"I'm Catalina." I said, sticking my hand out as a greeting.
A smile rushed to her face.
"Oh Catalina Alonso! How are you!" Colette cheered, rushing up to kiss my cheeks as a sort of greeting.
How strange.
"I'm good, I just landed about an hour ago. It's been...interesting." I confessed.
"Interesting? As in good I hope." Colette guessed.
"I'll say that Paris is more like New York than initially expected."
"Oh but mon amie you've seen nothing but the airport and Starbucks!" Colette gestured to my bags.
I nodded, she had a fair point.
"Come on now, the university told me where you'll be dorming, it's on the way back to my apartment. I'll drop you off!" Colette offered.
As sweet as she was, it really was not necessary.
I shook my head, "That's very sweet of you Colette but I'm sure I can get there myself. I don't want you wasting the time in your day..."'
Colette clicked her tongue several times.
"Catalina I must go with you. One, you will need me as your french guide of course. Two, you are my American prodige. I'm going to adopt you right now."
And with that, she took one of my bags and gestured for me to get my coffee while she waited outside on the curb. I was taken aback. She was very forward to say the least. I quickly regained composure and grabbed my coffee before joining Colette who'd been waiting for me. In that short span of thirty seconds, she'd successfully managed to get a taxi. We put my things in the back, and with Colette's expert French, we were off.
A few minutes into the drive, Colette stopped texting and turned to me, "So, what's your story? Why Paris?"
I titled my head, "It's not a long story, but it's a story."
Colette flung her hands all over the place, seemingly she motioned for me to go on.
What was with the French and hand gestures? I thought that was an Italian thing.
I turned to face Colette and began, "So basically, I have an older brother, Carlos. He just graduated last year. He went to Princeton. And the tuition basically made it very difficult for my parents to pay for my education as well. As you know, I go to northeastern. Mostly because they gave me a lot of financial aid. But still, paying two college tuitions was breaking my parents bank. The living expenses in Boston, insane because of how much Northeastern charged for dorms. So, I went to the housing office, and they basically threw money at me to study abroad for a year. They even offered to pay for my flight. And, the dorms in even the biggest European cities would be cheaper because they just have too many students back in Boston. So, I applied for a bunch of internships in these big European cities at the beginning of summer. The one that was most beneficial for me was here, in Paris. So I went to my university office, and they made it happen. So here I am."
Colette nodded vigorously, "That's actually inspiring. Nice of you to help your family like that. Are the expenses way cheaper here in Paris?"
"I'm talking almost ten thousand dollars less a year here in Paris."
Colette was perplexed, "Who would've thought Paris would be the cheaper option. Something fishy going on in America."
We both looked at each other for a minute and burst out laughing. The taxi slowly pulled up to a large apartment building on the most picturesque street ever. It was like a European dream.
"Mesdames, nous sommes arrivés." the Taxi driver spoke, holding out his hand for some cash.
"What did he say?" I turned to Colette.
"That's we've arrived." Colette informed, giving her card to the driver.
I attempted to protest, saying it wasn't fair for her to pay but she dismissed me, claiming she was taking this taxi all the way to her place anyways.
I climbed out of the taxi and grabbed my bags, waving goodbye to Colette.
"Are you sure you don't want me going up with you Catalina?" Colette confirmed with me.
I shook my head, "It's all good, I'll be fine!"
"I'll be back here tomorrow, I'm gonna pick you up and you're coming to see my place okay? And tell me how your roommate is!"Colette shouted as the taxi faded into the distance.
I smiled up at the building, slightly reassured by my new French friend. After some struggling, I managed to climb up the few stairs which led into the building. My luggage did not make it easy at all.
I saw a large bald man hunched over at the desk. As I grew closer, I heard snoring. There was no way I was about to wake him up and ask where my flat was located. He was scary. And also happened to look as though he could squish Virgil Van Dijk with one fist. I quiet tiptoed across the lobby to the small elevator. It looked, as some might say, prehistoric.
How I managed to fit myself and my bags in there, one may never know. It was more like a loft cage, where you needed to manually close the door with a door that was more like a gate.
I quickly searched through my email to recall what my room number was. 474. I clicked the fourth floor button and the ascent began. Which mind you, was very scary. Elevators have never fazed me, but this one shook the whole way up. Maybe it was the weight of the luggage?
Thankfully, the elevator was not slow, and I managed to get myself and suitcases out in less than a minute.
"474." I repeatedly muttered under my breath, scanning the numbers of each door that I went by. A few doors away from the elevator was my room. The location was nice. Close enough to the elevator, which meant close enough to escape. This decreased my chance of getting murdered.
I fished the key that I had been sent in the mail out of my pocket and inserted it into the lock. With just a little twist, the door opened. Totally not concerning at all. I pushed the door further open and brought my suitcases in the room so they'd be out of people's ways. I was not eager to be yelled at by an angry French person. With all of my things in I looked up to survey the room.
Nothing would've prepared me for what was sitting smack dab in the center my room. A part of me wanted to scream, but I couldn't. A half naked man was lying on the couch, vigorously fidgeting with his controller, staring straight at the television.
ओह! यह छवि हमारे सामग्री दिशानिर्देशों का पालन नहीं करती है। प्रकाशन जारी रखने के लिए, कृपया इसे हटा दें या कोई भिन्न छवि अपलोड करें।
