andante ❈ benjamin pavard

SEVEN

It was like a dream come true. Zoe felt like she was flying, light on her toes, dancing through the streets of Paris. Yes, she felt kind of guilty spending Ben's money, but he not only offered, he insisted. Their next stop was Sephora, because Zoe couldn't spend the next twenty four hours with Ben looking like she had just rose from the dead. Lucky for her, she needed a new concealer anyway.

They had already stopped at a couple of small, yet very pricey, boutiques as well as huge retail chains such as Urban Outfitters and Free People. Ben thought he was funny when he went into Gucci and purchased a pair of flip flops. Zoe didn't really think that it was funny, but she couldn't help but laugh at the way his face completely lit up when he held them.

Zoe thought the way Ben attempted to conceal his identity by wearing sunglasses made it more obvious that he was hiding something, because he didn't take them off no matter the circumstance. But Zoe understood why he tried. Being a star on France's World Cup winning squad in the capital definitely meant that people would recognize him.

Ben lagged behind Zoe as she searched the aisles for what she needed. She wasn't going to go all out, but she did need to do something with her face. She grabbed a beauty blender off the shelf and went in search of her beloved NARS concealer.

"What's this sponge?" Zoe heard Ben ask as she debated which color concealer to get. It had been so long since she bought concealer, that she had completely forgotten which concealer tone would fit her. She narrowed it down to three, and all three of them looked exactly the same, and she had no idea what yellow, orange, or green undertones meant. How was she supposed to know what undertones meant? Being a girl was a hard.

"It's to blend your makeup," Zoe told him as she thoroughly examined the last concealers.

"What's wrong with an old fashioned brush?"

"I don't know, I'm a sheep, I just follow what everyone else does." Zoe bit her lip and decided that she didn't have green undertones because she didn't like the color green. Not the most stellar reasoning, but she was so tired of looking at the word NARS and concealer. She picked the last two up and held them up to either side of her face. "Which one is more my color."

Ben furrowed his eyebrows. "Is this a trick question?"

"Why would it be a trick question?" Zoe said, frowning and still waiting for an answer.

"Because they look exactly the same."

"Ugh," Zoe groaned, throwing her head back. Boys were useless. "I'm going with this one because my other hand's closer to put it back on the shelf." Zoe threw the concealer in her left hand in the basket Ben was holding. He was also holding all five of the bags. Zoe tried to hold on, and Ben all but yelled at her. With him, chivalry was alive and well.

"I bet your girlfriends love you," Zoe said. Her next stop was primer, because makeup without primer was a travesty.

"What?"

"Oh, you know," Zoe said, finding her way through the store. There were way more people than she had expected, hailing from all over the world. There were so many languages being spoken in her vicinity it made her head spin. "The whole gentleman thing. Paying for stuff, holding stuff, etcetera. Girls say they don't like it, but they do. Your future girl is going to eat it up."

"Oh." Ben sighed, and for a second, Zoe thought it was from relief. "What do you need now?"

"Primer."

"Oh, like a base? Like painting?"

"Yeah." Zoe nodded. She picked up the cheapest primer she could find and tossed it into the basket. Then, she found an eyeshadow palette, contour kit, highlighter, mascara, kfalse eyelashes, blush, an eyebrow pencil, eyeliner, lipgloss, and respective brushes. Being a girl was a lot of work.

"Does all of this go on your face?" Ben asked as they headed to the checkout line.

"No, sometimes I stick my false eyelashes up my butt for the fun of it," Zoe drawled, and Ben elbowed her in response. Laughing, Zoe continued. "Yes, it all goes on my face. You think people magically wake up with bronzed cheekbones and smokey eyes?"

Ben stared at all the products in the basket as the line moved forward. "It's just so much, and honestly I don't think you need it."

"Need what?"

"Makeup." Ben tilted his head, his eyes roaming Zoe's face. She felt incredibly self conscious at that moment, and couldn't resist her body's natural urge to blush. She felt her cheeks redden and had to look away. "You're naturally pretty. And I know you think you look like, really bad or something, but you don't."

"Thanks." Zoe brought a hand up to her face to try to manage her blushing. "That was really nice."

"I'm trying to keep my gentleman image intact."

Scoffing, Zoe took the basket of Sephora items out of his hand. They were the next in line, and Zoe placed the basket onto the counter. She didn't even want to look at how much the total cost was, because she would actually, legitimately faint.

The cashier bagged the items while glancing up at Ben every once in a while. She was a younger girl with dark, curly hair and the prettiest brown eyes Zoe had ever seen. Zoe took a peek at her name tag, which read Maddy. She wondered what her deal was. They weren't I-think-you're cute-give-me-your-number looks, but more of a I-swear-I've-seen-you-before.

"Has anyone ever told you that you look like Benjamin Pavard?"

Ding ding ding. Ben's first spotting of the day, which wasn't an actual spotting because Maddy didn't actually spot him. She thought she did, and she did, but she didn't, if that made any sense. It made sense in Zoe's head.

And Benjamin, the asshole that he was, dared to look confused. "No one's ever told me that. He must be real handsome."

Maddy laughed lightly. "Really? No one? You guys could be twins. Same hair, face, everything. You could make a living being an impersonator or something."

"I'll have to try that out," Ben said, all while trying to grab the bags of the counter, but Zoe beat him to the punch. She shoved him aside and grabbed them for herself.

Zoe tried not to laugh watching the interaction.

"Have a good day!" Maddy called as they walked away.

"You are something else." Zoe shook her head, chastising him.

"Well, I wasn't going to tell her that I'm Benjamin Pavard. I don't really want to take any pictures today. I hate pictures."

"Fair enough," was all Zoe responded.

Neither of them had eaten breakfast yet, and it was already nearing twelve. They had been out and about for three hours, and Zoe still wanted to go back to the hotel room, drop off the bags, do her makeup, and change. It would be a while before either of them had actual food in their stomachs, and Zoe could tell Ben was getting hangry. Hangry Ben was not a fun Ben at all.

The walk back to the hotel was mostly in silence, and Zoe could feel herself buzzing with excitement. The next twenty four hours was going to be the most fun Zoe had in a while. Zoe wasn't one for last minute plans, and tended to overthink, but her weekend was entirely based on going with the flow. It seemed as if Ben brought out a side of her that even Margot couldn't manage to bring to life.

She liked it. She liked it a lot.

**
hey u guys! sorry this chapter sucked lol writer's block i'm sooo excited for some stuff to happen i just need a couple more chapters to get there :)

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