Chapter 9
The ride was pretty short time wise. But Megan couldn’t take her eyes away from everything outside the window. Paris was definitely a place she wanted to visit again if it meant meeting her old friends and going on late night adventures. You’d thought she would be exhausted from all the traveling she did earlier that day but that wasn’t the case. Along the car ride she saw the Arc de Triomphe and the Notre dame de Paris. All of which were amazing to behold the sight of. Even the lampposts along the streets made the city where a nice added touch to the elegant feel of the city. The mixture of blues, pinks, purples, and pinks scattered along the crème tall buildings of the city and Megan came to a conclusion that she loved Paris in the night the best.
“So Megan, how long are you staying here for?” Sam’s voice echoed from the front seat through her mind interrupting her thoughts.
"I’m actually leaving tomorrow on the train to go Cannes, France,” Megan stated.
“Wow what a short visit,” Sam responded back.
“Yeah I know, I need to get the first part of the painting first and I just stopped here for a rest day,” Megan said.
“Well Paris is glad to have you,” Sam answered back. Megan could feel the smile on his face. “Oh we’re passing by the Champs Elysees on our way to the Place de la Concorde so we might do a bit of walking. I told you about it when you came last time but you had to leave all of a sudden so we didn’t get the chance to visit it. I know a building there that has an amazing view from the top where you could see all of Paris. You’ll love it,” Sam said to her as the approached near the end of a street.
“I’m sure I will,” Megan said smiling.
The cab stopped in the corner of the street next to one of the parking places. Megan looked around and saw rows of cars compressed against one another all looking very bright inside which contrasted with the darkness of the night. The street signs clearly stated that they were On the Avenue des Champs-Elysees. She stepped out of the car and knew that the first step she made was out of her comfort zone. Now thinking about as she stood in the concrete streets of Paris in the middle of the night that everything she had done up to this point of her trip was way of out her comfort. She had a sense of pride and ambition in her eyes as they glimmered in Paris lights. She wouldn’t change a thing in her short journey and hopefully she wanted it to feel like that the whole way through it. Megan now understood as why they called Paris “The City of Light.” The night in Paris was nothing but light. Lights dangled from the trees. At the look of the crowds of people roaming around the walkways, all the lights blurred together as well as people's facial features and they all resembled to become an equally wondrous view of the city. Its structures and its beings, Paris wasn’t a place you could get after one trip. A place this mysterious and incredible would take nearly a lifetime. Not even a third or fourth visit would even be like the past.
“Are you ready Megan?” Sam asked touching the small of her back.
“Oh yes, sorry I got distracted,” Megan responded as she just realized she had not even stepped outside the streets yet.
It drove her crazy just how fast the night changed. Sam took her to the many shops that she was pretty familiar with as well as some other French stores. She got a couple of knick knacks that reminded her of Paris. Megan never wanted to forget her experience in the city.
After they had finished shopping Sam and Megan took a long way to the Place de la Concorde. It took them 15 minutes to walk there which was actually better than driving there. She would have missed seeing all of the shops along the way as well as the beautiful architecture that stretched across the streets.
“Wow it’s astonishing!” Megan exclaimed dazzled at the Fountain of River and Commerce that was right in front of her very eyes.
This was another tourist attraction that Megan saw on her brochure and the picture of the brochure surely did not do the actual fountain justice. It was magnificent to look at even more at night as the pouring water shone with the moon and Paris lights. It seemed that the fountain had large figures supporting the vase that represented the Rhône River and the Rhine River. The other major figures represent the main harvests of France; Wheat and Grapes, Flowers and Fruit according to what they were holding. Megan looked straight and could see the Eiffel Tower illuminating through the dark night sky. It had never seemed to stop glowing as much as it did before. Where she was now which was near the fountain made it a perfect spot to just stand and admire the beauty of the city and what it had to offer. Megan couldn’t wait to see the other attractions that awaited her.
“Yes I know. I still get pretty awestruck every time I see this fountain. I love visiting it when I go to the Place de la Concorde. Isn’t it great you finally got to see it this time around?” Sam asked Megan looking over his shoulder at her face in amazement.
“Yeah, I’m glad I came back again. Thank you for taking me here on such short notice by the way. I really appreciate it,” Megan thanked Sam who was by her side.
