Letters to Audrine

4- I Feel Like a Baboon

I feel a lot less nervous on my second trip to the restaurant, now that I know that Audrine is still here and I can successfully give her the letters like my grandpa wanted. I had a few days to relax by the pool at the hotel and explore the small town a little bit more, which also gave me some time to calm my nerves about this completely bizarre situation.

Today, when I arrive at the restaurant, there's nobody seated outside like there was the first time. I wonder why Audrine would even be here at the restaurant on a day that it's closed, I'm also curious about why this restaurant is the address that my grandpa wrote his letters to. I have a thousand questions that I want to ask her about my grandpa and his time here in France, I just hope I don't get nervous and forget all of them when I see her again.

Because the restaurant is closed, the front doors that I walked through the first time are now locked. When I pull on the handle, they don't budge at all. I stand there stupidly in front of the empty restaurant for a few minutes not knowing what I should do. Maybe find a back door? Or just knock on this one? I'm not sure if she would be able to hear me from the back of the restaurant if I just knock though.

As I'm just standing there trying to figure out the best approach, I hear a window opening up above me and then somebody saying, "Back so soon?" the young man that had greeted me the last time I was here pops his head out of the second floor window above me.

"I'm looking for Audrine," I tell him before wiping an embarrassing amount of sweat from my forehead.

"I figured," he says, and then motions to the left with his head and adds, "Come on up. There's a door on the side."

And then he disappears back inside. Clutching the box of letters by my side, I follow the path that wraps around the building to the left. As he said, there's a subtle brown door on the side of the building and when I turn the knob, it swings open. I'm immediately greeted by a narrow wooden staircase leading up, so I shut the door behind me and I start walking up the stairs.

At the top, I step into what seems to be a living room. A bright living room with white walls, light wooden floors, and a large mirror hanging over an intricately engraved fireplace.

"She went out to the market, but she should be back soon," the guy startles me a little bit when he speaks up, standing in the kitchen area to my right. I hadn't noticed him there as I was too busy taking in my surroundings. I wasn't expecting to walk into a living space, maybe a restaurant kitchen or storage, but not this.

"Okay," I say awkwardly, not really sure what I should do at this point. I don't know who this guy is, and I'm not good at making small talk, so I just stand in the doorway as awkwardly as one could.

As I'm standing there, I grow more and more aware of how messy I must look. So sweaty that I can feel my baby hairs sticking to my forehead, probably sunburnt from all the time I've spent out at the pool these past few days. I hadn't put much effort into my looks today, but standing here now, I wish that I reapplied my deodorant before coming, and maybe didn't wear my frumpiest pair of denim shorts that make me look kind of lumpy.

Because this guy standing near me right now is really attractive; as if he was the love child of young John Travolta and Orlando Bloom with David Beckham's physique. I wasn't really paying much attention when I met him the first time because I was so nervous, but now that I'm up close and he's not hiding behind a counter, I'm starting to get a little bit flustered.

"You can have a seat," he finally speaks up after what feels like an eternity for me, but what is probably just less than a minute of awkward silence. "I'll put on some coffee."

"Okay," I say again, and then take a seat at the round white dining table. I put the shoe box down and nervously wring my hands together on my lap. "How do you know Audrine?"