Reckless Love

5: The Dream Maker

~ HUNTER’s POV ~

Maia was not your average girl. Average would be that last word I’d use to describe her. She was unpredictable, one might even say unstable. Being with her was scary at time, but also, she made me feel so alive. She made me feel so… grand.

I have never felt that way about anything or anyone else before.

She had this presence about her that whenever she speaks you can’t help but listen. She commanded the room everywhere she goes. She was brilliant and opinionated, which of course those two things usually come hand in hand.

If I wasn’t spending time with my grandparents and Maia wasn’t doing music lessons, we’d spend all of our free time together. Maia had this bucket list of things she wanted to do over the summer, so we were going through her checklist together, and I had the best time ever.

First up, Maia took me to the all these art museums and we geeked out over Monet and Van Gogh. Then we tried different boulangeries all around the city in search of the best croissant. She also took me to see a cabaret show one night, and boy, French women can sing and dance! On a warm sunny day, we had a picnic at a park by the Eiffel Tower and we played sword fights with our baguettes. Yes, Maia liked Star Wars, so we were playing as if our baguettes were light sabers. And just yesterday, Maia and I went to the Notre-Dame cathedral and we acted out a scene from The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. Funnily enough, she played Quasimodo and I was Esmeralda.

For every day I spent with her, I went to sleep smiling every night.

Overall, Maia was just an all around amazing person. She was the highlight of my summer in Paris. I mean, did you know that she could speak five languages? She was also fluent in art and history, and she had the most amazing taste in music.

The only thing that I found kinda odd was the fact that she didn’t like hanging out with most people. People that didn’t know her might thought that she was rude or cold-hearted. But she was just being picky with who she’d spend her time with. Surely she had her reasons. Anyway, I guess I should take it as a compliment that she was spending all this time with me.

That was the best part about hanging out with Maia. We clicked so well together. I could confidently say that we were good friends. Honestly, being friends with Maia was like having an imaginary best friend, but imagine them being real. That was what she was to me.

Man, the guys back at home would kill if they knew I was around such a beautiful girl all day, everyday.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Suffice to say, my time in Paris went by unbelievably fast. All of a sudden, so many days had passed and I was coming into my second week in this trip. Today, Maia and I were taking a break from the bucket list because she had an errand to run. She said she needed opinion, and so she was taking me shopping. She wanted to find something amazing to wear for the party tomorrow night.

Oh, of course I haven’t forgotten about that party. The alleged venue where I was supposed to lose my virginity to a random, yet beautiful French girl.

Don’t get me wrong. I would love to have s*x as much as the next hormone-ridden sixteen year old boy. But I was never the one-night-stand kind of guy, you know? I was more of the chasing a girl around for year and was only able to kiss her once kind of guy.

Still, I knew I owe it to the thirteen year old Hunter, who just went through puberty and was desperate to see some boobs, not to turn down Maia’s offer. This kind of offer wouldn’t come everyday. And since this was Paris and I was here for an adventure, I guess this might as well happen.

I wasn’t sure what Maia’s plan actually was, we never talked too much about the details, but I still decided to go along with it. I could never say no to anything she says anyway.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“I like dresses that you can dance in,” Maia said as she raided the long rack of dresses in this little store called Gucci. I was following right behind her, helping her carry some of her other dress picks.

“Something sexy, but not slutty, you know what I mean?” she said again.

“Totally,” I made sure she noted the hint of sarcasm there.

“Okay, how about this one?” she was ignoring me though, she was super engrossed by this sequin dress thing she shoved in front my face.

“It’s nice,” I said.

“Nice? I don’t want nice,” she groaned and put the dress back in the rack. “I want great, but not trying-too-hard great. You know?”

“Without a doubt,” I remarked, and she was still ignoring me.

“Why do you need a new dress so badly, anyway? I’m sure you got tons just like this at home,” I asked her. “And how many dresses do you need to go to one party?”

“I need the dress and then I need a backup dress, and I also need a backup, backup dress,” she stated matter-of-factly. “I just want to make sure I look perfect tomorrow. People are going to be there,”

“It’s a party. I hope there are people there,” I laughed drily.

“Oh, how about this one?” she said as she grabbed another dress from the rack.

“It’s the perfect combination of sexy and cute,” I told her.

“You totally stole that line from Steve Carell and Ryan Gosling, but I’ll take it,” she muttered.

I was shocked that she noticed my little quip. I was quoting something from Crazy, Stupid, Love.

“What? You remember lines from movies too?” I asked.

“Yeah, duh. You talking to me?” she replied.

“Taxi Driver? Nice,”

“You’ve got to ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk?” she then acted out Clint Eastwood, pointing her finger like a gun at me. She did a pretty damn good impression of him too.

“Dirty Harry. Okay, I get what you’re saying,” I nodded approvingly.

She didn’t stop though. She was on a roll.

“You can’t handle the truth!”

She was so in character, she was practically yelling. People were starting to stare, but I didn’t care. I knew just how to play it.

“Oh, Mrs. Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me aren’t you?” I said to her as I took a step closer.

She looked amused, clearly she was enjoying this as much as I was.

“Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape,” she commanded.

“I’ll be back,” I said in my best Schwarzenegger voice.  