She took a couple of pictures with her camera in her bag and then they left to go to the next stop: the Obelisk of Luxor. This ‘statue’ was exactly in the center of the Place de la Concorde which made it even more significant than other places located near there. The Obelisk of Luxor stands on top of a pedestal that recounts the special machinery and maneuvers that were used to transport it. It lay planted down into the ground and to Megan’s previous knowledge looked quite similar to the capitol building in Washington. It gave off that kind of impression from far away but it was much smaller and foreign language writings were engraved along the sides of it as well. This made it different of course but the light crème color also portrayed a significant difference. A 75-foot monumental pillar fashioned from pink granite, the Obelisk of Luxor looms over Place de la Concorde, Paris’ largest and most famous square, flanked by the idyllic Jardin des Tuileries. Erected in 1836, the monument was gifted to King Charles X by the Viceroy of Egypt, one of the twin obelisks marking the entrance to the Temple of Luxor (its double remains seated at the temple entrance). The Obelisk was known in Place de la Concorde as a symbol of peace.
Framed by fountains, the Luxor Obelisk, often-nicknamed Cleopatra’s Needle, is reminiscent of ancient Egyptian obelisks later exhumed in London and New York. Megan took quite a couple of snapshots on her camera and then sat at one of the benches nearby. This day had been much more tiring than she expected. Her brain was telling her to go to bed and take a long sleep already but her heart wants her to keep going around Paris or at least to the next place Sam was going to take her. She’s probably never going to come to Paris again anytime soon anyway so why not have some more midnight memories. She is still yet to tell the tale of her wild adventures in Paris to her grandchildren anyways so why stop it now. She took a big deep breath and stood up on her feet once again.
“Are you alright?” Sam asked Megan with a concerned look on his face.
“Yeah I’m fine. It’s just been a busy day for me. I’ll be much better when I sleep later tonight,” Megan responded wanting Sam to not be worried about her.
“Are you sure?” Sam asked motioning her to sit back down on the bench.
“Don’t worry--” Megan was in mid-sentence when someone interrupted her.
“What are you doing here?!?” Trevor exclaimed loud enough to turn some bystander’s backs.
“What am i doing here? What are you doing here?!” Megan exclaimed back straining her voice. “You aren’t my mom so why do you care if I’m here anyway?” she added.
“We have a train ride in 5 hours and you're here out with Romeo running off into the late of the night. We had deal and you’re not sticking to it if you expect to be lazy and sick and ruin this whole deal!” Trevor answered looking a little bit angrier than he was before.
“I don’t need you to watch me like a baby-sitter. I’m 18 years old and I can handle waking up on time and leaving on that train tomorrow morning without you having to take care of me!” Megan answered back in an angry tone and then coughed.
“Hey mate, if she doesn’t want to go then don’t force her. I’ll take her home and make sure she gets back safely,” Sam said trying to calm the two of them. The last thing they would have wanted was to cause trouble.
“No Mr. Lover boy she’s coming with me. She’s already as sick as we know it. You’ve already spent enough time with her anyway,” Trevor replied taking Megan’s hand pulling her next to him.
“It’s her decision. Let her make it.” said Sam pulling her in between them.
“Umm I’m going to stay with--” Megan said but then all of a sudden she fainted. Her eyelids shut and then she fell unexpectedly from behind into Trevor’s arms.
“Megan, are you okay!” Sam screamed rushing to her aid holding her hand.
“Megan! Wake up!” Trevor said at the same time as Sam making their voices in unison. They looked at each other and their eyes went back to focusing on Megan. Her face had turned into a different tint of pink and her cheeks were as bright as they ever could. Trevor touched her forehead to check her temperature as he carried her back to her the bench. Sam took a seat next to him and laid Megan’s head on his lap holding her hand once again.
“See what you did! Now she’s ill and you were going to force her to keep going along with you. You were never going to know her condition if she didn’t tell you!” Trevor said scowling Sam.
“Mine! This wasn’t my fault at all. I didn’t know she was that sick. She looked fine when we were walking together and in the cafe,” Sam stated.
“Whatever all we need to do it get her back to the hotel and check if she’s okay. If not we could take her to a nearby hospital is she gets more ill,” Trevor said.
“I’ll call a cab,” said Sam as he ran off in the chaotic streets in search of the cab that would take them back to the hotel. He finally got one to stop for them so Trevor could carry Megan over.
“Hey, Trevor! Over here! Bring her here!” Sam exclaimed waving his hands from side to side to try and get Trevor’s attention away.
“I see you. I’m on my way!” Trevor replied as loud as Sam and made his way swerving across people’s shoulders to find where Sam was.
“I can’t believe you actually got a cab in this traffic,” Trevor said as he placed Megan in a sitting down position in the back seat.
“I can’t believe I did either,” replied Sam closing the door he opened for the two of them and hopping into the cab as quickly as he could. He didn’t want to waste any time of not knowing Megan’s condition.
“Where to sir?” questioned the cab driver politely.
“Hotel du 7ème Art and step on it!” Trevor said to the driver. Luckily for them the driver knew exactly where they were staying so getting Megan back to her normal health would be easier and faster.
