Hail and Farewell to Paris
Duellum
“Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear AVA, Hap-py Birth-day to Youuuuuuuuu!”
I moved the phone away from my ear as Billie screeched the last note of my, as he called it, ‘birthday morning song’.
“Thanks” I chuckled.
“Your welcome, did your parcel come?”
I stared down at the box that sat on my lap, the fed-ex guy delivered it brutally early this morning and I still hadn’t opened it.
“Yes, but I was waiting till you were on the phone before I opened it.”
“Really? How can you do that? I would have ripped the fucker open in excitement”
I chuckled, “I know”
“Well go on, open it.”
I smiled, placing the phone underneath my cheek, tearing the brown paper from the parcel to reveal a gift wrapped in crimson red.
I could hear Billie breathing down the phone as I slowly tore away the corners to find a box underneath the wrapper.
“This isn’t one of those things which is just a box within a box to reveal nothing inside is it?”
Billie laughed, “No, I only do that to Tre”
I smiled as I slowly lifted the lid to reveal a red envelope with Ava written on the front. Placing the card to the side my fingers took hold of the royal blue fabric underneath the square envelope.
I gasped as a beautiful stain dress fell open in my hands.
“Oh, my God” I gasped.
“Like it?” Billie asked anxiously down the phone.
“Oh Billie I love it, it’ so beautiful.”
“Happy Birthday Ava”
I couldn’t take my eyes from the fabric in my hands.
“Billie this must have been so expensive, it’s so beautiful.”
He chuckled, “I asked Davey to come with me and pick something and he said that this was perfect”
“It is, oh Billie” I felt tears prick the sides of my eyes.
“I wish I was with you” he sighed.
“Me too” I smiled, a silent tear running down my cheek.
“Thank you, it’s so perfect.”
“I can’t wait to see you in it…oh Ava, babe, I have to go, but I’ll ring you later okay? Have a lovely day.”
“Thank you Billie” I smiled my cheeks hurting from being pulled so harshly in complete happiness.
“Love you”
“Love you too” I sighed as the phone went silent.
Reaching for Billie’s card I tore the envelope away to reveal a picture of the Eiffel Tower brightly lit up in the night sky. My heart melted as an inked black arrow pointed to two stick people balancing on the very top next to scrawny handwriting that read, “Me and you”
I chuckled, opening the card to reveal Billie’s signature scribble:
Her lips are sweet surprise
Her hands are never cold
She's got Bette Davis eyes
I’m no Baudelaire, but hopefully these words will mean just as much to you as his poetry.
Happy Birthday Ava,
I love you so much you’ll never know.
Hugs and kisses for you everywhere (and I mean everywhere)
From dearest, darling Billie Joe Xxx
I laughed as my eyes scanned the words, but behind the humor I knew that he did love me. I placed the card upright on the coffee table next to the sofa, grinning at it like it somehow brought Billie closer to me. I smiled as my eyes traced the words of the few lines he had written from the old Kim Carnes song, Bette Davis, he knew me too well, compare me to a 40s movie starlet and I’ll turn to mush. I just wished he was here to tease me for being so sentimental.
Mme Vale had thrown me a party in the store today. There were balloons and banners everywhere, bowls of strawberries on the counter with glasses of champagne were given to all the regulars throughout the day.
I felt a little drunk as the music blasted from the old record player behind the till. Camille and all the other customers and friends had come in to wish me a happy birthday. I had had so much fun but it was now dark outside, the clothes rails had been pushed to the walls as everybody danced with glasses of wine and silly party hats in the middle of the store.
Billie hadn’t called me back and I found myself wondering if he was alright. I felt a shiver up my spine as Mme Vale whizzed past me to change the record, I knew this record far too well, I knew what was coming just as much as she…but it was too late, Carmen began playing.
My heart stopped, this was Charles’ favorite opera.
It suddenly hit me that this was my first birthday in 20 years without him. Mme Vale turned to me after quickly changing the song.
“Sorry Ava, I wasn’t quick enough” she apologized in French.
I flapped my hand at her dramatically, “its okay, I’m okay, really…”
But I wasn’t, the intoxication of champagne, missing Billie and missing Charles had suddenly hit me at once. What a strange birthday, my last birthday in Paris it would seem. I had so badly wanted things to change in my life as I sat outside the café that day were I had given Billie directions, but now my life had changed so drastically in that short period of time I was having trouble digesting it.
