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‘No,’ he said, seemingly irritated by my incessant questions. ‘You cannot. Because you will need to complete a document. Which is only available at a police station.’
I tutted. ‘Typical.’
‘Come, I will take you.’
‘Take me?’ I asked, frowning in confusion.
‘I have borrowed my friend’s bike,’ he said, wafting his arm towards the road. ‘There is a spare helmet, I think. Let us see.’
I laughed, incredulous. ‘You’re not seriously expecting me to get on that thing?’
He flashed me a look of utter confusion. ‘Why not?’
I shook my head in wonderment. ‘Because I don’t even know you.’
‘And?’
‘And I don’t have a death wish.’
He cocked his head to one side. ‘You worry a lot, Hannah,’ he said after a long pause.
‘That’s just not true.’
‘It is. I can see it. You are always thinking.’
It was frustrating that it was that obvious, even to someone I’d had only a handful of conversations with.
‘You must go to a police station, yes? And you cannot walk properly, non? And the next train is more than five hours away. So, this is the solution. It will take half an hour, no more. And then you can sit on your bench and wait for your train.’
I looked around, wondering what other people in my position would do. Would Ellie go with him? Not that it mattered, she wasn’t here. It was me who needed to make the decision, something I was notoriously bad at.
‘I’ll tell you what,’ I said, coming up with a compromise. ‘I’ll go to the police station myself. You can point me in the right direction.’
He crossed his arms, looking at me pensively.
‘Let me take you. Otherwise I will feel bad,’ he said.
I shook my head. ‘Really? So this about you then, is it?’
He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. ‘You are right, it is a little about me. But it is mostly about you.’
‘You’re still feeling guilty for tripping me up,’ I said triumphantly. ‘Aren’t you?’
He held up his thumb and forefinger, indicating that he was, just a tiny bit.
I looked into his eyes. Could I trust him? What would happen, I wondered, if I took a chance and agreed to go with him? I did need to report my missing phone, otherwise I’d have to buy a new one when I got home and there was no way I had the money to do that. And it probably would be quicker to go with him now rather than trying to walk to the police station on my own when I had no idea where I was going.
‘I am a very safe driver,’ he said, enticingly.
‘Why don’t I believe you?’
He grinned. ‘Are you afraid of Paris, Hannah? Is that what it is?’
‘That’s a ridiculous thing to say,’ I protested. Did he really think I was that pathetic?
‘Then a motorbike is the best way to get around the city,’ he said as if I’d already agreed. It was infuriating.
‘Is it, though?’
