I was on the water's edge. It went for miles in either direction. The blue was so deep that it was nearly unnatural. It seemed cold, uninviting, It filled my entire being with dread, fear and an emotion I couldn't recognize. I couldn't pull my eyes from it. Was I looking for something? Was I running from something? How did I even get here?
I saw movement coming from deep beneath the water. It was slight, it was quick, but it was there. My focus, my entire body was connected to it. I took a deep breath and jumped in. The water was even colder than I had expected, hitting my skin like shards of glass. I ignored the pain and continued to move forward. My lungs were burning, but I didn't stop, I couldn't stop. I had to make my way towards the movement.
Deep in the water, I saw clearly. There was a woman, peacefully resting on the ocean floor. She didn't move, didn't fight, just lying there as though she was sleeping. I stopped swimming to take a look at the woman and came away thinking how ravishing she was. She had long dark hair, her face was a work of art, with perfectly chiseled cheekbones. Her lips looked to be soft and inviting. Her eyes were closed, but there was no doubt to me that they would be just as gorgeous as the rest of her.
Suddenly her eyes opened in a burst of shock and fear. She began to gesticulate and search for help. She couldn't breathe. I swam towards her as quickly as I could. The pain was even worse now than it had ever been. I took it, I had to. The woman saw me and her eyes grew even wider. Recognition hit us both.
"V!!" I was able to shout through the water. She reached her hand out to me. I swam faster, harder, than I ever had. I reached for her hand only to realize it was no longer there.
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I woke up startled. My heart was beating and I was covered in sweat. I was breathing hard, trying to catch it, almost as if I had just come out of that water. I stood from my bed and stumbled to the mini fridge. Finding a bottle of water, I quickly drank down half of it in one gulp. I walked outside towards the balcony, hoping that the cool fresh air would do me some good. The clock telling me that it was a little past 5 am. Later than usual, I thought as the cool air enveloped my overheated body.
I looked out at the beautiful city before me, listened to it come alive as the day had begun for so many. I took it all in, letting the hustle and bustle from down below calm me. Across from me, there was no denying the Eiffel Tower which stood proudly reminding me how far from home I was.
It had been a couple of months since the kidnapping. Since then, we had worked day and night to get us back to where we were before the leaks, before Kevin. I shuddered, the memory of his body slipping into my mind. I had come to Paris to begin the expansion I had talked about so much.
I took one last look at the beautiful city, realizing there was no way in hell that I was going to get back to sleep. I slipped into the shower and washed out the sweat and fear from the night before. I had a long day ahead of me and was hoping to get a full night of sleep. I had a meeting with a talent agency and was supposed to visit space for the IN Talent Paris Office.
The part of my day I was looking forward to the most was my lunch meeting with Eva Green. I had been a huge fan of hers since Casino Royale, having the chance to meet her and possibly sign her to IN Talent was an opportunity that I could not pass up on.
After the shower I got dressed and went down to the hotel restaurant. They started serving breakfast and since I had a few hours to kill, I thought I'd have a good meal to start what would surely be a hectic and busy day. I got to the restaurant and was seated at a table. I began to look at the news on my tablet, when I looked up and saw that I wasn't the only person in the restaurant. In the corner there was a beautiful, exotic woman that was also having breakfast. She was dressed in yoga pants that did marvelous work for her figure, as well as a red Nike workout sweatshirt.
It was hard to get a good look at her from this ankle. But she turned her head to look out the window and I gasped when I recognized her. It was Sofia Boutella, the gorgeous Algerian actress who was really beginning to make a name for herself. Her first major appearance was in Kingsman, before doing Star Trek Beyond. I had always found her beautiful but hadn't had the chance to meet her.
"Hello." I said as I walked towards her. I had mistimed my introduction and caught her in the middle of a bite. She quickly swallowed and smiled brightly when she saw me. "Miss Boutella I'm..."
"I know who you are." She said cutting me off. Her accent was wonderful and I couldn't get over how beautiful she was. "It's so nice to meet you Mr. Bryant" She said standing from her seat, hugging me before doing the customary French welcome with a kiss on the cheek.
"Please call me Duncan." I told her as she stepped away.
"If you promise to call me Sofia?"
"Deal!" I agreed quickly.
"Would you join me for breakfast?" She asked pointing to an empty chair.
"I'd love to. Thank you." We sat across from each other and shared a smile before the waiter came to take my order.
"What brings you to Paris?" Sofia asked me as she took a zip from her tea. I told her about my plans and she seemed very impressed. "Expansion? That's a big step. Any other cities that you are looking at?"
"I'm actually going to London tomorrow to do the work there too." I told her.
"Wow, that's spectacular."
"We're doing well, but we could be doing so much better." I told her as my food arrived.
"Really, how so?" She asked.
"Well, we could sign you." I told her.
"Really? That's a nice thing to hear. I thought I wasn't big enough for a big agency yet."
"Well I've seen all you've done so far and you're absolutely talented. I saw the trailer for Atomic Blonde and cannot wait to see it."
"Oh, that's sweet. It was a lot of work. Charlize was amazing." She said with a bright smile. We spent the meal talking about her career, going from being a dancer in Nike ads, to being in huge Hollywood blockbuster films. She seemed to take it all in stride and work hard not to let it go to her head.