A Rainy Night in Paris Ch. 03

"Chérie, at this rate, you will owe me more for the phone call than if I just came and fixed the problem," Alex was on the phone with two laptops open in front of him as Samantha came out of the bedroom. "Monique, I love you to pieces darling, but we are getting nowhere on this. Non, chérie, c'est vrai. It is going to need a more tender touch. Oui, I am calling you ham-fisted darling but don't take it personally." He had paused to listen to the woman, Monique, on the other end of the line and Samantha felt a small flash of jealousy. She decided to go and look at the book case near her instead of just standing around, eavesdropping and tried to get a handle on her emotions. The more she looked the more surprised she was with his eclectic tastes. There were more books on early American history with a focus on the Revolution and Civil War, which surprised her considering he was living in Paris. He had books on military history, pirates, a couple of shelves of philosophy and some titles in French that she did not even begin to try to translate.

"Eclectic, very eclectic," she said to herself as the book on erotic massage caught her attention.

"Monique, enough. I can be there for dinner. I should have it fixed before you finish the soufflé. Bon. A bientôt. See you this evening." He snapped the phone closed and pulled a leather book towards him. From where she was standing, Samantha saw that it was a calendar. He scribbled a little note in it and closed it, putting it back on top of the pile.

"Are you feeling a little better, Samantha?" he asked standing. "Can I offer you something to drink?" He walked over the closet that held the washing machine, pulled it open, and then opened the door on the dryer as well before opening the washing machine and scooping the contents out and into the dryer in a well practiced motion. He paused and pulled her shirt out of the pile and held it up, looking at it. "Merde," he muttered. "Samantha, I am afraid this might take more work. The first pass didn't do it."

She walked over and he was almost painfully aware of her presence. She felt her nipples, which free of the bra containing them had hardened under the rubbing of the larger shirt and were hard nubs pressing against the fabric making her whole body tingle all over again. Her breasts were a good size, not large but balanced with her frame and he was guessing that they would have a lovely weight to them. The white shirt he was holding in his hands, however, was pretty much a lost cause.

"Damn," she muttered under her breath. "What about my bra," she said without thinking about the implications.

He fished around in the dryer and pulled it out, the coffee stain clearly evident on the band and left cup. A 34B he noted as he passed it over to her. "Nope, looks like we are oh for two."

Samantha was not sure whether to cry, throw things or just curl up in defeat. This day, this trip was not turning into the enjoyable experience she hoped it would be. And now she had to replace her most basic clothing with her limited budget.

"I could make a suggestion," he said, somewhat hesitantly, not sure how she would react.

"Sure, go for it," she said, crumpling the ruined bra in her hand wondering what was coming next, fighting to restrain the tears.

"There is a store a couple of blocks over where you can get a new bra and t-shirt. I would even be happy to pay for them, since I am the pig that cannot look where he is going," he said with a smirk.

"You are terrible," she said throwing the bra at him and struggling not to smile at him, because of the absurdity of the situation, his unlooked for kindness and just how attractive she found him at that moment. She did not want to lead him on and give him the wrong idea when she herself was so mixed up but she also wanted to rip his clothes off at that moment.

"Is that a yes?" he said, deftly catching the bra and wrapping the wet t-shirt around it before turning to put them both in the garbage. He busied himself with starting the dryer while she made up her mind.

"Yes, it's a yes. Not that I have much choice in the matter." She was grinning broadly now and trying hard not to laugh out loud. There was something about him that made her feel like everything would be alright.

"Good. Let me get you a cover-up, unless you want to go out like that," he said thinking that she looked sexy with her nipples pressing against the shirt and feeling certain she would not be happy with so much showing.

Samantha looked down and was mortified, quickly crossing her arms across her chest.

"Don't tell me you are embarrassed," he said. "You don't have anything to be embarrassed about. Personally I find them quite lovely. Here," he tossed her a sweatshirt with the Sorbonne logo on it, his smirk quickly gone as she quickly pulled the sweatshirt over her head.

"Ready?"

"Yes."

They made their way back out to the street together and following his lead they were soon at a little shop that Samantha would never be able to find again if she had too.

"Here we are," he said, indicating that she should go in before him. It was a pleasant little place, not like any store she had ever been in. Unlike any store in the States she amended. There were a couple of aisles of t-shirts, some plain, some with sayings and logos on them. In the back there was a small lingerie section but after looking at the boxes for a couple of minutes, she was completely confused.

"I...," Samantha turned to look at Alex and found him over looking at t-shirts. "Alex, I have a problem," she said.

"You cannot find your size," he said walking over to her knowing immediately that she would be at a complete loss.

"No, I can't." The look on her face was that of a little girl and Alex did everything he could not to laugh at her and fought the urge to gather her up into his arms and kiss her.

"Here," he said, pulling a box off the middle back row and passing it to her. "Here you go, a basic white bra, 34B, or the French equivalent unless you wanted something frillier?"

"Basic white is fine. How did you know my size?"

"You threw your old one at me. I looked at the tag. Here, one basic white t-shirt. Although you look better in the cream if you asked me."

"You are something," she said looking around. They were the only ones in the store at the moment besides a slightly bored looking clerk at the register reading a copy of Paris Match.

"Anything else you need?"

"No, that is enough for now," she said. What she really wanted was a map, but she did not see one and was not about to ask him for any more help.

"Then let me pay for these and we will go back and you can put them on. Then we can go and find some lunch." He took the items up to the counter, the clerk rang them up and like that they were done. He passed her the plastic bag and they made their way back to the apartment.

"Alex, I don't have time for lunch. I have to get across town before two o'clock," she said as they stepped out into the street.

"Sure you do. It is a little after eleven. We will get you changed, hop on the Metro and let it take us to George Cinq station and grab lunch in a cafe along the Champs Elysées. If we can avoid anymore wardrobe malfunctions, you will make it to your meeting in plenty of time, unless there is something you needed from your hotel?"

"No, I have everything I need in here," she indicated her purse. "Wait, did you say you were going to come with me?" She was not sure if she was more scared that he was coming with her, or if she was scared that he might not come with her, leaving her to find her way alone.

"Of course. I did say I was going to point you in the right direction n'est pas? Well, it is easier to point you in the right direction when all I have to do is point you to the door, right?"

"Your logic is infallible," she said. "OK, I accept." A sudden wash of relief flowed through her as she accepted his offer despite feeling other parts of her tighten with excitement at the thought of him coming with her.

"Now we just have to get you properly attired," he said with a smile and she swatted him on the arm as they turned the corner and walked back to his apartment.

To be continued...