The City of Love

A short story.

It was a night where the stars were clearly shining above me as if miracles could occur right here in front of me. As I breathe out, I saw my breath clearly as it was a cold night, but the snow that started to pile up, stopped. I was a tourist from America roaming around, lost in the city of love, otherwise known as Paris. Although it was known as the city of love, to me, it just looked like a monotone, slow motion movie of people walking around with arms linked to each other being played around me. I felt no “love”. Heck, twenty years of living and I still haven’t actually felt “love” yet. Sad, I know, but I didn’t feel any “discomfort” or “sadness” from not loving anybody. Feeling something itself was a perplex thing. Thinking, I let out another sigh to where I could see my own breath again. I then sink my head lower and buried my face into my muffler. “Maybe I’m just one of those out-of-place type of people.” I thought to myself.

Then, in the middle of my depressing thoughts, I bumped into a man who seemed to be around his twenties. My monotone, slow motion movie had disappeared. The scenery around me became colorful again as I stopped my thoughts. His nose and ears was red and he looked like he was freezing.

“Excuse m-”

“Pardon me.” He said in French cutting me off. I blushed as I stared up at his beautiful green eyes. “What dark green eyes he had.”  I thought to myself.

As he walked off, I turned and said, “Excuse me!” He stopped and turned and breath left his mouth. I walk towards him at a fast pace while taking off my muffler and letting breath escape my mouth too. As I caught up to him, I handed him my muffler. He looked at me for a few seconds before taking the muffler.

“Thank you.” he said as he gave me a warm smile. I smiled too.

After I finally found the hotel that I was staying at, I spent the whole night thinking about the stranger. He had given me his number, so I could contact him to return my muffler. I looked at it and started to see the usual monotone scenery again as I let out a sigh. I crumbled up the small piece of paper with numbers on it and threw it away. “Why?” I thought to myself as I picked up the paper again and tried to straighten it. As I put the small piece of paper on top of my desk, It left a strange feeling of sadness and loneliness as I looked at it. I felt a small yet strange heartache. Regret? Maybe I was starting to get sick.

“You have a slight cold.” said the doctor. I knew it. Spending seven hours out, lost, was not a good thing. As I left the clinic, I then saw the same stranger as yesterday.

“What a coincidence!” he said. He then took off my muffler that he was wearing and wrapped it around my neck. “So I didn’t have to call him.” I thought to myself. “Would you like to get some coffee with me, you know, as a way to repay you for the muffler.” he asked after staring at me for a while. I felt my cheeks burn and felt that small, strange heartache again. I should've gone back since I’m not feeling well, but a part of me felt the same loneliness from last night and I just couldn’t decline his offer.

It was a bit awkward at the cafe since there was nothing much to talk about at first. After a while, he had told me that his name was Michael and that he was twenty-five years old this year. I told Michael that I was a tourist and would only be staying for two more months. After talking for two straight hours, things seemed more natural and it was easier to converse with him. The air around us felt weird, funny, but warm. I had fun. The scenery around us was colorful in contrast to the monotone scenery that I was used to. It was always like this when I was around him. It was beautiful. The city lights at night were beautiful. The morning sun was beautiful. I no longer saw that monotone scenery again. Well, until one month later.

I was out shopping for food. Then, I happened to see Michael, but instead of being alone, he was with a very beautiful woman that seemed to around her twenties as well. All of a sudden, everything around me became that same monotone, slow motion movie as before. “He had a girlfriend.” I thought to myself. I felt a heartache. A heartache that was different from before. I felt it much more this time. It didn’t fade. It was much stronger than before. It hurt. As I stood there, staring at him at a distance, tears began to run down my face. I see now. “I was in love with him.” I thought to myself.

After a whole week of not seeing Michael, “Rose!” said a man behind me. I turned after hearing my name. It was Michael. As I stared at him for a while, he gave me a confused look. “What’s wrong?” he said.

“Nothing.” I said as I turned away. “This is bad. This is really bad!” I thought to myself. I felt my cheeks burning up as I remembered to woman that was with Michael. “If I don’t leave now, he’d definitely know my feelings for him.” I thought.

As I was about to leave, “What’s wrong?” he asked again while holding onto my hand. His hand was warm and you could tell he was genuinely concerned. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I remember the day that I met the him that was freezing from the cold. He panicked a little as he watched me cry. Then, without saying anything, he held my other hand and kissed me on the forehead.

“Wha-bu-but you have a girlfriend?!” I yelled after pushing him away.

“Girlfriend? Oh so that was you that day.” he said while chuckling a little. "That day? He saw me? Wait, then that means that it was him that day!" I thought to myself. As my cheeks burned, I began to cry even more, Michael stopped laughing and pulled me in and gave me the warmest hug that I have ever felt.

“That wasn’t my girlfriend, she was just a friend.” He whispered into my ear. My cheeks burned even more. After calming down a little bit, I noticed something. A fast heartbeat, beating much faster than mine. It was Michael’s.

“I- I love you.” he said shyly. Shocked, I looked up only to see that Michael’s face was flushed red. Not from the cold, but from something much more. Then I realized. He must’ve known. This whole time, he must’ve known how I felt. Much longer than I have myself.

As I buried my face into his chest and returned his hug, I smiled and said “I love you too.”

Author's Note

Wrote this 3 in the morning.... Why do I always write stories late at night?!
Anyways, topic given: "You are a lost tourist in Paris. Aka the city of love. Which is something you're missing."
My God, it's not a dark and sad story for once.
yyyyeeeee