He Saved Me, Loved Me, Wanted Me

“Excuse me, but may I sit with you?” I asked a middle aged man, wrinkled with years of wisdom and hard work.

He laughed for a moment. “Why is that, young lady?”

I sent him a wary smile. “My fiancé, I miss him dearly. He smokes the same brand of cigarettes as you; I was hoping it would help me remember him.”

Another aged, wrinkly smile. “Go right ahead.”

“Thank you.”

I sat across the man and played with the engagement ring on my finger, twirling it out of boredom. This was the bad part of lunch breaks; there was never anything to do. I sipped at my water and looked around the shop.

An old couple sat, chattering in a corner, happily eating their dinner. I smiled at them, they were cute. A woman, not much older than me sat reading a book by the windows, thoroughly enjoying her own time alone. The bell clung, sounding happily that someone had arrived. I looked at the door and saw a woman with a baby stroller, pushing it over the bump in the doorway. Her hair was a jet black, tousled around her shoulders and she looked like she had a lot on her mind. I feared that would be me after this baby inside of me was born. With no father, and having everything to do alone.

I turned back to my water and finished it, looking at the clock. My break was up so I stood and threw the empty bottle away and looked at the man. “Thank you again.”

He nodded with a smile and I went and stood behind the counter.

“Puis-je vous aider?” I asked that same woman with the baby. She tossed me a confused look, like she was searching her head for what I said in French.

“Uhh…,” she said, looking up at the sign above us. I waited patiently for her to make her choice. “This would be so much easier if I knew French,” she mumbled. My eyes brightened. I hadn’t spoken to anyone in English forever!

“I speak English!” I said happily.

“Oh! That makes it all so much easier!” she said in a hurried tone. She quickly smiled at me. “Good, um, can I have a large pepperoni, mushroom?”

“Sure thing,” I said with a smile, pushing the buttons. “Your baby is adorable,” I said.

“Thank you,” she replied, looking down at the sleeping infant. “I’m Zina,” she said, extending her hand. “It’s been so hard without knowing French.”

I laughed and shook it gracefully. “I’m Ana,” I said. I told her the total and she fished the money out. “If you don’t know that much French, may I ask why you are in France?”

“Business stuff,” she put with a shrug. I made an ‘Oh’ shape with my lips and smiled, giving her the change.

“It’ll be ready shortly,” I said, putting the order on the slip carousel, saying, ‘Ordre!’

“Thank you, Ana,” Zina said.

I smiled. “No problem. I haven’t spoken in English in so long.”

Her face returned the same smile, lighting up her light colored eyes. “Excuse me for asking, but you aren’t French, are you?” I shook my head.

“I’m American, I just live here.”

She nodded, not asking much more. “Do you mind if I talk with you, it’s so lonely without the English.”

I laughed, and leaned on the counter. “Go ahead. Where’re you from?”

“California,” she said. “You?”

“Originally Connecticut, but I used to live in California.”

“Oh yeah? Where?”

“Huntington.”

Her smile enlarged. “Me too!”

“Really? That’s awesome. Small world, huh?”

“Yeah, it really is!”

“What business do you have in France?”

She sighed. “I’m taking care of some things for my brother’s clothing line. He’s on tour right now, so he isn’t able to do it, and his girlfriend is with him.” I nodded, knowing all about tours. “You know, you look really familiar, but I can’t place it.”

I laughed. “I get that all the time.”

“So why did you decide to live in France?”

“Well, it’s a long story that I don’t really like to discuss. But let’s just say it involves money along with other things. But I am saving up to go back one day,” I said.

“Yeah, money is the main factor in a lot of things.” She paused, looking like she was having a conversation with herself in her head. “How bad is it you wanna go back, to Huntington?”

I nodded. “I want to go back really bad. My heart is there…,” I said, dreaming off, but quickly snapped back.

“Well, I’m going back in a couple days, and the person I came with had to schedule an emergency flight back, and I’ve got an extra ticket…”

I eyed her. “Are you asking me to come with you?”

She nodded. “You seem like a nice girl that just wants to get out of France and back to the place that has her heart.”

“And you seem very trustworthy. You’re not going to try and pull anything on me, are you? I mean, we just met.”

She laughed. “Oh, hell no. I’m not that type of person. I just like helping people out.” Suddenly, her phone rang a loud obnoxious tone and she answered it. “Hello…” I trailed off, leaving her in private to her conversation. I went back to check on her order, then another customer came in; I took their order then went back to Zina: The Saint from nowhere.

“Zack, I’ve got to go.” “Love you too. Bye.” She hung up and looked at me. “So… you coming?”

I thought for a moment. “When’s the flight leave?”