Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 78155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
“Wine is fine.” I didn’t feel any particular way about it. I moved to the small four-seater table, a little vase there with flowers she must have grabbed from the market. I watched her work in the kitchen, bend over to take the pan out of the oven and set it on top of the stove. Then she plated everything before she placed it before me and retrieved the wine. She poured two glasses and took the seat across from me.
“Thank you for dinner.” I laid the paper-towel napkin across my lap and cut into the chicken. It seemed to be roasted in a Caesar dressing that would go on a salad. Never seen anything like it, but I wasn’t picky about food. I’d eat pretty much anything.
She smiled. “Wow, you have manners.”
I took a bite of the chicken and chewed as I stared at her, enjoying the taste more than I expected to. I didn’t take offense to what she’d said because it was a fair assessment. There were a lot of things I should say that I forgot to share. And I also said some shit that was better left unsaid.
She focused on her food and sliced into the meat before she took a bite with a couple of the penne pasta pieces that were submerged in a light, buttery sauce. “I know it’s not fancy, but it’s easy.”
“I like it.”
“You do?” she asked. “Or are you just being polite?”
I finished my bite as I stared at her. “Am I ever polite?”
“Well, you did say thank you.”
“I said it because I meant it.” I’d been angry for days, pissed off the moment I walked in the door, but when I was with her…it was gone. “Not because of some societal obligation to appear grateful.” I cut straight to the chase, brushed off all the fluff, and it made me very unpopular. Bastien was better at diplomacy. Could walk the fine line between straightforward and charming.
I was not charming.
We continued to eat in silence. My phone vibrated in my pocket more than once, but I ignored it. It went off all the time, and if it was a real emergency, I knew it would be a call instead of a text.
“How have you been?” she asked.
“Work.”
As she took a drink of her wine, she raised her eyebrow. “What?”
“I’ve been working.”
“But that didn’t answer the question,” she said with a slight chuckle.
“I’m the same every moment, every day. My state of mind doesn’t change.”
“Okay, then what’s your default?”
I finished my dinner in a couple bites. The contents of the plate were a meal for her but a snack for me. “I don’t know.”
She watched me from across the table, a stare that was long and deep. She eventually reached for her nearly empty glass and took a drink until there was nothing left. “What’s been going on at work? The pension plan crisis still averted?”
She actually listened to me? “The Aristocrats robbed the Vatican Museum. But that’s not my problem, thankfully.”
“I saw that headline online today. But who are the Aristocrats?”
“A cult of weirdos.”
“A cult…?”
“They believe all French history should belong to them because they’re each descendants of the greatest figures in French history—monarchs, emperors, politicians, generals. A kids club for insecure men…”
She didn’t seem interested in her dinner anymore, focused entirely on what I revealed to her. “I had no idea there was such a thing.”
“You aren’t supposed to. That’s why I’m here, so people like you can see Paris for its beauty rather than its corruption and lies. So tourists continue to flock here and spend their money. So the world will continue to believe we’re a society of refinery and elegance. But truth is, we’re no different from Chicago or New York City in America. At least until the Fifth Republic and the French Emperors were formed.”
It’d been lighthearted a moment ago, but now she was focused on my face across the table, her mind working behind her eyes. “I didn’t pay attention to the news much these last eight years. I was so focused on the hit men who wanted me dead that I didn’t pay attention to anything else going on in the city. Didn’t notice a change when you guys came into power.”
“It was about four years ago. There’s been a distinct surge in our economy ever since. It’s been to the betterment of our society because we were on the precipice of societal ruin. Our health care system was almost affected.”
“I didn’t realize tourism was so important.”
“It’s more than tourism. It’s also Parisians staying out late and getting coffees and drinks and taking taxis…it all works together. I hate Americans as much as anyone else, but when they come here, they spend money, so I can’t hate them that much.”
“I don’t mind them. Why do you hate them?”