Title: Just a scarf
Category: Movies » Inception
Author: Paperairplan-e
Language: English, Rating: Rated: T
Genre: Romance/Angst
Chapter 1: Chapter 1
Just a scarf
by paperairplan-e
Chapter one
"But can I take you out for coffee or lunch?"
Summary: It all began in a shop. The shop she worked at. A strange meeting occurred and made her life stumble back to adventure. A new connection to the dream world was born.
Pairing: Mostly to be Ariadne/Arthur. But there shall be, inevitably, Ariadne/Robert Fisher Jr.
Rating: T
A/N: Hello my darlings!
I have finally decided to reupload this story I published on October 2011 initially. See as to how I had very poor time for myself during that blasted year in med school, I stopped at chapter 5 and never worked on it ever since.
I think it's about time this story is corrected (grammatically and plot-wise) and continued since a lot of people have emailed me, asking if I would ever bother giving this a shot again.
Here you are with the first chapter!
Hoping new readers and my current readers would be interested,
Paperairplan-e
P.S. Reviews keep me motivated :)
Through a rectangular frame stared a set of bright brown eyes full of curiosity which reflected deep thoughts, mostly complex to the common human mind. But according to her face, it seemed more like she was dreaming profoundly. What type of inspiration had geniuses of the past have to have been able offer us such astonishing structures? The question runs in her mind endlessly. Thoughts of different hypothesis concerning ancient architectural inspiration flooded her mind as she let her head drop lifelessly on her pale palms while her elbows settled down on the lower border of the window frame. A rather heavy sigh escaped her matte, cherry tinted lips and was quickly followed by what most people would certainly call "the tilt your head mechanically out of desperation" comical gesture. It has been six months since my greatest creations. It has been six months since Robert Fischer Junior. It has been six months since the "dream team". Another loud sigh was dragged out by her endless thinking.
She felt a sudden tap on her shoulder which almost made her jump to the ceiling, she caught her breath and released a gasp. The daydreamer turned her head to a low voice calling out to her.
"Ariadne." Once. "Ariadne." Twice. But the shocked expression laid still on her face. "Ariadne! There's a client waiting in front of you. Staring at you." The whisper was quick and worried. Hearing those words made Ariadne's jaw instinctively drop as she turned to the left, then to the right, with nothing but broken sounds jumping out of her mouth in an attempt to speak and divert the client's attention away from her burning coral cheeks. A small chuckle was heard from the client, whose blue orbs met her brown ones, provoking a new shocked expression on the architect's small face. Oh no. She thought repeating those two words like a broken record. She exhaled and regained her normal composure. I don't know the man, I never met him,was her last thought before jumping into the dark pit.
"So can I help you Sir?" Ariadne's voice was obviously swimming in discomfort, yet she tried her best to put on her best poker face. A lesson learnt from a close friend.
The blue eyed man brushed a few brown locks away from his forehead and quickly fixed his tie before answering her.
"I'm looking for a scarf for my niece's birthday. She's turning seven." The girl nodded and moved away from the counter and asked him to follow her to the children's aisle. While walking she couldn't help but break the silence between them.
"Does she have any preferences in color and texture?" The young Architect turned around and to face the man as her hands stayed within the scarves which were neatly hung.
At the end of her question, her brows lifted themselves, wrinkling her forehead and slowly drawing the typical questioning look only a sale's lady would originally come up with. His pale blue orbs dove into hers, analyzing each line and detail upon her. Large brown eyes surrounded by thick dark lashes, pale skin, flushed cheeks, dark chocolate locks and all in all... Petite. It was all déjà vu and it came to the point where his thoughts made it seem unbearably disturbing. Ariadne felt intimidated, threatened and as she came to the verge of exaggeration, assaulted by such lovely eyes.
"Sir? Excuse me, are you alright?" She said tilting her head.
Even her voice made him think, drift away to his thoughts in search of her identity within his holed memory. The way she smoothly accentuates the "r"s in her words brought him to trance, the way her upper lips curved to form an arch as she prepared to mention the "r"s made him think. Ariadne repeated her question and this time the man snapped out of it and blurted out the word "neutrals" innocently. Neutrals. How depressing. Ariande told herself. The word itself brought a certain Point Man in mind. While the so called sales lady dug into the piles of scarves, the client thought carefully about where he has seen her. Her bare presence made him feel like he was living another adventure, maybe not the most enjoyable type, but it sent a thrill down his spine. Barely listening to the suggestions the little lady gave out concerning his niece's birthday present, he grabbed his chin and lowered his head to meet her eyes once again.
