It was one of those ironies that, despite being so close by, Paris was one city I rarely had to visit with business, and that was a shame because it is a city I love. So I had welcomed the opportunity to go there when a client invited me to attend a marketing conference and exhibit some products. If nothing else I was renting a large MPV to take samples over and I would have plenty of room on the way back for some inexpensive French wine and beer. However, I had been unprepared for how dull the conference was going to be and I couldn't wait to get out of the hotel at the end of the first day. Some newly made friends from other suppliers suggested going out for some drinks and a meal, but as I explained to them, I already had plans.
"I'm going to meet my niece and take her out for a meal," I told them, already anticipating the mocking laughter this would bring on.
"Yeah, right!" they nodded and grinned, amused that the old cliché had been brought back to life after so many years.
"No, I'm serious," I said, "she lives and works over here, so it's just a meal! Don't be disgusting!" In my head though the thought flicked across my mind that, actually, what they were thinking would actually be a long way from disgusting.
Anna was my eldest sister's daughter, and, given the fact that I was an after-thought, born when my mother was already 40, and that my eldest sister hadn't hung around too long before having children of her own, at the age of 34 I already had a niece of 21. Studying French at university she had come to Paris in her third year to work and get experience of commercial French before going back to university in England to complete her course.
She was an intelligent if slightly naïve young woman the last time I had seen her 18 months before, slim and attractive without being stunning, with a pretty face and a fresh smile. University hadn't been easy for her like it had for me; she put herself under a lot of pressure to study and achieve, had made the mistake of going there with her school-time boyfriend (a mistake he realised before she did and he had hurtfully dumped her) and she was fighting back from a mild case of anorexia. It had therefore been a kind gesture, I thought, to offer to meet up with her, rather than my idea of a great night out in Paris.
However, I as strode across the square outside my hotel to the restaurant where she suggested meeting I was just relieved to be in the warm Paris air in early summer and going to spend an evening with someone who had no interest in the subject-matter of the conference. I got a shock when I spotted Anna too! She was looking brown and healthy, wearing make-up and a broad smile, but only a small flimsy summer dress. The make-up and the dress were both surprises, and more importantly her figure was a little fuller than two winters ago and, although still only a size 6, looking much less fragile. Parisian life was obviously agreeing with her.
Having pecked each others cheeks lightly in proper continental style we sat down to a drink, and another and another, and time was flying by as I caught up with Anna's life in Paris and we talked about other members of the family. I was struck by how much I was enjoying this and how it felt so much more like having a good time with a friend than taking my little niece out for dinner. We did finally get around to eating something and the oysters and fish (specialities of the restaurant) mixed perfectly with the superb bottle of Chablis the waiter recommended. All of a sudden, the wine was finished, the meal was cleared and we had spent three hours chatting away, but it now felt like we should really get up and I guessed it was probably my cue to head back to my hotel. However, it was dark in a big city and my old fashioned instincts were firstly to make sure that Anna got home safely.
"How are you getting home Anna?" I asked.
"Oh, I'll just walk home from here, my flat is pretty close to here and its such a lovely evening".
"Would you like me to walk you home and make sure you get home safely?", I said, genuinely concerned.
But Anna assured me, "You don't have to worry about me Uncle, but why not come and see where I live anyway? You know, you could have stayed with me instead of in that boring expensive hotel?"
The thought had never occurred to me, but I said "Well, thanks for the offer, but I thought your place was pretty small just a tiny one bedroom place?"
Anna replied in a flash "I guess, if it would have made you uncomfortable, but I wouldn't have minded".
There was a twinkle in her eye as she said this and a slight change in her smile, which had changed from innocent to ever so slightly seductive, that made me catch my breath and almost instantaneously a whole world of possibilities opened up in my mind which had not occurred to me since my conference mates were teasing me earlier. However, struggling to think quickly I decided this was probably the wine talking flirtatiously, but I wondered if I could draw more certainty from our conversation.
I started to ask her about her love life as we strolled along and, as she started to tell me how she had got over the university boyfriend and become much more comfortable with just enjoying herself with men when she wanted to, she tucked her arm inside mine and the hairs on my neck bristled. Hadn't she got serious with any other men I wondered; no, apparently she had only ever been serious about two men, the boyfriend at university and one other, who never even knew about it, it was a crush that never came out into the open. I was intrigued, I had never imagined her to harbour a secret like that, but then I didn't really know her, I was just related to her. Apparently she had been in love with this guy for ages, since she was a kid, but could never tell him and the heartbreaking thing was she had to go to his wedding and watch him get married.
"Well, who was he then?" I asked.
She stopped in the street, turned to me and said, "You!"
There was a silence while my jaw quite literally dropped open and I stared at her in disbelief, completely shocked by this revelation. My own little niece had been mad about me and I had never had a clue. Maybe it was the stupid look on my face, or the fact that unless she did something she was worried I would be rooted to the spot forever, but then she suddenly leant forward, reached up on tiptoes, wrapped her arms around my neck and planted a firm warm kiss on my lips. It worked, I snapped out of my trance and instinctively began returning the kiss. Before I knew it we were kissing hard and passionately and our tongues were frantically searching our teeth, insides of lips and I was drinking in her perfume...I was also conscious of how fantastically firm her young body felt pressed up against mine. But then another wake-up call came from the back of my mind and I gently pushed her away.
"We shouldn't be doing this" was all I could come up with, painfully aware of how tired and trite such a phrase must sound.