I looked around at everyone having fun and I sighed, turning back to the counter to refill my champagne glass to the brim.
“Ava!”
I turned to see Camille smiling at me, her eyes wide, the hand clutching her glass was shaking slightly.
“Hey” I chuckled bringing her in for a hug.
“Happy Birthday” she giggled for the umpteenth time tonight.
“Thanks” I smiled.
“There’s some one here to see you” she whispered, I frowned in confusion, turning to look over her shoulder and nearly dying of a heart attack…
“Bonjour Ava”
“Billie! What…What are you doing here?”
His infectious grin widened, “It’s your birthday!”
I stared at him like this was a dream, he looked so tired but his eyes shone in a wild gleam of light and in that moment I couldn’t help myself. I ran at him and jumped in his arms, holding him tightly to me like he was keeping me from falling over the edge of a cliff.
He laughed and squeezed me back before pulling me away to face me,
“Happy Birthday beautiful” he smiled pressing his lips against mine softly.
My knees buckled and I felt my eyes prick with tears of pure happiness.
“How did you get here?” I gasped
“I got on the first plane from Toronto”
“You flew over here from Canada just for this?” I gasped.
“It’s your birthday and I wanted to see you, it was only a 15 hour flight.”
“What…?”
He chuckled brushing his fingers down my face and kissing my nose gently.
“Ava, stop worrying, shut up”
I choked, “Billie, you, I…is that why you rang me at 7 this morning?”
“It’s a party isn’t it? Now let’s go get some more champagne and you can introduce me to your French buddies”
I followed him absent- mindedly to the counter as he poured himself a drink.
I couldn’t take my eyes off him; I was blinking as if this was all a dream. Had he just done this? Spent all day on a plane just arrive here to spend the last three hours I had left of my birthday? Why was he just acting like that was completely normal?
He smirked and opened his mouth to say something when I suddenly grabbed the hem of his shirt and thrust my mouth against his. He jumped in surprise before smiling and kissing me ruthlessly back, running his hands to my sides and holding me tightly against him.
“Woah…” he chuckled as I pulled away.
“Thank you” I smiled, “Thank you so much, you don’t know how happy I am you’re here.”
He shrugged, “I’m awesome, what can I say…”
I chuckled as I took hold of his hand, “You are full of weird surprises Mr. Armstrong…”
“I am huh?” he agreed grinning at me widely.
I chuckled, “So…who do you want to meet first?”
We both collapsed on my bed at half past one in the morning.
“I’m so tired, but I had fun.” Billie sighed, pulling me closer to his body so I was nearly on top of him.
“I’m not surprised” I whispered, planting soft kisses on his neck and collarbone.
“Mmm, just laying here now and you kissing me like this makes that flight worth while.”
I chuckled against his skin.
“Thank you.”
“Stop saying thank you, it’s your birthday”
“I know but…”
He shifted against the pillow, eyes closed, hands grasping my legs as I sat on his torso. All the girls in the store were enchanted with him. They failed to remove their eyes from him, Mme Vale in particular seemed enthralled by the Californian. Her strong eyes and stern jaw softened at his smile, making me oddly proud that I could call him mine.
“How long are you here?”
Billie scrunched one eye up in thought, “I gotta get to the airport at half 12 to catch my flight to Dublin to meet the guys.”
I sat traced my hands across his chest softly, “You’re going to Ireland?”
“Yeah, starting there before we go to England”
“At least your flight won’t be 15 hours…I can’t believe you did that.”
“Your worth it Ava.”
I giggled, “So you have about an 8 hour flight ahead of you and you’ve just sat through a 15 hour one…have you got any energy left?”
Billie shifted underneath me, “For wha…Oh”
His eyes popped open and a dirty smirk grew under his nose, “Mmm…”
His hands traced up to my back, clutching the small zipper of my dress and bringing it down slowly sending pulsating erratic thrills up my spine.
“I always have energy left for that…and especially because you’re the birthday girl.” I giggled as he sat up, his mouth meeting mine in one swift and heart-wrenching movement.
