Two Villains

Ch.14- Opinions on The Eiffel and Korean Hotpot

"Where would you like to go?" he asked in return.

"Somewhere fun?" I suggested.

"A nightclub?" he proposed.

"With you? No, thanks! I don't drink," I replied. He seemed offended, but I hadn't come to Paris for nightclub revelry. We had better pubs in our own country.

"There's a children's carnival happening at Jardin d'Acclimatation Park; perhaps you'd like to go there," the driver suggested.

Was he trying to insult me?

"I've never been to a carnival," Sameer mumbled.

"What!" John exclaimed almost in disgust as he sat facing us, with Ju by our side as usual.

"We can go there; I haven't been on one either," I suggested.

"We could also go to Disneyland," John chimed in.

"Not today, not on this trip," I replied, emphasizing that if I were to visit Disneyland in Paris, I would dedicate an entire week to it. I already had plans for a Disneyland trip, but it didn't align with this current journey.

The car came to a halt near a park that had exciting rides, visible from the entrance. Kids were having a blast on those rides.

At the park entrance, vendors were selling cotton candy from their machines. I asked Sameer to get some for us.

"What's that?" Sameer asked, clearly perplexed, while John and Ju appeared horrified. I had had enough of their hesitation, so I bought four cotton candies myself and handed one to each of them. Sameer stood there, looking somewhat like an alien with his cotton candy amid a crowd of kids who were a quarter of his height.

"We're not allowed to eat on duty!" John practically yelled at me.

"Pffft, you're not going to die," I retorted. Sameer appeared confused, more concerned about the pink, fluffy cloud on a cone that was slowly deflating in his hand.

"You've never had one?" I asked him. He shook his head, so I tore off a piece of my own cotton candy and forcefully offered it to him. He didn't have time to resist.

John and Ju were utterly appalled by my actions, their eyes nearly popping out of their heads as Sameer began to chew the fluffy treat.

"My mummy used to make them!" he chewed with astonishment.

"Mami?" Mami means aunt in Bengali. I didn't understand that he meant mummy, not mami.

"My mother. She used to make this when I was a kid," Sameer replied, and I made a troubling discovery from the expression on his face. It seemed that Sameer had forgotten what cotton candy, something his mother used to make for him, even looked like.

Is his mom dead?

Sameer began to eat his cotton candy in silence, and John and Ju, despite their dapper security suits, couldn't even bring themselves to look at him. Their cotton candies had already lost their fluffy allure.

The carnival was filled with children's games, but it wasn't as grand as I had imagined. I had no clue why we were allowed to enter. There were small kiddie rides that I couldn't even properly name since I had zero experience with carnivals. There were some green gardens, greenhouses, and statues, but I wasn't in the mood to visit them now. I just wanted to hang out with Sameer.

So, Sameer and I aimlessly walked together for a minute, and then we wandered over to the shops, hoping to find some entertainment suitable for two "old" people like us to enjoy. Sameer took me to a booth where people were shooting at wooden signs, trying to knock them down. If you managed to shoot down five signs, you would win a big plushie.