The Paris Trip

"Okay, classe! We are going to be sitting here!” Ms. Fleur led the way to our seats in the restaurant. We had just come back from looking at the Champs-Élysées and everyone was exhausted. The whole Paris group dragged themselves to their seats. Leah and I stuck together and found seats next to each other at the corner of the large table. We once and awhile exchanged glances at each other and kept checking our watches. We were supposed to finish our main course at around 8 o’clock and that’s when we were planning on sneaking away. As of now, it was 6:45 and I was tapping my foot rapidly against the ground.
“You okay, Casey?” Ms. Fleur looked at me. I nodded and smiled.
“An hour and 15 minutes.” Leah muttered under her breath as she reached for her glass of water.
I kept scanning the restaurant looking for Liam and Niall. I wanted to make sure they were nowhere in sight from Ms. Fleur’s seat. We got through appetizers and had ordered our main course when I got a text. My phone lit up and vibrated from under my thigh. I slowly slid it out from underneath me and read the message. It was from Niall, it said:

Hey, just came in and walked up to the reserved tables on the second floor. Stairs are in the back of the place. Liam can’t wait to see you! ;D Xx See ya in a few min.

I nudged Leah from under the table and gave her my phone. She slowly took it and read the message without Ms. Fleur noticing. I reached for my glass of water and took a sip, waiting for Leah to pass my phone back. She looked up at me and smiled as she gave my phone back to me. I grinned and waited for our food to arrive. This hour seemed to be the longest hour of my whole entire life. After what I felt was a half hour, I looked at my watch and saw it was only 15 minutes.
At 7:30 the main course finally arrived and we started to eat immediately. We only had 30 minutes to eat and make it upstairs. I finished my meal at 7:50 and glanced over at Leah who was wiping her mouth with her napkin, signaling that she was done as well. We stayed for the next 5 minutes and at precisely 7:55 we looked over at each other and exchanged a nod. I tapped Martin, the overly clumsy junior who was chatting with someone.
“Martin, if Ms. Fleur asks where we are just say that we had to leave the table to call our parents real quick.” I pointed to Leah and me.
“Um. Okay?” Martin turned back around to resume his conversation. I shrugged my shoulders and got up swiftly and exited. Leah followed closely behind and nodded her head when we were making our way towards the stairs.
“I don’t think she noticed us slip away. I managed to see her down two glasses of wine.” She chuckled.
“Good, I said that we were making phone calls to our parents because I don’t want her coming to the restroom worried about one us not feeling well.” I told her as we saw the spiraling staircase that led to the second floor.
“Ready?” Leah said, shakily.
“No regrets?” I smiled.
“No regrets.” She confirmed and we hugged each other as we made our way up.
When we finally made our way up the stairs and entered a dimly lit room with candles. It was less crowded than it was downstairs and more secluded. I scanned the room, hoping to find Liam and Niall. It was then that I heard a deep familiar voice.
“Hey! Glad that you could meet us.” I heard Liam’s voice from behind me. I turned around with a huge grin on my face and without thinking I slammed into his chest, hugging him tightly. I could smell the signature cologne on his body and it made me smile.
“Leah!” Niall’s voice came from behind Liam.
“Hi!” She said in an unusually high-pitched voice. She went up to him and gave him a casual hug. Once she pulled away I could see the unmistakable flush to her face and her lips that she was now biting on.
“Come.” Liam whispered into my ear, his hot breath traveling down my neck and making me shiver. He led me to four seats that had a view of the city. Once we all sat down we ordered dessert. Till we waited, both Leah and I branched into our own conversations.
“So, how have you been?” Liam said, looking into my eyes.
I looked away and answered, “Good, you know, the past 6 hours since I saw you.” I managed a stifled giggle.
Both our hands were on the table; Liam smiled and reached for mine. His warm fingers brushed my knuckles. His fingers were starting to intertwine with mine when I saw the waiter brought over the dessert.
“Merci!” Leah and I said together. The waiter bowed and left.
“So, Casey. You never told me on the plane where else you’ve been. You know, if you’ve visited other countries before or not.” He said grabbing a fork and scooping up some ice cream from the dessert that we shared.
“Well, I did spend some time in Canada! And I did spend a few weeks in Italy with my family.” I shrugged my shoulders. I chuckled as I noticed him eating ice cream with a fork.
“Wow, that’s nice. How about one day, when we meet again and we have more time together, I’ll show you everything?” He said seriously. I just giggled and said sarcastically, “Okay, whatever you say!” I grabbed a spoon and started to eat part of the dessert.

“I’m serious, Casey.” He said, putting his fork down and looking at me. My eyes darted down to my hand, which Liam was now wrapping his fingers around.
“I’m serious. I’m going to show you everything you want to see. I’m going to show you everything the world has to offer. I’m going to show you the rest of the world like you’ve never seen it before.” He said softly.

