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Leslie gazed out of the small airplane window at the masses of clouds swirling against the blue canvas of the sky.
She’s amazed by how beautiful and peaceful it was up here, as if it was an entirely different world. Her abnormal sleeping patterns meant that she had seen many sunrises in her lifetime, but never from 30,000 feet in the air. She was seeing colors that she never knew existed before.
She turned in her seat to get her husband’s attention, wanting to share this moment with him. His lanky frame was cramped in the middle seat, and Leslie grimaced at the awkward angle his neck was in against the headrest. His chin was practically resting against his chest, and he was dead asleep.
Leslie didn’t have the heart to wake him no matter how much she wanted to, so instead she settled for another one of her early morning pastimes—watching Ben sleep.
She has indulged in this activity countless times in their years together, but it never got old. His face was always so relaxed in his sleep, a luxury his anxious nature rarely afforded him during his waking hours. His brow was unfurrowed, his jaw slack, and his lips pouty.
Moving the “Paris Trip” binder from her lap, Leslie snuggled up against him, slipping her arm around his and resting her head on his shoulder. Even in his sleep he noticed her presence, moving his head to rest against hers and sighing contentedly into her hair.
The last several days had been both physically and emotionally draining on the pair of them, dealing with her recall and what that meant for both of their futures.
But for now they were putting all of that behind them and spending a glorious week in Paris.
Paris. God, he was taking her to Paris.
After the hour that she had spent with Jen Barkley, Leslie really didn’t think that there was anything better that Ben could have done for her. Of course, he proved her wrong once again when he handed her an empty scrapbook that said “Our Trip to Paris” on the cover.
After a few moments of sitting in silence, Leslie felt Ben’s breathing change and his body shift as he gradually woke up.
Leslie turned her face towards his and kissed him good morning. “Hey, how did you sleep?”
“Uhm, surprisingly well, considering. How about you? How long have you been up?”
“A few hours now. I couldn’t really calm down enough to sleep.” She shifted her focus to stare out of the window again. “You just missed the sunrise. It was so beautiful.”
His gaze followed hers. “It still looks beautiful.”
“Yeah. You know, I’ve been so busy and stressed lately, I’ve forgotten how to just enjoy the little things in life. Sip a cup of coffee without worrying if Jamm used my mug as a spit cup. Drink a glass of water without caring if fluoride was going to get added to the reservoir. Watch a sunrise without it meaning that I was one day closer to leaving office.”
Ben wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him, placing a chaste kiss on the side of her head. “Hopefully this trip will help. If only for this week, we can just be Ben and Leslie—two people in love traveling around Paris with no responsibilities except to ourselves.”
Leslie didn’t have a response. All she could do was let out a sigh of contentment and lean back against her husband.
Together, they watched the sun.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Oh my God, I swear I’m gonna gain twenty pounds from this trip,” Leslie groaned as she leaned back against her seat in the café.
“You’re on vacation in Paris. You’re definitely allowed to indulge. Besides, you’re exercising more than enough to make up for it.”
“Ben…”
“What?! I meant with all of the walking we’ve been doing around the city, so get your mind out of the gutter. Although, if we do count other physical activities, you could probably afford to eat even more than you have been.”
Leslie laughed and shook her head at her husband, who looked especially pleased with himself. “Well, I hope you’re right because I can’t seem to pass a food vendor without buying a crepe. Not to mention that we still haven’t gone to the last few patisseries on our list. Or the chocolate shops. Oh, and didn’t you want to go find some weird, runny cheeses?”
“Oh, yeah. There were a few shops that I was reading about that specialize in unpasteurized cheeses. Thinking I might see if I can smuggle some back into the U.S.”
“Are you telling me that I’m about to be married to an international smuggler? Is that the real reason we came here, so you can do the dirty work for some global cheese cartel?”
“You found me out. After I lost my job at Sweetums, I was approached by a cheese gang and have devoted myself to a life of crime. But now you know, so you either have to swear your allegiance to me, or I have to kill you.”
“I don’t know, being the wife of an international criminal does sound kinda sexy.”
“And every crime lord needs an outrageously gorgeous leading lady.”
“Oh, so you’re a Cheese Boss now?”
