I never wanted to go to Paris, but when you are offered an opportunity to go on a trip to another country you go. It was a work thing, you know the type, go to different classes and get to know what others in your field of work are doing. You get to make new contacts, see the latest gadgets that companies have to offer, and then let loose and drink yourself stupid after the days are over. Well, I'm a lab rat. I work in forensic science doing that CSI stuff you see on TV. Except I'm not Barry Allen or Gil Grissom, I'm just me, normal Steven Collins from Denver Colorado.
Ok, so here I am on a flight to Paris from Denver. The boss got me coach seats, but since this was half work/half vacation I used vacation pay to upgrade to first class. If I had to suffer through a weekend of what I thought was going to be hell, I was going to take a week vacation time after. The boss agreed to the time off, if I actually did attend the weekend activities. So, the first 3 days were paid for by DPD, but the next 6 days were on me.
I was enjoying a mimosa in my seat watching Love at First Sight, a movie about two people falling in love on a flight from New York to London. I looked to the person next to me, Nancy, a lovely woman in her mid to late 60s. Nope, never going to happen. Nancy said she was a widow of man whom she was married to for 43 years. They had built a business of furniture stores in the mid-west, and she was making a first vacation trip without him. Speaking to Nancy was nice, it passed the time, and she was funny. She had a comedic personality.
I on the other hand was 27 years old, 6'4" and weighed in at 226 pounds of pure muscle. I worked out regularly, and my curly blonde hair and ice blue eyes usually caught women's attention. I thought that I would find some nice company for myself while I was in Paris, and you know the saying 'what happens in' wherever you are 'stays there'. I don't currently have a girlfriend, but I did have a couple of fuckbuddies. One of them, Leslie, a patrol sergeant for the DPD and older than me at 34 years old, the other my first actual girlfriend Lupe. Lupe and I grew up together and went to the same grade school and then dated in high school. We eventually decided that we were better friends than lovers, but we still enjoyed a good romp together for 'the old times'.
I had a serious relationship with Heather in college, but it ended badly, and one of the reasons why Lupe and I would get together. We were each other's rebounders. We kept each other grounded. Yeah, Lupe was really like my best friend, just with benefits. Lupe now had a steady guy, who I really liked, and hoped that neither of them would screw it up. Leslie on the other hand, she was just, well, a distraction. She flirted with me, I flirted back, we would end up in bed together, but there was no real chemistry and we both knew that there was not any real relationship that was going to develop, and it was fine with both of us.
The flight was a red eye, so I did drift off to sleep eventually and woke up when we were approaching Paris. Nancy had also fallen asleep and was just waking up also. She smiled and said, "Good morning."
"Good morning," I said back to her. "I really could use a good strong coffee." I looked at my watch, that I had pre-set to Paris time; 5:47am. Damn, the birds are not even up yet.
When the plane finally came to a stop, and we disembarked, Nancy was walking next to me going toward customs. "Want to stop for a coffee once we are through customs? My treat."
"Oh, Nancy you would be my lifeguard on this cesspool of an airport." I said with a smile.
"As long as you don't need any mouth-to-mouth Steven, you are a bit too young for me." Nancy quickly replied with a wink.
Customs were a breeze and Nancy, and I were soon sipping our coffee together at an airport shop. "Where are you staying Steven?"
"I have a hotel room near the Porte de Versailles exhibition center where the convention is being held."
"I am staying in Versailles." She passed me an airplane napkin with a phone number on it. "If you would like, give me a call and we can have lunch together while you are here, maybe one of the cafes near the Eifel Tower?"
"I would like that, Nancy; I'll call you after the weekend is done and I get some time to myself to enjoy the sites."
The weekend passed and the conference and expo weren't as bad as I thought they were going to be, and I did learn some new things I would take back and share with everyone, that will make my boss happy, and I made several new contacts. But now I get to explore Paris for my week of actual vacation.
I called Nancy and we agreed to meet at La Bulle Parisienne at the Eiffel Tower for lunch. I enjoyed a sea bass with vegetables and we both sipped on wine that Nancy had ordered, she also would not let me pay my share of the bill. We parted ways, now having exchanged phone numbers to keep in touch since she also lived in Denver.
I walk around the park surrounding the tower. The lawns were immaculately mowed, but the areas of some trees were allowed to brush and be wild, I thought it was a nice contrast. There were many couples walking together hand-in-hand, this was the 'City of Love' after all.
I saw her on the path I was walking, she had her back to me trying to take a selfie with her phone of just her and the tower behind. I saw she was trying to take one of those cute photos of where she had one hand under her chin. She jumped a bit when I got up to her and asked, "Would you like some help with that photo?"
She was lovely, with dark brown skin, and black hair falling past her shoulders. She had a nose ring and another piercing above her upper lip through her philtrum. *My god, those lips were made for kissing,* I thought to myself. She was thin, without being skinny, I thought she was about 5'4" and probably around 115 pounds. She smiled with a lot of teeth as she handed me her phone, "Please," she said with an accent that told me she wasn't a native English speaker.
I took the phone and took several photos of her making various poses. She was flirtatious to the camera. I thought she was cute. I took a few more and handed the phone back to her. She looked through them and smiled again saying, "Gracias Señor, thank you."
I smiled, "You are very welcome, de nada."
"You are American?" She asked.
"I am, just here for a week before I go back home to Colorado."
"I just arrived here and wanted to see the tower first," she said as she pulled on a necklace, she had around her neck and I saw it was a little silver Eiffel Tower. "She lifted it up to show me, "I have wanted to come see it since I was little."
"And now you're here. What do you think of it? Is it everything you had dreamed of?"
She turned to look at the tower and then spun around, her arms outstretched. "It is more than I dreamed." She said laughing.
I laughed with her; her excitement was infectious. "My name is Steven," I told her.
"My name is Shay. I am from Columbia, and this is my first time going anywhere."