Lost in France

Actually, she had been surprised when she found the invitation letter on her work bench. A world wide conference for forensics, taking place in Paris, France and she was part of it as a ballistic expert. She had never been to Europe, less France before, but there was no way that she would decline this offer. It was an honour to represent your country and she was more than willing to do that.

After a 10 hours flight, she made her first steps on French grounds. It was so very different from her hometown Darnell and New Orleans where she was working for the crime Lab, though there were also some French influences. All she already knew was that she loved this city. The flair, the atmosphere and the people. She put her long blond hair into a plait and waved for a taxi.

When she arrived at her hotel she was pleasantly surprised of how big and expensive it was. No way that she could stay here for a whole week for free and having the best time of her life. Sure, she missed her boyfriend at home, though they had some stress for the last weeks, but nevertheless it was the city of love and she would have liked it to share it with her partner. Not willing to get a lousy temper she entered the lobby and was again impressed of the beauty of the hotel. It looked like a hundredth years old, over and over with chandeliers and warm colours, like red and gold. Yes, she would enjoy staying here.

Walking to the desk, she just had eyes for the interior and was surprised when the front desk girl caught her intention.

"Bienvenue au Roi Soleil Hôtel. Comment puis-je vous aider Madame?" the girl asked in French and smiled politely. Welcome to the Roi Soleil Hotel. How can I help you Ma'am?

"Salut, mon nom est Calleigh Duquesne. Je suis un accompagnateur légal de la Conférence, à savoir" Calleigh replied in her best French and felt lucky that she had also studied French in college, among other things, like Physics, of course. Hi, my name is Calleigh Duquesne. I'm an attendant of the Forensic Conference.

"Je vais jeter un coup d'oeil à votre réservation Madame",the girl responded and typed the name into her computer. I will have a look at your reservation Ma'am. After a few minutes she nodded and grabbed one of the keys from the shelves, giving it to Calleigh. "Il s'agit de votre carte-clé Mlle Duquesne. Votre numéro de pièce est 1354. Il vous suffit de saisir cette ascenseur", she said and pointed to the particular one, not far from the desk. This is your key card Miss Duquesne. Your room number is 1354. You just take this elevator. "C'est la cinquième étage et quand vous sortez de de l'ascenseur, il est à votre gauche",she guided Calleigh. It's the fifth floor and when you go out of the lift, it's to your left. "Le garçon va prendre vos bagages. J'espère que vous avez un merveilleux séjour et apprécier la beauté de Paris", she smiled politely again. The boy will take your luggage. I hope you have a wonderful stay and enjoy the beauty of Paris.

"Merci beaucoup", Calleigh smiled and knew that she would enjoy this stay. Thank you very much. More than she probably thought. Taking the key card and a little prospect about the conference and Paris' famous sights, she was about to leave the desk when she heard a dark voice next to her. It was like, she couldn't quite identify it, but like a dark rumble with a whisky touched voice. Smooth, but also husky. Intrigued she glanced to her side and almost gasped when she saw the man standing next to her. He was tall, lean, had a handsome face with just a slight tan, eyes she couldn't see because of dark sunglasses and the hair, the hair was just….red. It took her a second or more to get her thoughts back together and even though it was impolite, listened to the conservation between the red headed stranger and the other desk girl.

"Listen, I have a 10 hours flight behind me and all I want is to have a room to get some rest. You got my reservation and I'm not responsible for you not being good at the American language," she heard him say slightly annoyed. "If you organize a convention here, in this particular hotel, for criminalists from all over the world, you should have realized that there would be some people just speaking English and no French," he almost growled, though Calleigh could see that he wasn't happy about this. He didn't seem to be a choleric or having a bad temper at all, though his hair just seemed to scream for this assumption. He was just tired and frustrated she noted and helpless so it seemed.

"Excuse me Sir," Calleigh said softly and smiled when the red head turned towards her. "I'm sorry that I listened to your conversation, but maybe I could help."

Sighing in relieve the red head nodded. Finally someone was speaking his language.

"So, what is your problem?" Calleigh asked again, when she didn't get an answer.

"To be honest, I don't really know," the red head shrugged. "Seems like something is odd with my reservation, but I don't know what exactly, 'cause," he turned to the girl, "some people refuse speaking another language than their own."

