What is freedom without love?
Paris at the break of dawn is the most beautiful place on Earth. As the sun tickles the sleeping city awake and the first chirping of the birds envelopes the spots of nature reclaiming their ground in the middle of the picturesque old town, I can see the soft clouds of vapor rising from the Seine. The vague shapes are accompanied by a golden sparkle across the tame waters that almost make me shield my eyes.
This will be another beautiful tranquil day.
I close the doors to my balcony and begin to dress myself in a hurry. The smell of freshly baked bread is wafting into the room. The origin of that delicious aroma is the kitchen downstairs. My tummy makes a low gurgling sound, sending a light blush on my cheeks. I am glad that nobody heard it.
I take a glance at the mirror as I adjust the cords of my white blouse. Today I am wearing a light blue long dress to accompany the equally blue ribbons in my straw blonde hair. It’s a rare occasion that my hair would give in and stay this straight after waking up. Usually it has this frustrating tendency to curl up. So lucky!
I wince as a ray of light reflects off the mirror and blinds my eyes. Mornings aren’t all peachy even for me.
Before leaving the room I take the bottle of perfume from my shelf and spray it lightly across my hands and neck. The familiar smell soon blocks out the pleasant aroma from downstairs, but in a few minutes I won’t even notice it anymore.
Humming all the way I hop down the stairs and lean forward before knocking on the kitchen door. I can hear all noises inside quiet down and the next moment there is a low rumbling. It takes only seconds before the door is opened and I look into the stressed out, yet beautiful face of my little sister.
“Morning Rafi!” I greet her cheerfully.
“L-Lis, you are up early.” She stumbled over her own tongue as she kept wiping her dainty fingers with a towel. My, she really seemed to have been in a hurry. There are still pieces of food stuck to her hands.
“Haha, I’m always an early riser silly!” I hug her enthusiastically. It’s my morning routine and you should never skip a step! She tenses up, but then lets it happen. “Did you cut the smoked ham yourself?” I peek into the kitchen and look over her work. The food is already looking great. I can see the freshly bought baguettes laid out on the table.
“Mhm… Something like that.” She wiped her clear face with the kitchen towel (even though I always tell her not do that!) and then throws it over a chair. Afterwards she pulls off the net from her hazelnut colored hair and lets it flow freely over her shoulders. Unlike my curls, her hair always seems to have a wild and fiery natural look. I’m a bit envious of that.
“Is Papa awake already?” I ask while inspecting the table. There is some fresh cheese as well, how wonderful!
“He already left before I woke up.” Rafi replies with a slightly absentminded tone.
“How sad. He never eats with us.” I really feel dejected deep in my heart. Papa is such a hard worker, he deserves to enjoy a quiet breakfast from time to time.
“I don’t really care if he is here or not.” Rafi walks over and hugs my arm. She always gets clingy in the mornings like that, gosh. “I prepared your favorite Lis.” She almost purrs in satisfaction as my ears perk up.
“You found it again?!” I turn to her and stare deep into her emerald eyes.
“Hehe, I didn’t want to say anything yesterday so it would be a surprise!” She grins impishly and then pulls out a small glass with red contents. The gel like food inside glows up in the sun coming through the window.
“Strawberry marmalade from Belle-de-Jour! I love you Rafi!” I hug her again in my throes of delight.
“Careful Lis! You don’t want me to drop it, right?” She asks teasingly.
“Non!” I immediately let go. My swift reaction makes her pout a bit. I chuckle at her funny pursed lips and then we both break out into laughter.
Mornings really are the best.
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Our breakfast was sweet and warm. I can always rely on Rafflesia to improve even on my morning cheer. She loves cooking and I love eating her cooking, so we really must have been born compatible. I do feel bad about how little I can do for her in return, though. She throws me out of the kitchen whenever I try to help her with the dishes or to put away the leftovers. She treats me too much like a princess sometimes, even though she is younger than me!
I lean on the windowsill to smell the flowers from the pot that is hanging outside. If I squint I can even see the neighborhood cat scurry through the tall grass of our lengthy garden. She is too shy to play with me, believe me; I tried many times to pat her. If I had to decide between flowers and animals, I would naturally say flowers are the best, but who could deny a cute cat?
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Lazing the mornings away like this is comfy and nice…
A blaring ringing sound goes through the living room and shakes me out of my inner peace. It’s Papa’s alarm clock. He had set it for me so I wouldn’t be late for work. Carved into the bottom are the words ‘ma petit fille’. It was a present he got me when I turned 14. Looking back on that day is very nostalgic now. Has it been five years already?
With a long stretch of my arms I prepare myself and then lightly step into the hallway. From behind me I can hear hurried steps and then Rafi suddenly appears in front of me. She had taken the side door from the kitchen to pass me.
“Do you really have to go already Sis?” She is tightly holding on to her skirt with both hands. It’s an unintentional sign that she is nervous. I think it’s quite cute.
“Come now Rafi. You know I can’t skip out on work. The client will be sad.” I pat her head, which is not easy, considering she is slightly taller than me already. Where did she get those growth spurts from?
“…” She looks down dejectedly.