“We’re on our way sir,” answered the cab driver taking off into the late of the night. After dealing with the constant horn honking and abrupt car stops, they finally arrived at the front entrance of the Hotel du 7ème Art. Sam paid the cab driver quickly and both of them rushed into the lobby and up to the elevators getting them weird glances from the other guests still in the main lobby checking in. They had one thing that kept them working together and that was Megan. Sam nor Trevor could hardly process the amount of actions and the places they had passed by from the cab and into the elevator.
“Do you know her hotel room number?” Sam asked Trevor as the floor numbers got higher.
“I think it was C24. It’s at the end of hallway to the right and it’s right next to my hotel room as well,” said Trevor. The elevator dinged indicating that they had reached their designated floor.
“Hurry up! Let’s go!” Trevor said as he ran out of the elevator as fast as he could and didn’t stop until they reached the hotel room.
“Where’s her bag?” Sam asked knowing she would usually put her key in there.
“Here! Here!” Trevor said handing the black bag to Liam with one hand. At this point he was still carrying Megan and his arms practically shook when he had handed Sam the black bag. Sam scrimmaged through her backpack and finally found the sliding cards that were used for keys in the hotel in her wallet.
“I got it!” Sam said happily. He speedily swiped the card across the swiping lock and opened the door for Trevor and Megan to go inside.
Trevor laid her down carefully on the guest bed and sat by her side to take breath. He had been holding her in his arms for almost 10 minutes already. Sam closed the door quietly and then rushed to the bed as well.
“I’ll get her a glass of water so when she wakes up she has something to drink,” Trevor stated getting up from the bed and heading to what looked like the mini kitchen. He soon found a bottle of water in mini fridge then lay near the sink.
“Well her fever is not as bad as it was before,” stated Sam after checking Megan's forehead reassuring Trevor. “She’ll get better by your ever so important train ride,” he added.
“That I remind you is in four and a half hours from right now. We’re barely going to make it in time,” Trevor placing the drink on the table and sitting on the eccentric couch.
“At least she’s better now. Her hands do seem a bit cold though and her arms as well. Hey can you turn the heat up?” Sam said after he held her hands checking her body temperature.
“Yeah sure,” Trevor said agreeing as he made his way to the thermostat on the other side of the room. “It’s at eighty degrees now,”
“So how do you know Megan? I mean sorry. I don’t even know your name. I’m Trevor. It’s nice to meet you,” Trevor said introducing himself.
“More or less, anyways I’m Sam. I’m one of Megan’s old friends. We met in Paris last year when she came over and that’s basically it,” Sam answered shortly.
“So did you guys plan to meet up here or is there something I’m missing?” Trevor asked once more.
“No actually we just saw each other at a cafe nearby. I’m guessing it was the only cafe she knew so she went there first. Wait, she actually mentioned your name too. Yup she thought I was you,” Sam responded.
“Did she really?” Trevor said back thinking to himself.
“Do you like her? I mean I have no business in your life but I’m just guessing you have a little bit of an attraction towards her,” questioned Sam interrupting Trevor’s own thoughts.
“Me? No. Of course not. We’re only doing this for a thing her aunt wanted her to find. She needs my help to find it. There’s nothing like that between us going on,” Trevor firmly said.
“Really because I think you’re way more protective than you are when she got sick. Your mood completely changed and you seemed like you genuinely cared about her,” Sam replied back.
“Well I’m not the one who took her all around Paris to see its best spots and spend little more time with her. You probably missed all this time she was gone in the first place right?” Trevor teased.
“I was just being a good friend,” Sam answered giving up on the conversation that would leave him nowhere in the end.
“So are you planning to stay here or not?” Trevor asked.
“I don’t know I guess I’ll sleep on the couch,” Sam answered back.
“Okay. I’ll be going off to my room now to get some sleep. It’s been a busy day. You should get some sleep too. Keep an eye on her for me,” Trevor said getting his backpack from the couch and preparing to leave for the night.
“See you in the morning I guess,” Sam responded back to Trevor as he left the door.
Sam looked at Megan again and she was still sound asleep probably still very tired from her long day. He then took an extra pillow and blanket from one of the cabinets near the television and placed on the couch. He then turned off the lamp and laid his head on arm of the couch where he slept in mere minutes. The only thing that lit up the room was the Eiffel tower which uncovered the streets from its blanket of darkness.
Author's Note
Oh god, so Trevor got eliminated last night. I was so upset, but aye #idolrejects came out of it and that YouNow was awesome! Anyways there have been some rumors about a wild card that can be used for any of the top 24 after the top 12 is announced but idk. So after all this drama and crying we decide to treat everyone to a really long chapter (3,000 words!). Also even though Trevor isn't on Idol right now (or ever but idk) WE ARE NOT STOPPING THE STORY!!! Wanted to clear that up. Okay enjoy!