[This short story is a work of fiction I had the opportunity to write for Schick Quattro YOU™. I hope you'll enjoy this young woman's journey of discovery and adventure, with unexpected friendships and romance too!]
Reya ran the last stretch of her jog along Toronto's lakeshore. The official start of summer was a week away but the blistering sun was off to an early start. She wiped the sweat off her forehead, tightened her long black ponytail and turned towards a grassy hill, approaching the first row of high-rise condominiums.
As a child growing up in a small town outside of Toronto, Reya had often fantasized about the bustling energy of the city, but usually only as a far off dream too far to reach. By the time she reached university and pursued her bachelor of business degree, her destiny to wind up in the city seemed all but inevitable.
What she hadn't anticipated was moving up the ranks so quickly, in the downtown advertising agency where she'd gotten her first job. Whatever the reason, whether luck or opportunity, she was standing on the precipice of a whole new career change at only twenty-six.
Reya ran further towards the busier parts of downtown, making her turn onto King Street West. The lively area of theatres and restaurants wasn't far from her home, a fact that made the nearby flower shop a regular haunt.
She stopped to catch her breath in front of a display of colourful flowers, and after only a few seconds of deliberation, she chose a bright assortment in orange and yellow.
She paid and carried her parcel towards a quieter side street, anchored by an unassuming warehouse surrounded by trees.
She stepped inside the inviting lobby of the warehouse-turned-loft.
The concierge greeted her warmly. "Good run, Ms. Gil?"
Reya smiled. "Not my best time but there's always tomorrow!"
She took the elevator to the fourth floor, and in moments was standing inside her spacious loft. The large windows filled the space with a sunny glow, shedding light on cozy furniture and high-end appliances. She'd worked hard to afford a place like this, so hard in fact that a friend had approached her with his plan for a non-profit start-up. He needed an accomplished advertising mind like Reya's, to make the biggest splash for his hunger-fighting organization. Even though her salary wouldn't match what she'd been making, she had a passion for the cause and it was the highest title she'd held.
Despite all of that, celebrating was the last thing on her mind.
She frowned as she arranged the flowers in a vase on the kitchen table. Once satisfied, she plopped herself onto a chair. "New job, new breakup," she said.
Her intercom buzzed and it startled her into action.
She started fixing her hair and dabbing any sweat from her face.
"Came to his senses eh?" she said smiling. "I knew it."
She answered the intercom phone. "Yes?"
The concierge's voice crackled through the phone. "Your friend Jane is here; usually I let her up but since you just came back from you run --"
"No no, it's fine," Reya said, her smile now gone. "Send her up!"
Reya unlocked the door and plopped back onto her chair, not the least bit excited for what her best friend had in store.
***
Jane stormed into Reya's apartment armed with cupcakes and a bottle of rosé. She studied Reya in her workout gear. "Oh," she said. "You ran."
Jane wasn't dressed for a workout, but rather for a best-friend hangout: T-shirt, cropped jogging pants, and blond hair pulled into a top-knot.
Reya took the cupcakes and wine and set them on the kitchen table. "It's Saturday, remember? I don't skip my Saturday afternoon runs."
Jane nodded. "I know, I know, it's just...I thought you'd be depressed."
Reya sat down across from her and frowned. "Actually the endorphins were doing a great job in making me forget; until you came along."
Jane smiled innocently. "Does this mean I get to keep the cupcakes?"
Reya snorted. "What am I made of stone?"
She opened the box, picked one with coloured sprinkles and inhaled it. "I'm so glad I ran today," she said between mouthfuls.
Jane found a corkscrew in the drawer and opened the wine. "You should be proud of yourself, you know."
Reya suddenly felt herself having a hard time swallowing. "I know."
"You've accomplished so much!" Jane practically shouted. "You're like...one of the top twenty-seven under twenty-seven!" Reya laughed. "And if he can't handle how great you are then forget him!"
Jane was referring to Todd, the struggling architect who'd been Reya's 'one and only' since university. Reya had always loved how passionate he'd been about his work, up until the point where she became the one succeeding and he'd continually found himself floundering.
"When I moved to this apartment it was always supposed to be for the both of us," Reya said. They clinked glasses and started drinking. "But I could barely even get him to sleep over. I should've known he couldn't handle the fact that I lived here, and he lived in a tiny bachelor pad." She sneered. "Man baby. "
Jane shook her head. "The male ego, right?"
"It's ridiculous!" Reya said. "And I don't even care about that stuff! I just happened to get here from my chosen career path; should I feel guilty about that?"
"Goddammit no!" Jane cried.
"Hell no!" Reya added, but only a second later her shoulders slumped and she couldn't have looked more depressed. "When I took the new job I was planning all the things we would do with my whole month off. Little getaways...day trips...maybe he'd consider moving in...but now I've got this entire month with nothing to do."
"No you don't," Jane said. She scurried over to the couch and grabbed Reya's laptop. "Start looking for flights; you're going to Paris for a month."
Reya burst into laughter. "No I'm not!"
"Yes you are!" Jane insisted. "You have Paris coffee mugs...you always tape those travel shows when they're all about Paris...and when will you ever get the chance to do something like this again?!" She looked at Reya sternly. "Find. A. Flight."
Reya opened her laptop and quietly obeyed, as her boring Saturday turned into a fascinating adventure...