I couldn’t sleep that night, I just lay in his arms as he snored lightly, my eyes could not tear themselves away from his face. I still couldn’t believe he had done that. It really was unnecessary for him to fly 15 hours then another 9 hours to fit in time to see me half way through his tour. It made me love him all the more but I was also a little scared, no one had ever done anything like that for me before. It made me realize how serious Billie and I were getting. I was moving in to his house in a few weeks, that was a pretty big step in a relationship and it did scare me.
He mumbled something before shifting underneath me, his arms holding me ever so slightly tighter. I had the sudden urge to do something wild and dramatic like he had just done for me. I sighed to myself, running two fingers down across his tattooed chest,
When, with both my eyes closed, on a hot autumn night,
I inhale the fragrance of your warm breast
I see happy shores spread out before me,
On which shines a dazzling and monotonous sun;
I snuggled deeper into his skin. I truly wanted this night to last forever, I didn’t want to say goodbye or ‘see you later’ to him again the next morning. Billie’s breathing was never regular and tonight he seemed to be in a very deep sleep. He mumbled slightly and I felt myself grinning as his eyes scrunched together, my heart stopped as my eyes strayed from his face to catch sight of the alarm clock next to my bed. It was already six in the morning, my precious time with him was slowly ebbing away, I didn’t want him to go, I didn’t want him to leave my bed, and my hands seemed to clutch him tighter in agreement. He moaned softly and rolled over, his arm pulling me over with him and forcing a small squeal from my lips. I looked up through my hair that was flung across my face very inelegantly; he had a small smirk on his face.
“If you are awake, I will kill you” I whispered, still trapped under his whole body, unable to even breathe properly, never mind move.
His smile straightened as I moved the hair from my face awkwardly, his eyes still squinting in amusement as he tried not to laugh.
I frowned, “Well…” I began wiggling my left arm free and tracing a hand down his chest evilly, “If you are asleep I guess this has no effect…”
My fingers traced down to his thigh and I slowly drew a small circle across the skin nearest to the fabric of his boxer shorts.
Billie’s face suddenly fell at the contact and he whimpered slightly. I smirked,
“Oh, sorry, you are asleep then” I chuckled removing my hand.
His eyes shot open, “I’m awake” he croaked, removing his death grip around me and shooting to an upright position.
I chuckled, “Thanks for letting me go” I sighed turning over and facing the wall away from him.
“Hey!” He yelled, “You can’t bribe me awake with finger work like that then just leave me dangling here!”
I chuckled as he moved my hair slowly from my neck, leaning over me and planting soft kisses on my bare back and shoulder.
I shivered as his lips met my skin so deliciously, softly and teasingly coming contact with my ear.
“How about we spend the next 4 hours left in bed?”
I smiled finally turning over to face him, my heartbeat suddenly quickening pace, “There’s nothing I would love more…but…”
“But?” Billie’s eyebrow rose.
“You have to leave me again and I can’t shake that horrible feeling Billie, I hate it that you’ve flown all this way and for what? Another horrible ‘see you later’?”
I blushed slightly as his eyes danced across my face.
“Well…come with me.”
I stared at him as a lazy smirk appeared under his nose.
“Pardon?”
He chuckled, “Come with me Aves, we’ll spend the weekend in Dublin.”
I stared at him, swallowing harshly, that very prospect making my stomach turn.
“I would love to but I can’t” I sighed glancing away at the window frame visible under his arced arm that lay across me.
He opened his mouth but I shot across him, “I have work, Mme Vale has been too good to me and Camille has covered for me too many times…”
“It’s only a weekend” Billie began.
I sighed, dragging the backs of my fingers down the side of his face. He closed his eyes lazily at my touch, “My special birthday treat” he whispered.
“You’ve flown over here to see me, you don’t need…”
I was cut off as Billie softly and slowly pressed his lips against mine, sending a pulsating shiver up my spine.
“You know you want to come with me.” He growled.
“I do, I really do, but I have so many things to sort out, so many things to do before I move over to California.”
“Think about it then” Billie whispered lifting me in his arms and bringing me in for a strong kiss. His tongue fought against my own…that sweet tang of his taste filling every sense in my brain.
I so badly wanted to have the weekend with him…but…argh…what should I do? Leave and abandon all the things I needed to do or just jump on the next plane and spend the next 48 hours in Ireland with him?
