So, another character enters the story and something important happens in Paris. I don't own Jimmy.
Memories of Paris
The airplane was quite small. She took a deep breath trying to settle her nerves. Sure, she was a lot better than she used to be. But take-off and landing still were very unsettling.
As though Thea could read her mind she sat across the row from her grinning. "Still afraid of flying I see."
"I am not afraid," she argued.
The plane began to shake as it sped up and Cindy gripped the arm of her chair tightly.
"Sure you're not," her words were dripping with sarcasm.
"I can control it."
Her stomach lurched as the wheels left the ground. Her grip was so tight her knuckles were white and Thea was laughing at her.
After what seemed like an eternity they were stable in the air. Thea was grinning from ear to ear. "Well that was entertaining. But I'm going to sleep now. You should too. We have a long journey ahead of us.
"Of course," she answered.
Thea put on a large pair of headphones and leaned back on her chair.
She fumed. If Jimmy was still alive when she found him she was going to kill him. She reached into her own bag and found out some NyQuil pills. She swallowed them and rested back in her chair.
She was in Paris. The noises of cars and people filled the street. She was speechless.
"So, what do you think?" Jimmy asked nervously. "Cindy? You've been staring at me for the last ten minutes. Are you all right? I really thought this was a good idea. I know how hard you worked on your finals. I thought you'd like it."
She took his hand and hers and squeezed it tightly. The familiar warmth spread from her fingers to her toes. "It's amazing."
He grinned squeezed her hand back. "I'm glad. I've been planning for months."
"I knew you were up to something!"
"You are always so perceptive, Vortex."
"You bet your sorry ass I am," she teased back.
"So, what should we do first?"
"I know!"
They ate lunch at Tuileries Garden on a blanket. Giggling and flirting causing some of the other people to stare. They went to the Louvre and even went to the top of the Eiffel Tower and shared a kiss. It had all been so breathtaking.
They had breakfast sitting on the veranda overlooking the Seine. She was in Jimmy's t-shirt and a pair of her favorite comfy pajama bottoms. After breakfast, Jimmy leaning across the table to claim her mouth for his passionately, unable to stop grinning as she dragged him back by his collar into their room.
They saw Notre Dame, they made love routinely, they fought and they giggled. It had been the best vacation she ever had.
The last morning she woke up to see Jimmy was smiling down at her. His hair was messy like it always was in the morning. He brushed a loose bang from her face.
"Jimmy," she whispered quietly. "I don't want to leave."
"I don't either."
"Let's not ever leave."
"Agreed," she answered. She buried her face in his chest and listened to his heartbeat.
"Hey, Cindy?" She was too lost in her thoughts to notice the way his voice trembled.
"Mhm?"
"I love you," he whispered into her hair. He'd said it a few times before, but never so seriously. So quietly like all the world would fall apart if he had said it any louder.
"I know."
"No, Cindy I don't think you do," he said as he stood up.
She raised an eyebrow quizzically. He walked to his suitcase and dug around in it for a while. Then he came to her side of the bed.
"Jimmy, what are you doing?"
He turned bright red as he took her hand in his and knelt on one knee. By this time Cindy was nearly hyperventilating. He produced a small box with a pearl ring in it.
"Cynthia, will you," but he could not finish whatever dumb speech he had prepared for she had thrown herself on top of him and involved his lips with a crushing kiss. After a few moments she started to laugh. She finally pulled away to give him his answer.
"Of course I will you dumb ass," she whispered then grabbed his hand and pulled him up onto the bed. Not giving a damn that check out was in half an hour.
On the flight home she had hardly been able to think straight. She loved the way the ring glimmered on her finger. She hadn't stopped grinning since that moment he had put it on. She swore that she was glowing from the sheer happiness.
"How long have you been planning this?"
"Since last fall," he replied honestly.
"Oh, Jimmy," she answered, squeezing his hand tightly.
"I was originally planning to just ask at Christmas, but Libby convinced me I should do something really special."
"Oh Libby was always such a romantic. I would've said yes even if you'd asked me in Antarctica."
"That's a comfort," he laughed.
"I just meant it didn't really matter when or how. It just mattered WHO was asking," she sent him a playful wink and he reddened. She grinned. She loved that she could still embarrass him. She loved him.
"Vortex?"
"Yes?"
"Vortex!" He exclaimed loudly.
"What?"
But that wasn't his voice. It was too shrill.
"Vortex, get up!" Cindy's eyes opened to see Thea scowling down at her. "It's about time! I've been trying to get you up for the past ten minutes!"
"Sorry," she replied. But really she wasn't sorry at all. It had been a wonderful memory and she had been sorry to leave it. She looked at her ring finger and her heart ached to see the emptiness of it. She imagined the beautiful ring back on her finger for a moment. She allowed herself two moments of weakness, then shook the memories from her head and grabbed her backpack and followed Thea off the plane.
Outside waiting for them were an entire group of people and in the front was a tall black woman. She advanced forward and embraced Thea warmly. She smiled at Cindy too.
"Welcome to Paris, ladies! I am Andromeda Malet and I am the head of the French division of the BTSO."
-x-
