andante ❈ benjamin pavard

SIX

              Zoe woke up to the sound of birds chirping. It was a nice thing to wake up to, if she was being honest. It made it seem like she was in a movie. The sun's rays were muted by the sheer white curtains, and everything in the room was casted in a soft glow— even Ben. He was a pretty sleeper, obviously, and he laid stomach down with his face smashed into his pillow. His long eyelashes casted a soft shadow on his face, and if Zoe had her phone, she would've taken a picture. She didn't want to ruin the moment by moving. Everything seemed to be perfect.

In a perfect world, this would be Zoe's life. Where she would wake up next to Ben in Paris, her favorite boy and favorite city in the world. God, Zoe couldn't even decide her feelings over him. Was she over her childhood crush or not? Even she couldn't tell. It was hard to be over him when he was just so charming, and made her seem like she was the only girl in the world.

Trying to be as quiet as possible, Zoe slipped out of the bed and into the bathroom to get ready for the day ahead. She found a new toothbrush in the compartment beneath the sink, and used the face wash left by the hotel. Usually Zoe wouldn't do that, but it was some nice looking face wash, and she felt very refreshed afterwards.

When she opened the bathroom door, Ben was propped up in bed, scrolling through his phone. At the noise of the door being opened, he turned his head.

"Why are you up so early?" Ben asked.

"What time is it?"

"6:38."

Oops, she thought. She hated not knowing what time it was, and having to rely on Ben to find out. She didn't realize how much she used her phone until it was totally inaccesible, and she woke up in the middle of the night last night, and she literally twiddled her thumbs.

Ben groaned and stuffed his face further into the pillow as Zoe tried to get ready for the day ahead as quietly as possible at the end of the bed. She decided to put her jeans on first underneath the large t-shirt and futilely  tried to jump into the jeans from the previous night.

"For such a tiny girl, you have such heavy steps," Ben said, although his words were muffled.

Smiling, even though she had taken offense, Zoe wacked Ben on the foot with the red top she wore last night. Ben clearly wasn't as tired as he claimed to be, because he laughed quite loudly afterwards.

"You are such a drama queen," Zoe said.

"Seriously though, why are you up so early?" Ben asked, turning over and sitting up with his back against his headrest. He rubbed his eyes and began scrolling through his phone as Zoe finally got her jeans fully on.

"What do you mean why am I up so early?" Zoe zipped up her jeans. "I have to get back to Lille. My apartment needs toilet paper. I also have a huge meeting on Monday, and I need at least twenty hours of beauty sleep before it."

"Why do you keep mentioning toilet paper?" Ben paused. "You've mentioned it at least five times during the drive."

"Because it's important! It's a quintessential aspect of life!"

Ben nodded, a smug grin on his face, clearly not buying Zoe's reasons one bit. In return, Zoe attempted to wack him again, but he moved his foot out of the way just time.

"You're a little wanker, aren't you!" Zoe walked in the bathroom to fix her hair, which looked like an actual bird cage, and to put her top on. She didn't want to look like a prostitute walking around the streets of Paris at 7 AM with an itty bitty crop top on, but it had to be done.

"Oh, I'm a wanker?"

"Yeah, a wanker!" Zoe yelled through the door.

She looked at herself in the mirror once again, and though she washed her face and moisturized, she still looked half dead. Maybe that was what happened when you only got three hours of sleep. She could sleep all she want on the bus as well as that day and the next. She had all the time in the world, really, to catch up.