“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.
Chapter Four
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.”
“That’s sad, Cameron. I hope this isn’t going to be a sad romance!” Maria put on an exaggerated sad face and pouted.
Cameron shook his head, “No, no. It gets better. She was an artist and had taken to the streets in order to practice her art without disruption, so she could enjoy whatever time she had left doing what she loved - painting.”
Cameron took a deep breath and continued. “To cut a long story short, the man let her stay and in time they fell in love. He taught her how to survive on the streets and together they would go out into the city and make money by performing, him with acrobatics and entertainment and her through her art. They became quite the team.”
“Did she ever lose her eye-sight?”
“No, in the end, she didn’t but she did lose him ...” Cameron let the words trail off, watching Maria for a reaction.
“Hey! You said it wasn’t sad.” She chided playfully, slapping his leg. Cameron wanted to take her hand in his so badly, but couldn’t. Instead he continued, while staring off into the night.
“He grew to love her so deeply, it was his downfall. When her family tried to find her to repair her eyesight, he burned all the ‘missing’ posters they hung up in the streets and subways, accidentally burning up legal documents that had been hung in the public square in the process of his rampage. He was arrested and sent to prison, but that’s not all!”
“She was so in love with him that she visited him often and they arranged to meet again on this very bridge, once he was freed.”
“Did they ever meet again?” Maria asked, leaning forward, her eyes wide like an excited child unable to contain herself any longer.
Cameron nodded gently, “Yes, but she didn’t want him anymore.”
Maria shook her head agitatedly and scowled, “No? Why on earth would she do that?”
“Maybe she still loved him but couldn’t see a future for them? After all, he was homeless and couldn’t support her, she had a family ...”
“But if their love was ‘real’ nothing would have stood in the way, nothing!” Maria said, growing distressed. She couldn’t believe that two people in love would give it up so easily. Love was a thing to be treasured, not tossed around from one person to the next. Maria had never had the chance for love and should she find it, she would never relinquish her hold on it.
“Ah, but you are right, Maria. Love does conquer all, and it did them.” Cameron smiled.
“In a fit of rage he pushed her off the bridge and fell along with her. You see, he couldn’t let her go, couldn’t bear the thought of not being with her while someone else loved her ... that’s real love.”
“Did they die?”
“Thankfully, no, they did not die. A barge picked them up and that was when they decided they would take the barge to the end of the line – together. So, in the end love won out.”
“Ahh, thank you, Cameron. You just earned yourself another date tomorrow night!” Maria laughed, skipping away from him, both because she couldn’t contain her excitement and because she needed a few seconds to pull herself together. He
r nerves were like piano wire, ready to snap at the slightest provocation. She took a deep breath and waited for Cameron to catch up.
This meant so much to her, and she was mindful that she shouldn’t come on too strong or she might put Cameron off, regardless of whether he was lonely or not. Nobody liked being smothered.
They continued on, enjoying the European architecture that was so different to what they were used to.
They passed a tall statue of a figure atop a horse and Maria stopped to admire it for a moment.
“Who’s that, Cameron?” She said, her voice filled with wonder.
Cameron took up a position beside her. “That’s King Henry IV, the builder of this bridge.”
“What’s he famous for?”
Cameron shrugged and raised his hands in defeat, “Look, there’s only so much information a man can glean from a webpage to impress his date for the evening!”
Maria laughed. “You cheated!”
“Well, this was important to me, you know, I ...” His voice softened and became a whisper before trailing off completely.
It was the vestiges of loneliness. Maria understood that, after all, she had never had a real relationship, not since...
Loneliness left a ‘fear’ within you, like those splinters that refuse to be budged and the more you attempt to remove it, the deeper it goes and the more it hurts.
“I know, Cameron. I know. I’m flattered that you would even do that for me and the way you told that story was ... wonderful.” She held out a hand, and Cameron looked at it, then back up at her, before taking it and smiling broadly.
The first step ...
“Shall we go, m’lady?” Cameron asked in his best royal accent, and getting it horribly wrong in the process. A Texan accent wasn’t quite right for imitating a nobleman but Maria played along, enjoying the way their evening was unfolding.
“Okay, Sir. Cameron. Let’s get up there,” gesturing back to the Eifel Tower. “I’m dying to see what Paris looks like from way up there.”
Chapter Five
They arrived at the Eiffel Tower and were pleased to see that it wasn’t as busy as they had feared, with only a few people loitering here and there and the lift standing at the bottom, open, inviting them to enter and take the ride to the top of the now glowing purple structure.
The two of them headed for the lift, still holding hands but Maria stopped just before the threshold, moaning softly, her hand covering her mouth.
“What is it, Maria?” Cameron said, turning to her, his face questioning.
“It’s silly, and really doesn’t apply here, but I’m afraid of heights!”
Cameron laughed, “Well, now is your chance to actually experience ‘height’ without the fear, what do you say. I’ll catch you if you fall ... I promise.” He said, his voice turning gentle with the last two words.
Such a gentleman.
“You will?” Maria asked, with mock disbelief.
Cameron showed made a show of flexing his biceps and said “I’m your knight in shining armor, Sir. Cameron, remember?”
“In that case. Yes, let’s do it!”
They both laughed as they stepped into the elevator hand-in-hand and the doors shut behind them with a metallic rasp.
In the elevator, they were alone but instead of talking on the way up, they simply stood and watched the world below as it slowly moved away from them with a rumble of gears and pulleys. Maria wanted to say how wonderful the city looked but found herself lost for words. In fact, she thought, words would only intrude on what they were building that evening.