Grinning to herself, Calleigh nodded. She had often heard about the French not speaking other languages, but their own. They had a great sense of nationality and though they could speak other languages, they didn't use them quite often.

"So you aren't into French, hm?" She joked and laughed when he pulled a face.

"Try Spanish and we have a winner," he sighed.

Spanish? Now this could be interesting. "Let me have a try," she winked at him and turned towards the desk girl.

He took a step back, now standing behind this petite blond woman. She was beautiful he had to admit and he asked himself if she was just a tourist or if she was also an attendant of the conference, though he wasn't so sure about what her expertise would be. He had just got promoted to a CSI Lieutenant with a whole new team and he was still missing a ballistic expert and DNA expert. A woman was really rare in this men dominated job and so he was kind of intrigued by this woman.

Several minutes later Calleigh waved a key card in front of his eyes to get his attention.

"Oh I'm sorry," he said sheepishly and looked down to get his composure back again.

"No need to be," she drawled back, with a southern accent, he noticed. "Here is your key. There was just a misunderstanding somewhere, that's why they couldn't find your reservation at first," she explained.

"Thanks again Miss--," he replied and took the card in his hands.

"Duquesne. Calleigh Duquesne," she introduced herself and shook his hand. "A pleasure to meet you---"

"Caine, Horatio," he grinned. He knew he had an extraordinary name.

"Okay Mr. Caine Horatio," she smiled and felt like her knees went weak when she heard his chuckle.

"Please call me Horatio," he asked her.

"Then it's just Calleigh," she grinned back. "So you are here for the conference?"

"Yes, you're absolutely right. I was just promoted and got the invitation to attend here. They asked me to present a paper about explosives. And you are here because..?"

"Because my boss told me that I'd be crazy if I decline this invitation. I'm a ballistic expert and I'm hoping to learn something new."

Horatio was stunned. She was a ballistic expert? "Wow, ballistic. That's a tough job, but an interesting one," he praised her. He wasn't bad at it, but nowhere near an expert.

"I guess you can say the same about explosives," she grinned back and was amazed of how quickly she had found this kind of connection to this stranger.

"True. So then I'm sure that I see you on a lecture Calleigh," he said and took his suitcase in his hand. He definitely wanted to see her again, that was for sure. But he didn't want to make too obvious for her. After all, he had just met her and he wasn't here for his private amusement, but learning new methods of investigations and working with evidence.

"I'm sure we will Horatio," Calleigh beamed back and played with her key card. "Have a nice day…," she said and watched him walk away. Phew, this man was a sight to behold.

I was lost in France
In the fields the birds were singing
I was lost in France
And the day was just beginning

The next morning, Calleigh decided to have quick walk outside, before the first lecture would start. It was still early and so the streets and sidewalks were pretty deserted. A light rain had started a few minutes before she left the hotel and so Calleigh armed herself with an umbrella. She liked the rain. In Darnell, rain was rather rare and so she appreciated the air cleaning wetness.

As I stood there in the morning rain
I had a feeling I can't explain

With each step she made, she soon forgot about her lecture. More and more the city started to get awake while the rain stopped. People had breakfast in one of the several cafés along the wayside, storeowners opened their shops and in a marketplace, merchants were setting up their booths. Soon the whole city was humming with activity and Calleigh was completely taken in by the different sensory inputs she got.

I was lost in France
In the street a band was playing
And the crowd all danced

Not far away from her she suddenly heard some French folklore and walking just around the corner she saw the bands, the accordion player in the centre of the band. Of course she had seen street bands before, but she was amazed when suddenly some young French girls dragged their boyfriends onto the plaza and started to dance. It was an amazing sight. Seeing the joyfulness these young people had, seeing them joking and laughing, made her heart growing with joy.

Didn't catch what they were saying

Being still enthralled from the scene she tried to take some pictures and walked backwards, to have a better angle. Suddenly, she stumbled over a cobblestone in her way. With a yelp she fell and instead of hitting the ground with her backside, she fell into two strong arms behind her. Stunned, she needed a moment or two to regain her composure and it was like her heart stopped when she heard a deep rumble, a chuckle. Glancing up she thought she was dreaming, but she wasn't. It was indeed him.