I moved the phone away from my ear as Billie screeched the last note of my, as he called it, ‘birthday morning song’.
“Thanks” I chuckled.
“Your welcome, did your parcel come?”
I stared down at the box that sat on my lap, the fed-ex guy delivered it brutally early this morning and I still hadn’t opened it.
“Yes, but I was waiting till you were on the phone before I opened it.”
“Really? How can you do that? I would have ripped the fucker open in excitement”
I chuckled, “I know”
“Well go on, open it.”
I smiled, placing the phone underneath my cheek, tearing the brown paper from the parcel to reveal a gift wrapped in crimson red.
I could hear Billie breathing down the phone as I slowly tore away the corners to find a box underneath the wrapper.
“This isn’t one of those things which is just a box within a box to reveal nothing inside is it?”
Billie laughed, “No, I only do that to Tre”
I smiled as I slowly lifted the lid to reveal a red envelope with Ava written on the front. Placing the card to the side my fingers took hold of the royal blue fabric underneath the square envelope.
I gasped as a beautiful stain dress fell open in my hands.
“Oh, my God” I gasped.
“Like it?” Billie asked anxiously down the phone.
“Oh Billie I love it, it’ so beautiful.”
“Happy Birthday Ava”
I couldn’t take my eyes from the fabric in my hands.
“Billie this must have been so expensive, it’s so beautiful.”
He chuckled, “I asked Davey to come with me and pick something and he said that this was perfect”
“It is, oh Billie” I felt tears prick the sides of my eyes.
“I wish I was with you” he sighed.
“Me too” I smiled, a silent tear running down my cheek.
“Thank you, it’s so perfect.”
“I can’t wait to see you in it…oh Ava, babe, I have to go, but I’ll ring you later okay? Have a lovely day.”
“Thank you Billie” I smiled my cheeks hurting from being pulled so harshly in complete happiness.
“Love you”
“Love you too” I sighed as the phone went silent.
Reaching for Billie’s card I tore the envelope away to reveal a picture of the Eiffel Tower brightly lit up in the night sky. My heart melted as an inked black arrow pointed to two stick people balancing on the very top next to scrawny handwriting that read, “Me and you”
I chuckled, opening the card to reveal Billie’s signature scribble:
Her lips are sweet surprise
Her hands are never cold
She's got Bette Davis eyes
I’m no Baudelaire, but hopefully these words will mean just as much to you as his poetry.
Happy Birthday Ava,
I love you so much you’ll never know.
Hugs and kisses for you everywhere (and I mean everywhere)
From dearest, darling Billie Joe Xxx
I laughed as my eyes scanned the words, but behind the humor I knew that he did love me. I placed the card upright on the coffee table next to the sofa, grinning at it like it somehow brought Billie closer to me. I smiled as my eyes traced the words of the few lines he had written from the old Kim Carnes song, Bette Davis, he knew me too well, compare me to a 40s movie starlet and I’ll turn to mush. I just wished he was here to tease me for being so sentimental.
Mme Vale had thrown me a party in the store today. There were balloons and banners everywhere, bowls of strawberries on the counter with glasses of champagne were given to all the regulars throughout the day.
I felt a little drunk as the music blasted from the old record player behind the till. Camille and all the other customers and friends had come in to wish me a happy birthday. I had had so much fun but it was now dark outside, the clothes rails had been pushed to the walls as everybody danced with glasses of wine and silly party hats in the middle of the store.
Billie hadn’t called me back and I found myself wondering if he was alright. I felt a shiver up my spine as Mme Vale whizzed past me to change the record, I knew this record far too well, I knew what was coming just as much as she…but it was too late, Carmen began playing.
My heart stopped, this was Charles’ favorite opera.
It suddenly hit me that this was my first birthday in 20 years without him. Mme Vale turned to me after quickly changing the song.
“Sorry Ava, I wasn’t quick enough” she apologized in French.
I flapped my hand at her dramatically, “its okay, I’m okay, really…”
But I wasn’t, the intoxication of champagne, missing Billie and missing Charles had suddenly hit me at once. What a strange birthday, my last birthday in Paris it would seem. I had so badly wanted things to change in my life as I sat outside the café that day were I had given Billie directions, but now my life had changed so drastically in that short period of time I was having trouble digesting it.
