They left the hotel and was walking towards the Train Station in Gare Du Nord with Richard taking bites of the croissant that Maine saved for him. They were in companionable silence for a time, each with their thoughts of the incident that happened at the hotel lobby.
Giselle kept silent and left in a huff after Maine told her off. Her friend, Linette, apologized for her friend's actions while Ardee reprimanded them both for unbecoming behavior.
Richard kept hold of Maine's hand while they walked towards the subway station. He held her hand tighter when they entered the station as there was an influx of people who were coming out of the station. Maine returned the gesture as if afraid they might separate.
After purchasing two 24-hour tickets for the both of them, Richard led her to the right platform where they could take the metro to their first stop of the day. It took about two train rides and a short walk to get to the bottom steps of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, popularly known as "Sacre Coeur".
After purchasing tickets for the funicular car, he led Maine to the lines of people waiting to go up to the Basilica. It was still morning so there weren't that many people on the line. Maine was then provided with a good view of Paris from where they were standing, Richard just let her be as she soaked up the sight before her. They attended the morning mass after and then Richard led her to another entrance where they can climb up to the dome. He was happy just watching Maine as her face lit up at the sight before her.
Maine insisted on taking the stairs on their way down the hill. Richard kept a slow pace for them, his hand holding hers, their fingers intertwined. She didn't mind the pace as she knew that they would be walking most of the time, much like what they did in Rome before. Richard was very accommodating, making sure that the pace was right for her, slowing down when he noticed that she was having difficulty. But he never let go of her hand as they reached the bottom steps and walked the short distance to the Metro for their next stop of the day.
It took two Metros to reach Notre Dame Cathedral. And unlike Sacre Ceour, there was already a huge crowd going in and out of the church. Richard kept Maine in front of him, his arms wrapped around her protectively as they slowly made their way inside. He kept her near as he whispered some trivia about Notre Dame to her ear. Maine did her best to concentrate on the wonders that she saw in the Cathedral and the trivia that she heard, and not Richard's breath tickling her ear. She was just happy to be in his arms.
Richard then led Maine outside the courtyard so they can climb up the bell tower. While in line, Richard's phone alarm went off. He immediately excused himself and rushed to the nearest bread shop. When he returned, Maine already moved ten paces forward.
He handed her one of the paninnis that he bought and said, "eat up. You need to take your meds. The lines are a bit slow today so don't rush."
Maine just smiled and started eating. Richard did the same. While they were in line, a group of French teens struck up a conversation with them. Richard was their translator, making sure Maine was part of the conversation as he translated to her what the group was talking about. The conversation flowed nicely, even with the slight language barrier between Maine and the teens. It passed the time for the group that they barely noticed the line moving and they finally headed up the bell tower. Richard kept behind her, keeping her informed with the bits of trivia he could remember about the Notre Dame's bell tower.
When they were back outside the cathedral, the teens they've befriended wanted to invite them out, but Richard politely refused. Though disappointed, the teens relented but got both their contact numbers for future meetings. As the couple walked the streets of Paris on their way to Maison Berthillon, a local shop near Notre Dame that's famous for their hot chocolate and ice cream, Richard continued to tell her bits of trivia.
They've stopped at one of the bridges along the Seine.
"I remember when these bridges were filled with padlocks," he said. "I've already put a lock with our names on them at Pont des Arts before it was taken out. I should have taken a picture."
Maine smiled at the thought that their names were part of history but she asked, "we haven't even met back then. Why'd you put a padlock with a name of a girl you haven't even met?"
"I've already met you," he corrected her. "I was at the hospital, remember? You just haven't met me yet."
They both smiled at the bittersweet memory and Richard continued, "I've never wanted anyone else, Maine. I guess it was my way of asking the universe for help."
Maine stepped closer and wrapped her arms around his waist. She buried her face on his chest, her cheeks pressing against it. He immediately responded, enveloping her in his arms returning her embrace.
"I'm really happy that the universe heard you," she said as she held him tighter. "I couldn't imagine my life being this alive without you in it."
"You've given me a reason to smile again, Maine," he remarked. "I was just going through the motions before you came back into my life."
Maine pulled away but only because she placed her hands on his shoulders and reached out to kiss him softly on the lips.
"So," she smiled. "Where else are you taking me, Captain?"
"Maison Berthillon," he replied with a smile as he reached out to take her hand. "They serve the best ice cream here in Paris."
When they got to the shop, the place was very crowded. But Richard led her in despite the crowd and asked for a Monsieur Alfred. When he arrived, they spoke in French that Maine was pretty much lost in the conversation. Monsieur Alfred's face lit up though and led them at the back where a small table was set up for them. Once seated, they were immediately served wild strawberry ice cream.
