of her. What if he had changed his mind? What if Kylie found out what she was doing and murdered her in her sleep? What if Nathan was a liar and he really did spend his time hitting on girls at the airport? What if…

A drop of water running down her neck from her heavy brown curls reminded her of the clouds and the roses. Her fingers came down on the keys and typed out a message before she even realized what she was doing.

I’m going to need a tour guide. Think you could help?

Her computer dinged almost immediately.

I would love to. Meet at the graveyard in15 minutes.

Cathreese looked at his response nervously. The graveyard was a little too close to her aunt’s house for her to feel comfortable meeting Nathan.

Are you sure Ky won’t notice? The graveyard’s pretty close.

Kylie’s terrified of the graveyard because of a stupid prank we played on her years ago. She won’t go near it.

That settled it. Cathreese quickly dressed and left a note on the kitchen table for her aunt, telling her that she was going exploring. Then she slipped out of the back door and disappeared into the shade of the trees.

***   

***  

                                                                                                                                                                                 

Nathan was kicking his legs back and forth on the swing, whistling a tune that Cathreese didn’t recognize. She was still a little unsure of what she was doing. It was only her second day in Paris after all and she would definitely be labeled a traitor by Ky if anyone found out that she was spending time with Nathan. Cathreese stopped just short of the edge of the woods, watching Nathan on the swing as he studied the sky. He looked adorable in a baggy pair of gray and black basketball shorts, a white tee-shirt, and black Vans. His hair was slightly damp from the storm that had just passed and as Cathreese watched he ran a hand through it and made it stand on end.

She stepped out into the graveyard and Nathan’s head swiveled to meet her gaze. A smile spread across his face, so genuine that Cathreese was reassured that her decision was the right one. She had never seen anyone smile the way he did, making his entire face light up. He looked so open, so honest, that Cathreese beamed back happily as all thoughts of Kylie’s wrath fell from her mind.

“You came!” Nathan called out, letting his feet skim the dewy grass. “I didn’t think you would.”

Cathreese tried to mask her confusion; of course she came. “What makes you think I wouldn’t show?”

Nathan wrapped his hands around the worn ropes of the swing, glancing down at his feet as a flush settled on his rosy cheeks. “I thought it was a prank. Kylie likes to humiliate me as much as possible. I thought maybe you were in on it and you guys were getting my hopes up for no reason.” A thought seemed to dawn on him, “You’re not going to do something to me later are you? Something mean that Kylie talked you into?” Suddenly Nathan was on edge, his eyes narrowing slightly as he studied Cathreese.

She did the only thing should could think of, crossing her heart as she stared into his dreamy eyes. “I swear I am not going to pull a prank on you. I haven’t even seen Kylie since the drive home yesterday.”

“Alright,” his smile was back, spreading slowly over his face like melting butter. Cathreese felt her heart start pounding faster at the appearance of a small dimple in his left cheek. God he was the most adorable think she’d ever seen. “I believe you.” Nathan jumped off the swing, landing gracefully on his feet. “So what do you want to see first Cathreese? The town? The Notre Dame? The cathedral? The museums? Eiffel Tower is out of the question. Save the best for the last!”

Cathreese hadn’t expected to be the one making decisions, “Umm I don’t know.”

“It’s all pretty boring.” Nathan took off across the cemetery and Cathreese was right on his heels, trying to match the skip in his step. “But you want to go sightseeing right?” He didn’t even glance back to see if she responded. “Of course you do, otherwise you wouldn’t have asked me for a tour.” She found the way he talked to himself to be extremely cute. “The Notre Dame it is.”