Apr '24 06 - 21:46Odeon

She kissed him goodbye and walked down the steps of metro Odeon carrying her roller suitcase by it’s handle so  it wouldn’t hit each step on the way down... She could still feel the pressure of his lips on her mouth and maybe his eyes following her down the stairs. When she got to the bottom she turned and looked back, half hoping he wouldn’t be there. He wasn’t.

Walking down the corridor toward the turnstiles she smelled the inevitable pissy odor of the metro and it sent a  shiver through her.

Today she was heading for Gare du Nord where in one hour a train would take her to London. Standing on the metro platform she thought about her trip and what she had told the man who kissed her.  They had met  four days ago and already she was lying. The trip to London was job-related, she had told him. But as with most of her lies she had gone too far, added too much dimension.  She didn’t care. She was glad to be away from him for two days. It would be a time to reflect and decide if what she was feeling was real.

The metro snapped her out of her reverie and in fifteen minutes she was purchasing her ticket to London and deciding where she should get a drink. There would be drinks on the train, of course, but her cockiness was wearing off. She was missing him now and dreading what awaited her in London. As she swallowed her first mouthful of vodka and tonic she wondered to herself why she hadn’t canceled this trip. He would only be in Paris another ten days; each moment was precious. She knew why though. She never canceled anything.

As she swallowed the last drops from her glass she sat back and looked around her. Thoughts flew through her mind and she felt her forehead swelling with tears. In spite of this she paid her bill, raised her body  up  and walked over to her track, tipsy but sufficiently numb to resist the urge to call him. He wouldn’t be in his room anyway. He’d be at the museum, or at lunch. This was Paris.

The whistle blew and her mind dissolved. She was back three nights ago at Man Ray. She was dancing with Jenny, not a girlfriend really, just a fellow expat...