Indelible Love - Emily's Story (34 page)

“You play dirty,” I accused while
giving him an evil eye.

“You
, no, yes, and many.”

Jake took my answers and dropped them
at the end of each of his questions. He looked upset
again.

“I don’t understand the first
answer.”

Staring at him I asked,
“Are you really as smart as everyone says you are? You asked me who
I was waiting for. I was waiting for
YOU
. I’ve been waiting for you since
you left me last Christmas. Do you get it now?”

“Oh! I get it.” He smiled again till
he thought through my other answers.

“What do you mean many men have asked
you on dates? How many single men could live in that tiny village
of yours? And why would they ask you out? Didn’t you tell them you
were taken?”

“Why on earth would I tell them that?
There’s no ring on my finger that says I’m taken. And, I didn’t
stay in the village the whole time. I traveled throughout Japan.
You’re not the only man to find me attractive.”

Jake reached into his pocket and
pulled out my beautiful ring. Oh how I had missed that ring. He
slowly drew out my left hand and my heart jumped
a-flutter.

He was going to propose
again!

I definitely knew what my answer would
be this time. Jake slid the eternity band on my ring finger and I
basked in this tender moment.

To my utter dismay, rather than
proposing, he handed me a stern warning. “I don’t ever want to see
you take this ring off unless I replace with another one,
OK?”

“All right…” My lips pouted and my
answer sounded sore.

Jake mused at my chagrin. “What’s
wrong? Were you expecting something else? Do you not like this
ring?”

What could I say?
No, I like this ring but I’d like a proposal
along with it
?

“I love this ring,” was all that came
out of my mouth.

Night fell upon us and we walked hand
in hand back to the hotel.

“Where’s your suitcase?” I
inquired.

“They’re holding it for me here. I
haven’t had a chance to check in yet.”

“Why don’t you have them bring up your
stuff up to my room?” I didn’t have to look in a mirror to know my
cheeks had turned bright red. I also didn’t have to look at Jake to
know his stunned face quickly changed to nirvana. He practically
sprinted up to my room.

Walking in, Jake quickly surveyed the
double bed. Heaven to hell in sixty seconds, he threw up a prayer.
“Love, I’ve been apart from you for too long to be satisfied
sleeping in a bed next to yours.”

“Would it satisfy you to sleep in a
bed…with me?” I asked sheepishly.”

I’d never seen Jake so
happy!

We said a quick and sweet good-bye in
Kyoto, as we both had to leave for our respective jobs. It pained
me to leave him again. I made up twenty different excuses as to why
I wanted to go back with him. Every excuse pointed to the fact that
we would be apart only twelve days. Then, we would have many joyful
days together.

“I don’t want you to go. It feels like
a dream to be back together with you. I don’t want to say good-bye
anymore.”

“Love, it’s only for twelve days.
We’ll see each other soon. After that, we don’t ever have to say
good-bye. Make sure you log onto your computer at 9:00 p.m. your
time. That will serve as a substitute until Paris.”

“OK.” I pouted some more. “I’ll miss
you.”

“Me, too, my love. Me too.”

I left him standing at the station,
knowing that we would soon be together again, and if God was kind
to us, we would never have to say good-bye.

Chapter 17 A Proposal in
Paris

The plane thumped onto the Charles de
Gaulle Airport runway and my heart thumped along with it. Finally,
we would reunite. Customs would not be a problem, as I brought only
one carry-on suitcase barely filled with clothes and toiletries.
Jake arrived earlier this morning and probably already checked into
the hotel. What our sleeping arrangements would be like made me
curious after what had happened our last night together. It would
be an awful waste of money to get two rooms, but I knew that if we
only had one room, I would not be able to resist him. We’d been
apart for too long. My body now longed for him almost as much as my
heart did. My willpower would crumble. I would let him choose what
he thought best for us, and I would not fight his
decision.

Walking out of customs, I saw the love
of my life smiling with his arms wide open. I ran into his arms and
hugged him like I hadn’t seen him in years. These twelve days felt
longer than the five months we were separated. Even with the
webcam, I missed him very much. How different it was to feel his
secure arms around me.

“Hello, my love. Did you have a good
flight over here?” Jake asked.

I looked up at him and responded by
pressing my lips against his. I kissed him more longingly than I
had ever done. My body desired his touch, his warmth, his passion.
Jake appeared to be a bit taken aback, more befuddled than anything
else. I’d never displayed such an inappropriate public display of
affection. His kiss grew more sensuous as he realized how much I
wanted him and our embrace continued. I didn’t care that onlookers
were gawking. All I wanted was to love Jake.

It was Jake who pulled away for the
first time. Caressing the back of my head he chuckled. “Maybe I can
undo the second room?”

I didn’t quite understand what he was
saying but I held his hand out of the airport to a huge limousine
that awaited us.

“This is
not
our car, is it? You
got us a driver too?” I seriously hoped not.

“Yes, it is, and yes, I did.” Jake
declared.

“You have got to be kidding me. We
cannot ride around Paris in this limo. How embarrassing. We’re not
rock stars,” I complained.

“Get in,” he said rolling his
eyes.

We got to the Hotel Ritz, and opulent
was the only word I could think to describe this hotel. Located on
the Place Vendome, in the first arrondissement, Hotel Ritz was
surrounded by haute couture. Stores like Christian Dior, Chanel,
and Bulgari, surrounded this architectural jewel commissioned by
Louis XIV. If I remembered correctly from my last trip here,
Palaise de l’Elysee, where the French president resides, was
nearby, as well as the Louvre and Jardin des Tuileries. There was
only one way in to this exclusive square and one way out. This was
definitely not the kind of place Sarah and I had stayed in when we
were in Europe.