***
Technology was an amazing thing. Technology was the thing that allowed Reya to go from a lame month alone in Toronto, to row 18 seat E only two days later.
She settled into her window seat, hoping there'd be no one beside her. Her anti-social attitude had a lot to do with the conflicted feelings she needed to sort out. Was she heartbroken? Yes. Was she also excited? Absolutely! And why did this weird combination make her feel like throwing up?
Before she could find her answer, the most handsome man she had ever seen stopped in the aisle beside her.
"Bonjour," he said. And he was French.
"Bonjour," she replied, in her Canadian accent that gave everything away.
He had a wave of sandy brown hair that moved back and forth on his head like its own glorious entity. Magnifique. He was dressed simply in a white T-shirt and fitted jeans, revealing a body that had definitely seen its way around a boot camp.
Reya instinctively turned away and adjusted her hair.
He sat down next to her and leaned in close. "Is this your first time visiting Paris?"
In addition to being the most gorgeous man she'd ever seen, he had the worst breath she had ever been assaulted with in her entire life. Ugh.
She cringe-smiled as best she could. "Yes, first time."
She thought back to her time in university, before meeting Todd, when she'd been mildly obsessed with an exchange student named Pierre. He'd always had the most pleasing breath, something she'd enjoyed during their many make-outs, and so she knew that bad breath was not a French-specific trait. It was only a "row 18 seat F" specific trait, and she had a feeling this was going to be a very long flight.
"I'm Julien," he said, smiling wide to reveal a set of crooked brown teeth. "I have a feeling this is going to be an interesting flight."
"Actually...." Reya said. "I already took a sleeping pill, and...I like to get drunk on the plane, which when combined with the effects of the sleeping pill...results in an extra-long coma, to spare me from the turbulence we're sure to encounter over Greenland." He looked at her confused. "I did some research beforehand on the most likely points of turbulence," she explained. "Since I'm deathly afraid of flying," she added. He was becoming more uncomfortable by the second. "Oh, and if I do wake up during turbulence, I'll be very frightened, and when I'm very frightened I dig my fingernails into the person sitting next to me." She showed him her long freshly manicured nails. "So be on the lookout for that."
He glanced around at the other rows. "Do you think this plane is fully booked?"
"The other side effect of waking up," she added, "is the fact that I'll be peeing. A lot. My bladder's basically the size of a walnut. So hopefully you won't mind getting out of your seat every twenty minutes!" She grinned for the added flourish of seeming like a total psycho.
He hopped out of his seat and rushed to the nearest flight attendant. Reya couldn't hear their conversation, but her plan must've worked because before she knew it, he was sitting in row 13, sandwiched between two overweight men.
Reya started laughing at the success of her improvised plan. She could always pride herself in being crafty as hell, and now she could truly rest easy, with her journey to Paris now off to a better start...
***
Seven hours and five minutes later, the plane touched down in Paris, France, a city indistinguishable on account of its current 'ugly tarmac' vibe. She hadn't been lying to Julien about having taken that sleeping pill, but a bumpy flight and too much excitement had kept her semi-conscious the whole time. The result left Reya in a state of permanent "groggy," which wasn't the best feeling considering it was only eight a.m.
Reya made it through customs without incident, retrieved her luggage without incident, and was now looking to get to her beautiful apartment without incident.
Given her rolling suitcase and additional carry-on roller, the plan was to go for the all-convenient ride app...until she got outside to a scene of crowded chaos. She saw protest signs and taxi drivers blocking all the cheaper app-enabled options. There was no way she'd make it through the crowd, and the taxi drivers looked so angry they were basically foaming at the mouth.
She checked the nearest sign for other options, and saw a logo for a train that said "Paris Centrale."
So she confidently rolled in that direction.
And rolled, and rolled, and rolled.
Her arms seemed certain to break out of her sockets, during what seemed like a forty-minute walk. How could the train be so far away? And why weren't the terminals connected? Or were they actually connected with a shuttle and she just didn't know? And why weren't the signs more clear?
Her first hour in Paris was turning out to be full of frustration, but when she spotted the escalator going down to the platform she smiled. A minute later when she purchased her ticket and saw that it was only ten euros, she smiled again. And when she checked her phone's map to see that her apartment was only a five-minute walk from her the train station stop? Now she was all out grinning.
She carried her positivity all the way to her seat on the train, which gently rumbled along as it approached her destination. Her arms were out-stretched and holding on to each piece of her luggage, since she'd done enough research to know how easily bags could be stolen.
She felt calm in knowing that she couldn't have been more prepared, and when the train came to a stop at her station, she smartly maneuvered past the standing passengers to make her exit. Except...when she did so...her larger suitcase's wheel got stuck in the edge of the doorway. She pulled harder but it only made it worse, as she fell backwards with her carry-on in her hand, while her larger suitcase bounced further back into the train.
As she processed what was happening the light for the closing doors began to flash.
"Oh no," she said. "Oh dammit. Help!" But no one did. She rushed towards the doors but it was too late.
The doors closed and her suitcase continued to a vacation in Paris without her...
[Hope you enjoyed Chapter One as the journey begins! (a journey that's off to a rocky start ;-) ..) Chapter Two will be posted on Wednesday March 15 at 8pm eastern time, stay tuned!]