French Kiss (Novella) (2 page)

Maria skipped after him, laughing. Above, the early
evening sky was a deep soulful blue, complimented by the glowing light from the
line of tall street lights, each one looking like an antique throwback from a
hundred years earlier.

The perfect location for a blossoming romance, she
thought.   A wonderful feeling of anticipation flooded through her.

Cameron sounded and ‘felt’ right from the moment she
met him on that lonely street in Rome, the perfect tonic for a girl almost
completely given over to despair.

She made a mental note to call Emma and thank her.

As they strolled, slowly, almost nonchalantly, the
couple enjoyed a moment of silence that was broken only by the occasional car
horn or nearby conversation. It seemed to Maria like Paris injected a feeling
of harmony especially when you had someone to share it with. Paris was made for
two, and she guessed Cameron was feeling the same.  Every few seconds, his
sky-blue eyes would shift in her direction, the message clear.

“You know, I hardly have any idea where we are. All
I know is that’s the Eiffel Tower and this is Paris. I like it that way ...
it’s ... what’s the word ...?” Cameron said, his voice thoughtful.

Maria nodded in agreement, “I think you mean it’s
‘comforting’ right?”

“I think we are comfortably lost,” he replied.

Cameron smiled, and Maria looked on enjoying the way
his smiling face was back-lit by the bright red of the lights lining the Eiffel
Tower behind him. He smiled so easily, as if it were new to him.

Was it always that way? She wondered if he, like
her, returned to reality at the end of the evening and wished that life had
dealt him a different hand?

In time, she hoped that would no longer be the case. 
Cameron, she hoped, would play a penultimate role in helping her reach that
point.

“You really do ‘get me’ don’t you, Maria. I mean
even on that first day in Rome, when I pulled up in my limo all cocky and brash,
you seemed to see through all that bravado and bring me down to Earth,” Cameron
said, stepping aside to allow a young couple to pass by with a flourish of his
hand.

The couple smiled and moved on. The magic of the
Paris evening clearly alive within their hearts too.

Maria found herself blushing and instinctively
turned away, but Cameron didn’t notice and instead turned and continued
walking, the ever-present smile still fixed upon his handsome face.

When she finally pulled herself together, Maria answered
him, “Well, I figured we’re both in the same boat. Why else would we be there?
I could tell, anyway, it was something in your voice ...” Maria paused for a
moment thinking and stopped, looking out at the silvery expanse of the Seine
river that stretched off and passed by their destination.

Cameron stood watching her, as if urging her to find
the words.

“What, what was it? The suspense is killing me,
Maria!” He laughed and Maria savored the sound of his strong Texan accent,
soothing to her ears.

“Well ... don’t get offended ... ‘desperation’,
that’s what it was.” She said, hoping she hadn’t overstepped the mark.

“Ah, I see...” said Cameron, sitting on a bench set
back among some Willow trees by the river behind him. Maria held her breath,
waiting, it was a pivotal moment and one that would decide their future, she
was sure.

After a few seconds of silence, very long seconds,
Cameron looked up, no longer smiling.

“You know, I couldn’t have put it better myself. In
fact, that day in Rome, I was almost beginning to give up hope that I would
ever find someone... someone who wouldn’t be suspicious or judgmental of me and
question my motives. I thought my motives were pretty clear, driving around in
a Limo alone isn’t my idea of fun.”

He shook his head, his voice growing quieter as the
feelings from that day flooded back to the forefront of his mind for a few
moments. 

“If the truth be told, you were my final chance ...
the only thing standing between me and ...” Cameron’s voice trailed off, but
Maria caught the emotion in his voice, the allusion clearly evident.

“Oh ...”

That was all Maria could say, she was lost in two
trains of thought, both colliding with each other as they struggled for power.
On the one hand, she felt sad that it had reached such a point for him, and on
the other she wondered just how close she herself had come to that crossroad.
Ending it all, and setting herself free from the loneliness once and for all.

Again, silence descended as they both struggled to
continue. Cameron reliving his pain and Maria lost in indecision.

Finally, Maria broke the silence, not wanting to
dwell anymore. They had something now, each other, and all that darkness was
behind them.

“I understand, Cameron ... I know how you were
feeling.”

Cameron looked up from his shoes, his expression
blank, “You do?”

“Of course, I know how it feels to believe that you
are gonna be alone for the rest of your life. As if, you’re invisible, at least
as far as your humanity is concerned. People are so obsessed with outer beauty
and expression that they neglect what’s inside, what’s most important.”

Maria sighed with the release of pent up emotion
that suddenly poured from her. It had been so long since anyone other than her
mother had listened to her. Listening was a subjective thing, most people
appeared to ‘listen’ but were really just waiting in line to put in their own
two cents.

Cameron was listening and she could tell.

He sniffed and sighed before speaking, “Ain’t that
the truth, huh.” He stood up and approached Maria slowly before stopping in
front of her and breaking out into a huge grin.

“Meeting you was the best thing that ever happened
to me, you know that?”

“Ditto.”

At that moment they embraced, it being the only
course of action left at that point.

All the loneliness she had ever felt seemingly
rushing out through her lips in a long exhalation that left her feeling
released. Released from the self-torment she had inflicted upon herself for so
long. Cameron felt the same, she could hear it in the way he breathed - as if
he were breathing oxygen for the first time.

They remained that way for a minute or so. Two lost
souls, finally at peace and what better place to find that peace than on the
banks of the river Seine, the now spring-shoot green Eiffel Tower standing over
them, a silent audience.

