Close calls (Christophe - tag Addison)

[christophe]

"Great!" enthused Christophe. "We have plenty of time before the first bell and I know of a small cafe round the corner and a block away. Far better than that stuff they serve in the school cafeteria. And they have the bravery to label it as 'cofee'...?" he said on a short laugh. "It is a sin against the name," he added, along with a totally over the top grimace.

The pair wandered back out into the main street with Christophe leading the way... and not to any of the malls as Addison had expected. The place he had in mind was in a quiet back street and was equally as quiet inside. "Bonjour, Madame Clemenceau. Ca va?" The cafe's owner, being French, beamed at Christophe and answered him in their shared tongue.

"Et les cafes...?" she prompted.

"Oui, deux..." He glanced at Addison. "How do you take your coffee?" he queried. For himself there was only one way and Madame Clemenceau knew how he preferred it. Black... and very strong.

[Addison Graham]

Addison was a little surprised when he took her around the corner to some quieter looking shops instead of the main shopping centers. Then again she didn't know about any of these places yet so it was a nice surprise. They didn't go far before he opened the door into a welcoming and warm little cafe and started speaking to someone who seemed to probably own the place in French.

She knew she probably wasn't the only one but Addison loved listening to him speak in French. Now that he had a partner she could listen to them babble back and forth, at least that is what it was to her. Babble. She knew a few choice french words but nothing that she could even really use to piece together a conversation. It was charming though, listening to them talk back and forth and as they both looked towards her she smiled and made a very easy decision for her as far as coffee was concerned.

" Cafe Noisette please." she said confidently. It was something she had ordered on occasion while they were in Europe so when she was in doubt it is what she turned to. Doubt usually meant something not mainstream like a Starbucks or Carribou. She had been to a few places like this and she had just never stepped out of her comfort zone once she found it.

Once the owner and him were finished and she made her way back to go get their coffee Addison again turned to Christophe. " I suppose you know all the best little places like this? Hunt them down? " she laughed softly looking around. " I like it, it is cute. Very welcoming I guess you could say."

[christophe]

"I stumbled across this place by accident," he revealed with a grin. "I was actually trying to find the public library but I got my 'left' and my 'right' confused and... well... It is said that... aaah... In France we aould say... le destin déplace sa main en plus mystérieux et ses pieds en bas d'une route bien plus mystérieuse. I'm not sure it translates into English quite so weel but its something like fate choosing her own path and that her choice is always mysterious... I suppose she drew me here to find le Café de Muguet de Bois." Even the name was magical The Lily of the Valley café. "And so now I am sharing it with you," he finished, sitting back in his seat as Madame Clemenceau returned with their drinks.

"Vous aiment quelque chose manger? Un croissant peut-être?" she asked and Christophe nodded.

"Et un pain au chocolat, s'il vous plait, madame," he added. She nodded and vanished.

"I asked for something to eat to go with our coffee. I hope you are hungry, Addison," he said. This was starting out to be a good day... Near miss included!

[Addison Graham]

" That's a fun story" she said blowing on her coffee a bit before taking a sip. " I cannot say I blame you for getting lost though. This place confuses me. I haven't even really tried to venture out to far yet, it is kinda daunting." It wasn't that she hadn't been in a huge place yet but the area was huge. She didn't even know what there was to be found but she figured when there was a place she wanted to go or something she needed she would brave it. Maybe one day she would even get adventurous and just drive around for a while looking for uncommon gems like the cafe he had brought her to. The Lily of the Valley Cafe, in both languages it was very pretty.

Addison watched as he again told the owner something and she disappeared to the kitchen. Although she loved listening to the language she hated not knowing what kind of a conversation was going on right in front of her face. This time though he turned and told her he had ordered food and she was glad. She hadn't eaten anything on the way out of the house and until she got her coffee hadn't realized how hungry she actually was.

" You are in luck. I didn't eat my breakfast this morning so I could definitely use a pick me up. " and this seemed to be just the right one. A nice breakfast in a quaint little cafe with the guy she almost hit. She could have left out the last part but she supposed you had to make friends some how and if that was her strange way of doing it everything turned out okay and eventually she would be okay with it too.

[christophe]

"Bien, so the pastries will be welcome as I, too, had to leave home in something of a rush and didn't have time to eat." The main reason why he'd been in a hurry earlier and hadn't thought when he'd started to cross that road.

"Ya know, a friend told me only yesterday that I don't come across as French," he said with a half grin. He had a feeling Sarissa had been teasing him at the time. "For myself I find it impossible not to know that. I mean, I don't exactly talk with an American accent for a start." Christophe paused. "I guess I could be mistaken for Canadian..." In fact, he'd lived there for some years. Maybe he'd even picked up part of that accent as well.
A pity... He didn't want to lose his heritage.

"Tell me all about Texas," he urged. "Is it really all cowboys and herding cows around like they make it seem in the movies?" he asked with a gleam of amusement in his dark eyes. He knew that was far from the case!

