paris, je t'aime. [tag - open !]

[Ralleigh Évelyne Kyrou]

the night was clear and mild, in the late fifties with a light breeze. a balmy evening. the moon, half full in the huge expanse of inky dark sky, seemed the only natural light over the skyline; the big city lights seemed to frighten away the stars. or wash them out, at least. ralleigh stepped out of her rental car, neatly slamming the driver’s side door shut and locking it. it was a slick vehicle, more flashy and classy than she would usually go for, but mia had insisted on renting ralle’s car for the week… thus she had ended up with a brand new, shiny silver bmw. it drove like a dream and she rather thought she would miss it when she had to return it the next morning. but she still had it for the night, and the night was still young.

she pulled her hands out of the pockets of her chocolate brown trenchcoat and unclasped the jacket’s belt, letting the flaps of the coat fall open. she was walking uphill now, unsure of her destination and still not entirely comfortable with the streets of paris. she would manage, and she didn’t mind getting a little lost. finding it too warm for the coat altogether, she shrugged out of it and draped it over her arm. she was certainly dressed for a night out: shiny black five-inch peep toe pumps, a dark denim mini skirt, and a purple and black lace trimmed cami, cut low enough but not so much that ralle felt uncomfortable. then again she was hardly shy about showing off her body – she worked damn hard for it, so why not?

her long hair, black and shiny as a raven’s feather, was fanned out across her shoulders, the shorter pieces that framed her face falling across her eyes and brushing her skin enough for it to tickle. her eyes, black as well and dark enough that they would have seemed black anyway in the dim light, were lined lightly in dark purple, just a hint. she was never big on makeup. at the last minute she had also dusted her cheeks with blush and slicked a clear gloss over her lips. she felt pretty and tall and powerful, not quite sure what she was in the mood for. something… fun. it definitely wasn’t the kind of night to stay in and read.

she was in one of her lighter moods, so different than the stubborn funk she had been in for the past few weeks. there was just something about the coming of spring that lifted her spirits, made her smile a little more each day. it had been more noticeable when she still lived at home with her parents; with a new england winter, there’s only so much snow you can handle until the mere mention of the word makes any native snarl. and then spring slowly creeps up, bringing balmly, warm days and the melting of ugly, slushy snowbanks. ralle missed that feeling, the knowledge that the snow was melting and warmer days were near. the changing of seasons just wasn’t as dramatic in a city where it never snowed, where a dusting of the icy flakes would send almost everyone into a kind of frenzy, making the newcomers who had come from colder hometowns snicker. ralle supposed there would be a time where she, too, would pile on a jacket for “chilly” forty degree weather, and marvel at an inch or two of snow… but for now she was still a winthrop girl at heart, a girl who missed snowball fights and snow angels, snow days and hot cocoa by the gallons, the ocean in winter, the way the sky smelled just before snowfall. she had always loved snow… or at least up until a certain point. it gets pretty old after three straight months of killer snowstorms popping up to ruin every single weekend. but her thoughts were wandering, and she pulled her lower lip into her mouth, biting down gently as she realized she was truly lost, both lost in her thoughts and on the darkened streets of paris. lovely.

she paused and glanced around, tilting her head ever so slightly as she focused her hearing, wanting to head in any direction where the sound of people was loud and vibrant. the heart of the city was bound to be safer than some creepy, rather dingy side street. not that she was terribly afraid. her mouth reformed into the stubborn pout that any of her close friends would have recognized as the start of her ‘i’m going to get things done all on my own’ look. her forehead creased slightly, and her shoulders were set back in a determined fashion. she was ralleigh évelyne kyrou, and she was going to be fine. she turned around, deciding on a path, and quickly, just a bit quicker than the average human but not fast enough for it to cause much of a commotion, wound her way through streets and alleyways until she… was even more lost. ”fucker,” she spoke aloud to no one, planting one hand on her hip. her cell phone got sketchy service overseas, and she hated paying the ridiculous extra charge per minute, and as she searched through her coat pockets she realized she didn’t even have it on her. so much for calling mia. ”good job, ral,” she grumbled as she started walking again, faster this time, fueled by a rising impatience with herself. of course she would get herself truly lost on her last night in paris. and the week had been going so well…