“Say hello to my little friend!” she used her purse as a machine gun pretended to shoot at me.

“You had me at hello,” I replied and she broke out laughing.

People were definitely staring, but I couldn’t contain myself either. She was laughing so much, she had to hold on to the counter to stop herself from falling over.

“Okay, we have to stop, or else I’m going to pee myself,” she said in between laughs. And when she finally caught her breath, she linked her arms around me and said, “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship,”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

After going into almost every store on Boulevard Haussmann, we thought it was time we catch a break. Maia had bought several dresses she liked, and a new pair of shoes. The chauffeur put all the shopping bags in the car and we decided to take a walk instead.

We made it to the Seine River just before the sunset. We were sitting at one of the benches by the river, going over the details about the party tomorrow.

“For someone who doesn’t like crowds of people, you seem pretty excited about this party,” I noted.

“Well, it’s because we’re have a mission. We’re going to get you to infinity… and beyond!”

“Okay Buzz Lightyear, you can stop with the movie quotes now,” I laughed, pausing for a second before saying, “You must watch a lot of movies, huh?”

“I have a lot of free time,” she shrugged.

“Do you wanna be a filmmaker or something?”

“No,” she replied, pausing for a moment before saying, “I’ve always wanted to be a dancer. But it’s never going to happen,”

“Why not?”

“Because that’s not the plan. The plan that my parents have for me anyway,”

“What plans do they have for you?”

She took a deep breath and sighed before answering.

“Typical stuff. Go to a normal college. Study some boring thing like political science or business or whatever. Then get married. Have kids,” she then made a yawning sound as she rolled her eyes.

“There’s still time before all that. Maybe you can convince them otherwise?”

“Hm, yeah. Maybe,” she sounded doubtful.

“You’re really talented. And you clearly love to dance. It’s a shame your parents can’t see that,”

She looked out to the water with eyes glistening as she said, “I think they could see it. They just don’t think it’s important,”

This was hard to process. I couldn’t fathom having someone so talented and so passionate about something, and yet they weren’t allowed choices in life. I would never do that to someone.

“What’s on your mind?” she asked me as I was lost in my thoughts.

“Well, I just think that if dancing is important to you, then it is important. What you want matters, okay? Don’t forget that,” I said to her.

She didn’t say anything for a while. She had this sad look on her face that she was trying so hard to hide.

“You’re a good person, Hunter. Don’t ever change, okay?” she said finally, while giving me a playful shove.

“Okay,” I muttered under my breath.

“How about you, though? What’s your plan?” she said quickly, as if to divert the attention.

“I wanna study business in Columbia,”

“Why Columbia?”

“Ever since I was kid, my parents would take me to the city. We’d drive for five hours, one way. And one time when I was eleven, we were taking a walk at Central Park and I got distracted by a dog. I lost sight of my parents and I started walking aimlessly, trying to find them. I ended up on the Upper West Side, close to West Harlem. I was alone and lost, but I didn’t feel like it. I just kept looking at all the big buildings and wondered how’d they got so tall. Then, I wandered into the Columbia campus. Compared to the chaotic streets of the city, this place was serene, almost peaceful. And then some helpful lady lent me her cellphone so I could call my parents… And she was kinda pretty too,” I admitted.

“Of course,” she rolled her eyes.

“Columbia and the city… they symbolized something to me. Something I wanna achieve. Someplace I wanna be,” I paused for a beat before saying, “Sounds vague, I know. But it’s something,”

“No, that sounds really nice,” she said softly.

She had this look on her face, maybe a tint of envy. Like she wanted what I wanted. I think she got uncomfortable as I was reading her face expression. She quickly turned away and got up on her feet. She started walking toward the river and I followed right behind her.

“Ah, don’t you just love the Seine? It’s probably my favorite place in all of Paris,” she said as she stretched out her arms, lifted her face to the sky, and drew a deep breath.

“Really? Why?” I asked.

“Because I get to do this!”

Before I knew what was going on, Maia had grabbed my arm and pushed me so hard, I fell over the edge in one fell swoop and splashed down into the cold water below.

“Maia! What the hell?” I yelled as soon as my face was above the water.

She was just laughing maniacally.

“Maia, I got my phone with me!” I protested. “Damn, woman,”

“Don’t worry darling, we’ll get you a new phone,” she waved her hand nonchalantly.

“That’s not the point,” I said in exasperation and flipped the wet hair away from my face, “I’m gonna catch freaking pneumonia,”

Maia wasn’t at all worried. She proceeded to taking out her phone and snapping a picture of me.

“Oh, cute n*****s!” she cheered and I immediately became self-conscious.

I looked down at my shirt, and yes I was wearing a plain white T-shirt. The flimsy fabric had melted into the shape of my body and the water made everything looked transparent. I was more embarrassed than I was cold.

“Maia, I’m so gonna get you, I swear to god,” I said with gritted teeth as I made my way up to concrete.

She didn’t think to help. She responded by sticking out her tongue and said in a singsong way, “Ha! You’ll never catch me!”

Then, she turned to her heels and ran, laughing like mad as she did. I was wet from head to toe, but I didn’t care. There was only one thing running through my head: I’m gonna get this girl.

“Just wait ‘til I get my hands on you!”

*

*

*

- - - - - To Be Continued - - - - -