The French Affair

A Story by Jade

In 1920's Paris, two young people meet, to discover who they really are. With a surprising twist, The inner conflict of the girl is to shut the boy out for good or finally let someone in.

“Did you see Arianne? That lace dress and large hat make her look like a whale!”

“I know! She looks like an old, cat lady!”

“I think more of a whale. Oh Arianne! Do you think you look more like a whale or and old, cat lady!?” As they giggled, I ignored all the snood comments. I had had something else to focus on, anyway. My thoughts had been interrupted by the old rustic classroom door opening and a boy about my age walking through it. I had never seen him in my life. At this point in time, I had no clue that this young lad was going to play a huge role in the transformation of moi.

Couldn’t I be left alone, like I had been for all my life. All it took is one day and now I was receiving a letter, an invitation if you will, in the mailbox. That boy from school, his name was Henri. Well, this Henri, apparently wanted to get to know me. “Dear Arianne, I know that you don’t know who I am, but I couldn’t but help notice you in class today. You appear so shut down, living in solitude. I hope to change that. Meet me by the lovely water fountain in the center of the city tomorrow, at 2:00pm. Excuse me if I arrive a tad on the late side, for I came here fresh from Cheshire, England. Hope to see you there. Sincerely, Henri.” How could this have happened? No one had ever noticed me, except to poke fun at me. And secondly, how did he get my address? Should I meet Henri or not?

The last 24 hours seemed to go by so slowly, I kept finding myself dreaming about meeting Henri. I don’t understand why, because I had already decided to not meet him. It’s not like I hadn’t been set up before. It was kind of obvious, who would want to spend time with depressingly hideous me, when they had the chance to try to socialize with the beautiful, well known people. At 4:00, before my mother got home, I check the mail, another note. “Dearest Arianne, I’m sorry to see that you didn’t come. I hope all is well. I rescheduled for two days from now, same place, same time. I truly wish to see you there. I have a proposition for you. Sincerely, Henri.”

The next two days went by very quickly, almost too quickly. I had come to the conclusion to meet with Henri. I was so very anxious and I didn’t know if I was ready for it. On the morning of, I got up and put on my finest, most slimming dress. Once ready, I went for a nice long leisurely walk around Paris, past the smoky outdoor cafés and young women in dresses and corsets so very tight. I wound up at the water fountain. Perfect timing, Henri came strolling around the corner of the family-run bakery, when he spotted me in the crowd, he flashed a miniscule smile. “Why hello, my dearest Arianne.”

“Hello Henri. My intention is not to come off as rude but why did you invite me here?” I asked quietly.

“Oh Arianne! I would like to have the pleasure to get to know you better. And I have that proposition for you.”

“Speaking of the proposition, what is it?”

“I know you doubt yourself way too much, and I want that to change. I want to show you who you truly are. Would you do me the pleasure of accompanying me?”

“I’ll let you know tomorrow” I said.

Once home, I laid strewn across my bed. Should I go with Henri or not? Yes/no. Yes… wait, no. after what seemed like hours of debating, I came to the conclusion- yes, I would accompany Henri.

“Yes, Henri, yes”, I announced. A hint of a smile crept across his face until it grew from ear to ear.

“Really!? This is so very wonderful!” he exclaimed. He told me to cover my eyes; he put his hand on the small of my back, and guided me away. After what seemed like forever, he suggested that I uncover my eyes. I did as he said; the first thing I saw was a smoky vision of the Eiffel Tower. I had never seen anything more picturesque in my life. “Oh, Henri! What are we doing here?” I said in awe.

“I wanted to be at the most beautiful place in Paris to show you how beautiful you are.” Inside, I squirmed with delight, how could anyone be so nice to a loser like me? He pulled something out of his back pocket. A mirror. “When you look into this mirror, you will see how you are on the inside. So take a look.” Henri said matter-of-factly. I took the mirror and looked in. I didn’t see the ugly, fat, self-conscious girl. I saw a girl who had confidence and stood tall and proud. I was beautiful.

It was then that I took a close look at Henri. He wasn’t that cute foreign boy I thought he was. His eyes weren’t the same distance apart, and his lips were crooked, and maybe his ears were oversized, but so what, that doesn’t matter. When I met him, all I saw was a boy who was nice enough to actually talk to me. What’s on the surface doesn’t matter; it’s what is on the inside that counts. Beauty is only skin deep.

“So, honey, never doubt yourself; ever. You should be proud of yourself no matter what. And now you know the story of how daddy and I met. Goodnight honey, I love you. See you in the morning.” I say to my one and only child.

“I love you too, Mere.”