Summer in France || 𝖩𝖤𝖭𝖫𝖨𝖲𝖠 ✔︎

one

An: Yay I'm back with another adaptation book. I do not own anything credits to the author of the book.  Hope you all like this one!!
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Jennie's was welcomed by a warm breeze and the smell of freshly cut grass when she exited the arrivals hall at Nice airport. Her tired, sore eyes scanned the area, searching for car rental signs. It had been a long flight from Korea, with a tight stop-over in Paris, forcing her to sprint towards the gate, arriving just before it closed. Following the arrows along the parking lot, she smiled and sighed at the sight of the palm trees that surrounded the modest airport, and the flower beds with bright pink oleanders on the roundabout, leading to the motorway.

Jennie stopped for a moment, rolled her shoulders and leaned onto her baggage trolley, which was stacked three-high with cases. Her feet were killing her in the high heels, still swollen from the flight. She wasn't looking forward to driving in a strange country, and the stories she'd heard about French traffic hadn't exactly boosted her confidence either. But there was something about the unknown that made her smile, despite her nerves. She was in France, of all places.

She picked up the keys to her Mercedes, bought herself a coffee and waited in the carpark for assistance with her baggage. Three staff members and a security guard stared at her blankly while smoking a cigarette in the shade of a tree. When no one moved a finger to help her, she reluctantly opened the trunk and loaded the heavy cases into the car herself. Fine. I guess service is not a thing here.

"Could you please point me in the general direction of Valbonne?" She asked the security guard, after rolling down the window by the gates of the parking lot. He frowned and waved a dismissive hand.

"No Anglais," he said, stubbing out the cigarette on the sole of his shoe.

"Valbonne?" Jennie tried again. She held up the print-out with the directions the caretaker of the estate had sent her, after strict instructions not to rely on her satnav in the mountains. The man took the piece of paper from her and read the address out loud, wiggling his well  groomed mustache. Then he nodded and pointed towards the third exit on the roundabout, holding up three fingers.

"Merci beaucoup," Jennie tried. She blushed in embarrassment when he grinned at her poor French, while checking out her breasts. So much for French charm. She could feel sweat dripping down her back as soon as she drove off, and it wasn't just from the heat. Jennie rarely drove herself. Back home in Soeul, she took cabs to work or used the company driver. Come on, Jen. You can do this. You're heading in the right direction, that's a start.

Jennie's vacation to France was the most out of character thing she'd ever done. She rarely took vacations and when she did, she had always traveled with Jaehyun, her ex-husband. She had pictured herself arriving at the airport, flaunting her white and navy striped boat-neck top and oversized shades, speaking French fluently. Instead, she was still in her pant-suit and she couldn't remember anything from the intensive French classes she had taken in the past weeks.

Jennie struggled to get off the roundabout with all the cars zooming past. Her hands were shaking on the steering wheel, clamping onto the leather when cars sped past her on either side. I should have taken my jacket off. She felt clammy and warm, and was on the edge of a panic attack as she double checked the exit number on the directions lying next to her in the passenger seat. Finally, she exited the motorway onto a quieter road that took her through smaller towns and villages. She allowed herself to relax a little bit, and opened all the windows, letting in the scent of lavender fields, bakeries, and a faint hint of the ocean that lay behind her. Most villages were small and sleepy, with ivy-covered stone houses, colorful flower beds, small boutiques and family-run grocery stores.