Extravagant and unnecessary, but a
nice way to travel, I had to admit.

Jake had already checked us in and
took me up to my room. With a mixture of relief and disappointment,
we had two adjoining rooms. Waiting for me in my room was a bathtub
filled with rose petals with lavender scented candles lit all
around it. Water fell from the mouth of a gold swan as Jake added
more hot water to my bath.

“Why don’t you unwind a bit and we’ll
start our trip after your bath,” he offered.

“Thank you, Jake. You know, you’re
spoiling me. I can really get used to this,” I answered in a dreamy
way.

A girl could really get used to living
in such luxury with the man of her dreams.

“It can
all
be yours if you
like, my love. No one is stopping you.”

While I thought about those words,
Jake started toward the door.

“Where are you going?” I asked, waking
from my thoughts.

“Um, out to give you some privacy. Do
you want me to stay?” he mused.

Tempted, but resisting the urge, I
asked, “No, I mean where will you be while I’m taking a
bath?”

“I need to stop by Boucheron. I’ll be
right back.”

“What is Boucheron?”

“It’s a jewelry shop,” he said quickly
shutting the door behind him.

Jewelry shop? Why would he be going to
a jewelry shop? Maybe he was going to propose to me in Paris? I
could only dream, but we had just gotten back together. It was too
soon to dream. Having been so adamant about marriage being too soon
for us, I probably scared him off that idea. A proposal—no, two
proposals—was what separated us to begin with. I wanted to shoot
myself for turning down his proposal the first time.

We would’ve been engaged or
even married by now. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid! Emily, you can be so
stupid! But…a jewelry shop? Why? Naw…he already has an engagement
ring for me; he wouldn’t be going there for that purpose. Great!
He’s got me all wound up when this bath was supposed to relax
me.

The tension only got worse, so with a
quick hot shower, Jake’s favorite yellow sundress, and a little
makeup on the face, I was ready for the day. Comfortable in this
lap of luxury, I started flipping through French TV and patiently
waited for Jake.

Within minutes of turning
on the TV, I heard the door
be-beep
and in walked Jake with a crepe and a cup of
coffee.

“Where did you get this? There
couldn’t be a crepe vendor in this tony neighborhood.”

“I stopped by the
boulangerie.”

“Thank you. I was getting
hungry.”

He smiled and handed me my
snack.

“Emily, tell me some of the things you
want to do in Paris. We can go out of Paris as well if you like.
Give me your list.”

“Well, last time I was here, I never
got to go to the Bastille opera house or Palais Garnier and watch
an opera. I’d love to do that this time.”

“You’ve been here before? It’s not
your first time?”

“Sarah and I were in Europe for a
month after undergrad. I assume you have been here many times
before?” I knew this was an obvious question, as I couldn’t imagine
the Reids not having traveled to France.

“My mom loves Paris. When we were
younger, we used to stay at the Ritz every spring for a month.
After we started school, we came during the summertime. Since I was
little, they’ve had the same hotel manager here. I’ll introduce you
to him when we go to the Escoffier school.”

Jake spoke beautiful French to the
driver as well as the hotel staff when we first arrived. It only
made sense that he lived and perfected his French here.

“Anything else you want to do? I
promised you that this week would be your world. Whatever you like,
I’ll oblige.”

“There’s not too much else. You know,
the usual…the Louvre, Musee d’Orsay, maybe a flea market. You’re
the expert in this city. You lead, I’ll follow.”

“I like this attitude,” he answered,
pleased. “I’ll have the concierge send a list of what’s playing.
Right now, we need to go downstairs. We have an appointment with
the chef.”

My questions ceased, and as promised,
I followed his lead. There was one thing that made me pause. It
surprised me that Jake hadn’t touched me since I got to Paris.
Aside from my attack at the airport, we hadn’t embraced. He had
been tame for his standards. It made me curious, as well as a bit
nervous.

We met Francois Garcon, the general
manager of Hotel Ritz, at the Escoffier school. It looked to be a
cooking school of some sort but I thought I’d wait for an
explanation before asking any questions.

“Bonjour, Monsieur Reid. Ca
va?”

“Oui, ca va, Francois.”

“Bonjour, Madamoiselle” Francois said
turning to me, “Je suis Francois, le directeur de l’hotel. C’est un
plaisir de vous rencontrer.”

I decided to use my decrepit French
and tell Francois that I too was happy to make his
acquaintance.

“Bonjour, Je suis Emily Logan. Il est
très agréable de vous rencontrer aussi,” I proudly
uttered.

“Ah, vous parlez Francaises?” Francois
asked.

“You speak French?” Jake asked, quite
surprised.

“Oui, je parle un peu.”

Telling Francois and Jake that I spoke
a little was about the extent of our conversation in French. I
couldn’t keep up with the two of them as they conversed the entire
time in French. Here and there, Jake would break the flow of his
conversation and ask me what kind of lesson I would prefer. My
choices were basic French cooking, pastry making, and even flower
arranging. I chose to work with the chef de pâtisserie and learn
dessert.

We spent four hours making French
baguettes from scratch, croissants, creme brulee, strawberry
savarin, mocha pot de creme, apple tarte tatin, lemon souffle,
crepes, and even profiteroles. I was so in my element in the
kitchen. I loved it, and Jake enjoyed watching me have fun. What
was even better than making the desserts was of course eating them.
The school set up a table for us in the kitchen and we ate every
dessert we made. The pastry chef packed up what we did not finish
and we walked out to the square hoping to relieve our distended
stomach.

We walked quietly, hand in hand,
toward the Tuileries Garden.