"Do-Do I know you Miss?" Planning to pull out a scarf, Ariadne brusquely paused herself and turned away from his eyes, pretending to observe aisle. I'm dead meat. The petite girl frowned and bit her lip gently.
A breathed laugh escaped Fischer Jr. "I'm sorry, I must sound extremely rude. But I'm sure I've met you somewhere before." Once he finished talking, once she was able to digest every word of his, she glared at him with round shocked eyes full of panic. Fischer Jr. massaged his temples hoping he hadn't made a great fool of himself. Ariadne managed to break a crooked smile and ended up releasing a small and short laugh.
"Well, maybe I've got one of those faces." She then handed him a lovely silk scarf. It was grey with pale pink borders and glitters on it. "It's one of the loveliest scarves in the shop. I mean, despite the small price." Another small sweet smile crumpled its way to her cheek.
Fischer Jr. flattened his grey Armani suit and swallowed before reaching out for the article. He was clearly pleased by the soft texture and hypnotizing color. Afterwards, they made their way back to the counter where he paid for it and where she packed it in a small paper bag finished by a yellow ribbon. The previous Mark checked his watch which displayed 11:55 am. He looked at her when she handed out the bag and tried holding his tongue from shooting out other words. But temptation eventually got to him.
"I know this must sound odd and sudden. But-", He swallowed before presuming. "But can I take you out for coffee or lunch? I mean, it's almost lunch time and..." Robert's lips hung open as he waited for a response.
Great, just my god damn luck. Ariadne told herself with the urge to roll eyes due to the irony. The Architect perfectly knew that by accepting she would risk everything she's earned by shutting her mouth for the past six months. Sadly, Ariadne's curious being was always, has always been and will always be God to her. Jesus, and how am I supposed to say no to this? If I say know he'll just keep on insisting. Heck, who knows if he'd even follow me. If I say yes... Arthur and Cobb, not to mention Saitou will willingly shoot me between the eyes. Reluctant, her tongue remained stuck. She couldn't control her thoughts, her questions and absolutely not her curious mind hence her reply.
"Sure." Robert gave her a sweet smile, making her heart skip a beat in the most frightening ways.
She grabbed her leather bag and told her colleague she was off to lunch. Fisher Jr. brought her to his vehicle which was neatly parked by the sidewalk, a few shops away from hers. As all gentlemen would do, he opened the door for her and asked her to get in. Ariadne swallowed before placing a foot inside, then another. Ariadne sat down and placed her bag on her lap, her heel continuously tapping down on the car's floor. Robert made his way around, shut his door and stuck his key in to awaken the slumbering engine.
After driving through Paris silently, in search of a good cafe, they finally started having a casual conversation which relieved the young lady. As they both sat at a small table, sipping their drinks, a full round of questions were fired at Ariadne.
"So, you're studying in Paris for an architecture degree. And you're Canadian. I mean, why Paris and not Canada? Was it for the standards?" The well-dressed man had just ask her every question possible during an employment interview: interests, nationality, origin, hometown, the diplomas she had or if she had any. Despite the unwanted questions, Ariadne wasn't surprised by them. As the heir of a multi-billionaire company, his conversation category on a daily basis shouldn't be different from the one they were having.
"You're making this conversation sound like some job interview in order to understand my CV." She let out a small giggle before sipping her hot chocolate.
Ariadne had to play the ordinary college girl to get rid of his suspicions. And the more she was willing to answer each of his questions, the less interested he'll be. It was all a matter of psychiatric analysis to get her out of this mess. Her raw comments made Robert stop talking and apologize for his boring ways. His lips stretched out to a grin, one she never saw, not even during the realization of his "errors" in life during Inception. How silly of her to think of such things, how was he supposed to smile during the job? After all, she and the others were destroying the man in the most illegal ways.
"I'm must be terrible boring. I asked you out for coffee and here I am absolutely not entertaining you." The smile slowly crept off his face, leaving his usual serious and innocent expression take over.
"No, it's not a problem at all. Honestly, rather this trivial conversation than my part time job behind the shop's counter." Ariadne's brief giggle gave birth to a sincere smile on Fischer's face. Ariadne thought about what she had just said and noticed how sad their true meanings were. Why had she taken a part time job after receiving her huge reward from the successful Inception? While she watched the man before her finish, her mind dragged her deeper in her thoughts. A part time job was the only way to keep her busy and not daydream about the dream world during her weekends and spare time. As passionate as she was for creation, Inception had found some way to drive her passion to obsession. She couldn't even remember if there was a time, during those empty six months, she did not crave for defying the laws of physics. And the fact she couldn't let go of it, frightened her to the point that she'd vomit while thinking about it. Finally, she snapped out of her deep thinking and told herself to concentrate on the Mark who was devouring her image with his questioning eyes. The sudden urge to verify if he had remembered where he had seen her took over her body. A simple question was enough to make her either feel sick or feel safe.
