Page 35 of Forgiving Paris
And before she knew what was happening, she was in his bed, twisted up in his sheets and it was morning. She sat up with a start and her breath caught in her throat. What had she done? She pulled the covers up to her chin as Jean-Claude stirred and opened his eyes.
“I… I have to get to work.”
“No, mon amour.” His laugh was as seductive as his kiss. “You have today free.” He pulled her into his arms. “You are mine, ma chérie. Today we finish looking at Paris. We will see the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. But not yet.”
Ashley couldn’t say no as he pulled her close. She didn’t want to. And again she was trapped in his gravity, unable to stop herself or do anything but whatever Jean-Claude asked of her.
Later that day, he took her sailing down the Seine in the seventh arrondissement, and he snuck into her room at Ms. Martin’s to see her artwork. “These are so very beautiful, Ashley.” He drew her to himself. “You are a wonderful artist.”
A week later she was working at the gallery when Jean-Claude came by with his wife and two young children. Ashley had to pretend she barely knew Jean-Claude. She even gave his daughter one of the lollipops the gallery kept for small children.
What am I doing?Ashley felt sick to her stomach and a terrifying thought pressed in on her soul. Something her mother had told her a long time ago.
The devil doesn’t always look like a devil,she had said.Sometimes he masquerades as an angel of light.Ashley couldn’t agree more.
Jean-Claude was living proof.
13
Landon was beginning to think maybe the trip to Paris wasn’t a good idea, after all. They’d been in their hotel room for three hours, and still Ashley was asleep. He had checked on her a few times, and always she looked restless, muttering under her breath.
Was she still caught up in the memories of the last time she was here? Worse, was she trapped there? Maybe they should’ve held the show in Bloomington. She didn’t owe the people of Paris this time to display her work.
Whatever the situation, he let Ashley sleep. They could see the city tomorrow.
In the meantime, he sat in a chair by the window and watched the sun set over Notre Dame and the Seine. He could see the historic landmarks clearly from the window. If only Ashley could understand how her time here hadn’t hurt only her. How it had damaged him and drawn him to her all at the same time.
A memory came to mind. That same year when he was at Baylor, he’d been out walking across campus late one night with Jalen’s sister, Hope. The girl was dark-skinned with hazel eyes and a happy heart. She skipped ahead of him and then turned and walked backwards, facing him.
Hope had a spark that had drawn Landon, for sure.
But even after an hour talking to the girl on a bench at the center of the quad, all Landon could think about was Ashley. Where was she? What was she doing? There was no real way to reach her. No email or cell phones back then. He had only the phone number of Anna Martin, Ashley’s landlord.
So that night after Landon said good night to his beautiful new friend, he stood outside the door of his own dorm room and did the math. It would’ve been morning in Paris. Why not call Ashley? Maybe he could catch her before she went to work. He could tell her he was thinking of her and just hear her voice.
That would be enough.
Never mind that she had asked him not to call, or that she had told him she needed this time. Before he could stop himself, he went back inside and sat at the small table in the common space. A few minutes after he used his credit card to pay for the charges, the phone was ringing. A woman with a thick French accent picked up.
“Bonjour.” She sounded pleasant.
“Uh… hello. Bonjour.” Landon felt stupid. Why had he done this? Ashley wouldn’t want him checking up on her. He clenched his fist and tried to think about what to say. “I’m… Landon Blake. A friend of Ashley’s. Is… is she there?”
The connection wasn’t great, but after a few seconds the woman spoke. “You have reached the right place, Landon.” She hesitated. “But Ashley is not here. She… has been gone much.”
Gone much? What was that supposed to mean? Landon remembered the sick feeling in his stomach. “Is she… working?”
“Yes… and seeing the city with a friend.”
Who was she seeing the city with? he wanted to ask but he couldn’t bring himself to say the words. “Okay. Can you please… can you tell her Landon called?” He thought for a moment and changed his mind. “Actually, don’t tell her. I’ll… I’ll try again another time.”
“Very well.” The woman didn’t sound like she cared one way or the other. “Have a nice day, Landon. Bonjour.”
“Bonjour.” Landon had hung up the phone and walked outside again. For the next hour he sat alone under the night sky. Who was Ashley palling around with? And how come she hadn’t tried once to call him at his dorm? He had no answers, but an idea hit him.
Maybe she had called home. Her parents must’ve heard from her. They would know about this new friend and the places Ashley had been seeing. After class the next day, he called Elizabeth Baxter. She had been like a second mother to Landon. Surely, she wouldn’t think it strange that he wanted to know.
But the moment he heard Elizabeth’s voice on the other end of the phone, Landon felt the sick feeling again. When he brought up Ashley, Elizabeth seemed more thandiscouraged. She sounded distraught. There was no hiding the fact.
