Reminiscence

The drinks kept coming but, I couldn't calm my nerves. When will he get here, is it just the lights or is my vision getting worse. No need to worry, I'm sure there's an explanation for his punctuation. The bartender is starting to give me looks like 'he's not coming'.

Ten more minutes. I will stay ten minutes before leaving the bar and leaving the bartender a very generous tip. Why on earth did I agree to go on a blind date set up by my aunt again. Have my prospects in life really steeped so low as to practically desperate? I guess what else do I have to expect. Thirty-eight isn't exactly a prime number and neither is my age.

Falling in love was never my intention, I worked hard for my career. Nothing else mattered at the time. My life was full of work I did not feel the need for anything else. Except now that I am finally at the top position in my job I can't help but feel empty. I caress the water droplets forming on the side of my wine glass, staring deep into the scarlet drink that keeps my nerves from exploding.

Right before I am about to take out my wallet for the check the seat beside mine slides back. "Care if I join you?" a deep voice asks.

Looking at the owner's voice I am faced with bright blue eyes that are now staring back into mine. A five-o'clock shadow and soft brown hair with slight grey streaks that align in waves.

"Sure it's not like I have any prior engagements," I say embarrassed at my lack of company, but yet welcoming enough to let him know he can join me. "I don't think I will for the rest of the night anyways."

As I finish off my glass, the man orders a whiskey neat. The bartender looks at my empty glass, "Another Merlot?" he asks the bottle ready in hand.

I accept. And the man raises his glass as a toast. "Here's to... here's to you, may your life be far less depressing than mine." He says.

"I doubt it, but thanks for the confidence," I say glumly.

"Oh, I know it. So what brings a beautiful lady like yourself to a neglected bar all alone on a Tuesday night?"

I feel the bar tender's eyes on me at a side glance. And know he will probably gossip about this with the other wait staff later. But nonetheless, I can't help but be honest with the stranger and myself at this point. "Nothing in particular, just getting stood up by my blind date."

"Mmh well, at least your date spared you the time and exhaustion of conversation. Unlike mine who talked for what felt like an hour then went to the bathroom and never returned." He stares into his now empty glass.

"I'm sorry to hear that, you seem like you'd be great company." I gesture to his glass.

"Apparently not great enough. But I guess that's how most recent widows are looked at by most people. Used, worn down, bleak, morbid, and not suitable company for the youthful." He shakes his head. "I knew this all together was a mistake but I came out here per my daughter's request. Unfortunately, I'll have to let her down again."

Observing the man closer now I notice his ring still on his hand. The gold band engraved with what looks like French writing. An all beige suit with a bright blue tie that matches his eyes. His face has very few wrinkles so it hides his age but you can still tell he is a very matured man. A silver fox people call it, but all the more attractive in his own way. If not his looks that turned his date away was it simply his demeanor.

"I know all about letting people down trust me. Also, my condolences about your wife I see you still wear your ring. What does the engraving mean?" I ask intrusively.

Looking at the ring on his hand he stares at it like he can see a picture framed in the engraving. "Pour toujours ensemble à Paris, Forever Together in Paris" he takes it off to show the inside Derrick X Olivia. "I had it made after my late wife and I went to France. I remember our trip like it was yesterday."

"In the beginning of January, we weren't expecting it to be that cold or to snow but it fell nonstop in 1987. We had come there for a late honeymoon, and being newlyweds in Paris it should have been a beyond imaginable romantic experience. Yet the snow stopped us from leaving our hotel room. All we could do was play board games and watch news updates on the storm to pass the time. I thought that our trip had been a waste of money and effort yet still she smiled through it all. I wanted to give her the world, a tour of the most romantic city on earth. Instead, we were being isolated in a 3-star rated room on a discount, and in just 24 hours the room felt like it was getting smaller."

"This isn't right. We should be exploring the Louvre right now, then taking the Metro to see the Eiffel Tower. I wanted to show you the Arc de Triomphe, Place de Vosges, Sainte-Chapelle. We should be drinking expresso from a cafe on the street, then taking a stroll along the park at Luxembourg. Drinking wine with our overly expensive cheese and fruit platter by the Seine River. Then finishing it all of by a horse-drawn carriage ride at night around the city.' I say angry at the wall.

With a faded picture of the Eiffel Tower and two lovers sword fighting with baguettes in hand. "That should be us!" I point.

"Honey as amazing as all that sounds it also seems like a bit much for one day and one trip for that matter. Not to mention we don't have a lot of money left from this trip so I don't think it would be realistic for us to do all of that. " Olivia tries to calm me down.

"You're overthinking again, we just have to make the best of this." She says twirling in her new dress I bought her.

I knew it would be cold but I still wanted her to look elegant rather than a bundled-up Michelin man. The dress was suitable for cold weather but nice enough for a night out.

"If I had known it was going to be like this, we wouldn't have come in winter. Damn no wonder the tickets were so cheap. Who would want to come here when the streets are packed with white blocks of ice. I thought that normally snow doesn't get this bad in Paris but it's basically the same as New York." I gaze at her long silver dress.

"Now that's overexaggerating," She looks me in the eye with a smirk forming "Nowhere is as bad as New York."

I considered this, as awful as some weather gets New York snowstorms are terrible.

"Besides there are so many other things we can do just right here. The storm should clear up in a few days and I'm sure we can at least do two of the things you listed before we have to leave. Plus the snow would make the city look like a white Christmas with all of its lights. Perhaps we could come back and see the rest eventually in the future." She gestured casually.

"With what money? We'll never get to see Paris again after this. Actually, I take that back we are never going to see Paris at all. What can we see but mountains of white all around us? If I wanted to be surrounded by snow I would have chosen to go to Antarctica not here."

Infuriated by the weather and getting claustrophobic of the tight room it felt like all of the air had been sucked out and blown away with the storm. I started to take my anger out on Olivia.

"You're not helping the situation by being so optimistic about this. Trying to be happy about a crappy hotel room and awful weather is just idiotic! We might as well have stayed in Manhattan and rented a hotel." I jab my hands into the air for emphasis.

"Derrick, you were the one that wanted to come here. You kept saying how great it would be to see all these places I can barely pronounce the name of. So I simply agreed I didn't care as long as it would make you happy then I would be the same. You can't blame mother nature for taking its course." She reasons. "So what if we don't get the grand tour. We're here now and that's all there is to it."

She rushes to the small window that we have. Trying to make out anything in the snow. Nothing recognizable but the thick pillowy ice. Then an idea lights up in her green eyes. "Quickly get your coat," She tells me rushing to put on her own.

All the Parisian see were too crazy Americans having a snowball fight in the middle of the street. Yelling and laughing till our throats were dry. Just like kids that don't wanna come in from playing outside. She throws a baseball size that plants its way on my nose. And I retaliate with a grapefruit-size ball to her back. Fighting in the snow we forgot where we were, nothing else mattered. As long as we had each other it didn't matter where we went or how our surroundings affected us.

"Since our first trip we kept a jar in the living room and every time one of us would have an argument or say anything rude to one another that person would have to put money in it. Soon we just put money in it for fun and eventually, it would become our Paris jar."

I look at him for the life that he has lived and envy his past love. No wonder he couldn't bear taking off his ring, his love has lasted more than a lifetime.

"We went to Paris after every 4 years from then on." He says smiling into the unknown.