"So where exactly do you think you have seen me? I don't think you'd insist on taking me out for coffee if I were a complete stranger." Ariadne tried to keep her voice calm but unfortunately her voice just got louder and louder.
The man frowned and placed his fingers on his nose bridge, massaging it rhythmically. Robert tried remembering who she was. His memory started assembling small, vague pieces: everything was white. He remembered that day to be cold, a little too cold for the urban winter. The longer he thought about, the more his memory gained in accuracy.
"I-I don't know. All I know is that I saw you in a vast field of snow." Fischer swallowed hoping that his weird reply hadn't frightened her.
Ariadne's face became pale, paler than her usual complexion which made her look like she was about to throw up. Shit. Shit. Shit. Her lower lip hung, leaving her mouth open and swallowed just like Robert but raised her brows at the same time. She tried putting back the best poker face she could and broke out a shaky smile. Her hands were shaking weakly and she straightened herself up on the chair in an attempt to feel comfortable.
Robert noticed her paleness and reached out slowly for her shoulder. "Are you alright?" The young Architect flinched at his touch and nodded her head several times. Robert released her and pushed his hair back while sighing.
"I'm sorry. I surely frighten you. You don't even know me and here I am blasting questions at you." He looked down at his coffee mug and then reached his hand out to her in a very mechanical way. "I didn't even introduce myself. I'm Robert. Robert Fischer Jr."
Instinctively Ariadne took his hand and shook it and quickly released her small fingers from his grasp. "I-" Ariadne hesitated. "I-I'm Ariadne." Robert smiled and moved further back until her could feel his back on the dossier of the chair.
"You parents must have been fans of the Greek mythology." She smirked at Robert's comment, it was a typical one she'd hear each time she'd meet new people. As Fischer continued sipping his coffee, she looked beyond his shoulder and saw a familiar figure. Her brows knitted themselves together at the top of her nose bridge and narrowed her eyes.
All she saw was a three piece suite in brown and beige, chocolate brown cigarette pants, a long, open black vest over a pair of broad shoulders, black shining shoes and perfectly slicked back hair. He headed towards them with his hands in pocket and wore a serious face. The Point Man was headed towards her. Towards them.
Her eyes popped round and her entire body froze. Arthur's going to kill me. Ariadne watched Arthur come closer despite telling herself she had to move before he saw she was with Robert Fischer Jr., the man they performed Inception on.
"Look Mr. Fischer." The blue eyed man watched her stand up.
"Call me Robert." Ariadne sighed.
"Robert, I have to go." But she was too late: Arthur had arrived right in front of their table. She grabbed her bag without diverting her eyes from the Point Man.
"Ariadne." She felt her knees melt as Arthur said her name, it sounded perfect and scary all in one.
"I need to talk to you." Arthur grabbed her wrist gently and began pulling her away from the table, Robert quickly got on his feet obviously confused. Before Fischer Jr. could say anything Arthur picked up the pace and began walking fast.
"I'm sorry!" Ariadne exclaimed, apologetic eyes staring at Fisher. Robert wanted to run after her but instead shouted a question he hoped she'd hear.
"Am I going to see you again?" But the only reply he got was a glance from her lovely brown orbs over her shoulder.
Arthur's grip tightened on her small wrist, she look at his face: it was calm. But she could feel the panic though his iron grasp.
"Arthur." He didn't stop and consider her call. "Arthur?" He didn't slow his pace down. "Arthur!" Ariadne yanked her wrist out of his and stood straight beside him, waiting for his eyes to acknowledge her presence once again.
"Ariadne." She bit her lip at the sound of her name. Arthur slightly lowered himself and said "What in Christ's name did you not understand six months ago when I said "Lay low." right before leaving you in the airport?" The Point Man was losing his cool and the Architect didn't know how to handle his question. Broken breathes escaped her lips, she tried speaking but it seemed like it was clearly of no use. Arthur shrugged while Ariadne avoided his eyes. Suddenly his voice was gently and warm.
"Come with me. Let's talk at my place."
She felt tears accumulate in her lower eye lids; Ariadne nodded and took his hand. She needed to feel safe. Arthur felt her palm against his and understood that right now, lecturing wasn't what she needed. He responded to her touch by a quick squeeze and pulled her gently with him as they walked in the streets of Paris.