Only You Have The Key
It was a bright afternoon, clear blue sky and a warm breeze playing through the streets of Paris. It was a busy weekend afternoon in the city of love, and an unremarkable couple walks down the street, stopping causally to stare through the windows of shops, look at sidewalk menus of little cafes. A tall, older looking man with short brown hair and laugh lines deep around his eyes held the hand of a much shorter man with spiky, short black hair and big brown eyes. The taller man looked at the shorter one with passing interest, looking ahead more towards the next stop to see, brochures clutched in his other hand. The shorter man was nearly bouncing on the balls of his feet pointing at this sign and animatedly asking questions and gesturing.
Michael Novotny couldn't imagine a more romantic, exciting vacation in his entire life. To Paris, with his wonderful, loving boyfriend. They saw the Eiffel Tower, dined at restaurants where David had to do all the translating, stayed in fancy hotels and quaint little inns where David proceeded to seduce him in the same language. It was a every gay man's fantasy of a trip. A romantic whirlwind adventure made just for two lovers. Michael never wanted to leave, and had to admit that he could easily get used to a lifestyle like this.
It wasn't hard to imagine that he could get used to vacations abroad or having a little villa of his own somewhere. He loved the idea (even though he'd never tell anyone) that he could be treated to such nice things in life. It was easy to fall in love with the idea of not working as hard, or stressing as much about money, or easily affording a getaway like this and not worrying about the bill afterward. Anyone could love an idea. The nice clothes, the best wines, David's talents in picking out the best of everything just for him. He felt loved, taken care of. He regretted putting up such a stupid fight over it.
Still, though, at times when they had the most picturesque views from a balcony, or the lights in the city lighting up just as dusk rolled around... he thought of home. His life, his friends and family. He was getting a little homesick, but had no urge to ruin the trip. David had been so understanding about his nervousness being so far away and so reassuring about how he handled himself when he practiced a few easy phrases on the plane ride and in the hotel room. He gladly took Michael to all the touristy sights he'd probably seen a million times before.
What surprised him the most was when they woke up later afternoon, Michael curled around David's fit form, when David had an idea.
"It's cheesy," he admitted, getting dressed after his show. Michael was perched on the edge of the bed, watching his boyfriend dress. "But I want to take you there. We have to stop at a store first, though. Real quick, then we can do whatever."
"But what is it?" Michael asked, stretching as he got up from the bed. He started digging into his suitcase for his outfit for the day. Tons of new brand name clothes filled the brand new luggage. All from David.
"You'll see," David promised, grabbing Michael's cheeks and kissing him quickly. "You'll love it."
After dressing, David had dragged Michael over to a hardware store and purchased a padlock and a marker. They hopped on the metro right after and Michael found that, according to the sign, they had arrived at Maubert-Mutualite station. He was completely clueless as to where they were and where they were going. This was very unlike David in the most obvious ways. He was methodical and usually had things planned down to the last detail. Random excursions weren't something Michael would've thought David capable of, in all honesty. It was refreshing.
That wore off as they wandered, seemingly aimless, through the streets. Traffic was heavy and the roads were narrow, leaving Michael with very little safety about them traveling by foot, but David was persistent. He had a goal, and he intended to achieve it.
Michael asked where they were going, but David wouldn't tell. It wasn't as though Michael would've known anyway. David pushed on, holding onto Michael's hand during their trip. Eventually, they had seemingly come to the end of their trip. A narrow road bridge was where they stopped, traffic cautious and just enough room to squeeze by (but not enough to Michael any feeling of security). They found a few other people hovering around on the bridge.
Confused, he followed David carefully across it and noticed that the sides of the bridge were all covered in locks. Some decorated, some simple. Almost all had pairs of names, many with other things written on them, a lot in different languages. When they found a spot where they might be able to fit their lock on, David finally stopped and uncapped the marker after opening the padlock he had bought.
"What is this?" Michael asked, not quite sure what it all meant. An art installation, maybe? It was France.
David talked around the marker cap in his mouth. "This is the Pont de l'Archeveche. A small bridge."
"Why did we come all this way to a bridge?"
After finishing his writing on the lock and capping the marker to put away, David spoke, "This is a bridge where lovers come." He showed Michael the lock with their names on it. "You write your names on the lock and lock it to the bridge."
David proceeded to do just that and then dangled the little keys off his finger to show Michael. He placed the keys in Michael's hand. "And then you take the keys and throw them off the bridge and into the water."
Michael tried to process this. "But... why?"
"It's to remember this moment in your life forever. No matter what happens after this, this is what happened, where we are in life... and hopefully it doesn't change, but if it does, I don't regret it," David smiled. "And that's what this is. It can be for anyone, really. Friends, family and lovers."
"Really?" Michael asked, a bit more interested. "Even friends? That seems very different."
David nodded. "Yeah. I don't know all the rules, I only know that it started one day. It's just... nice. A nice idea. Hopeful."
Michael could agree with that. Maybe one day he could come back here. He assumed it was better to have the other person with you. Brian would probably think it ridiculous and refuse, though. "Can we get a few more? They would make really cool pictures, I think. If I did some for family and friends." No way Brian would ever agree.
Too thrilled with himself and this idea, David agreed. "Sure. After some lunch. Now, throw the keys over!"
Obeying, Michael tossed the keys up and over the side of the bridge and couldn't even pretend to hear a splash below. David wrapped his arms around Michael, completely happy in this moment. Michael kissed the other man as they stood for a moment, admiring their work and snapping a quick picture before going off to lunch.
Their vacation seemed over too soon, David napping quietly on the plane ride home. Michael was flipping through a magazine. It would take him forever to sleep on a plane. Far below, they were leaving behind a small bridge, with a very happy moment in time. Romantic, even for a trip to Paris.
Hanging off the Pont de l'Archeveche, separated from where Michael had hung other locks with names of his family and friends was one with his name and Brian's. Michael hadn't tossed the keys to this one. They were safely tucked in an inside pocket of his suitcase, waiting to be handed over to the other person who was on the lock, in hope that maybe one day, they would come and Brian would be the one to throw the keys.