I looked around at everyone having fun and I sighed, turning back to the counter to refill my champagne glass to the brim.
“Ava!”
I turned to see Camille smiling at me, her eyes wide, the hand clutching her glass was shaking slightly.
“Hey” I chuckled bringing her in for a hug.
“Happy Birthday” she giggled for the umpteenth time tonight.
“Thanks” I smiled.
“There’s some one here to see you” she whispered, I frowned in confusion, turning to look over her shoulder and nearly dying of a heart attack…
“Bonjour Ava”
“Billie! What…What are you doing here?”
His infectious grin widened, “It’s your birthday!”
I stared at him like this was a dream, he looked so tired but his eyes shone in a wild gleam of light and in that moment I couldn’t help myself. I ran at him and jumped in his arms, holding him tightly to me like he was keeping me from falling over the edge of a cliff.
He laughed and squeezed me back before pulling me away to face me,
“Happy Birthday beautiful” he smiled pressing his lips against mine softly.
My knees buckled and I felt my eyes prick with tears of pure happiness.
“How did you get here?” I gasped
“I got on the first plane from Toronto”
“You flew over here from Canada just for this?” I gasped.
“It’s your birthday and I wanted to see you, it was only a 15 hour flight.”
“What…?”
He chuckled brushing his fingers down my face and kissing my nose gently.
“Ava, stop worrying, shut up”
I choked, “Billie, you, I…is that why you rang me at 7 this morning?”
“It’s a party isn’t it? Now let’s go get some more champagne and you can introduce me to your French buddies”
I followed him absent- mindedly to the counter as he poured himself a drink.
I couldn’t take my eyes off him; I was blinking as if this was all a dream. Had he just done this? Spent all day on a plane just arrive here to spend the last three hours I had left of my birthday? Why was he just acting like that was completely normal?
He smirked and opened his mouth to say something when I suddenly grabbed the hem of his shirt and thrust my mouth against his. He jumped in surprise before smiling and kissing me ruthlessly back, running his hands to my sides and holding me tightly against him.
“Woah…” he chuckled as I pulled away.
“Thank you” I smiled, “Thank you so much, you don’t know how happy I am you’re here.”
He shrugged, “I’m awesome, what can I say…”
I chuckled as I took hold of his hand, “You are full of weird surprises Mr. Armstrong…”
“I am huh?” he agreed grinning at me widely.
I chuckled, “So…who do you want to meet first?”
We both collapsed on my bed at half past one in the morning.
“I’m so tired, but I had fun.” Billie sighed, pulling me closer to his body so I was nearly on top of him.
“I’m not surprised” I whispered, planting soft kisses on his neck and collarbone.
“Mmm, just laying here now and you kissing me like this makes that flight worth while.”
I chuckled against his skin.
“Thank you.”
“Stop saying thank you, it’s your birthday”
“I know but…”
He shifted against the pillow, eyes closed, hands grasping my legs as I sat on his torso. All the girls in the store were enchanted with him. They failed to remove their eyes from him, Mme Vale in particular seemed enthralled by the Californian. Her strong eyes and stern jaw softened at his smile, making me oddly proud that I could call him mine.
“How long are you here?”
Billie scrunched one eye up in thought, “I gotta get to the airport at half 12 to catch my flight to Dublin to meet the guys.”
I sat traced my hands across his chest softly, “You’re going to Ireland?”
“Yeah, starting there before we go to England”
“At least your flight won’t be 15 hours…I can’t believe you did that.”
“Your worth it Ava.”
I giggled, “So you have about an 8 hour flight ahead of you and you’ve just sat through a 15 hour one…have you got any energy left?”
Billie shifted underneath me, “For wha…Oh”
His eyes popped open and a dirty smirk grew under his nose, “Mmm…”
His hands traced up to my back, clutching the small zipper of my dress and bringing it down slowly sending pulsating erratic thrills up my spine.
“I always have energy left for that…and especially because you’re the birthday girl.” I giggled as he sat up, his mouth meeting mine in one swift and heart-wrenching movement.
