Chasing Olympus

Chapter 1

Goodbyes were never easy, but my excitement completely made me forget about any other emotions besides anything positive. My mom's hugged me for a solid ten minutes and Caleb's inspirational speech almost made me late for my flight. I was truly going to miss them and there was no denying it, but I had to take my first step into womanhood alone. No hand-holding or tears. 

The flight took forever, but once I landed at Charles De Gaulle Airport, I was in awe of the sights outside. I was in a completely different world. It felt like I stepped into my closet and entered Narnia or even entered some Harry Potter universe, but no it was just French. French people and French food and the language! 

I mentally thanked my four years of French knowledge, but unfortunately that was the extent of my knowledge on the language.

"Bonjour! Bonjour, Mademoiselle, avez-vous-"

"Non! Non, je ne comprends pas! Anglais," I tried to tell the French Man.

He laughed, but somehow he still understood my basic French. "Sorry, I wanted to ask if you need transportation. I drive taxi," he explained with a thick French accent.

I smiled, relieved I didn't have to hunt for transport. "Yes, thank you so much."

He offered to help me with my suitcases, which I declined politely to and proceeded to follow him to his taxi. He helped me load my suitcases and we were off, leaving the safe airport and into the unknown streets and rues of Paris. He tried to make conversation, but his English proved to be just as bad as my French. We ended up exchanging language lessons and by the time we arrived at my hotel I knew about ice cream, various greetings and dismissals and simple sentences.

"I hope you enjoy Paris, Mademoiselle Octavia!" he told me as we stopped in front of my hotel.

"Louis, you're too kind! How much do I owe you?"

"Pour vous, free of charge." He smiled kindly and helped me unload my bags before hugging me and leaving me in front of the hotel, Louis Blanc.

After checking-in and letting everyone back home know that I'm safe and okay, I decided to explore Paris at it's best time, the evening. The old street lamps glittered with hope for the evening and led me down the enchanting, cobble-stone streets of Paris. I was unsure of where I was going exactly, but I didn't care at that moment. I wanted to be spontaneous.

Somewhere there was music and laughter decorating the air. I followed the sound until I came to what seemed to be bar. Drunk Frenchmen gallivanted about, singing french songs I couldn't understand. There was so much happiness in the air, it was a bit overwhelming and not to mention the reek of spilled alcohol. Everyone seemed to be happy so I decided to immerse myself in the events occurring.

"Uhm...can I have the special?" I attempted at the bar.

The bartender seemed to understand what I was saying and immediately began making my drink. After receiving my drink I watched the people and listened to their inner most thoughts as I sipped on my drink. My eyes roamed the bar until they landed on a set of brown ones.

A man. He sat in one of the booths watching me. He was quite attractive, he had dirty blonde hair with a beard framing his strong jaw, which encased plump lips. Something attracted me to him, so i walked up to him and slid into the booth.

"Bonsoir?" I said, sounding completely unsure of myself.

"American," he simply stated with a rich French accent. How sexy.

"Yep, sorry, I tried, but this beautiful language is incredibly complicated."

"What is your name again?" He asked with a simple smile framing his lips.

"Oh s**t, I mean, my name is Octavia." For some reason this man made me extremely nervous and I couldn't understand why.

"What a beautiful name, Octavia," he spoke and my heart melted as he watched me intently, "My name is Gale."

The rest of the evening we spent talking. He told me all about France and how he originates from Greece, but some family drama brought him to Paris. I found his story extremely interesting and I couldn't help but feel comfortable in his presence. However, I was confused as to why I couldn't sense his inner thoughts and it frustrated me a bit. We continued to drink and the more I did, the more my vision began to blur.

"Okay, let me tell you a secret," he began, "you see those two over there?"

He gestured to the couple standing by the bar, becoming a bit too comfortable.

I nodded. "Well, they're going to have s*x and she's going to fall pregnant, but he will die before the child is born...But, she will find happiness and love eventually. It'll be strong and beautiful." Gale watched them intently with a soft gaze.

"Well...that was deep. How do you know?" I asked him.

"It's a feeling or a gift, whatever you want to call it." He shrugged and I couldn't help but be intrigued. Could his gift be like mine?

"Same, but I can hear what anyone here is thinking. That guy, the one you said dies, all he can think about is the s*x and she is convinced this is her soulmate."

Gale watched me, amazed and what I had just said, but as quickly as the conversation was started, it ended. We continued speaking about nothing but white noise, until he offered to take me on a tour of the city tomorrow or should I say today. I hadn't realized what time it was until the bartender announced a final round.

"I should walk you to your hotel," Gale offered.

I was about to go on a rant about equality, but as soon I stood up I was grateful for his offer and I knew I wouldn't be able to walk back to the hotel safely in one piece in this state. After buying me a bottle of water we were on our way to my hotel, laughing as I tried to navigate the uneven cobble-stone.

"You know," I started when we reached the hotel, "you are one good looking man."

He smiled and laughed as I continued to slur about his features.

"Octavia, I think we should get you to your room," he suggested.

As I protested he navigated me to my room after tricking me into telling him my room number. When we reached the outside of my door I couldn't resist my tempting thoughts anymore.

"Gale," I said softly. He looked at me, paying attention to what I had to say.

We stood there just darting between each others eyes and lips. I needed to kiss him, I knew that much. He moved closer and so did I and just as i could feel his lips caress mine...I passed out.