When in Paris

(9) Nine

Chapter 9

“Zoo? Did you say zoo?” Cathreese struggled to match Nathan’s fast pace as he skirted through the Paris sidewalks.

“Rule number two,” was his only response.

Cathreese sighed and walked faster, doing her best not to lose him in the crowd. She wasn’t asking to complain, she was asking because she loved zoos. Now she wasn’t going to tell him how excited she was.

A few minutes later it was official, Nathan was gone, sucked up by the hundreds of others with similar accents. Cathreese was surprised to find that she wasn’t panicking, that she wasn’t really concerned at all. She slowed her pace so she could actually take in the sights, sounds, and smells of the city instead of rushing passed it as Nathan appeared to be doing.

Cathreese stopped in front of a pub named Aux Folies craning her neck as she heard cheering coming from inside. Through the window she caught a glimpse of the soccer game playing on the TV. Football, she mentally corrected herself as she noticed a cute boy a little older than her smiling in her direction.

“Bonjour mademoiselle,” he walked over giving her a sly smile, his fingers reaching out to trail down her arm. “Vous êtes d'où ?” 

She had no idea what that meant so she just smiled and tried to pull her arm away.

“What is a pretty girl like you doing wandering these streets alone? Why don’t I walk you to where ever you’re going?” the boy said in a thick French accent.

“Actually,” Nathan appeared out of nowhere and took Cathreese’s hand possessively, “she’s with me. So we won’t be needing your assistance.”

The kid looked at Cathreese, “Do you know this guy?”

She nodded, feeling Nathan’s grip tighten when the kid didn’t walk away.

“If you’re ever looking for a fun time,” the kid winked and started to back up, “come back around here and I’ll show you one.” He disappeared into the crowd and Nathan let Cathreese’s hand fall to her side, where it hung limply and bloodless. She hadn’t realized Nathan had been squeezing that hard.

She worked for a few seconds to get the blood flowing again and then looked up into Nathan’s deep blue eyes, which were filled with concern, fear, and guilt.

“He didn’t hurt you did he? Are you ok? I am so sorry for leaving you. I’m a terrible person. I broke rule number three. You must hate me. Why do I ruin everything? You are okay right? Please don’t be mad. No, be mad. I deserve it for being a jerk and walking so fast. You should probably slap me or something. If I lost you on the first day your aunt would have murdered me. Why am I such a…”

“Nathan!” Cathreese yelled, cutting him off in the middle of his insane babbling. “I’m fine, it’s fine, we’re fine. I don’t hate you, I’m not going to hit you, and you aren’t whatever you were about to say you are.”

Nathan took a deep breath, “You make me nervous.”

“I’m sorry. I won’t do anything stupid. Don’t worry about me.”

“No,” he blushed, glancing down at his blue Supras. “Not that kind of nervous.”

Cathreese was about to ask what he meant when it dawned on her. She made him nervous because he … Her eyes widened, no there was no way he like liked her. They had just met! And they kept hurting each other’s feelings which meant…

That he probably did like her. He had been teasing her this morning after all and he did bring her with him on this adventure. He said he wanted to get to know her better and now she knew why.

Cathreese couldn’t believe it. Yeah she had been all head over heels for him when writing to Phoebe, going on about how cute he was and how sweet and fun and honest. But now that he was seemingly admitting that he liked her, Cathreese’s opinions on him quickly changed.

Who was she kidding? She would never be over Caiden. He was her one true love.

“Sorry.” Nathan’s voice shook her out of the trance she was in. “There I go making things awkward again. Forget I mentioned that. You’re just really hot and hot girls … yeah, well forget it.”

Cathreese nodded silently, stepping into place besides him. As they walked his words echoed over and over in her mind. He had called her hot, not pretty or gorgeous like he had before. He had downgraded big time and she felt a cold front settling in over her feelings for him, a direct blow to the center of her brain that kept whispering to her about how adorable he was. He was a guy, and just like every other guy, he only cared about how she looked and how she performed in bed.

And that was something he would never know.