One Night in Paris

"That's basically it," I said.

And I went ahead and told her about the long and difficult couple of years before I came to Paris last time, and she told me about how her father got rich after the fall of the Iron Curtain and got her a job in finance right out of university, and how she hadn't liked it much either. And we talked, wide awake in the dead of night, about everything except her family, taking no notice of the time.

At least not until she got up to go to the bathroom and I noticed it was nearly four o'clock. Tanya noticed the same when she got back. "Doesn't that make you feel tired all of a sudden!" she said.

"Very," I agreed.

She climbed back into bed and snuggled up against me, and I think we were both asleep in minutes.

The rain had finally ended when I opened my eyes to see her getting dressed. "Morning," she said. "No awkwardness, okay?"

"You certainly don't look awkward," I said. She was elegance itself in her matching blue underwear and stockings.

"You know what I mean!" she said. She looked cheerful but businesslike as she pulled on a skirt and blouse that she had draped over the edge of the bed. "Your clothes are dry, and I've laid them on the bed in the other room, where you changed. I have a meeting with a client in about twenty minutes, but you can stay in bed as long as you want. Feel free to shower, and just shut the door after you when you go."

"Tanya, what are you saying?" I sat up and, suddenly, I really didn't want her to see me like this, so I pulled the sheets back over myself.

She smiled as she buttoned up her blouse. "I'm saying after my meeting, there's a place around the corner called Café L'Ancien where I often go for lunch on weekends. Just turn left when you go outside, if you want to meet there." She picked up her purse from the floor by the dresser. "And if you don't want to meet there, no hard feelings and I'll see you on Facebook, okay?" She leant down and kissed me goodbye. "It's all up to you, Adam."

"Good luck with the client," I said, realizing I didn't even know what she was doing for a living now.

"Thank you. Good bye." With a confident grin, she shut the bedroom door behind her and I heard her footsteps retreat down the stairs.

Naturally I couldn't think of going back to sleep. I helped myself to a shower and then found my clothes just where she'd said they would be, dry and ready. As I got dressed, I went over the long list of things I still had to do while I was in town, and how fleeting the time was, and all the question marks that hung over anything long term, and I tried to put from my mind how delightful last night had been. Did I want to spoil that memory with the trials and tribulations of a long-distance relationship?

I avoided long last looks around the house as I stepped out into the crisp but sunny morning. I told myself I ought to get back to my room and get to work on prepping for my next meeting. I recalled from last night, the Metro stop was off to the right.

The café was off to the left.

I stepped up the walkway to the sidewalk, and my conscience drew me to the right.

But when I got there, I found my feet turning left.