“I have the day off tomorrow, so we can have fun as much as we want once I come home.” I smile widely as I promise her with my hands clapping together.
“Sis…” She wants to say something, I can tell. This has been going on for such a long time already. It never gets easier with my ever concerned sister.
“He is a nice man, I am super confident!” I give her my most relaxed smile before walking out the front door.
“Please be careful.” Rafi looks after me with slightly saddened eyes.
She is a real worrywart. There is nothing dangerous out there waiting for me.
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I walk alongside the rail of the bridge above the glistening Seine. There are many cars on the way to work. They are all puffing and huffing as they get stuck in traffic and growl at each other. They are just like annoyed cats that want to get through a locked door to get to their food.
Today’s weather forecast said it would be really warm without any sign of clouds. I watch the blue sky with a slight daze as I balance across the sidewalk’s edge and stretch out my arms to keep balance. The way to work is always the same, so I like to invent little games for myself to keep it fun. If I lose balance and leave the sidewalk I will not eat the rest of the sweet marmalade during dinner.
It only takes about 15 minutes over the bridge and to the little building on the other side of the river. I can already see the low hanging sign of the coffee shop next door. This is such a familiar sight that it feels like a second home. The agency is up on the third floor, but I can already see Monsieur Robert. He is wearing his slightly worn out black suit with the unbelievably colorful tie again. For a man of his stature he radiates a rather gentle and goofy aura.
“Monsieur Robert!” I wave my hand above my head and call out to him. He immediately looks up from his wristwatch and takes me into his sights. After realizing who called him he rubs his bald head with one hand and smiles professionally.
“Bonjour Mademoiselle Lis, you are shining as bright as gold this morning.”
“You are also shining today.” I reply with a giggle. He instinctively touches his shaved head again, blocking out the slight reflection of the sun, but then pretends to just wipe something from it. How funny.
“Ahem, thank you. You are early as usual.” He moved aside to let me sit down on the bench next to the entrance. “The client will arrive shortly.”
“Oh my, he is really punctual.”
“He has been extraordinarily excited for your appointment.” Robert says with a standard smile. He doesn’t let his feelings seep into his business talk.
“What’s he like?”
“Paul Bonnet, 29, a young businessman who has recently been befallen by bad luck. His self-founded company seems to be in the red. However he has a healthy wife and two children. That is more than most can say for themselves in today’s industry.”
“Monsieur Bonnet… No, Paul.” I repeat his name to really get a feeling for it.
“He has paid for your services in advance, so there will be no problem despite his financial situation.” Robert is going through some data on his tablet.
“I’m sure Papa will be happy then.” I don’t really pay mind his assurances. The money doesn’t matter much to me.
“Are you certain that you don’t want me to accompany you?” Suddenly Robert leans down and whispers into my ear.
“Gosh, Monsieur Robert! I have told you so many times now that you don’t need to be so nervous. You are too serious sometimes.”
“I‘m told so by my dear wife as well, so there might be something to it.” He makes a light joke. I have to giggle. I wish he would tell me more about his marriage, but he rarely ever lets anything slip.
“I’m certain that Paul is a real gentleman.”
“I wish I could share your boundless optimism Mademoiselle.”
“You remind me of Rafi when you act so overprotective.” I shrug pretending to be at the end of my wits.
“Rafflesia…” Robert’s voice got a tinge lower for a second, but then he returned to his light smile. “It’s an honor to be compared to such a promising young lady. All of us could benefit from being a little more like her.”
“Are you going to grow out your hair as well then?” I tease and receive my desired groan from him.
The clock finally struck 09:00 and the street seemed to become busy in the blink of an eye. Somewhere in this crowd awaited my new client, Paul Bonnet. I take a deep breath and then sit up in a ladylike pose. First impressions are everything is what Papa always says.
Five minutes later we are approached by a man in a long overcoat, completely unfitting for this warm spring day, but he doesn’t seem to be sweating too much. His short parted hair is of an ebony color and his eyes are underlined by equally dark rings. Despite his wealthy look he doesn’t appear very happy.
Our eyes meet and time seems to stop for just a moment.
“Monsieur Bonnet?” Robert steps in front of me and stretches out his thick hand. The man hesitates for a moment before shaking it. He winces a bit at Robert’s grip strength. “My name is Robert and I am the chaperone of Mademoiselle Dubois. All questions and complaints concerning the contract will be taken up by me as well.”
“Certainly.” Paul replies with a low voice and takes a short look at the tablet. The touch screen is clean as could be, so he should have been able to read it easily, but his eyes shift around uncertainly. “Seems fine.”
“I will take that as an agreement then. There will be no refunds after this. You have until 21:00 before Mademoiselle Dubois is scheduled to return to the agency. Should anything out of the ordinary occur contact us immediately.”
Paul doesn’t say anything and just nods distractedly. He keeps glancing over Robert’s shoulder to look at me. I give him a friendly smile in return.
“Very well. Starting now she belongs all to you, sir.” Robert steps back and bows his head professionally.
I stand up and push down the folds of my blue dress. Then I tenderly stretch out my hand, which Paul grabs with his own shaking fingers.
And so our fated day begins to sprout into bloom.