[Quinn 04] - The Silenced

Nate stood up slowly, confused. “On the way where?”

She pulled out a coat. “Nickel tour of Paris, of course. Unless you have something better to do.”

“Don’t you have to go to school or something?”

“Done for the day. So are you coming or not?”

“I don’t want to put you out.”

“God, are you always this difficult? Relax. Someone offers to show you Paris, you say yes.”

“Okay.” He smiled. “Yes.”

He shot Julien a text update from the bathroom before they left, then bundled up and followed Liz out into the city.

She helped him to buy a Métro pass, then they took the train to Saint-Michel. A half block away was the Seine, and just on the other side was the Île de la Cité and the Notre Dame Cathedral.

“You’ve come at a good time of year,” she said. “Hardly any tourists.”

Nate nodded, then took a step toward the cathedral.

But Liz grabbed his arm and stopped him. “Come on. Back on the Métro.”

“We’re not going to go take a look inside?” he asked.

“You’re here a week, right? I’m giving you the overview so you have an idea where things are and can come back when you want.”

Nate laughed. “Overview, it is. Lead on.”

As they walked back to the Saint-Michel Métro station, Nate caught a glimpse of Julien standing in line at a patisserie. When the big man glanced at him, Nate said to Liz, “Which way?”

“Over there.” She pointed at the Métro entrance. “Same one we used before.”

“Right. Sorry, wasn’t paying attention when we came out.”

He glanced quickly in Julien’s direction. The Frenchman had gotten the message and was headed toward the subway.

It was the tour most locals would give to friends from out of town. The Louvre Museum, Montmartre and the Basilique du Sacré-Cæur, the Eiffel Tower, and finally the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Élysées. The only place they actually spent any time at was the Champs-Élysées. There they strolled down the famous street, looking at the shops and restaurants.

“How about a coffee or something?” Nate suggested. “My treat.”

“You’re on,” she said, smiling. She pulled him by the arm over to the nearest café.

A couple of hours earlier, the gesture might have been surprising, but now it seemed almost natural. She had been laughing easily at his jokes, teasing him whenever he attempted to pronounce the names on the street signs, and a few times glancing at him when she thought he wouldn’t notice.

If nothing else, Nate decided, she was at least enjoying his company.

The café was one of those places that spilled out onto the sidewalk even in the fall. In deference to the weather, a cloth and plastic awning complete with front and side walls jutted out from the building, claiming a portion of concrete. Inside, heaters kept the customers warm.

A waiter looked over as they walked in. He was balding, with a close-cropped rim of dark hair. “Deux?”

“Oui,” Liz said.

He pointed at a small round table. It had been set up in a row with several others. Each had two chairs, both on the same side of the table, so customers could watch people walk by.

Nate and Liz sat down, and soon the waiter returned, looking at them expectantly.

“You want some coffee, or something a little stronger?” Liz asked Nate.

“What are you having?”

“I was thinking about a glass of wine.”

“Sounds good to me.”

She ordered two glasses of Château Cos d’Estournel Saint-Estèphe Bordeaux.

“Anything else?” the waiter asked in English.

“Non, c’est tout, merci,” Liz said.

The waiter gave her a halfhearted smile, then left.

“I don’t think he likes us,” Nate said.

“This part of town, they think Americans only really know English.”

“But you speak excellent French.”

She smiled. “Thanks. I’d better. Three years in high school. Four years of undergrad. And two years here already. Oh, and I had a French boyfriend for a while, too.”

“In Paris?”

“No, back at Michigan State,” she said.

“What about now? No French boyfriend?”

She blurted out a laugh. “Not with my schedule.”

“You can’t be studying all the time,” he said.

“Wait until you start grad school. Then think what it would be like to write all your papers in two languages.”

“Seriously?”

“I think better in English, so it’s easier to write that way first. Then I have to translate it, and make sure it reads correctly.”

“Sounds like a pain in the ass. I’d pay someone to do the translation for me.”

“That would mean I had extra money lying around.”

Nate realized he’d stumbled into an area he really hadn’t meant to get into. Quinn had told him about the scholarship, but there was no way Andrew Cain would have that information. He decided to go with a more innocent approach. “How much do they cost?”

She looked at him, one eyebrow raised. “Why? You going to pay for it for me?”

He laughed. “That would be a big no. I’m probably just as poor as you.”

“But your father sounds like he has a bit of cash.”

“He might, but I don’t. He made it very clear as I was growing up that I wasn’t getting any kind of free ride.”

“Good for him.”

Nate felt a sense of relief as the waiter approached with their drinks.