The Freefall Trilogy (Complete Collection) (19 page)

Joshua groaned, smiling, reaching out in his half-sleep.  His fingers splayed, searching the cold crumpled sheet; reaching further and further.  He frowned, squinting down at the vast empty space.

He felt disorientated for a moment, until he saw the half-naked Skyfall girl poster looming down from the opposite wall.  Josh had stayed there a couple of times.  Philippe claimed he'd once dated her - you never knew with Philippe.  99% of the time though, he was full of shit.

He wrenched back the duvet, hauling himself up, grabbing his faded blue jeans and pulling them on.  The apartment was cold.  The light was bright.  Josh stumbled out into the corridor, rubbing his eyes.

Wow...

Joshua stopped dead in his tracks.

She was lying on the shabby brown sofa in the sitting room, bathed in blinding sunlight.  Eyes closed, head bobbing, smiling; toes flicking away to the tinny beat of the white earphones.  Her honey-blonde hair was straight - he'd never seen it like that; it looked even longer - pinned back behind her ear with a tiny clip.  She was wearing red lipstick and a collared, buttoned beige dress.  Josh stood there, staring at her.

Lucy grinned to herself, wriggling her stocking toes, humming away to Frank Sinatra's
Somewhere Beyond The Sea
. 

Paris!

She snickered, pounding the cushion with her heels in a burst of excitement.  Her fingers thrummed the air after his melody as she lay there, lips gently tilted upward.  Eyes closed; brow raised in accord, humming away to the music.

Kerchic
...  Kerchic-kerchic-kerchic.

Lucy's eyes blinked open.

Josh stood over her, bare-chested, grinning down from behind the outstretched phone.  Her face dropped, eyes flaring, cheeks heating up.  She yanked the buds from her ears.

'Sorry, baby,' he said, lowering the phone from her face.  'I couldn't help myself.  I just wanted to remember you like this.'

She was pissed off for a second.  She hated having her picture taken - she didn't know he'd been standing there, invading her private little moment.

'You look beautiful,' he said flatly, by way of explanation/apology, running a nervous hand through his hair. 

Lucy smiled up at him.

'Budge up.' 

She scootched to the back of the sofa, feeling it dip as he laid down beside her.

'What you listening to?'

Before she had time to answer, Josh had grabbed one of the buds, pushing it into his ear.   Lucy was mortified. 

She reached down to change the track but was stopped by Joshua's tanned hand. 

'Blue eyes,' he grinned up at her, the lines around his green deepening.

She'd listened to the same track three times on the trot; she didn't know why.  Lucy did that a lot - she'd probably hate it tomorrow.

Josh held the other ear bud out to her.  She saw his bare toes tapping away and reluctantly took it.  He pulled her into his arms, her cheek resting against his warm, tanned chest as they listened, the sprinkling of soft hair tickling her.

'I always liked that one,' he nodded as the music faded away.  He peered down at her down at her, smiling.  He crooked an eyebrow.  'Play it again.'

Joshua held her in his arms, eyes shut in the blinding white light, feeling the rise and fall of her chest against his through the flimsy chiffon dress.  Stroking her soft hair; listening to the music.  She smelt of roses and candyfloss.  He felt her fingers wandering and smiled to himself, stroking her warm, silky arms; encouraging her.  A flurry of hot kisses across his abdomen made his breath catch in his throat.  He caught her under her arms, heaving her on top of him, green eyes blinking open.  His fingers traced the hem of her dress, pushing it up.

His eyes flared. 

Stockings?

He looked again.

Fucking hell!

She was wearing a suspender belt. 

Her red lips smiled down at him.

That was it; it was crystallised as he gasped up at her.  They'd come to Paris for a reason.  He sat up, craning his neck to kiss her.  He'd been in two minds earlier as he witnessed her little freak out - he didn't want to take advantage.  He'd been in two minds since he watched her throwing her guts up over the side of the ferry.  Maybe it was a bad omen - maybe it just wasn't meant?  But this was the old Lucy... or maybe the new?  Pushing back against him, yanking his hair.  She leant down over him; he felt her lips on his throat.  She was stronger now; taking control.  He heard the chink of his belt.  He was going to do what he'd come here to do.

'You know, I never heard you sing before today,' Joshua mused.

She could feel him peering down at her.  She didn't dare raise her head.

'You've got a beautiful voice,' he told her, his arm tightening around her waist. 

She flushed, smirking down at the bows of her blue ballerina shoes as they traversed the shiny cobbles.

'Thank you,' she muttered back.

'Well, this is it,' Josh told her, nodding up to the row of arched windows fronting the limestone expanse.

Le Louvre.

'Do you want to go inside?'

Lucy peered up at him.

'Actually, I'm a little hungry right now.  Do you think we could grab something to eat?' she asked hopefully.

