Paris Ever After by K. S. R. Burns

Author:K. S. R. Burns [Burns, K. S. R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Velvet Morning Press
Published: 2018-04-30T16:00:00+00:00

fifteen

When I return to the no-name café the next morning, William is already there.

“Hey,” he says, glancing at my stomach.

“Hey.”

I take a seat. He chose the same table we had last night. Today it’s bathed with sunshine and is clearly, I now see, the best one in the place—not too close to the door, enough out of the traffic path to be private, as far as possible from the noisy electronic game machine in the corner, yet near a window so you have a good view of the street. Choosing your table in a Paris café is an art.

This morning, however, it’s hard to appreciate our primo location. Despite the fact that Sophie slept at Manu’s last night and I got to stay in my own comfortable room, I was so freaked out about William and Margaret and Sophie and what in the world will happen next that I lay awake until well past three. When I did drift off, I slept too deeply and too long, leaving me no time this morning to wash my hair or even slap on lip gloss. My head pounds. My eyes burn. I have a pillow wrinkle embedded into one cheek.

But William isn’t looking at my dirty hair or my naked lips. His focus is on my cabbage-sized stomach. I squirm, because this morning, instead of a chic mini-dress and Hermès scarf, I’m wearing a baggy-at-the-knees pair of leggings and a size extra-large T-shirt from the flea market that says “I ♥ Paris” in big red letters across the chest. My permanently rumpled black fingertip-length trench coat is draped around my shoulders. My black boots that were shiny new last April are dirty and scuffed. When I threw on these clothes, I believed I was choosing them at random. Now I realize this is a defensive outfit. Like when you purposely don’t shave your legs before going out on a date.

Because you just don’t trust yourself.

“I got breakfast.” William nods at the basket of croissants and the pair of café crèmes positioned on the table between us. Unlike me, he is groomed and alert, not knowing or caring that in Phoenix it’s past one in the morning and he should be the sleepy one.

I sip my coffee, wishing it were tea, and reach for a croissant while he talks.

And talks.

Last night William seemed barely able to utter a complete sentence, but today he overflows with conversation. Granddad sends his love. Summer in Phoenix was hotter than normal, setting a record for number of one-hundred-plus-degree days in a row. The new job is going well. His promotion to chief engineer has doubled his workload, and the T-30 prototype program was cancelled, but he enjoys being a supervisor, and a new project is already in the pipeline. His work buddy Robert has split up with his wife, Jennifer, but they claim it’s only temporary. I picture the delicious baby girl they had last January and ask myself how anyone could walk away from a child. Even if it’s only temporary.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.