“If I play my cards right, I will control every piece of unpasteurized cheese in the Midwest.”
“Well, in that case, count me in. Although, I do think in exchange for my cooperation, I am owed at least an extra pound of chocolate to take home.”
“You drive a hard bargain, but I think we can arrange that.”
The pair burst into laughs, Leslie leaning over to place a kiss on Ben’s lips.
“Illegal cheeses aside, what else is on the agenda for today?”
“It’s really up to you, Les. Today was pretty much a free day on the schedule.”
“Hmm. I don’t know. Let’s just walk around a little bit and see what we find.”
“Sounds good to me. I just really want to buy some more macaroons before we go back to the hotel. Oh! There’s this place I want to take you to later on today. They apparently have the best gaufres in Par-”
Leslie wrapped her hand behind Ben’s neck and pulled his mouth to hers in a crushing kiss.
“Whoa, what was that for?”
“My French might be terrible, but I made sure to learn how to say ‘waffle’ in at least 10 different languages. God, I want you so bad right now.”
“Because I’m getting you French waffles? I definitely shouldn’t be surprised by that.”
“Don’t question it, or I might have to ask why seeing the bridge from Inception turned you on so much that we had to rush back to the Hotel before we got arrested for public lewdness.”
“Fair enough.”
~~~~~~
“Babe, you ready to head out?” Ben asked as he came out of the bathroom.
“Yeah. Let me just finish writing this postcard to Ann.”
“There are six postcards there. Are they all for Ann? And besides, you know that we’ll probably be home already by the time they reach her, right?”
“I know, but it’s the thought that counts. I had originally told her I would send one everyday so I figured it would be okay if I wrote her once, but with enough detail to fill 6 cards.”
“Okay, if you think so. You almost done, though? I want to see if we can make it to the café down the street before it get’s too busy.”
“Don’t rush me. Postcard writing is an unappreciated art form that takes a lot of skill to master. I took a class on it once at the Rec Center.”
“There was a class on how to write postcards?”
“Yes, there was. It was in conjunction with a scrapbooking class I took. Now stop distracting me. And need I remind you that we could have started our day about an hour earlier if it wasn’t for you.”
“Oh, so it’s my fault? That’s not how I remember it. I seem to recall being woken up by a certain blond haired sex goddess touching and kissing me in some very strategic places.”
“I was merely utilizing an effective method of waking you up. You were the one that insisted we had the time to take it further.”
Ben crossed his arms and sighed in defeat. “Well, I didn’t hear any complaints from you this morning.”
“You certainly didn’t. And I’m not complaining now, either. Merely stating facts. But it doesn’t matter ‘cause I’m done the postcard.”
“You instigated that little argument to distract me while you finished the card, didn’t you?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Damn, you’re good.”
“I know. Now, be quiet and tell me if this sounds okay. Then, we can leave.”
Ben sat on the bed and made himself comfortable. “Alright, fire away.”
“Okay, part 1 says ‘Dear Ann. I know I said I’d write everyday, but I hope sending these six cards at once makes up for it. Paris is amazing. The food alone is enough to brag about. There are pastry shops on every corner with desserts drizzled in sugar and whipped cream and about a million different types of bread. They eat chocolate filled bread here for breakfast! The non-dessert food is great, too. (See next card)
Card 2/6- I know you were telling me about how snails are an aphrodisiac, but I can’t bring myself to eat something that I’d kick out of my garden. Ben seemed to like them just fine, though. I can’t exactly say if they were effective or not because it feels like this entire City acts as an aphrodisiac. Everything is so romantic and our hotel room is gorgeous. We haven’t had this much sex since our honeymoon. (See next card.)”
Ben started squirming a little uncomfortably in his seat. “Leslie, is the next postcard about our sex life?”
“Yes. And maybe the one after that, too”
“Two? Uhm, can you skip them? I want to pretend to be blissfully ignorant about how much Ann knows about that.”