"How were you able to manage this?" Maine asked astonished while enjoying her ice cream.
"I can't take all the credit," Richard replied with a smile. "I had a lot of help from Martin to pull this off. Monsieur Alfred is a friend of his, and Martin asked him to set this up for us."
"You're going to be owing Martin a lot," she said.
"Nope," he replied. "He owes me. Big time. This is just chump change from everything that I've done for him. Not to mention all the women he was pimping me to. Speaking of...since when did you call me 'mine'?"
"It's an established fact," she replied with a smile. "I didn't realize I needed to prove it though. I'm just happy you caught on quite quickly."
"I do love it when you get territorial," he admitted. "You rarely stake your claim. It's quite sexy when you do."
"I never needed to," she said. "But you were so uneasy awhile ago, I got worried. You're always the gentleman. I've never seen you become rude to anyone, especially women."
"Giselle's the rude one," Richard said as his brows furrowed at the memory. "She interrupted Ards and me while we were talking and then she started flirting with me. As if I can be seduced by just anybody."
Maine just smiled in reply as she continued eating her ice cream. True to its reputation, the ice cream was really delicious. It was creamy and the sweetness it just right. She suddenly missed the ice cream Richard's mom makes.
Their conversation shifted to mundane things as what would usually happens whenever they were together. They can talk about different topics and would share their opinions on the subject matter. They always have some new story to tell, especially on books that they had just read, or a show or movie they've just watched.
They thanked Monsieur Alfred after their short break and they headed out once more with Richard taking Maine's hand and held it tightly, their fingers intertwined.
They headed back to the subway where Richard mentioned their next stop would be the Eiffel Tower. Much like their Rome trip, Richard arranged for them to join a tour group for the Eiffel Tower.
They met up with the rest of their group and waited for the tour guide at the foot of the tower. It was a crowded day so Richard kept hold of Maine's hand tightly, with Maine doing the same. When the tour guide arrived, she immediately started the tour after taking attendance. They kept up with the group but falling a little behind as Richard gave his own anecdotes and bits of trivia about the Iron Lady softly in Maine's ear. But most of the time, they listened attentively as there were more to the Eiffel Tower's history than he knew.
Their tour ended when the tour guide led them to the rooftop of the restaurant located at the second level of the Tower. She mentioned that going up to the third level (the topmost level) had a different fee. And when they came down from the roof of the resto, there was already a long line of people who wanted to go up.
Richard insisted that they go up the third level as the view from the top was great. So they endured the long lines of paying for the entrance to the third level and the lines to the elevator going up. When they've finally reached the top, Maine saw the breathtaking view of the whole of Paris. The twinkle in her eyes and the delight on her face was evident that it took Richard's breath away when he looked at her. He followed her towards the railings and they just kept silent as they both enjoyed the view before them. They were able to watch the sunset together, with Richard's arm draped on her shoulders and her head leaning on his shoulder.
But when Maine took a glance at him, she saw a haunted look on his face.
"RJ?"
Richard blinked twice and leaned to kiss her softly on her temple.
"I'm sorry."
"Where did you go?"
"My past."
"Alden?"
He just gave her a nod and heaved a sigh. He continued, "back when we were kids, we had a plan. We would travel the world and go to whatever was the highest structure in the city. It was a plan that I had executed when I became a pilot."
Maine just looked at him, listening to his every word. Richard once again had a faraway look about him as he went on, "I've always wanted to become a pilot. That much you know. Rich on the other hand still didn't know what he wanted to be. So he joked about me bringing him along wherever I went, as my bodyguard.
"It was when you came into our lives that he finally decided he wanted to become a doctor."
"He wanted to help me?" Maine inquired.
Richard smiled and nodded, "he mentioned before that Dr. Burnz said he was a natural. He was good in science so it wasn't a far stretch that he could have been a great doctor.
"We had it all figured out back then. We've plotted where we'll be going and what structure we'd be climbing. The Eiffel Tower was one of them."
Maine turned and wrapped her arms around his waist. She leaned forward and rested her head on his chest. Richard returned he gesture by wrapping his arms around her and placing his head on top of hers. He placed a soft kiss on the top of her head and said, "I always go up here whenever I'm in Paris. It would be a whole day thing for me since I would be falling in line and not join in a tour. And then I would wile away the time by just thinking what Rich and I would be doing here. What would we be talking about. I try to imagine what he'd be now. He'd be my age of course, knee deep in books on Medicine that I would be the one updating him on the latest book series that's out there. He would complain. I would laugh and tease him. Then both of us will laugh it off...and I'm babbling now, aren't I?"
For an answer, Maine pulled herself up to capture his mouth in a passionate kiss. Richard was shocked at first but immediately responded, his hand reaching up to the back of her neck to deepen the kiss.