Joshua grinned, squeezing her shoulders.  They started walking again.  He felt relieved - he was starving himself.  He knew
diddly-squat about art.

'What's all this?' Josh asked as they stepped onto the plinths of the little footbridge. 

Lucy's eyes skimmed the wire mesh either side; the blaze of multicoloured padlocks.

'I don't know,' she shrugged, crinkling her nose in disdain.  'I suppose it's some weird modern art thing.'

He smiled down at her, smoothing a stray flick of blonde hair back from the wind. 

A moustached man played the guitar at the bow of the bridge: a gentle melody, plucking the notes with his dark, deft fingers.  The trees were red; the sky was blue.  It couldn't have been better.  It couldn't have been any more French.

'Let's go and have a look,' Joshua coaxed her, gently tugging her hand.

Lucy squinted down at the padlocks; the pairs of names scrawled on each one. 

Gerard et Aimee, 1993,  Lucy & Etienne 2010.

Lucy watched Joshua
's fingertip drift across the letters.  She blinked up him.  He quirked an eyebrow.

'I swear to God, I never met him before
my life!'

Joshua laughed.

She got it, as they trailed the mass of entwined names.  It was a lovers' bridge; those padlocks were a sign of commitment.  They hadn't arrived there by happy accident - Josh had brought her there on purpose.  She watched him stand back, fumbling in his pocket.

'Here,' he said, uncharacteristically shyly. 

She felt the thud of warm metal in her hand.  Lucy blinked down at the gold Chubb padlock, turning it over.

Joshua and Lucy

12.09.2013

It wasn't just shitty scribble with a marker pen that was going to bleed with the rain.  He'd had it engraved.  Lucy stared up at him.

'You don't have to,' he shrugged.  'It was just an idea.  If you don't like it, it's OK.'

She went on staring, open-mouthed.  She watched him run a nervous hand through his hair.  She turned on her heels and started clomping away.

'...Here?'

Her fingers traced a gap in the mesh.  It was right at the top, near the apex of the bridge.  He smiled down at her, fingers encircling hers as she fed the arm of the padlock through the wire.  They fastened it together with a loud click.

'These are yours,' he told her, jiggling a little pair of silver keys.  'You can always come back later and take it off,' he said, crooking an eyebrow. 

She took the keys from his fingers; realised he was shaking.  She peered up at him; saw the bravado slip away.  She could see it in his eyes: the fear - she hadn't been imagining it.  He'd been so edgy these past few days. 

Lucy smiled up at him, then turned away; staring down over the edge at the rippling, silver Seine.  She took a deep breath, closing her eyes.  She made a wish; then threw the keys.

He stood beside her, elbows resting on the rail.

'What?'

He bit his lip, frowning down at the water.

'What is it?' Lucy asked him gently.

'Nothing,' Josh grinned, strong arms wrapping around her waist, spinning her back towards him. 

'It'll keep.'

She breathed in his woody scent as her arms wrapped around his neck, the guitarist playing away.  Lucy blinked down at their feet. 

They were doing something they'd never done before.  Josh twirled her around.  She laughed; he pulled her back into his arms, hips swaying together in time to the music.  The two of them were kissing, on a little bridge in Paris.  They were dancing, over the Seine.

'Have you decided yet?' Josh asked her, smirking down at his menu, anticipating another twenty minutes of
umming and ahhing, then wanting to share whatever he ordered.

'Oh yes,' she nodded, smiling.  'I know exactly what I want.'

She sat back, sipping her water, pushing the closed menu away across the white tablecloth. 

Josh frowned down at his menu again.

Sirloin steak. 

That had to be safe, didn't it? 

Hang on... 

It didn't actually say beef. 

Since the great Tesco horsemeat scandal, Josh had become a pretty picky eater.  He'd grown up on reruns of
Champion The Wonder Horse
at his grandparents' house.

'Monsieur... Mademoiselle?'

The waiter stood over them, notepad in hand.

'Are you ready to order?'

Josh watched Lucy smile up politely.  He opened his mouth to protest - he hadn't made up his mind.  The waiter grinned down at her, all big, dark eyes; thick, gelled hair and perfect white teeth.  Josh smelt his aftershave and frowned.

'I'll have the duck,' Josh told him, snapping his menu shut. 

Duck's duck, right? 
How could he go wrong? 

The waiter scribbled it down.

'And for you Mademoiselle?' he smiled down at Lucy. 

Joshua gritted his teeth.  He really didn't appreciate the seductive accent, or tone.

'Umm...'

Josh smirked across the table at her. 

Here we go...

She glanced back at him and smiled, then peered up at the waiter.

'Could I just have a starter please?  I'd love the frog's legs.'

'...
Frog's legs?
' Joshua snorted.