Ailyn Evensen — Roleplayer Guild

Location: A quaint hotel in Central Paris.

♫ Resonance of Fate OST - Home Sweet Home

     Paris was everything Charlotte had ever dreamed of.  On the urgings of her parents and her best friend Emily she decided to use the opportunity to see the sights, so she arrived on April 8th, the Sunday before everyone was set to meet for the big event. After she’d proceeded from customs and immigration, she collected her pale pink luggage set and waited for her ride to pick her up from CDG airport and take her to her hotel. She’d chosen a quaint hotel not far from the city center, wanting something close, but not too tourist-heavy. Considering the time of year, it would just start to become bustling with foreigners who were willing to tolerate the spring chill to see the beauty of the city early. Her usual wardrobe would have to be substituted considering the air temperature being mildly cooler than back home, so while touring, she’d chosen several outfits which consisted of jeans, a light jacket, a nice flowy spring colored top and either ballet flats in a coordinating color or sneakers depending on where she and her tour guide were headed.  

     The first night she spent in the hotel, she had spent most of it taking photos of the Eiffel Tower from her balcony, and communicating with her family back home. Emily had kept messaging her, begging for more pictures, and wondering if Charlotte had met any cute Parisian guys yet. Charlotte would just laugh, send her more photos (which strangely included requests for hotel room pictures) and brush off the comments about looking for guys. That was honestly the last thing on her mind. Sure, it would be nice to know the warmth of companionship once again, but that sort of thing was difficult to find. Maybe someday.  

"If there even was going to be a someday…" She thought to herself as she sipped her chamomile and lemon tea and gazed out the balcony window from her cozy hotel room chair. Before sleeping, she made one last check to her blog and emails to see if the editors had sent her any story requests or messages. There was just one, her editor-in-chief sent a message. 

“Hey Charlotte, 
Hope you’ve settled into Paris okay. It’s been a while since I’ve been there, seen anything cool yet? Don’t worry about any other assignments for the time being, but we’d still love to run something about your sightseeing this week to go along with our classical Parisian composers piece. Take lots of pictures, enjoy it all, and send us whatever you can. Best of luck next week, take care.
-	Cassie”

     When Charlotte had first told her boss what was happening when she was going to Paris in April, she thought Charlotte was crazy but decided to trust Charlotte’s judgement. The two didn’t talk about it much, telling anyone else who wondered why that Charlotte was going to Paris on a research retreat.

     Dropping this idea on her parents and Emily the first time was no walk in the park, though. They’d all had their doubts, not understanding why Charlotte would want to walk away from everything she had now on the nominal chance that she could get back the one thing she wanted. How many other people were in her shoes? How many of them wanted something back that they couldn’t get any other way? Charlotte told them that it was at least worth the try. The Methuselah of Paris had been rumored to be linked to many an anonymous charitable act in the past, so what if those rumors were true? After a month or two of constantly picking Charlotte’s brain on why she wanted to go, they’d finally decided to drop the matter and trust her judgement. Hoping that she’d really get what she wanted.  

     After giving Cassie a quick reply, she settled into her bed and quickly fell asleep. Bright and early Monday morning, Charlotte was met with her private female tour guide in front of her hotel and their first stop was Notre-Dame Cathedral. Charlotte took every opportunity to absorb the gothic architecture and the sheer breathtaking beauty of the stained-glass windows that surrounded her. She probably took too many photos, but she felt that nothing could completely capture what she saw around her in just a few photos.  Thanks to her tour guide, she could spend as much time in the cathedral as she wished, getting far more time within certain areas than most other tourists got. After a quick lunch at a nearby café, the rest of the afternoon was spent in the Louvre museum. Nothing could do any of the photos she had seen online any justice. The museum was simply amazing. While seeing the Mona Lisa was nice, Charlotte had grown up thinking that it was a lot bigger for some reason. Compared to some of the larger works in the museum, it felt small. As the afternoon progressed, she was continually mesmerized by the architecture in the museum and continued to take many photos wherever she could. 

     That evening, her tour guide asked her if she wanted to go around and see some of the clubs and cafes open at night. Charlotte politely declined, citing overall fatigue as her reason to stay in. It wasn’t too far from the truth, she was still recovering from the time difference and the amount of walking they had done, but she also didn’t feel like trying to meet new people. That was one of the reasons she chose a privately guided tour over a group. She spent the rest of the evening uploading photos and communicating with her family. 

     Day two was the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower. Out of everything so far, the Eiffel Tower was the one thing she was the most excited for. She couldn’t have asked for nicer weather as she stood from the very top deck that the public could visit. It was clear and sunny with a slight breeze, making for great photography. Emily would die from excitement when she got these. Until she could upload the better pictures later, Charlotte asked her tour guide to take a picture of her with the skyline of Paris behind her on her cell phone. Once she had done that, she sent the photo off to Emily through Facebook. Even though it was 1am back home, Emily promptly responded to the photo with “OMG I HATE YOU!!!! xD ITS SO PRETTY!” which made Charlotte laugh. She wished Emily was here with her. Going to Paris was something they had wanted to do together back when they were at Juilliard. To make up for the fact that she couldn’t go, Charlotte promised Emily that she’d take as many photos as she could and would send home souvenirs. 