When they finally broke the kiss, he smiled and caressed her cheek, kissed the tip of her nose before asking, "not that I'm complaining, but what was that for?"
"I'm upgrading your memory," she replied with a smile. "Did it work?"
He chuckled and kissed her tenderly on the forehead before pulling her once more in a warm embrace.
"I love the new upgrade," he said.
They fell in line for the elevators to get back to the second level. Once there, Richard pulled her to the souvenir shop and asked Maine to choose an item that she liked. She looked about and then spotted a stuffed toy in the shape of the Eiffel Tower in the three colors of the French flag.
They took the elevator once more to the first level which puzzled Maine at first. She had thought that they would immediately head down to the ground level. With their hands clasped together, their fingers intertwined, Richard pulled her towards a section of the Tower with the transparent glass flooring. Maine stopped at the edge, pulling Richard back to her who had already stepped on the transparent floor.
"RJ!"
"It's perfectly safe, my Heart," Richard said as he gently coaxed Maine to join him. "Just take a step and don't look down."
Maine still didn't move. She was looking down through the glass flooring and saw how high up they were. The people below them were already small, she thought they were about 10 stories up. Richard noticed how pale she was and decided to step back on the opaque floor. Maine immediately wrapped her arms around him and held him tight.
It was at that moment when their tour guide saw them and approached the couple with a smile.
"Monsieur Jason, Mademoiselle Maine," she greeted. "Would you like me to take a picture of the both of you? You're such a lovely couple, I couldn't resist offering my help."
Richard smiled and gave his phone to their tour guide and said, "could you give us a moment?"
When she nodded, he carefully extricated himself from Maine. He cupped her face with both his hands and said, "do you trust me?"
"Of course I do," Maine replied quite indignant.
"Then," he replied. "I want you to let go of every single fear that you have and believe in me. Believe that I will never let you go, never put you in harms way, never ever hurt you intentionally. Believe that I will always be here with you and for you. Just believe in me, Maine."
Maine stared into Richard's eyes and saw the pleading look in them. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and let it slowly. Looking up once more, she smiled and nodded. There was a sigh of relief that came from Richard and he nodded to their tour guide who happily readied Richard's phone to start taking pictures.
Maine took a deep breath and took a step on the transparent floor, her hand held on to Richard's tightly. She kept her focus on him and his smile kept her moving forward. All the while, the tour guide was taking pictures of them. The tour guide told them to stop and she made them take different poses. Richard never let go of Maine and led her to specific poses asked by their guide. He felt Maine relax in his arms the more they stood on the transparent floor. On the final pose, Maine yelped as Richard stooped down and placed his arms under her knees and back as he carried her. She immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and they looked at each other as Richard carried her in his arms like she weighed nothing at all.
They were just lost in each others eyes until their guide called their attention. Richard reluctantly set her down as the tour guide walked towards them.
"Can you indulge me one last time?" She said to the couple. "Follow me, s'il vous plaît?"
Richard shrugged when Maine turned to him, so they followed the tour guide to a spot where there was a mark on the floor that says "kiss here". Their guide pointed to the mark and told them to kiss. When they didn't move, their tour guide gave an exasperated sigh and marched towards them muttering in French that made Richard's face flush with her statements. She arranged the couple so they would face each other, then she leaned both their faces forward.
"Kiss," she ordered and went back to her position as she readied Richard's phone to take a picture.
The couple both smiled shyly and they once again heard the coaxing of their tour guide to kiss. Richard pushed Maine's chin up with his finger as he leaned forward to kiss her softly on the lips. The kiss was short, yet sweet and full of promise that their tour guide couldn't help the giddiness she felt. She said something in French when she gave the phone back to Richard which Maine heard him answer in the language as well. Their tour guide covered her mouth with both her hands to stifle the scream that was about to burst inside her. She then turned to Maine and kissed both her cheeks. Then she did the same to Richard.
She was still speaking in rapid French when she said her good byes, leaving Maine stunned and Richard blushing.
"What was that about?" Maine asked as they headed towards the stairs to head to the ground floor.
"Apparently," Richard replied. "It's a big deal to the French that a couple reaches their six months. She was just really happy for us."
Maine just nodded as they climbed down the stairs in companionable silence. As usual, Richard made sure that he kept the pace slow for Maine. He kept his hand firmly on hers as they descended the stairs.
"Are we heading back to the hotel?" Maine asked when they reached the ground floor.
"Nope," Richard replied as he handed her the bottle of water he had packed for them. "Our celebration's not done yet."
Maine just eyed him curiously as he smiled and reached out once more to take her hand in his.
"Come on," he said. "Dinner awaits."