It's a breezy afternoon, in the middle of April and I'm walking in the busy streets of Paris while Heartless by The Weeknd is blasting in my Airpods.
I look around admiring the scenery, and I take a deep breath and it smells like a thousand cigarettes are being forced into my face. As expected. But I choose to ignore it and instead focus on the scenery because of how out of the world this city looks.
I've been to so many different cities, but Paris is by far my favourite one, and I genuinely still can't believe that I live here. Every time I walk in these streets I still admire the city like a tourist even though I'm not one.
Yes, I am aware of the fact that I sound cliche, but I love romanticizing many aspects in my life, if I don't I think I will lose my sanity.
I'm too focused on my thoughts and the song playing in my ears, that I don't notice a person coming towards me in a hurry. They end up bumping into me, causing me to spill all of my coffee on myself.
"Fuck" I say, letting out a frustrated sigh.
"Mais, tu regardes pas où tu vas ou quoi?" The other person says.
*Do you not look at where you're going or what?*
Now I don't really speak French well but growing up with an Algerian mother who would yell at me in French, I can understand it well enough to tell that this person is being an utter dick.
"You're the one who just bumped into me-" The other person interrupts me, and they seem to be in a hurry. They don't bother apologizing to me.
"Laisse faire" He says as he walks away indifferently
*Never mind*
I watch the other person leave, and I can tell that he definitely thinks very highly of himself just by the way he carries himself. And it somehow bothers me. I don't know why, but I can tell his personality is very annoying.
"What an asshole" I say to myself.
I'm left standing there in my white hoodie that was now covered in coffee, as I also mourn my now spilled coffee that I spent my last money on. I look around, and there aren't a lot of people around so I keep walking in the street, slightly embarrassed but I genuinely couldn't care less.
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"What happened to you?" Amir asks as I enter the apartment.
"Just some guy I bumped into, and he spilled all of my coffee on me. The worst part is, he didn't even apologize." I say as I put my bags down and make my way to the fridge.
"Where's the yogurt I left here?" I ask
"Oh, I just finished it," Amir says, showing me the empty yogurt cup in his hand.
"Amir, what's wrong with you? I told you not to eat it." I say, with a very annoyed look on my face.
"Hey now, that's not how to talk to your older brother." He says with a mischievous look on his face
I roll my eyes at him. "Ugh, you're actually so annoying."
"I know." He says as he unpauses the TV and continues watching what he was watching before I came in.
I close the fridge and a letter on the counter catches my eye. I walk over to it and open it.
"Did you see the letter?" I ask him as I make my way to him
"Yeah I did, but I have it covered."
"You have it covered? Amir this is literally the third time we're behind on rent, it's only a matter of time till we're on the streets." I say as I slightly raise my voice.
"I know, but I promise that we'll be okay. Trust me." Amir says
"No this isn't time for promises Amir, we can't go back to how we were living in New York. I'm going to take a break from school and get extra hours at the cafe and I'm also going to work extra hours for the Bernardo's. With that money and the money I'll get working at this fancy-ass restaurant tonight, we can at least get rent on time for two months." I say, my voice full of determination.
"Amirah you can't take a break from school? You only have a few weeks left of your school year. You promised Mom that-"
"Don't bring mom into this. This has nothing to do with her. This is about me working hard to pay rent, mom would understand." I yell
Amir lets out a deep sigh, "Fine, but don't overwork yourself. I have a bunch of shoots lined up, and I think that can help for two to three more months. I promise you we're going to be okay." He says, giving me a reassuring smile.
"Okay, I need to get ready for the event and I won't be back until around 1 am so don't stay up waiting for me," I say
"I won't." He lies, and we're both aware that he's lying because to him I'll always be his baby sister that he has to protect all the time. I get why he does, because our mom passed away when we were thirteen and fifteen, and our father got remarried four weeks after her death. His wife was horrible to both of us, but our father never did anything to defend us.
So Amir always made sure to protect me, and even after he got a scholarship for a photography school in New York, he didn't want to leave me alone so he saved up enough money for the both of us to move there. We were fifteen and seventeen when we moved and we've never seen or spoken to our father ever since.
But he's my best friend, so not having my father in my life is okay with me because, for the last ten years of my life, he's been both mom and dad. Not that my mother is replaceable, but on this earth, he's the closest thing to her.
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The family I nanny for told me that their friend's restaurant was understaffed for tonight, and there's apparently a big event, so they asked me if I could come fill in tonight. The pay was good for one night, and this is one of the most elegant restaurants in Paris so I agreed. But until I got here, I wasn't aware of the fact that the event we were catering for tonight, was an event for Dior.
I didn't know which celebrity it was, and I honestly couldn't care enough to find out who it was.
"Good evening, I'm Amirah and I'll be your waitress tonight. What can I get you tonight?
"Amirah, beautiful name. I love it." One of the four men at the table says.
"Thank you very much." I clear my throat before adding anything else. "What can I get you all tonight?" I repeat my question as I take my notepad out and start writing down their orders.
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"Here are your meals gentlemen," I say as I give them their meals.
"And lastly a pasta carbonara, with a glass of champagne."
"Yes, that's for me." A weirdly familiar voice says.
"I'm really sorry to ask this, but have we met before? Your voice just sounds insanely familiar." I say as I hand him his food. I know I definitely shouldn't, but I can't help myself.
"Maybe, but I tend to not remember the whores I hook up with." He says, letting out a laugh, causing his friends to also laugh.
Ouch. What a dick.
I clear my throat before saying anything. "Sorry, I guess I just mixed you up with someone else," I say, before leaving. Feeling very embarrassed. Mostly humiliated.
As I'm walking away, I can hear him and his friends laugh and I suddenly feel like I'm back in high school. Where all the popular boys, made my life a living hell. I hate remembering my high school memories, so I shake the feeling as quickly as possible and continue with my night.
As much as I want to, I can't help but try to remember how I know this man. It's like my brain won't relax until I remember him, and I don't why.
"Just checking in to make sure everything is okay here. Do you need anything else? Refills?" I say, trying to sound as nice as I could considering one of them just basically called me a whore less than an hour ago.
"No, thank you we're good." One of his friends says, with a smile on his face.
At least someone at this table has manners.
"That's great. Enjoy the rest of your evening." I say.
As I walk away I hear the man say, "Elle semble différente. J'aime ça."
*she looks different. I love that*
I suddenly stop, and it feels like there's a light bulb on top of my head. Hearing him speak French makes me have some kind of déjà vu.
He is the man from this morning.
I guess I was right about him thinking very highly of himself because his behaviour earlier this morning and his behaviour an hour ago is just so egotistical.
Weirdly, my brain suddenly feels relaxed. Because for the past half hour or so, I've been forcing myself to remember how I know this man. But I think I'm also relaxed because I don't have to worry about interacting with him anymore. He just seems like the worst person to be around.
-𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒔
Heyy besties!! I know this chapter is boring, but I promise I'll try my best to make sure the next chapter is more entertaining and less boring.
I hope you guys like this book, and I hope you're all having a good day💗
Love,
Isimbi