France was gorgeous. Not necessarily in that 'pretty trees, pretty sky, lala nature' kind of way (though it had its moments of those) but those sorts of things didn't say 'gorgeous' to her. No, when Jada meant France- especially Paris- was gorgeous, she meant in the activity. Nothing about the area around Paris was mundane. The shops were filled with fashionable little trinkets and the people wore their quirks like badges of pride. The streets were filled with cars, mopeds, and noise- no much noise. Everything had its own rhythm, and prople could either step into it, or be swept aside.
Most tourists, she noticed, were swept aside in the flow. They weren't a part of the flow, yet for the salespeople, they were the rocks, and the flow of the city moved around them, splashing over them, not moving with them. Some tourists were like little twigs; occasionally they got stuck in one place or another, but for the most part they were carried along in the stream, still visible.
Then there were those like herself, carried along heedless into the river and disappearing under the surface. Jada woke at dawn, stepping out of the small bed and breakfast she was staying at in the country. One week, and she wanted to make it peaceful. Downstairs, the woman who ran the B&B provided freshly baked croissants with the sweetest honey butter, and the bread would flake to little pieces in her mouth. The milk was fresh, and the teas and coffees were always delicious. After breakfast she would step outside and walk, in any random direction, taking pictures of all the little things that enchanted her. A house, or a stray sheep. She only had four days, after all, and Destiny City was hardly the country.
For lunch she would head into the city and find one of the small bakeries. Sometimes others would be in there for her to watch- a photographer, an artist scratching away at his pad, a novelist, and once a young man who only stared out the window and drummed his fingers on the table like rain on a roof.
A baguette and soup, she said when the young sever asked. Water to drink.
The first half of a day completed, it was to business. More specifically, shopping. Shoes, shirts, hats skirts, pants, wraps, scarves, more shoes! There were gifts for Zora, Kayley, Michael, Lucas... and even Szelem, as though material goods could mend what was broken between them.
Fallon got a hat, wide-brimmed and vintage, along with a cherry red beret. Audrey was the recipient of a pair of shoes, high heeled and brightly colored. For Elke, she grabbed a necklace that just... Elke liked flowers, and this reminded her of one.. Johnny was the recipient of a tidily wrapped silk shirt (with an Armani tag). Marlo found a watch in his package, along with a small box labelled 'For Elzo.' (Inside Elzo's box was a keychain of the Eiffel Tower.)
Delivery, good sirs; Jada wanted her friends to get them as soon as possible, and she'd never quite grasped the concept of a souvenir. When you went shopping for a person, you gave it to them immediately, unless it was for a birthday or Christmas.
All of the gifts were purchased with the awkward eagerness of a child, seeing the first thing they thought their friend would like and buying it up, no thought to what might come later. Jada had drawn away from them all, had left them behind, even though she texted them and went through the bland motions of friendship.
Jada had left herself behind in places, and that was what she was finding.
Off to dinner at last, off to drinking and dancing. Off to drown herself, and lose herself until there was nothing left of her but a clean, fresh start- that was what vacation was supposed to be, right? Until there was nothing left but the flashing light of cameras, laughter, and the color of Paris.
Most tourists, she noticed, were swept aside in the flow. They weren't a part of the flow, yet for the salespeople, they were the rocks, and the flow of the city moved around them, splashing over them, not moving with them. Some tourists were like little twigs; occasionally they got stuck in one place or another, but for the most part they were carried along in the stream, still visible.
Then there were those like herself, carried along heedless into the river and disappearing under the surface. Jada woke at dawn, stepping out of the small bed and breakfast she was staying at in the country. One week, and she wanted to make it peaceful. Downstairs, the woman who ran the B&B provided freshly baked croissants with the sweetest honey butter, and the bread would flake to little pieces in her mouth. The milk was fresh, and the teas and coffees were always delicious. After breakfast she would step outside and walk, in any random direction, taking pictures of all the little things that enchanted her. A house, or a stray sheep. She only had four days, after all, and Destiny City was hardly the country.
For lunch she would head into the city and find one of the small bakeries. Sometimes others would be in there for her to watch- a photographer, an artist scratching away at his pad, a novelist, and once a young man who only stared out the window and drummed his fingers on the table like rain on a roof.
A baguette and soup, she said when the young sever asked. Water to drink.
The first half of a day completed, it was to business. More specifically, shopping. Shoes, shirts, hats skirts, pants, wraps, scarves, more shoes! There were gifts for Zora, Kayley, Michael, Lucas... and even Szelem, as though material goods could mend what was broken between them.
Fallon got a hat, wide-brimmed and vintage, along with a cherry red beret. Audrey was the recipient of a pair of shoes, high heeled and brightly colored. For Elke, she grabbed a necklace that just... Elke liked flowers, and this reminded her of one.. Johnny was the recipient of a tidily wrapped silk shirt (with an Armani tag). Marlo found a watch in his package, along with a small box labelled 'For Elzo.' (Inside Elzo's box was a keychain of the Eiffel Tower.)
Delivery, good sirs; Jada wanted her friends to get them as soon as possible, and she'd never quite grasped the concept of a souvenir. When you went shopping for a person, you gave it to them immediately, unless it was for a birthday or Christmas.
All of the gifts were purchased with the awkward eagerness of a child, seeing the first thing they thought their friend would like and buying it up, no thought to what might come later. Jada had drawn away from them all, had left them behind, even though she texted them and went through the bland motions of friendship.
Jada had left herself behind in places, and that was what she was finding.
Off to dinner at last, off to drinking and dancing. Off to drown herself, and lose herself until there was nothing left of her but a clean, fresh start- that was what vacation was supposed to be, right? Until there was nothing left but the flashing light of cameras, laughter, and the color of Paris.