“Liam, that’s really nice of you but I-” I tried.
“Casey!” Leah called to get my attention. “What time is it?” I looked down at my watch, it was 8:15 and we were scheduled to leave at 8:30. We still had 15 minutes.

“It’s 8:15. 15 more minutes.” I responded. I turned back to Liam and continued what I was saying before. “Liam, that’s sweet of you but I’m in high school. We have an age difference; it’s not going to be easy to make it that far. You know?” I sighed.

“Yeah, I know. But with you, it’ll be worth it.” His eyes twinkled. I hung onto those words, “But with you, it’ll be worth it.”
“Yeah, okay. I’ll make you a deal, Liam James Payne from One Direction.” I sat up straight and continued, “If we somehow manage to keep in touch one day, then and only then will I go with you. Okay?” I finished.
“Casey, I promise you, I will take you around the world with me.” He said so seriously that I didn’t know what to say. I just stared into his chocolaty brown eyes that I fell in love with years before. My focus shifted over to Leah who was having a great time. She was giggling and talking with Niall. At one point, Niall leaned over and pushed the hair out of Leah’s face; she turned a beet red color and smiled.
“They are so cute.” I giggled.
“Niall wouldn’t stop talking about Leah the whole car drive to the hotel.” He grinned.
I had never seen Leah as happy as she was right now. She was smiling so wide that I bet her cheeks were hurting. She was laughing harder than she had when she was with me. There was something about Niall that brought out a different side of her. It was a good side; it was special. I was snapped out of my thought when I heard Leah gasp.

“Casey! It’s almost 8:30 come on!” She stood straight up and thanked Liam and Niall for the date.
“Liam…” I spoke softly, “I hope we can meet again.” I leaned in for a hug. He hugged me tightly, like he didn’t want to let me go. I pulled back and my hand started to slip from his grasp. Finally, my hand was out of reach from his fingertips and we were about to go down the stairs. I looked back at Liam. He was looking at the ground, kind of disappointed with himself for something. I stopped in my tracks.
“Casey?! What are you doing? Come on!” Leah whispered as she tugged my arm.
“Wait.” I said, rushing back over to Liam. His face lit up and he smiled. I quickly placed my hands on his broad shoulders and planted a gentle and soft kiss on the bottom of his cheek. I closed my eyes, feeling the warmth of his skin on my lips. I quickly pulled back and said, “Thank you for the dessert!” I waved at Niall and rushed back to join Leah at the stairs. I was flustered and I had the biggest grin on my face. I touched my lips, still feeling the warmth, which made them tingle.
“You two!” I heard Ms. Fleur’s voice as we made our way back to the table. “You guys were talking with your parents?” She seemed suspicious.
“Yes. Both of us.” I smiled at her. Ms. Fleur was in a somewhat tipsy state. I don’t even think she could tell Leah apart from me.
“Okay, good. To the cabs everybody!” She managed to lead the students to the cars. Once Leah and I got in we agreed to tell each other everything when we got to the hotel room. The car ride back to the hotel was fun. We managed to spot a few tourist attractions on our way back. We saw the Eiffel Tower that was now lit up.
“It looks like it’s sparkling!” Leah exclaimed.
We finally made our way back to the hotel and managed to get Ms. Fleur to her room safely (much to Leah’s disappointment). We went back to our room with Ashley and collapsed on the bed.
“We should get ready for bed you guys.” She sighed as she got up and walked towards the bathroom.
“We should actually talk about tonight!!!!” She sat up after Ashley went inside. “You first!”
“Um. Okay, well Liam was the perfect gentlemen.”
“Obviously!” Leah interjected.
“He was talking about taking me around the world with him and showing me what the world has to offer. I mean one day…” I looked at my fingers, trying to avoid Leah’s stare.
“He what?” She said as she cupped her hand over her mouth.
“Yeah, I made a deal with him saying that if he kept in touch with me then I would go with him. He can take me around the world and show me everything.” I looked up at her. I continued, “But honestly, I don’t need to be taken around the world. I mean that would be fun and all but I don’t WANT it that badly. All I really want is to be loved.”
“Don’t you see, Casey? He wants to take you around the world because he DOES love you!” She responds.
“Okay, let’s get this straight, Leah. I love him but he doesn’t love me.” I walked over to my suitcase and pulled out my PJs.
“Did he tell you that he didn’t love you?” She comes up behind me.
“No,” I respond.
“Then why don’t you think he loves you?” She questions.
“Because I’ve known him for 4 years now. He didn’t even know I existed till today!” I exclaimed. “Hell, I’ve been in love with him for 4 years.”
“Love doesn’t have an expiration date. So why should it have a time limit?” She said as she sat on the edge of the bed.
And for once, I didn’t have a response.

Notes