AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He shook his head. ‘It is your own paranoia, surely.’
I ran the tip of my middle finger back and forth across my thumbnail, considering his reply.
‘I don’t think it is. Not entirely, anyway.’
‘Perhaps people like you very much, but they back off, because you are so defensive that you give the impression that you do not like them.’
‘So you think I imagine it all?’ I asked, sceptical.
‘The mind can play tricks on you. People can be nicer than you think, Hannah.’
‘Ever the optimist.’
‘I dare not suggest that you are anything other than positive,’ he said, giving me a sideways look, the trace of a smile on his lips.
I pulled a leaf off a passing tree and shredded it into pieces, leaving a trail of green fibres behind me.
‘What, worried I might cry again?’
‘Look,’ said Léo, sweeping his arm out in front of him. ‘This is what I wanted you to see.’
I couldn’t even hide my surprise this time. The park had opened up into a beautiful, Japanese-style garden complete with a suspension bridge leading to a fairy-tale-like island made up of craggy cliff faces. The soft, green fronds of weeping willows draped onto the surface of the lake below. When I turned full circle, I realised we were surrounded on all sides by cream-coloured buildings with zinc roofs and balconies, like a sort of Parisian Central Park.
‘Do you see the temple on top?’ asked Léo, raising a hand to point.
I nodded, thinking how much I loved this place.
‘It is a copy of the Temple de Vesta in Tivoli, Italy,’ he said. ‘If you go inside it, you can see for many miles, all the way to Montmartre.’
I immediately lifted my camera and leaned against a post, snapping away, trying to capture the haunting quality of the temple. Then I zoomed in on a couple standing a few metres away. I liked the way they were leaning over the side, pointing at something in the water, whispering softly to each other. I became lost in the world I could see through my camera lens, losing track of the number of photos I’d taken. By the time I looked up again, Léo was already halfway across the wooden bridge, which shifted slightly as I stepped onto it, as though it wasn’t quite as stable as it looked. I held the railing for support.
‘Scared of falling, Hannah?’ he called to me.
‘Well given how clumsy I am …’
He laughed, waving for me to catch him up. The higher we climbed, the busier it became. Everywhere I looked someone was exercising, out for a run or doing press-ups on a bench or even yoga under the shade of a tree. It appeared to be a city of dog lovers, too, as I noticed most of their pampered animals were on ridiculously long leads, as though Parisian pets could not possibly be restrained.
‘You are tired? Enough walking?’ asked Léo as I came up slowly behind him, the fact I’d only snatched a couple of hours’ sleep on the train finally catching up with me.
‘I’m fine,’ I said, reluctant to admit I could do with a break. ‘Can we stop for a sec, though?’ I asked. ‘I should try Si again.’
Léo handed me his phone. ‘You need to check in?’
‘No, but he’ll be wondering where I am,’ I said, wondering why I felt the need to explain myself. ‘That’s what couples do for each other,’ I added. I pitied his poor girlfriend, if he had one. He hadn’t mentioned anybody.
‘You will tell him where you are?’ asked Léo.
‘Of course. Why wouldn’t I?’
I moved off the pathway, perching on the arm of a bench which had someone’s name carved into it, a dedication to somebody who had died. Those inscriptions always depressed me. I calculated their age in my head: sixty-eight. Too young. Nowhere near enough time to do everything you wanted to do. I glanced over at Léo, knowing he’d have something sarcastic to say if he knew I was thinking about death again. He’d crouched down, his back pressed against the trunk of a tree. I positioned myself so that I couldn’t see his face and dialled Si’s number. It rang three times before he answered and my heart began to race because I wasn’t sure what kind of mood he’d be in if, by some miracle, he did pick up. He was a sucker for a schedule, and for everyone sticking to it, and I’d have disappointed him with my inability to follow instructions and to be in the right place at the right time. It was gone eleven, so he’d have checked into the hotel. Catherine probably had him ironing tablecloths already.
‘Han?’ he said, breathlessly.
‘Yes, Si, it’s me.’
‘Are you all right?’
There was music in the background; the clink of glasses.