     They had to travel a bit out of town on day three, using the great weather to their advantage to view Versailles and the Saint Louis Cathedral. Charlotte had a soft spot for gardening and the natural beauty of a well-tended garden. Growing up, her father’s favorite thing to do on the weekend was to work in the family’s garden. They had lots of flowers and water features, which made summer afternoon tea parties as a little girl feel like something out of a storybook. Unfortunately, Charlotte never inherited her father’s green thumb and was unable to keep many plants alive in her home. It didn’t help that her Bengals loved to chew on anything green.  Versailles was gorgeous, and she found herself getting lost in the beauty of the tiniest flowers in the garden. On multiple occasions, her tour guide had to pull her away just so that they could continue, promising that they could come back for photography later. The palace was breathtaking, boasting over 700 rooms. Because of Charlotte’s tendency to stop so often, they chose to visit only the biggest of rooms, including the hall of mirrors and the king and queen’s apartments. The baroque elegance of the entire building reminded her of her studies back in New York. She took a semester of study on Parisian influence in music and often found herself researching places that were important to its musical history. She couldn’t wait to show the photos to her parents that night. The cathedral’s ceiling artwork kept Charlotte looking up for the rest of the day, resulting in a slightly sore neck when they arrived back at the hotel. She couldn’t believe how much art history could be packed into one country. 

     She spent the fourth day shopping around in little shops in the Latin Quarter and walking through the Luxembourg gardens, taking more photos. This time though, she decided to spend the day without her tour guide. She had been armed with an English-French dictionary, her phone translator app and a map of the area. Having casual French lessons from childhood gave her a very small sense of how to navigate, and for the most part, she kept to herself. The past three days had been a whirlwind of moving, so having a day to herself was almost zen-like. Yes, she was in a foreign country, but the people were so friendly and the whole place just felt so beautiful. How could you not be happy here?  

     Friday was the last day of her touring, and it was also Friday the 13th. Charlotte didn’t realize it until the week before she flew to Paris, but something about this day always felt odd to her. She really hoped that nothing happened that day because she and the tour guide were driving out to Giverny to see Monet’s gardens and home. Charlotte grew up with a fascination in Monet’s paintings, with her favorite being “Water Lilies and the Japanese bridge”. So getting to see the place where this beautiful piece was made was just a given for her. There was no way she could be in Paris without going there. They spent yet another beautiful day touring the gardens and exploring the home of the famous painter. It was quaint, beautiful and memorable. Charlotte wished that someday, she could have a little cottage just like this one. When they drove back to Paris at the end of the day, she found herself feeling rather melancholy. This beautiful week was essentially over and she was left with such wonderful memories. She only wished that there had been others with her to enjoy them. 

     Back at the hotel, she uploaded the next set of photos and conversed more with her parents and Emily. They had a video chat where she showed off her balcony view of Paris and as per Emily’s next strange request, Charlotte’s room service dinner. “I don’t understand why you ask me for photos of such strange things, Emily.” Charlotte messaged her friend later that evening. “Because you can always see lovely pictures of the Eiffel Tower and the Seine, but you don’t get to see the cuisine and little places that aren’t normally seen by every tourist. I want to see everything.” Emily replied, followed by a cute smiley face. “You’re a weird one.” Charlotte replied. “Yeah, I know. But you love me <3” Emily quickly sent back. “True. Ok, I’m going to bed. I’ll send you a message tomorrow before I meet the escort car.” Charlotte sent Emily along with a photo of herself holding up her hands in the shape of a heart. Emily replied with a photo of herself doing the same. Charlotte smiled before putting her phone on it's charger and heading off to sleep. 

     Saturday, April 14th arrived. It was a slightly overcast morning, with a chill that felt different than the other days. Something felt different, but Charlotte tried her best to ignore the feeling. She had tea and two croissants brought to her room for breakfast. While she sat in bed, vaguely watching a French morning talk show, her phone lit up and vibrated. She received a message from her mother.  

“Good morning, sweetie. I hope you had a lovely time this week, and that you got a good night’s sleep last night. We loved all of your photos and we’re getting the one of you on the Eiffel Tower framed later today! Your dad and I will be thinking of you and hope you’ll check in with us when you can. We love you very much, and hope you kick butt!!! <3 mom and dad”

     Charlotte couldn’t help but smile and teared up slightly. She didn’t know if they’d thought about what would happen now. She never brought it up to them for fear of them stopping her from going, but Charlotte had the constant nagging feeling that there was a very real possibility that she may not come home for a very long time, or at all…

     It was a thought she absolutely hated entertaining, but everything in her life so far had ingrained that horrid wedge of pessimism into her mind. Yes, by going, she could get it back. Oh, life would be back to the way it used to be. Her dream would be in her grasp again and she’d be home. But from the sound of it, she may have to trade something else… what would it be?  

"Seriously, this better not be one of those ‘sell your soul’ sort of things…" Charlotte thought to herself as she took another bite of her croissant. There was still time, she could go back home if she wanted to. All she had to do was check out of the hotel, take a car back to the airport and take the next flight home. Everything would go back to the way it was; mundane, quiet and boring, but at least it would be safe. She’d have her family and her friends. But that little part of her that yearned for life the way it was before wouldn’t stop nagging. Bonaparte was giving her the chance to get her life back. This was more than anyone else had been able to do for her. If there was a glimmer of a chance, she wanted to try. She was going to try.
Ailyn Evensen Member

I'm Crafty, You Can't Expect Me To Be Neat Too...

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