When I looked up he was standing there

"You know I've always heard rumours, that Paris is the city of love, but that women fell into ones arms, is pretty new to me…," he chuckled and helped her up again. "You okay?" He asked her concerned and gave her a quick look over to convince himself that she hadn't hurt herself.

"Oh I am... thanks to you…," Calleigh smiled lightly and brushed over her coat. Feeling a little embarrassed by the whole situation, she quickly thought about something to change the subject. "What… what are you doing here?"

"Skipping my lecture…," he answered and gave her a boyish grin that made her heart melt. "You?"

I knew I shouldn't but didn't care

"Guess the same thing, though I didn't do it on purpose," she chided him playfully. It was quite scaring that she actually flirted with a stranger like this, but she couldn't help herself.

"Ouch," he grinned back and placed a hand over his heart in attempt of looking hurt. "So if you didn't do it on purpose, why aren't you at the conference?" He asked her curiously.

"I was being," she started and tried to find the correct explanation for it, "well I was being captured by the city I guess."

"Captured by the city," he repeated her words and couldn't help but chuckle again. "That's a pretty nice way of saying, that you got lost," he teased her, not knowing if she really got lost, but he didn't care.

"Ohh I didn't get lost," she pouted. "I know perfectly where…I…am…," she mumbled when she looked around and realized that she really had no idea where she was.

"Of course you do," he nodded, not believing a single word. "Then you wouldn't mind showing me the way back, right?" He knew where he was, thanks to a city map he had studied a street away. "And as a reward, I'll buy you a coffee," he offered her and hoped that she would accept his invitation.

"Make it a dinner and you're on Handsome," she countered back playfully and looked horrified at him, when she registered what she had just said. Blushing furiously, she tried not to show him her embarrassment and hid her face behind her hands. What was going on with her? She had a boyfriend at home and yet she made plans with a complete stranger. Dinner plans of all things! Not to forget that she called him Handsome. "But it definitely fits," she thought by herself.

Horatio was, to say at least, more than happy with the result so far. Heck, he would even buy her dinner, if she didn't show him the way back to the hotel. The fact that she was blushing too, made her even more adorable than she already was in his eyes. "Don't hide this beautiful face, huh?" He said and gently grabbed her hands and pulled them away from her face.

Shyly, Calleigh smiled at him and looked at their joined hands.

Horatio did the same and was surprised of how petite her hands looked in his. Without thinking, he started to rub his thumbs over the back of her hands, till he realized what he was exactly doing there. Mortified, he quickly let go of her hands and cleared his throat.

Calleigh was equally shocked. Not about this small gesture, but about the tingle it had given her. No man before had held such a power over her. He had just touched her hands, but the feeling had been amazing. She was on dangerous ground and she knew that. Looking up she looked into his face, his eyes hidden behind the sunglasses, but she could still see that he was as affected by their closeness as she was. Interesting.

"Okay. Dinner, huh? You're on Sweetheart," he smiled at her teasingly, regaining his composure once again. "Show me the way back." He didn't have nothing to lose. And who said it wasn't allowed to share dinner with a beautiful woman? They were somehow colleagues after all. He didn't do it for himself. No, he did it for the business relationship between the different Crime Labs. Or at least he could persuade himself to believe that.

"Will do," she grinned and linked arms with him. She'd probably see something familiar and find the hotel and even if she didn't, she would definitely enjoy their walk. Of course she didn't for herself. She did it for her boss. He always said, that they needed to have a good business relationship with other labs and now she helped someone from the Miami. He would be proud of her. Or at least she could persuade herself to believe that.

I was lost in France in love

Oo la la la oo la la la dance
Oo la la la dancing

She couldn't believe it herself, but they had actually danced after their dinner and it had been wonderful. Horatio was a very good dancer and she had enjoyed it immensely. Not only the dance, but the closeness between them and if she was honest with herself, she had also enjoyed the looks other women had given her. Jealous looks, telling her that they wanted to be in her place instead. The fact that Horatio had either ignored the looks he'd gotten or hadn't even noticed them, made her feel even better. She knew enough men, that were smug about their looks, but Horatio seemingly wasn't one of them.

They had talked about everything and nothing while dinner and even if they had sat there in complete silence, it hadn't been an awkward one. It had been a long time ago, that she had found someone who understood her and didn't want this evening to end too soon.

