Golden Eagle

Chapter I:

Welcome to Paris

Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, France - 10:25 a.m.

Alicia pulled her suitcase along behind her as she looked through the crowded airport for her father. She nervously squeezed the strap of her backpack as she searched for him. Then there it was. Within the ocean of people, a sign was held that read ALICIA MOIRA BLAISE in big bold letters. Alicia looked up to see her father holding out and she happily ran to him. Grant held his arms out wide and hugged her.

"Papa!" she exclaimed.

"Hey, Ali, how was the flight? Were you okay on your own?" he asked "You landed late,"

"It was fine. I slept through half of it," Alicia said.

"Well, we better get you and your stuff home," Grant said and he picked up her suitcase.

They walked out of the airport and into the car park where he loaded his daughter's bags into the back of his car.

Alicia sat in the front passenger's seat as her father drove them through the streets of Paris. She held her backpack in her lap with the parting present from her mother still inside. Grant looked over at his daughter from the corner of his eye.

"So... how's your brother?" he asked.

"Kier's good. He's annoying but he's good," Alicia said and she looked forward.

"Good..."

This was awkward. Normally, Grant would only see his kids a few weeks out of the year since they lived in two different countries. He hadn't lived with either of them full-time for 5 years. And his daughter had turned 15 earlier that month so he'd be living with a teenager now.

"How's work?" Alicia asked.

"It's going well. The blog's getting more and more followers by the day and I've got an interview with Gabriel Agreste, the no. 1 fashion designer in Paris coming up soon," Grant answered "Oh, and there's a late birthday present for you at the loft,"

"What is it?" Alicia asked.

"You'll have to wait and see," he said "But I think you'll like it, you'll definitely need it living in Paris,"

Another awkward silence and Alicia leaned against the window. To be honest, she was completely terrified of her new environment. Yes, she could speak French fluently but she wasn't all that great at reading or writing in it. What if her new classmates made fun of her? She hadn't spent a lot of time at her father's place since he normally went to New York to see them. What if she couldn't get used to it? What if-

"Ali? Are you okay?"

Grant's voice cut through her panic and she looked at him with big teary eyes. He sighed, reached over and ruffled her dark brown hair.

"You still have panic attacks?" he said but she remained silent "It's okay, Ali, your mum got everything sorted out for you before you came. The local branch of your pharmacy have your prescription for anxiety meditation and we've researched a good therapist here in Paris if you need it. Everything's fine, okay?"

"Hm..."

"C'moooon... let me see my smiling girl!" Grant chuckled.

Alicia let herself give a tiny smile and her father smiled back at her. She held her backpack close to herself and she looked out at the city beyond the car window.

Alicia remained silent for the rest of the drive with her hood pulled over her head. She remained like this all the way until they'd reached the front door of Grant's loft. As her father struggled to find the front door key, she just stood there with her backpack over her shoulder and her suitcase stood beside her. Grant dropped his keys so he had to start trying to figure them out from the beginning. Alicia took out a pack of bubblegum and put a strawberry flavoured strip in her mouth to chew.

"Locked yourself out again, Mr. Blaise?"

Alicia looked up to see a woman poking her head out of her front door. She was young and beautiful with strawberry blonde hair.

"Yeah, I'm so forgetful," Grant said "Oh, uh, this is my daughter, Alicia. Alicia this is my neighbour, Miss Forrester,"

"It's nice to meet you, Alicia," Miss Forrester said and she held her hand out to her.

Alicia shied away from her and hid behind her father.

"She's... shy," Grant explained.

As he continued chatting to his neighbour, Alicia knelt down in front of the lock and took out a small kit of lock picks from her backpack. She slid two into the keyhole and as she blew another bubble out of her gum, the lock popped open.

"Um... Mr. Blaise? Alicia... just picked the lock to your apartment," Miss Forrester pointed out.

Grant looked down to see his daughter putting away her lock picks and she stood up. He tried the door handle and it opened up with ease.

"Since when could you pick locks, Ali?" he asked.

Alicia didn't answer but grabbed hold of her stuff and walked in. Grant said goodbye to his neighbour and followed after her.

The place was nice. It was an open plan with a glass front wall that had a beautiful view of the Eiffel Tower. Standing against the back of the sofa was a large box wrapped in blue paper with Happy Birthday, Ali written on it in gold letters. Grant closed the door and took her bags from her.

