Page 46 of Tangled With the Wrong Guy
‘Would you like to go over to the Île de la Cité?’ asked Chloe, as the tops of Notre Dame’s towers came into view. ‘The cathedral’s still closed though, I’m afraid, after the fire.’
‘Nah, been there done that,’ he said. ‘School trip. But we’ll have to cross the river at some point; my hotel’s on the other side.’
Chloe went quiet. Their time together – not even twenty-four hours – was drawing to a close.
He squeezed her hand. ‘I’m gonna miss you.’
‘Me too.’
Chloe looked around her at the view – anywhere but at his face – as tears mustered for another assault. The Seine sparkled, and the grand buildings glowed in the sunlight. With their touches of gold, pretty balconies and imaginatively shaped roofs, they were like a feminine version of London’s civic buildings and museums.Jeez, Paris. Could you be less romantic, please?
They drew level with the end of the island across the water. Just ahead were the palatial buildings of the Louvre.
They’re five minutes away. Ready? You know what to do!
‘Let’s cross here,’ said Chloe. ‘I think this is the bridge with the really great view.’
They climbed the steps onto the wide wooden footbridge of the Pont des Arts and stopped halfway across, leaning on the barrier, gazing downriver.
‘Aunt Daisy – my godmother who runs the flower shop – she brought me here,’ said Chloe. ‘It’s where people used to put those padlocks … you know, those lovelocks?’
Joel looked down at their wrists. ‘We could add ours, except … slight problem.’
‘It’s not allowed anymore,’ she said. ‘There were so many, the bridge was collapsing under their weight, so they took them all off and put in these glass panels instead. Bit boring of them, really. I wonder what happened to all the locks?’
But Joel was distracted. ‘Hey, isn’t that …?’
Chloe followed his gaze. ‘What?’
‘I’d swear that was the security guard from the cemetery, the one who left us the key.’
The man in question was walking away from them. The uniform, his build and hair colour were similar.
‘Could’ve been, I guess.’
‘Hey, look,’ said Joel. ‘Maybe love always finds a way.’ He was pointing to a lamppost on the other side of the bridge. A collection of padlocks was attached to something looped around it. They went over, and as they did … from behind the lamppost appeared a little black cat.
‘Oh!’ said Chloe.
‘Bonjour, Monsieur Chat Noir,’ said Joel. ‘Are you perhaps taking a morning stroll with your friend the security guard?’
‘Monsieur Le Security Guard and another black cat,’ said Chloe. ‘That’s a coincidence.’
The cat fixed her with its green-eyed stare.Couldit be the cat from the cemetery? How was that possible? It was miles away! But the city cats probably roamed a lot. And perhaps this one liked to go for walks with the guard.
It came over to Joel, its tail held high, butted its head into his calf, rubbed itself against him, circling clockwise thenanti-clockwise, then trotted off, following in the footsteps of Monsieur le Security Guard.
‘You’vegotto be kidding,’ said Joel.
‘I know, right? Quite strange.’
‘No, not the cat. That,’ said Joel.
Chloe was still watching the cat. She turned to see what he was talking about.
A key. A tiny key, lying on the ground by Joel’s foot. She bent down and picked it up. It was gold, and it twinkled in the morning sun.
They stared at it, and then at each other.