[Addison Graham]

" I don't think I agree." Addison said promptly. She had known right away. If not for his accent which she personally thought was still close to just as strong as the day he left , the usage of the french language and vocabulary when he spoke would have given it away. To her he looked very French, but what did she know. She had lived in Britain, not France. Only for a few years at that. " I think you sound very French. But I suppose people who have never been there may have their own opinion of what a French person is truly like?"

"Texas?" Addison laughed at his questions about Texas. Unfortunately it was all that, but there was more too it as well. " I am afraid it is all that. Cowboy hats, big haired women, cattle drives. But that isn't all. They still have some normal civilization as well. It isn't like a gigantic land mass of dirt covered in livestock or anything. They have regular cities just like everyone else. Gangs in the big cities, and ghetto areas in town. Some amazing Mexican restaurants. Huge malls. It all depends on where at in Texas you are as to what degree." she told him trying to figure out how else she could possibly explain the state she had moved from. Some other way to describe it, but that was her best.

" So what grade are you ?" she said trying to find something else to talk about before she brought the close call accident and his knee back up again . It was like trying to bite her tongue, she still felt horrible and was nervous about his " bruised knee " as he called it . If she saw him in a few days and he was still limping she would have a cow.

[christophe]

Christophe was pleased (relieved?) to know he still sounded French. He hated the thought of losing that part of his personality and had managed to hang on to it up in British Columbia. Sarissa had to have been teasing but he was grateful for Addison's comforting comment.

"Texas sounds like just about most other places," he agreed. "Paris has its own share of gang-life and similar issues. There are places even I as a peson born there wouldn't venture after dark. A few of those are areas frequented by tourists as well. Mugging is commonplace around the Trocadéro at night. In daylight hours it is a place of serenity and beauty, over-looking the Palais de Chaillot and the Eiffel Tower but later... That is when the gangs crawl out of the stonework. Fights happen all the time."

"As for my grade. I am a senior. I graduate soon and am to go to California State University at Long Beach. I will be studying for my Masters Degree in marine biology but I will be here still to live. I work at the aquarium so would be most happy to see you call by. I am there all day on Saturday. The orca pool. But you must be a senior too... am I right?" She looked mature enough by far!

[Addison Graham]

Addison had to agree with Christophe. Almost anywhere you went there was crime and gangs to a certain degree. Each town had its high end and then low class parts but these were all things you had to look past when you lived in a place. Watch out for yourself and those you care about which really came down to don't be stupid either.

" Not a senior. Not even close yet honestly. " she replied when he said she had to be in his grade. It was a surprising guess but anywhere far from the truth. It would have been nice to be that close to the end of her high school career though. " I am a sophomore." she told him sure to get a reaction to that one, he didn't really seem like the type to care though.

Marine biology probably wouldn't have been the major she would have pinned him for but now that he said it she was sure he would do great. It was an interesting career field and the fact that he worked in the aquarium at the Orca pool gave him great background for it.

" You work on Saturday's huh. I suppose I will have to take a venture down that way some day. I need to get out and about anyways it will be nice. " she smiled. She had been looking for places to check out and things to do this would be a good one to start with someday soon.

[christophe]

He was surprised she was that much younger than he was... Addison seemed older... Not that it mattered. She was friendly and good company and age wasn't a barrier to any friendship that he knew of. "Sophomore, heh?" He threw her a grin. "Makes me wish I was taking that year again for myself," he added.

"As for you dropping by the aquarium... it would be great to see you there. I would be able to give you a tour of the place if you would like that! If you like the sea I also am able to use a boat at the charter place I help out at. I don't get paid for that but the owner lets me use one of his boats when I like. The view of the coast from out at sea is spectacular, particularly at sunset."

He always intended taking Lia out to witness that but... fate had decreed otherwise. Perhaps it would appeal to Addison? He'd ask Sarissa but... Maybe that wasn't such a good idea. Not with the way he felt about her - and how he now klnew she felt about him. A recipe for disaster if ever one existed.

They finished their coffee whilst chatting some more and it was only when Madame Clemenceau looked pointedly at her watch did he realise they would probably miss the first bell.

"I seem to have made you late for your first class," he said with a wry smile. "Perhaps you can lay the blame at my feet and tell your tutor that I ran out in front of your car and caused you to be delayed? It might work...

Unlikely but better than being reprimanded!

[Addison Graham]

It seemed he felt differently about his sophomore year then she did. Addison was ready to be done with it, be an upper class men, he on the other hand for whatever reason had just mentioned it making him want to be back in her class. Not that she herself would mind having him in her class, just to her it seemed odd he would be willing to go back .

" I have never been on a boat." she told him candidly. You would think with some of the places she had lived somewhere down the line it would have happened. There were probably a few places she could have had the chance but it was never outright and she wasn't someone who usually cared to impose whether it was something that interested her or not. Addison looked down at her watch when he said he had made her late for her first class. The bell would have been ringing just as he said that so she wasn't too late, and honestly she didn't much mind because she had enjoyed their conversation, and he had introduced her to a wonderful little cafe she would now probably be using often.

" I don't mind. I am the new girl, I can play dumb like I was lost as well. But if you want to head back that way we can take our time walking. " she logically was already late. They probably ought to at least head in that direction but now she was in no rush. It would only take a few minutes to get there anyways so it was a fixable offense.