I couldn’t sleep that night, I just lay in his arms as he snored lightly, my eyes could not tear themselves away from his face. I still couldn’t believe he had done that. It really was unnecessary for him to fly 15 hours then another 9 hours to fit in time to see me half way through his tour. It made me love him all the more but I was also a little scared, no one had ever done anything like that for me before. It made me realize how serious Billie and I were getting. I was moving in to his house in a few weeks, that was a pretty big step in a relationship and it did scare me.
He mumbled something before shifting underneath me, his arms holding me ever so slightly tighter. I had the sudden urge to do something wild and dramatic like he had just done for me. I sighed to myself, running two fingers down across his tattooed chest,
When, with both my eyes closed, on a hot autumn night,
I inhale the fragrance of your warm breast
I see happy shores spread out before me,
On which shines a dazzling and monotonous sun;
I snuggled deeper into his skin. I truly wanted this night to last forever, I didn’t want to say goodbye or ‘see you later’ to him again the next morning. Billie’s breathing was never regular and tonight he seemed to be in a very deep sleep. He mumbled slightly and I felt myself grinning as his eyes scrunched together, my heart stopped as my eyes strayed from his face to catch sight of the alarm clock next to my bed. It was already six in the morning, my precious time with him was slowly ebbing away, I didn’t want him to go, I didn’t want him to leave my bed, and my hands seemed to clutch him tighter in agreement. He moaned softly and rolled over, his arm pulling me over with him and forcing a small squeal from my lips. I looked up through my hair that was flung across my face very inelegantly; he had a small smirk on his face.
“If you are awake, I will kill you” I whispered, still trapped under his whole body, unable to even breathe properly, never mind move.
His smile straightened as I moved the hair from my face awkwardly, his eyes still squinting in amusement as he tried not to laugh.
I frowned, “Well…” I began wiggling my left arm free and tracing a hand down his chest evilly, “If you are asleep I guess this has no effect…”
My fingers traced down to his thigh and I slowly drew a small circle across the skin nearest to the fabric of his boxer shorts.
Billie’s face suddenly fell at the contact and he whimpered slightly. I smirked,
“Oh, sorry, you are asleep then” I chuckled removing my hand.
His eyes shot open, “I’m awake” he croaked, removing his death grip around me and shooting to an upright position.
I chuckled, “Thanks for letting me go” I sighed turning over and facing the wall away from him.
“Hey!” He yelled, “You can’t bribe me awake with finger work like that then just leave me dangling here!”
I chuckled as he moved my hair slowly from my neck, leaning over me and planting soft kisses on my bare back and shoulder.
I shivered as his lips met my skin so deliciously, softly and teasingly coming contact with my ear.
“How about we spend the next 4 hours left in bed?”
I smiled finally turning over to face him, my heartbeat suddenly quickening pace, “There’s nothing I would love more…but…”
“But?” Billie’s eyebrow rose.
“You have to leave me again and I can’t shake that horrible feeling Billie, I hate it that you’ve flown all this way and for what? Another horrible ‘see you later’?”
I blushed slightly as his eyes danced across my face.
“Well…come with me.”
I stared at him as a lazy smirk appeared under his nose.
“Pardon?”
He chuckled, “Come with me Aves, we’ll spend the weekend in Dublin.”
I stared at him, swallowing harshly, that very prospect making my stomach turn.
“I would love to but I can’t” I sighed glancing away at the window frame visible under his arced arm that lay across me.
He opened his mouth but I shot across him, “I have work, Mme Vale has been too good to me and Camille has covered for me too many times…”
“It’s only a weekend” Billie began.
I sighed, dragging the backs of my fingers down the side of his face. He closed his eyes lazily at my touch, “My special birthday treat” he whispered.
“You’ve flown over here to see me, you don’t need…”
I was cut off as Billie softly and slowly pressed his lips against mine, sending a pulsating shiver up my spine.
“You know you want to come with me.” He growled.
“I do, I really do, but I have so many things to sort out, so many things to do before I move over to California.”
“Think about it then” Billie whispered lifting me in his arms and bringing me in for a strong kiss. His tongue fought against my own…that sweet tang of his taste filling every sense in my brain.
I so badly wanted to have the weekend with him…but…argh…what should I do? Leave and abandon all the things I needed to do or just jump on the next plane and spend the next 48 hours in Ireland with him?