Hail and Farewell to Paris

Une gravure fantastique

“Ava, you still haven’t answered my question, are you going to come with me?”
I turned to him slowly, I had avoided that particular question all morning and now Billie had dropped me off at the store on his way to the airport there was no escaping it. I glanced behind his shoulder at his awaiting cab that he had just followed me out of. His eyes met mine and my heart melted, his black and white fabric cap sat perfectly in his hair, his creased flannel shirt hugged his skinny frame tightly as he patiently waited for my answer.
I turned to glance down the street, chewing my lip nervously as a few people passed us in a rushed hurry.
I glanced back at Billie and his lips formed a sad smile, he knew I couldn’t go with him, he had known all along, we had both known that if I could we wouldn’t be in this situation right now, we’d be at the airport gushing like annoying people in love.

“Okay… it’s okay, it’s fine, I’ll, I’ll see you soon right?”
I nodded, tears forming in my eyes as he shuffled on the soles of his chucks.
“Billie I…”
“Hey, hey, no, the quicker you get things done out here the quicker you’ll be living in Cali huh?”
His smile was forced and I knew he was disappointed with me, it hurt, my insides wretched at the sad gleam in his eyes. If Only I could go….If only I could be with him always.
I inhaled deeply, trying to put on a brave face for him, trying as hard as he was.
“Thank you for coming to see me” I whispered.
He moved slightly closer to me, wrapping his arms around me tightly, I felt the rush of air from his nose as it buried itself within my hair.
“I…I just had to…well I needed to see you” he breathed, “Your birthday was just a brilliant excuse”
An arrow of guilt shot itself through my gut as my fingers enveloped tighter around his neck, he had flown out to see me and I couldn’t even spend the weekend with him as a thank you.
I felt like such a disappointment, I knew how stressful he was on tour, I knew all the pressure he was under…oh god this was it, he was slowly moving away now.

He pulled away entirely from my body, his hands clutching my face softly as he pressed our lips together quickly.
“See ya later” he whispered, before he let his hot palms drop and his skinny body swiftly dive into the back of the cab.
I watched it swerve away from the curb and I let out an enormous sigh of regret.
Why was it always so hard?
Was it always going to be so hard?

The doorbell of the shop rang as I entered to see Camille and Mme Vale stood side by side in front of the counter like awaiting mafia members.
“What are you two doing?” I gasped, jumping form my melancholic state and clutching my chest in shock.
Mme Vale gave me a huge toothy smile, showing the entire world her black-tobacco stained teeth.
“Ava…I have something for you.”
I tilted my head at her words, “It isn’t my P45 is it?”
The older woman laughed, “No Ava it isn’t.”

I walked towards her and Camille anxiously, “Then what..?”
Camille thrust an old suitcase in my arms, I didn’t even notice she was holding it.

“This is for you, go outside, get in a cab and follow him”
My mouth opened in disbelief, “What?”
Mme Vale smirked, “Billie told me yesterday that he was going to ask you to join him in Dublin for the weekend…”
“But…”
“And since you just had to put me and Camille through that heartbreaking scene of having to say goodbye right in front of the shop…we’ve taken the liberty of packing a few things for you.”
“But…Mme Vale…”
She raised her eyebrows at me, “Ava, don’t make me change my mind, it’s your birthday and Camille has offered to fill in for you, so I suggest you take the suitcase and follow him.”
“But you have already given me all this time off and I’m leaving soon and…”
“AVA!”
I jumped as Camille’s voice rang shrilly through the air.
“It’s Billie Joe Armstrong! Go, Now! Before I go instead! Plus… you can always pay me back with a free concert ticket sometime.”
I smiled at her, shaking my head in amazement.
“You two are unbelievable…I’ll get as many concert tickets as you want Camille I promise…Thank you…” I chuckled, bringing them in for a hug, my heart beating so fast it hurt against my ribs.
“You deserve him Ava” Mme Vale warmly whispered down my ear.
My eyes glossed over at her words as she gave me a small push backwards, I stared at them both admirably, half in shock half in gratitude.
“My passport!” I yelled, suddenly realizing I had no passport, no plane ticket and no coat.

Camille giggled, “Ava, it’s another hour before the plane leaves, you do have time to go and get all that stuff you know”
My cheeks flushed as I scampered out of the shop in excitement, yelling ‘Thank Yous’ and ‘Goodbyes’ as I went, my heart fluttering at the sheer movie like spontaneity of it all. Now I was the spontaneous one it seemed.

Thank God the French were suckers for Love and Romance.

The airport seemed bigger then I remembered.
I carried my small suitcase to the booth of the same airline Billie was flying with.
The woman behind the desk smiled at me warmly and my heart sped up a beat. I hoped to god there were some free seats on his plane.
“Can I help you?” she asked politely in French.
I nodded shyly, “Yes, hello, err, you know the flight to Dublin that leaves at half 12?”
She nodded.
“Are there any available seats?”
She began tapping away on her keyboard with bright shiny black nails, “I’ll have a look for you…”
I crossed my fingers as her eyes scanned the screen rapidly.
“Well…”
I bit my lip nervously, oh please, please let there be a seat…
“…Ah…yes…you’re in luck, there’s a few in coach.”
“That’s great, thank you…” My heart melted in sheer delight, God was definitely on my side.
She smiled at me as she typed in my details and swiped my credit card through the machine.
“You’ll have to check in now though; you’ve only just made it dear.”
I smiled at her, continuing to thank her as I rushed over to the check in desk.
I couldn’t believe I was doing this, talk about spontaneity; it was so unlike me, it was so…I don’t know… it was such a ‘Billie’ thing to do.

Oh God where the hell is he?
I had been sitting at the gate for 20 minutes and there was still no sign of him.