“Fine, but you have nothing to worry about. I have only the highest praise for you. Okay….Card 5. Here goes ‘You’ll be happy to know that we are getting plenty of exercise outside of the bedroom, too. We’ve walked all over the City. So far we’ve been to the Louvre (I felt that the Mona Lisa was a bit overrated), Notre Dame (Disney kind of nailed it), and an entire bakery that was devoted to waffles! Sorry I keep circling back to food, but WAFFLES, ANN! Ben was properly rewarded for that discovery (refer to card 3).
Card 6/6- Today we have a pretty busy day planned. A boat tour along the river with a stop at the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, and the Pont des Arts. I’ve already gotten you souvenirs, but I know there’ll be more. Plus, we’ve taken about 10 scrapbooks worth of pictures. Well, Ben is ready to go, and I tricked him into an argument about morning sex so I can finish writing to you. I love you, and I wish you were here. Send our love to Chris and give your belly an extra rub on behalf of Aunt Leslie.’
“Wow, those are some postcards. That class paid off.”
“I think so, too. Okay, I’m ready to go. I’ll just drop these off at the front desk for them to mail for us.”
They locked their room behind them and made their way towards the elevator, Ben bouncing on the balls of his feet as they waited.
“So, I was good enough to take up two postcards, huh?”
~~~~~~
Leslie wrapped the silk robe around her tightly as a breeze blew in from the window of their hotel room. She stood before it, gazing at how the Eiffel Tower glowed against the backdrop of the night sky.
A pair of arms encircled her from behind and she felt a chin resting on her shoulder as she was pulled flush against a lean body.
“Hey, what are you doing up? It’s the middle of the night.”
“I couldn’t sleep. Maybe because it’s our last night here, but I had the urge to just stand here and watch the City.”
Ben hummed a response in her ear and the pair stood in silence, staring at the city they had fallen in love with over the last week.
“It really is beautiful.”
Leslie turned in Ben’s arms and laced her fingers together behind his neck. “Thank you again for this. And not just the trip, either. All of it. Everything you’ve done for me since the beginning. I don’t feel like I tell you enough how much it means to me.”
Ben shrugged his shoulders. “You tell me all the time, and what I do for you is nowhere near what you deserve.” He rested his forehead against hers. “I’d give you the world if I could. I hate it when bad things happen to you and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.”
“I know, and believe me, knowing that helps. But you don’t have to give me the world. Giving yourself to me is all that I will ever need. Please, I need you to believe that.”
“I do, Les. I do.”
Leslie shivered in Ben’s arms and choked back a sob. “As much as I can’t wait to go home, I’m also so scared, Ben. I’ve spent the last week trying to push everything out of my mind, but that doesn’t mean it’s not there. I feel like for every step forward, I get knocked two steps back. Why can’t it be the way I want it? Why did I get kicked out of my dream job? Why is my best friend leaving?”
“I wish I had those answers for you. I honestly don’t know for sure. But I do know that these things just happen in life. It sucks now, but maybe this has to happen to make you ready for something bigger and better. You learned so much on the City Council and did so many great things, but Jen’s right. You can do so much better than fighting Jamm and Dexhart tooth and nail for every victory.
“And yes, right now that means going back to Parks full time, but you won’t be there forever. Everyone knows what you’re capable of. That’s why they fought so hard to recall you—because they knew that you could bring them down. My God, Les, you’re the most amazing and wonderful person that I’ve ever met. You’ve never let anything stand in your way, and you won’t now because of who you are. And I’ll be right here the whole time.”
“Thank you,” she whispered against his lips.
“Anytime. Now, you ready to go back to bed?”
Leslie shook her head slightly. “Not yet. I just want to stand here with you for a little while longer.” After a beat, she added, “Do you remember the other night when we went out to dinner and the restaurant had that little band playing? You held me in your arms, and we danced until two in the morning. Do you remember what I said to you?”
“You said that you never wanted that night to end.”
“I meant it, you know. It was one of the happiest moments of my life. Can we—can we just have one more dance in Paris?”
“Right now?”
“Yeah. We don’t need music or anything. Just us, right here.”
Ben startled Leslie by stepping out of her arms. He bowed low and extended his hand in her direction. “Pardon me, mademoiselle, but may I have this dance?”
Leslie laughed despite the tears that stung her eyes and took his hand. “Oui, monsieur. It would be an honor.”
And as the city lights went out one by one, they danced.