City of Blinding Lights

Audrey was not feeling inspired.

She had bought her rolls of fabric with clear ideas in her, knowing exactly what she was doing to do with each of the vibrant coloured clothes. However once she had spread them out of the wooden floor of her tiny and overpriced apartment, all ideas seemed to flood out of her head and the single thought that consumed her head was the one that lay in strong connection with the orange haired American boy whom she saved form getting lost in the maze of inner city Paris.

She chuckled slightly when she remembered how frustrated and lost he looked. Unlike the Police song it wasn't an 'English Man in New York' but an American in Paris. That in it's self was not a strange thing. Many Americans came to visit Paris, especially in the early summer months before the big heat.

But the ginger, who had introduced himself as Caleb to her, was obviously not a standard tourist. Any normal tourist would have a map with them. Or maybe he just wanted to be difficult.

With a sigh Audrey heaved herself off her scratched wooden floor and started down at the fabric rolls. She needed some inspiration, something that was actually not that hard to find in a city like Paris, which to Audrey symbolised what Europe was all about: amazing food, fantastic clothes, culture and a steady but loveable lifestyle, which could be built to suit everyone.

So Audrey brushed some stray dust off the skirt of her colourfully printed maxi dress, reached for her leather satchel bag and her sunglasses which lay on the kitchen counter, making sure she had her monthly metro card with her, and only then proceeded to walk out the door and down three flights of stairs in the old apartment house that she was renting in Montmatre.

Fifteen minutes and two metro stop change overs, Audrey was standing in front of the Musée du Louvre, the glass pyramid in the courtyard glittering like a diamond in the soft May sunlight. She found the main entrance without a problem, having been here more than once, and soon she was stood inside in massive entrance hall of probably the most famous museum in the world, which even had a couple sets of escalators to aid the commute of art lovers.

Whilst most of the human masses streamed upstairs to find the famous Mona Lisa painting, Audrey headed the other way. She went up with an escalator and then took the lift to the floor which held all the paintings of the massive museum. Audrey stepped out of the lift once the doors opened, armed with a drawing pad and a set of pencils, ready to get to work. Little did she know that she would very soon be distracted.

Caleb was not a lover of 'fine art' he could not appreciate art in the same way as his friends, yes the painting was pretty but that was about it. Some of his friends could find other things in paintings, pick up expressions that Caleb didn't see, but for the latter it was all just a decision between pretty or not pretty painting.

The minute Kyle had stepped foot into the Louvre it was like his feet were on fire. He couldn't stand still for the life of him, running around pointing out statues and paintings with childish delight and squeals. Marc shook his head and thank the dear lord god above that they were only half related.

The group of six young men, who all looked very much touristy, split up in the main entrance hall agreeing to meet each other again in two hours, since all of them had different artistic interests and to walk around in one big group would cause nothing but hassle. Kyle ran away to track the Mona Lisa down and Jonathan muttered something about finding a Starbucks.

Caleb meandered up to escalator, which unbeknown to him Audrey had walked up only half an hour before, and glanced at the map of the museum, shaking his head at the confusing layout. In the end he opted for the painting's section, something that did not require much attention and dedication on his part.

He walked down the corridors and through the rooms which had painting after painting on the walls, he barely took them in and cursed himself for agreeing to spend two hours in this place.

However his foul mood lifted slightly when he saw a familiar figure with bright ash blonde hair.

Audrey was sat on one of the numerous stone benches that were in the middle of the corridor, a thick drawing pad was balancing on her lap and she kept glancing up at a painting in front of her, which showed a young girl in 18th century dress. Audrey was wearing a long colourful silk dress, the expensive and well made fabric fluttered around her ankles slightly as an early summer breeze whooshed in through a window that he been thrown open in desperation to stop the corridor being taken over by the accumulating heat.

Audrey was oblivious to Caleb's approach; she was in her own artistic world, copying the style of dress that the young 18th century girl was wearing, with immaculate perception. She only stopped drawing when a shadow in the form of Caleb was stood over her.

Her head snapped up at once and she looked at him with bush baby sized brown eyes, which at first appeared to by hostile, but upon recognising Caleb, her expression softened.

"Paris isn't as big as you obviously think it is." Caleb said with a laugh as he looked down at the tiny girl, happy to have found distraction in the form of a female.

"Or at least the Louvre isn't," Audrey said with a small smile and patted the empty space next to her, motioning for Caleb to sit down. Which he happily did of course.

"What you drawing?" He asked once he was seated, glancing at the thick drawing pad in her hands.

"I'm getting some ideas for my designs together. I'm attempting to start a small collection but I'm not feeling very inspired recently," Audrey said with a roguish smile, unsure of why exactly she was telling Caleb what she was.

"You're a designer?" Caleb asked with growing interest.

"Of sorts, just starting out," Audrey replied carefully. Not wanting to admit to him that she had only been in Paris for less then a week, after her rushed and dramatic exit from Germany.

Caleb knew she wasn't telling him everything but it didn't bother him at present. If she chose to see more of him then maybe he would demand some answers off her, but at this point in time her background and personal problems had little worth. He was just getting to know her, but it was enough to get him hooked.

Maybe it was the confidant and yet shy smiles that she was giving him, or maybe it was the way that she didn't make fancy and pointless conversation, or maybe it was just that everything about her fascinated him, but Caleb decided that he wasn't going to let Audrey Tateman disappear all over again into the uncountable masses of people that were walking around outside in the heaving city of romance.

He promised himself that. He was never going to allow her to disappear.