Chapter Text
There were three responses to my advert for a flatmate. I was pretty sure I’d found the girl I wanted, which meant I’d have to write disappointing letters to these inquiries, but Jamie had sent me another e-mail, and I was looking forward to reading that much more.
She was coming to Paris from Scotland to study Languages and History at the Universite, she said. Our conversation so far had been about those subjects. I could speak to history better than language, having dated a history professor named Randall for a few years before deciding to go back to school to become a doctor.
Frank had wanted to get married. I had wanted to heal people. Somehow, these two desires hadn’t been able to find a mesh together.
That was not important, however. I’d found a flat halfway between the school and the hospital, and while I’d briefly enjoyed the stint of living alone and all the freedom that entailed, I’d quickly found that when left alone for long periods of time, I tended to talk to the furniture. I’d put out an advert on the university sites immediately.
Jamie hadn’t been the first person to answer, but she’d caught my eye immediately by sounding so interested in the city itself. She was a few years younger than I, but the language in her writing gave me confident that we would not find it difficult to communicate. She assured me that, while she liked a good drink now and again, she wasn’t looking for the nightlife in Paris. I had no objection to the occasional night of drink and dance, but mostly I preferred my life to be a bit quieter than the thudding music in those places allowed for.
I’m coming to the city for the weekend to get to know the place a bit before I move in. Would you mind if I stayed with you? It would give us a chance to see if we’ll make good roommates.
You needn’t feel that you have to show me around. I don’t mind getting a bit lost if you’re busy, but I’d love to have a chance to get to know you as well.
Regards,
Jamie
I smiled at her e-mail. I sent one back assuring her that she could feel free to stay with me for the weekend, and I was free to take her through the city and show her everything she wanted to see.
I was looking forward to meeting my new friend, and offered to pick her up at the train station.
That would be wonderful, thank you, Claire. I’ll be relatively easy to pick out. I’ve red hair and am very tall.
~?~?~?~?~
I stood on the train platform watching the passengers disembark, scanning every head that stood above the rest for red hair.
There was one quick start toward someone, but I quickly realized that the bright head I was looking at was attached to a pair of wide and distinctly masculine shoulders. I turned away and continued to scan the passengers.
“Erm… are you Claire?” a voice with a light, lilting Scottish accent asked from behind me.
A man’s voice.
I turned and looked up into the face of the young red-haired man who had disembarked a few minutes ago.
“Jamie?” I asked, the whole farce suddenly becoming clear.
He smiled. It was a very nice smile in a very handsome face, but not at all what I’d been expecting.
“Oh aye. I thought it must be you from your description. It’s wonderful to finally meet you.” He offered me a hand and I took it without thinking about it, finding my small, slim hand nearly engulfed in his large, broad one.
I opened my mouth to tell him that there had been a misunderstanding- that I had thought… but he looked at me with those dark blue eyes that slanted up like a cat’s, and his young, handsome face, and I couldn’t say it to him.
“Are you hungry?” I asked instead.