It was too perfect for words. More than Maria had anticipated.
Two broken halves inexplicably drawn to one another due to their similar circumstances. Both needing the same thing, they had naturally sought it in the same place and discovered each other, much to Maria’s delight.
She turned to look at Cameron and saw that he was no longer looking at the scenery outside the fire engine-red elevator, but was instead staring at her, unsmiling, but intent. And Maria watched him, her heart aching for only the second time in her life.
Had Cameron ever felt love for anyone before? She decided now wasn’t the time for such questions.
The doors slid open and they stepped out onto the top floor, the silence between them continuing as they made their way slowly to the railing where the great expanse of Paris lay before them. The City of Lights stretching off in all directions. Directly in front of them to the South East was a long strip of dark green in the night and lit all along its length with lights that gave it the appearance of a massive runway awaiting landing planes.
“Incredible.” Maria breathed, as she leant over the railing, surprising herself with her courage, but it was as if being with Cameron nullified her fear of heights.
Cameron was equally in awe of the perfectly symmetrical, green pathway that stretched off into the distance, dotted with walking people like ants going about their business for the night.
“Champ de Mars. ‘Field of Mars’ in English.” Cameron said without taking his eyes away from it.
“Field of Mars ...” Maria repeated, watching Cameron once more as he gazed into the distance.
“Is it just me, or does the Champ de Mars resemble the Catholic cross?” Maria suddenly blurted out, as if she had made an amazing discovery.
Cameron turned to her, a lopsided grin on his face, “That’s exactly what I was thinking ...”
“Great minds think alike, I suppose.” Maria laughed.
He laughed with her for a second and then his face turned serious. “Speaking of religions, do you believe in God, Maria?”
Maria quickly shook her head and her smile faded all at once.
“No ... no I don’t. I mean sure there are some pretty incredible places on this planet of ours, like this ... but if you ask me, there’s too much suffering for there to be a God, at least the God the Bible speaks of.”
Cameron nodded.
“Not that I have read the Bible or anything.” Maria added quickly.
“What about you, Cameron. Are you a religious person, is there such a God in your life?” Maria asked, sliding up the railing until her shoulder was against his.
“You know, I’m not sure anymore. Before the accident, yes, God was everything to me. I went to church on Sundays, prayed before sleeping, the works ... then ... despite all that, all my devotion and faith, the fact that something like that had to happen to me.”
He laughed, but there was no humor in the laugh, only bitterness.
Maria, once again, knew how he felt.
“Then again, on a lonely evening in Rome, just when I thought I was a goner, you showed up and turned everything on its head ... was that the work of God or just sheer luck?” Cameron shrugged and looked up at the sky as if imploring God to give him an answer but the only answer was the starry night sky, ever-present above them, mysterious as always.
“Good point, then there’s that huh.” Maria said, placing a hand on Cameron’s shoulder and patting it gently, having wanted to touch him but knowing deep down that the circumstances weren’t exactly ideal, not exactly what she ‘wanted.’ She would settle.
“Why does God have to be so damn mysterious? Why can’t he just rule us and instruct us in plain English like say, the President or a King?” she continued, hoping Cameron would have an answer but knowing he was probably just as lost as she was.
“Maria, I guess we just have to accept it and go about ‘living’ the best we can.”
“Yeah ...”
They were silent again for a few moments, both lost in their thoughts.
“One thing gets me.” Cameron said, suddenly disturbing the peace.
“What’s that?”
“Well, back when I was contemplating ... ‘you know what’ I wasn’t afraid of how I would do it, just ...”
“What would come afterwards, right?” Maria finished for him, understanding the direction he was going in, having been there many times herself
while laid in the bath or standing on a bridge alone, looking into the cold, murky waters below.
Cameron smiled and nudged her shoulder with his own, pleased that she was in tune with him.
“Yeah, exactly.”
Cameron was beginning to relax, enjoying the conversation with Maria. Meanwhile, she could tell they had passed whatever darkness had settled over them in those few moments. That was the difference between being alone and having someone who not only listened ‘intently’ but also had similar feelings on the matter. It was something Maria had lacked for so long.
Cameron spent the next few minutes pointing out the landmarks around Paris, all clearly visible from the 320 meter tall structure. The Arc De Triumphe, the American Library and the various other landmarks that dotted the landscape. Maria had never seen such beauty before, at least not manmade… but Cameron was more concerned with the value of the land and the buildings themselves than the history and culture they were steeped in.
As they sat and looked out on the world far below, Cameron told her of how he had plans to become a real estate developer.
“There is real potential, you know, for a guy in my position. Hell, I’ll be sat at home, wasting away for the rest of my life if I don’t do ‘something’ and I figured, I enjoy studying buildings and their history, why not buy them and sell them on once I’m done making them prettier? I’ve learned a lot about how the actual construction and renovation can be done very cheaply…”
‘It sounds like you have been mulling this over for a while, Cameron. Have you?” Maria asked..
He nodded, “Yep, you wouldn’t believe how long if I told you. Just never had the guts to do it, nor the ... confidence, I guess.”
“I might start with a nightclub and from there, who knows. The plan isn’t concrete as such, but I’m definitely going ahead with it, no matter what. I can’t keep living like I have, it’s ... killing me.
Maria flinched at the mention of ‘killing.’
“Well, I have plenty of spare time on my hands. Maybe I could help you?” she said, wanting so much for him to do well and knowing that it was something that would possibly save his life, a purpose, a meaning ... if she could also be part of the reason for his newfound confidence and desire for life, well then, that was the icing on the cake for her.
French Kiss (Novella) Page 2