It was like Horatio had read her thoughts, when he pointed to the lighted Eiffel tower and asked, "Have you ever been up there?"

I was lost in France

Carefully she rested her forearms on a metal stanchion and was mesmerized by the view they had. The whole city was illuminated, almost glowing and she knew she would never forget this sight. Too bad, that she had forgotten her camera, but she promised herself that she would visit the tower again.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Horatio stood right beside her. "I guess there is no building, you can't see from here," he chuckled softly, but he wasn't that wrong about it. "I bet we could even find our hotel," he teased her.

"Well if we had visited the tower this noon, I would have found our hotel, of course," Cal replied, reading between the lines. She didn't find the hotel earlier that day, but Horatio had invited her for dinner nevertheless.

"Maybe next time," he smiled down at her and noticed that she shivered slightly. "Cold?" He asked concerned and without thinking about the consequences he wrapped his arms around her. It was a bit windy in the height of 270 metres and Calleigh only wore a light jacket.

"Not anymore," she sighed and snuggled closer into his embrace. There was a heat radiating from him, that was uncommon, but she relished the feeling of his warmth surrounding her. She felt secured and protected; two things she needed from a man.

"Then I'm happy," Horatio replied softly and in fact he was happy. Standing here on one of the most famous monuments on earth, at night, with a wonderful woman in his arms, was more than he had ever hoped for when he had agreed to take part at the conference.

"Mhmm," Calleigh mumbled and smiled when she felt him nuzzling her hair. Looking up and noticing how close they actually were, she realized that they both got caught in their own little game. Though, deep down inside of her, she knew it wasn't a game at all.

Looking down at her, Horatio hesitated. Normally he was the type of guy who needed some kind of foreplay, where he would get to know the woman, ask her out for a date or two, but with Calleigh it was completely different. He was head over heels for her and that scared him a bit. He just knew her for some hours and yet he already knew that he wanted to spend as much as time with her as it was possible, even forever if there was a chance. And that scared him even more.

Sensing his anxiety, Calleigh opened her mouth, "Horatio, I'm-" but got interrupted by his finger on her lips.

Shaking his head, Horatio didn't want to hear it. He wanted to take his chance, even if it wasn't for forever. He didn't care. He wanted to enjoy this moment, make it special and that he did. Leaning down, he captured her lips with his own and showed her how much she meant to him under the night sky.


And a million stars were glowing

When she woke up in her bed, she did it with a broad smile. "This was one hell of a dream," she giggled and froze when she heard a deep, rumbling voice next to her.

"What's so funny?"

No dream. Reality. Turning around, she looked right into one of the most impressive pair of blue eyes she had ever seen before, which were twinkling with amusement. "I thought it was a dream," she answered him honestly, since she didn't know what else to say.

"I guess, I'm still dreaming," he whispered and wrapped his arm around her waist. "Do you want it to be a dream?" "Would you prefer it would have never happened?"

"No! No, never...," she quickly shook her head. "I just...uhm.."

"You just what, Cal?" He asked, amused about her stuttering.

"I was just thinking, about...I mean this is Paris and you live in Miami..I in New Orleans and..," she babbled away.

He watched her intently, while she talked about them and then just said, "Come with me to Miami."

Wide-eyed she looked at him. "What?"

"Come with me," he repeated and was interrupted by her.

"But how? I mean...I..I have a job in New Orleans and we only know each other for..what? 20 hours?"

He knew that it was ridiculous, risky and most of all crazy. But he was in love and when you were in love, you didn't care about what your mind was telling you. Once in a lifetime, he wanted to follow his heart, throw caution to the wind and do something for himself. "I guess it's only...18 hours," he smiled at her, "but I don't care. I'm offering you a job. In Miami. In my lab," he continued.

"But-"

"And I'm offering you something, that I haven't offered someone for a long time. Myself."

Surprised was an understatement of what Calleigh felt. She needed more than a moment to register his words, to find the hidden meaning behind them. Horatio, a complete stranger in a way, offered her a new job, a new city, a new life and though she should feel scared about it, she didn't. Not for a second. "Let me tell you my answer."

And I looked round for a telephone
To say
Baby I won't be home
I was lost in France in love.

The End