The couple came upon a grand stone bridge spanning
the river, a row of resplendent arches on its underside lit with bright golden
lights.

Maria quickened her pace, and headed directly for
it, gasping with delight.

“Look at that, it’s so beautiful,” she murmured.

“Yes, it is, isn’t it?”

They headed towards the glowing stone bridge that
looked for all the world like the entrance to a great hidden castle.   Maria took
the lead, almost sprinting for it in her eagerness.

“European sophistication at its finest, there is so
much I don’t know about Europe and its history. I’ve had such a sheltered life,
in Seattle...” Maria stepped onto the bridge and stood gazing at it, amazed by its
splendor and the effect was magnified by the glowing green Eiffel Tower to the
East.

“It’s like I just stepped out of reality and into a
dreamworld!” She laughed, throwing her arms up and twirling around, feeling
like a schoolgirl again.

Once more, in her life, everything was new and
magical ... everything.

Cameron from somewhere behind her, laughed softly,
enjoying her sudden burst of energy as she bounded to each side of the bridge
and looked down into the water flowing below, the gentle aura of the lights
bathing the water in a soft radiance.

“You know, I’ve read a little on Paris ...” Cameron
began, but Maria cut him off abruptly.

“Yes, yes ... I would love to hear what you’ve
learned, Cameron.” She turned from where she was standing within one of the
semi-circular areas, looking out over the river and winked, a little smile
playing on her lips.

Laughing again, Cameron made his way to her, wanting
to be near her. Her energy was filling him up, her light entering his darkness
and filling it with soothing radiance that healed and assuaged his previous
thoughts of despair.

Her elbows propped up on the edge of the stone
bridge, Maria gazed upriver taking in the grand scale of the vista before her.
Along the tree lined banks, she saw the distant tips of spires rising up into
the early evening sky, and what she couldn’t see, she filled in with her
imagination. Spires became huge, ornately decorated cathedrals and the stone
tops of buildings jutting up alongside them, filled with gargoyles and stone
dragons leering out at the city. All in her imagination, as the buildings were
too far away to discern the detail, but she had lived in her imagination for so
long, it was second nature to her.

Beside her, Cameron’s eyes were fixed upon her as
she took in the city.

Finally, after a moment of silence, Cameron stepped
up beside her and propped his own elbows up next to hers. In the distance, the
horn of a party boat, glowing with an array of colorful lights like a Christmas
tree, sounded out three times, and the sound was comforting to Cameron. It set
the tone, nicely.

“Well, this particular bridge is the oldest in
Paris, which is a little funny.” Cameron said, breaking the silence.

Maria, turned and looked up at him. “Funny, why do
you say that?”

“Well, it’s called Pont Nuef, which means ‘new
bridge’!” He said raising his eyebrows, and grinning from ear to ear.

“Hmmm, that’s interesting. Tell me more, Mr.
Enclyclopedia.” Maria laughed, her attention now fully focused on him.

“You sure you want me to bore you with even more
details?”

Maria moved closer, but not so close that they were
touching, just enough so that Cameron got the message. “Tell me something
romantic ... something about love or a forbidden romance that took place.”

Maria smiled cheekily, “If it involves this bridge, you
get extra brownie points!”

Cameron cocked his head to the side and his eyes
narrowed, “Really? Well, let me just check in my filing system ... I might have
something for you. It was Cameron’s turn to give a cheeky grin, “Here’s the
deal, I’ll give you a romantic story about the bridge, if you ...”

“Oh c’mon, Cameron!”

“What? Seriously, Maria. This stuff is hard to come
by you know, I spent hours sear...”

Maria cut him off again. “Okay, Mr. Encyclopedia ...
name your price!” She said smiling, although this time the cheekiness was
replaced with a bashful lopsided smile and a sideways glance that spoke volumes
to Cameron.

He continued, hesitating slightly as possibilities
flooded his mind, “Okay, how about this - you meet me again tomorrow at a place
of my choosing.”

Cameron waited, silence descending over the two of
them once more.

Maria loved this. The little games and trades. It
was everything she had dreamed of since her teens.

“Deal! Now, where’s this romantic story to sweep me
off my feet?”

Cameron began walking once more, heading into the
center of the bridge towards the expanse of buildings on the other side and
Maria followed, her body tingling with anticipation.

Stopping in the center of the bridge, Cameron turned
to face Maria as she approached him and began his story.

“On this ‘very’ bridge, one of the most touching
love stories of all took place.”

Maria raised her eyebrows, “Really? Right here where
we are standing?”

He nodded, “Yes, right here.” He winked playfully.

“The Pont Nuef used to be a place where the homeless
would gather and sleep, you see, right there in those semi-circular parts?”

Maria Nodded.

“Well, there was this one guy who slept alone, and
had his own spot made up and everything, it was basically ‘his’ property. He
had staked his claim on it, so to speak.” Cameron walked to the edge of the
bridge and nimbly hopped up onto it, where he sat and continued the story.

Maria stayed where she was, as she waited to hear
the rest of the story.

“Anyway, one night he came home from another day
spent scavenging and performing for food and money, to find a young woman
sitting in his spot. Naturally, he feels threatened by what seems to be another
homeless person and challenges her.”

“What did she do?”

Cameron continued, “They fought a little but then
she explained what she was doing there. She wore an eye patch and said that it
was because she had a degenerative eye-disorder that would soon cause her to go
blind.”