This wasn't supposed to be its own chapter but it wrote itself with the natural ending...
"Kate,"
"Yes, dear." She says, nearly sardonic,
"I'm hungry. Are you hungry?" Nine year old...she swears.
Kate checks her watch and finds it nearing two o'clock. "Yeah, we should probably eat. Didn't you say you found a place you wanted to try?"
"Yes! It's in the Fourteenth so it's in the complete opposite direction but it's not too far from the last place on your list."
"We've got all day." Kate takes his hand and easily falls back into the rhythm they'd created on the metro.
/
"I went here last time I was in Paris. You're in for a serious treat." Rick said, holding the door for her,
Even though the quick Google search she'd done on the metro said to prepare for a wait, they were seated quickly.
The place was nearly claustrophobic but she enjoyed the view into the kitchen and the ambience it provided.
"What do you normally get here?" Kate asked, an overhead lamp lighting her menu as she tried to pick through the French she knew.
"The La Biche is their specialty and what I always got." He points over to where it is on her menu, "That's amazing and so are the sweet crepes. I'll have to find it on here because I don't remember what it's called but I got one last time that had honey, lemon and some sort of salted caramel sauce. And of course, everything's drenched in butter. I mean, Kate, this is about as good as it gets on the crepe front."
"Oh my goodness, that sounds so good." Kate's eyes go temporarily wide as she imagines the delectable dessert,
"Oh, you know what else is really good? The pear cider; we should get some."
"Is it like apple cider or is there alcohol in it?"
"It's not gonna make us pass out on the metro if that's what you're asking." She cocked her head, "Fine. It's about the same as a regular beer."
"Now, was that so hard?"
"Yeah, it actually was."
"I'm sure your teachers had fun with you. I bet," Kate sets down her menu and leans forward, her chin resting in her hand, elbows propped up on the tiny table, "you were on ADHD meds as a kid, weren't you?"
"Ouch, Detective."
"Well?"
"You're not wrong." Rick capitulates, still keeping her gaze.
"Bonjour! Je suis Michel, ca va?" A lanky but enthusiastic waiter greets them,
"Ca va bien, et toi?" Kate replied politely to his standard question of how they were doing,
They similarly ordered the La Biche, a savory crepe with goat and goat cheese drizzled with honey, and the pear cider Rick had recommended.
"Un moment, s'il vous plait." Michel said, and Kate could see him sliding their ticket into the holder in the open kitchen, then returning with their pitcher and pouring two glasses.
Rick took a sip and exhaled like he was drinking a soda, "Try it, it's refreshing."
"It's clean. A lot like a green apple." Kate chuckles, taking another side of the pale green liquid,
"See, I told you. I won't steer you wrong. Better yet, I still have a few tricks up my sleeve." Rick intoned,
"Castle, these crepes better hold up or I'm holding you personally responsible." Kate chuckles, tucking her napkin in her lap.
"Trust me, they will. I know the street's called Montparnasse but they should really rename it to Crepe Street with all the creperies around here."
"I'm just messing with you. Put anything in a thin pancake and soak it in butter and it'll defy most expectations."
"After we go to the last shop, we should get something sweet. There's all these patisseries and chocolatiers around here that are absolutely divine."
"I'm not gonna be able to fit any of those clothes I just bought by the end of this trip, will I?"
Rick shrugged animatedly, "There's only so much you can get past Customs."
"I'm thinking maybe I should teach you on a digital camera first. At least those you can edit!"
"Oh, come on, like you need editing."
"Well, I might if we keep gallivanting to all of Paris' best and brightest foodie minds."
"I'm sure you can work your magic."
"You and magic again. As much as I would like magic to be real, Peter Pan, we can't just say 'abracadabra' and make things we don't like go away. Trust me, I'd be a frequent user."
"Maybe this will make you feel better: Abracadabra is actually from the Biblical Aramaic phrase, 'Avra kehdabra' which literally means, 'I will create as I speak.'"
"That's actually really beautiful. I do feel better." Kate smiles up to him, embracing the warmth she so often sought from him and he so often gave. "Maybe I shouldn't be so hard on magic. I get to capture at least a little bit."
"That's more like it. I read somewhere that a memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you want to replay over and over again. That a picture is like a memory on paper."
"Very true." Kate agreed, loving his fresh perspective on her hobby. "Cameras are definitely powerful. But I think there's something to be said for words and writing. Some of the most powerful lessons and stories I've experienced were told through someone else's words."
"Literature allows people to belong. I'm not calling myself high-class literature, I know it's not, but it gets to be an escape mechanism. There's downfalls too, we're not going to figure out what the best creative medium is sitting here. Did you know that words are formed and comprehended in two very small places near each other in the brain? They consume our life yet we assume that they adequately could properly explain or describe our lives. It's really mind-boggling if you think about it."
Kate loved when his ideas coalesced in these philosophical moments, she could truly see his writer's mind at work and basked in that experience. "But that escapism you were talking about, that's why I like photography; you don't have to speak or read the same language as someone else. It's a visual story that connects everyone."
"A visual story; I like that."
"And I like that too." Kate pointed to their approaching waiter,
"Bon Appetit." Michel set down their plates with a smile, turning back to the hustle and bustle of the kitchen.
Crepes are not the most visually appealing food in the world but it certainly may rank on the top twenty list when it comes to taste.
"I've known savory crepes were popular and part of French culture but I've never understood it until just now."
They both turned at the sound of pots banging and clanging, falling to the ground. And then some extremely angry voices and repetitions of the only French curse she knew.
Kate's seat allowed for a full view into the small space with Rick opposite her, his back towards it all. "They're really going at it." She whispered,
"I think the Italians win the 'most passionate' trophy but the French probably take home second place."
"You may be right. The other guy's giving it right back. How do I explain this to Lanie tonight? A live taping of Hell's Kitchen?" A plate may have shattered over her words,
"Totally appropriate." He chuckled, "You know, it's always been some strange SNL-backslash-game show dream to watch an insult battle between Gordon Ramsey and Simon Cowell."
"I might have a homicide on my hands if that ever happens. At the very least a mental breakdown."
"That's why it would be more fun!" Rick's whole face lit up at the possibility. Writers, she internally shook her head.
"Castle, people are either two things in my world; people that make my life easier and people that make my life harder and trust me, you do not want to be the guy that makes my life harder."
"Why do I have a feeling you've said that more than once?"
"Because I have, and it's true."
Michel appears once more with their dessert crepes, the honey, lemon and caramel confection Rick teased her with earlier, "Je m'excuse pour l'attente." He eyed back towards the two chefs still causing chaos in the kitchen, apologizing for the wait.
"C'est bon, it's ok." Kate tries to make the twentysomething lose the panicked look on his face,
"Absence does make the heart grow fonder." Rick exaggerates, after taking a bite of his delicious dessert.
"Watch, we're gonna get back home and be so disappointed with our food options. It's not like we can call takeout."
"That's why we have to come back." Rick says, nonchalantly.
"We have to come back? That assumes I would?"
"I thought I said this last night; I seem to have a good track record with you, one I don't anticipate ending anytime soon." He reached the short distance to take her hand in his and revel in the quiet intimacy they created amongst the commotion around them.
"I didn't say no, I just proposed an assumption."
"Uh, huh." Rick hummed, drinking the last of his pear cider.