Page 18 of Willows and Waterlilies

Ellie

“I cannot believe you ordered your steak well done,” Elijah laughs at me as we walk toward the Eiffel Tower, “in France!”

“I thought the waiter was trying to vaporize me with just his eyes!” I reply, somewhat truthfully, for he really looked like I had just butchered his entire family when I told him how I would like my meat.

“Well, I’m sorry it made you feel uncomfortable,” he says as we walk hand in hand through the small groups of tourists who are also trying to reach the tower. “Hopefully, the Eiffel Tower will have you falling back in love with Paris.”

Just as he brings the back of my hand up to his lips, we reach the bottom of the tower and join the queue for the lifts. We could walk, but after having eaten a three-course meal, I think any exertion might have the food threatening to come up again. Plus, who wants to look and smell like they’ve climbed a billion steps in front of the beautiful man beside me?

We’re soon squished into the back of the metal cage of the lift, where we hold onto one another. We’re so close, it has me thinking back to that kiss in Monet’s Garden. An ache begins to throb between my thighs, causing me to blush so brightly, he brushes his finger across my warm cheek. He smiles and I instantly melt; he could do anything to me right now and I’d be putty in his hands. I try to fight the urge to give myself away to him completely, to remember the last six months of progress I’ve made, but when he leans in to press his lips gently against mine, my thoughts blur into nothing.

“Ellie,” he whispers as he pulls back only so far that he is now resting against my forehead. I cannot say anything back, so instead, make an indescribable noise from the back of my throat, prompting him to smile at me.

“Ahh,” a tiny, elderly French lady coos at the both of us. We’re no doubt looking like love’s young dream. That, or she’s gushing over Elijah’s beauty. “Amour, so lovely!”

We smile at one another, then thank her. She places her frail hand on her chest, just as the lift comes to a stop at the very top.

“Ready?” he asks me quietly.

“I think so,” I murmur, wondering if my legs are actually going to work. He laughs as he takes hold of my hand and leads me out behind the crowd.

As soon as the cooler air hits me, I notice just how high up we are, in addition to the wind that feels like it’s making the whole structure sway from side to side. Holy shit, this isn’t how I was expecting to feel up here; I want to be on the ground, stat!

Elijah

As I walk out into the beautiful night air, with a clear sky and a sprinkling of stars, I wonder how on earth I got so lucky as to be given a night like this. I couldn’t have planned it better if I had tried. I pull out with Ellie’s hand firmly inside of mine; however, I soon meet resistance. I turn to see what has stopped her. Perhaps she’s still taking in the night sky.

“Ellie?” I ask with worry in my voice. She’s frozen still, just shy of the lift door, and has a paler complexion than usual. She remains silent but jumps a little when the lift clunks as it makes its descent. “Good God, what’s wrong?”

Still, she says nothing, just opens her eyes wide, and shakes her head with rapid force. I move closer, sliding my arms around her tense body. I keep slow, for fear she might bolt; she looks that terrified.

“Are we moving?” she all but whispers.

“Ever so slightly with the wind, but it is normal, I promise you,” I tell her with as soft a voice as I can. “Are you afraid of heights?”

“Apparently,” she mumbles as her hands wrap around my biceps and grip on with such force, her hands blanch white.

“Ok,” I whisper, trying not to smile, for her fear is real. “God, Ellie, you’re trembling! Look, I’ll press the button and get you down as soon as possible. Ok?”

“O-ok,” she stutters, still gripping hold of me tightly.

“It will be a few minutes, Ellie, do you think you can hold on?”

“I don’t really have a choice in the matter,” she says. She tries to smile but ends up gulping instead.

“Here,” I say as I maneuver her in front of me, facing the window so she can see the night sky. “Pretend we are on the ground, looking out of any other window.”

“I’m so embarrassed,” she gasps as I pull her in against my chest. “I’ve ruined your romantic evening – the steak, even the Eiffel Tower! I think fate has deemed me undatable.”

“Do not talk such nonsense, Ellie Russo,” I laugh softly against her ear, “I did not spend six months thinking of you, only to let France frighten me away.”

“What did we do during these thoughts of yours?” she asks at the same time as she takes a chance to open her eyes and look at the stars.

“Well, we were often kissing,” I tell her, then press my lips to her cheek, making her smile and cuddle into me. “Sometimes we held hands like a couple of teenagers, sometimes we’d just lay around on my couch in my apartment. I’d show you off to my parents, of course.”

“Kind of already did that one,” she says quietly, now with her eyes closed in reverence.

“We’ve also kissed,” I tell her as I lean around to kiss her plump, slightly pale lips. “And held hands. However, there are plenty of things I thought of us doing that we haven’t yet done.”

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