Summer, 1983 (I'll call you by mine)

Mon Coeur

"Do you wait for young girls to stop and look at these sculptures so you can impress them with your stories?" She said flirtatiously smiling at him. He stood just a little taller than her, his hair was dark and shaggy. Annella noticed he had gorgeous green eyes, he wore thin framed glasses. He was gorgeous, she'd never met a man that looked like him.

"Uh no, I'm an archeology Professor, I found a piece that the museum was interested in. And I saw you standing there looking beautiful. I just had to stop and admire you." He smiled, which made her smile.

"You're not old enough to be a professor."

"I promise you I'm old enough. Uh, I'm going to an event tonight, it's black tie would you like to attend it with me? I promise it's not going to be dull." He smiled, his green eyes made her stomach flutter with butterflies. This was a new feeling for her.

"I have nothing to wear." Annella said gesturing to the floral dress she was wearing.

"Well if you'd like we can visit one of the many shops. To me, you'd look beautiful in anything you try on." He smiled at her shyly.

"No I couldn't do that, I don't even know your name."

"It's Samuel, Samuel Perlman. But most call me Sammy."

"Well Samuel it's lovely to meet you I'm Annella Daaé and I would love to accompany you to your event."

He held out his arm for her to take it. Annella places her hand on his arm, looking back at her friends she waved.

"Je te verrai à l'hôtel . Cet homme si magnifique va m'acheter quelque chose de joli , je pense que je suis amoureux!" She yelled and waved to her friends who stood in shock as she walked out with Samuel. Annella was never the sort of girl who would be so taken by a man that she had just met. She saw him smile.

"What are you smiling about?"

"Oh, nothing just the old things in life that lead us to new things. I was coming to give a simple artifact to the museum and I find you a beautiful french flower among the stone artwork of the Greek empire." Samuel lightly placed his index finger on her nose. Annella was ashamed to say that she almost giggled like a little school girl.

"You must have a girl in every city if you speak like that to every pretty girl you meet, no?"

"Ah, no would be the correct answer. This is the first I've ever spoken to a pretty girl as you say without hesitation." He squinted as the sun hit his thin-rimmed glasses.

"I don't think I believe you. Everyone has spoken to someone out of spontaneity, especially if it's something that catches their attention." Annella spoke with confidence as she walked into the shop that was lined in more dresses than she'd ever seen outside of Paris.

"You would think, but I find old and forgotten things so something new doesn't always catch my attention. But you did."

Annella had no more words to speak to him. he sat down in the oversized chair she knew was for men who brought their female companions into the shops. When she looked at his face after he spoke she knew he was telling the truth. There was something very different about this man, and she was infatuated by it. Walking around the shop going through some dresses. A shop girl approached Samuel.

"Is there anything particular your wife is looking for?" She asked, in a perfect American accent and it was authentic too. He smiled.

"I don't know, we are going to an event with quite a few very well to do people and I want everyone to stop when she walks into the room."

"I don't think I've ever heard a man say that about his wife." The shop girl nearly melted.

"She's not my wife, actually we just met. But I think I would like to see her in anything that Audrey Hepburn would wear. She's a woman of sophistication and grace. Annella is just that and a little more." Samuel watched as the shop girl brought Annella every dress in the shop, she tried on everyone and it wasn't until she tried on a simple floor-length black dress with a slit cut all the way up to her thigh. That he stood, eye's bright and he had no words. This woman came into his life by pure luck, he had never been so infatuated by a single person on this planet so much that he wanted to drop everything for them. He had only felt this way almost once but he was too afraid to make that leap. But Annella, there was no hesitation before he knew it he was looking at her from afar and then he was speaking to her. He watched as she ran her hands over the dress and looked at the price tag.