L'amour En Rouge

Coming Up For Air and Down To Earth

When they pulled their lips away, Tessa's eyes were as large as saucers as she caught her breath, and Florian smiled as he ran his fingers through her hair. While no words were spoken between them, there was something magical happening between them, and neither of them was going to forget this night. All good moments must sadly come to an end, and after waiting for a moment when they were both calm, Florian gently caressed Tessa's cheek as he told her that he had to get back to the Moulin Rouge. As sad as Tessa was to let him go, she nodded in understanding before taking his other hand and walking back into the room with him, where she locked the window behind them before they walked to the door. After helping him shoulder his messenger bag, they were promising to reunite very soon when Tessa remembered her picture, so she backed away before pulling her drawing out of her purse and giving it to him.

"You... you drew that, for me?"

"Yes. I drew that after I first saw you at the Moulin Rouge."

Touched by her gift, Florian took the picture into his hands before admiring the detail in his portrait, and he placed it in his messenger bag before hugging her tight.

"Merci, Tessa... Merci beaucoup." ("Thank you, Tessa. Thank you very much.")

He whispered into her ear as she hugged him back, and she nodded before they stayed in that embrace for quite some time. Their heartbeats and breathing were the only sounds they could hear, and the moment they made eye contact while in their embrace, Tessa saw a glimmer in Florian's eyes before their lips met again. Since she was used to how heavenly his lips felt on hers, Tessa stayed steady before gasping as they fell onto the bed, where she landed on her back before blushing as he landed on top of her. After realizing the position they were in, Florian blushed even harder before pulling away a little and apologizing over and over again, to which Tessa giggled a little before feeling his cheek and accepting his apology.

Feeling better after hearing Tessa's words, Florian nodded as his face returned to its normal tone, and he kissed her forehead before climbing off the bed and tucking her in. When he noticed the teddy bear beside Tessa's pillow, Florian chuckled as he gave Tessa her toy before blushing again when she kissed his cheek, after which she giggled before they said goodnight to each other. With a light chuckle and a twinkle in his eyes, Florian wished Tessa sweet dreams before walking to the door, where he blew a kiss to her before leaving both the room and the hotel. He left the hotel with a spring in his step, smitten thoughts about Tessa dancing in his head as he danced back to the Moulin Rouge, and he couldn't stop thinking of a possible future with her. Sure, he was a famous dancer while she was a tourist, but he believed that things would work out between them.

While Florian was on his way back to his workplace, Tessa was giddy as a puppy as she thought about her crush, complete with squeezing her teddy bear while letting out a massive squeal of joy. This was the first time she had been so close to someone she had a crush on, and the fresh memories of their kisses made her heart pound so hard that she was sure it was about to burst. She was brand new to love, since it was a concept she had read about but never experienced, but she wanted to make sure that she was doing everything right with Florian. After finding the page she wrote her feelings onto, she added a few details about his kisses before putting the book away, after which she flopped onto the bed with a smitten grin on her face. It took her a while to fall asleep, but she managed to get some sleep before being awakened by her phone ringing while it was sitting on her nightstand.

"H... hello?"

Tessa groggily spoke before hearing the familiar voice of her mom Leslie, who was immediately embarrassed to find out that her daughter had just woken up, but they both brushed it off as delayed jet lag. When asked for an update, Tessa told her mother as much as she could about exploring Paris and Montematre, all without taking over the conversation. While getting dressed despite having no plans, Tessa was talking when her mom sensed an increase in glee as the story went on, and she was soon asked what was causing the growing merriment. After asking her mom if she remembered the last text sent before Tessa left for France, which contained a message of hope for Tessa to find a cute boy in France, Tessa took a few deep breaths before trying not to squeal with glee.

"Well... I found one in Paris, and I saw him again in Montematre... at the Moulin Rouge!"

Tessa's mother was overjoyed to hear about his daughter's latest crush, and she smiled as Tessa excitedly told him about Florian. When asked if she got any one-on-one time with Florian, Tessa giggled as she talked about how Florian walked her to her hotel room, even though it was less than ten minutes away from the Moulin Rouge. Just as Tessa was about to talk about how she got to kiss Florian, there was an unexpected knock at her door, to which she cluelessly said that it was her wake-up call before promising to call the next month. After saying goodbye and hanging up, Tessa checked her outfit and hair before opening the door.