"Go ahead and open it. It's yours anyway," he said "I'll just put these in your room,"

Alicia dropped her backpack on the floor and approached the large box. She ripped from the corner to reveal a picture of an electric scooter on the front. Excited, she pulled the box onto the floor and pushed the last of the paper away from the lid. If only she could read French, then she'd definitely know what she was looking at. Alicia opened the box and flicked the lid open to reveal the parts for an electric scooter. Grant came jogging back into the room to see his daughter kneeling on the floor, gazing down at the parts.

"Do you like it? You can use it to get around the city easier," he said "I tried to get the best one that I could and-"

He was interrupted by Alicia getting up and hugging him.

"Thank you, Papa!" she said.

"Hey, anything for my dear-girl's 15th birthday," Grant said "But, we'll have to assemble it. Sorry,"

"I don't mind. I like that sorta thing," Alicia said and she smiled up at him.

Grant smiled down at her. She was such a shy and anxious thing that seeing such a joyful grin from her was heartwarming.

"Okay, it is currently 11 a.m. Paris time and New York is 6 hours behind so... why don't you go call your Mum and wake her up," he said "I'll get started on trying to assemble your scooter and you take a nap to help fend off jet-lag,"

Alicia nodded and picked her backpack back up. She scampered away from him and up the spiral staircase to the second floor and away to her room. Grant watched her before turning to look at the disassembled electric scooter. Maybe he should have had the guy at the store assemble it for them...

Alicia looked around her bedroom. It was a plain cream colour with an ensuite bathroom and built-in wardrobe. Her suitcase was stood by the bed and she slowly sat on the edge of the mattress. She took off her hoodie and discarded it before she unzipped her backpack and emptied its contents. There was her sketchbook, pencil case, parting gift from her mother, her lock picks, school handbook, her glasses, her contact lenses and the mobile phone her parents got her with international coverage.

Alicia crossed her legs in the middle of her bed and opened the phone case. The lock-screen image of her mother appeared and she swiped her finger in the correct pattern over the nine dots to unlock it. There were two clocks on the homepage; one gave the time in Paris and the other gave the time in New York. Alicia went to contacts and hugged her knees as the phone rang.

"Ali! How was your flight? I was so worried about you travelling alone that I couldn't sleep!" Bridget exclaimed.

"The flight was fine, Mum, long but fine. Papa got me an electric scooter for my birthday to get around on," Alicia said "How's Kier?"

"Jealous that his big sister got to live with your papa and not him. Is living in New York that bad? I'm starting to feel rejected," Bridget joked "Oh! Have you opened your present from me yet?"

"Not yet. I was gonna take a nap 'cause of jet-lag and I've gotta unpack so..."

"It's okay, Ali. But be careful. What's inside is very... unique," Bridget warned.

"Okay, Mum," Alicia said, yawning and she hung up.

With closing eyes, she closed the phone case and put it on her bedside table. In lazy, clumsy movements, she went into the bathroom to remove her contact lenses. To be totally honest, Alicia hated contact lenses but her former classmates had made fun of her for her poor eyesight. Squinting, she went back into her bedroom and collapsed onto the bed covers.

The Blaise Loft - 2:34 p.m.

Grumbling, Alicia sat up on her bed and looked around. For a moment, she was panicked until she remembered she had moved in with her father and things were blurry because she wasn't wearing her glasses. She felt around the bedside table until she found the case and she put her thick-framed glasses on.

"Hey, Ali?! You awake yet?!" Grant called.

Alicia got up and walked out of her bedroom. She looked down from the second floor and saw her father in the kitchen area. The electric scooter was still disassembled but it's parts were now spread across the floor.

"You tried to put the scooter together?" Alicia asked, leaning against the railing.

"Yeah... I probably should've had the kid at the store assemble it," Grant said "I'm sorry, sweetie, your first day in Paris and it smells like motor oil,"

"It's okay, Papa, I like doing stuff like this," she said.

Alicia jogged down the spiral staircase and knelt down among the scooter parts. As she read over the English instructions, Grant began preparing them a late lunch. He watched in amazement as his daughter began putting the pieces together and it began looking more and more correctly assembled. The parts he hadn't been able to figure out were easy for Alicia as she put each and every single piece into place.

"Wow, Ali, you're really are good at that," Grant complimented "But, take a break, food's ready,"

Alicia put the battery pack she was holding down and got up to sit at the breakfast bar. Grant looked at the immense amount of progress she had made on the electric scooter and thought about how she had effortlessly picked the lock on the front door. He had no idea she was so handy but he was sure he'd learn more about his daughter in the near future.