Tae and Tia spent a delightful morning discovering some of the wonders Paris held for the tourist. They visited the Louvre for a few hours. Tia had never realized how vast it was. She felt like she could investigate it for weeks and never see even a tenth of the delights it housed.
At lunchtime, Tae took her hand and pulled her along until they found a patisserie. He wanted to buy a loaf of French bread and some butter. They grabbed a couple drinks and an assortment of pastries too. Then, carrying the bag of their goodies while she carried their drinks, Tae grabbed a cab. He leaned forward to tell the driver the address. But he didn’t speak it. He simply showed the driver his phone. The driver nodded, and they were on their way.
Tia glanced sideways at Tae. “You’re being awfully mysterious today. And I’m hungry! Are you sure I can’t eat one bite of a croissant?” she pouted.
Tae laughed at her, but then, in the next moment, he was digging through the bag on his lap. Finally, he unearthed a croissant. However, a second later, he shook his head. “This won’t do. This is a pain au chocolat. You wouldn’t want the chocolate.”
“Yes!” she exclaimed, her eyes growing large with alarm. “Yes, I would! I love chocolate.”
He glanced at her. Then his face fell. “It’s a pity. Your hands are full of drinks. There’s no way you can eat this right now.” He threw her a teasing glance.
“Tae…” she growled at him.
He chuckled and then held the croissant up to her lips. “Care for a bite?”
She grinned, right before she took a huge bite.
Tae’s eyes became almost round as he opened his eyelids as far as they would go. This girl had no qualms about eating in front of him; that was for sure!
She closed her eyes for a moment as she savored the delicacy. “Oh, Tae! That is so good! I don’t know why I’m so ravenous. I ate both our dinners last night. Of course, I sat on a plane for twelve hours and didn’t eat much, but still! I’m starving again! Can I have another bite?”
She opened her eyes and turned her head to look at him. A guilty expression blanketing his features, he was sitting empty-handed but for the bag on his lap. And the telltale chocolate smear on his cheek right next to his mouth.
She glanced down. She leaned over to peek into the bag. “Tae, where’s the rest of it?”
He swallowed. “You ate my dinner.”
Her eyes grew wide. “So you ate my lunch?” she whispered, devastated.
“I never got any dinner last night. I haven’t eaten…”
“Since breakfast.”
“Yeah, but that was hours ago…”
Tia sighed. “So…there’s no more pain au chocolat?”
“Oh, no. There’s more.”
“What?!” She turned exasperated eyes his way. “Why didn’t you just pull out another one then?”
“Would you like me to?”
“Yes.”
“Are you going to ask me nicely instead of yelling at me?”
“Tae, would you like to hold your drink?”
A blank expression on his face, he just looked at her.
“Or would you like to wear it?”
He laughed. Man, Tia was complicated! There was that temper again. He’d dueled with it the first night they’d met.
“Appropriate,” he murmured.
She furrowed her brow in confusion. “What?”
“You’re displaying the same grouchiness you bent on me the night we met. Here. In Paris.”
She glared at him. Then her face fell, and she whispered, “Please, Tae, I’m so hungry!”
He grinned. “That’s more like it. You don’t have to whine at me just because you’re famished.”
Ooh!
Now she wanted to punch him. But instead, she opened her mouth to receive another bite of croissant. However, this time she kept both of her eyes open and watched him suspiciously while she chewed. His eyes met hers, and his lips twitched.
“Don’t worry. I’ll take only the tiniest of bites.”
Then he proceeded to take a huge bite. Forgetting she was holding two drinks, she lunged for him. And dumped his drink all over his lap.
He gasped, his mouth forming an astonished “O”. Shocked, eyes suddenly wide, he stared down at his wet pants. Reflexively, he lifted the bag to save the loaf of French bread from disintegrating.
Tia, immediately remorseful, exclaimed, “Oh, Tae! I’m so sorry! You…you can have the rest of the croissant.” Then she set his cup on the floor and used her free hand to dig through the bag. “Surely, there’s some napkins in here.”
She found one. She pulled it out.
Tae looked at the tiny square of paper in her hand. “Don’t bother,” he responded dryly. “You’ll need it to wipe your mouth later, and that pitiful napkin is not going to make a dent in the flood that just descended upon my lap.” He was so thankful he hadn’t gotten any ice in that drink. It was frigid enough without it. This was his second cold shower of the day. He supposed he should be grateful it wasn’t scalding hot coffee.
Her eyes met his, and then he burst out laughing. As Tae chortled, Tia drew her eyebrows together down over her nose. “Tae, what on earth are you laughing about? You are completely drenched.”
“Once again. Appropriate.”
As their eyes kissed, a sweet smile suddenly dawned on her face. The car stopped, and she glanced outside. She saw the fountain that she and Tae had sat down at to eat their French bread and butter in October. The fountain that Tae had been pushed into. The fountain from which he had emerged soaked.
She giggled. “Yeah. I guess it is appropriate.” Then she dissolved in a peal of laughter while Tae paid the driver.
“I guess I’ll be buying another souvenir at the clothes shop here,” Tae remarked.
