Disclaimer: Sigh…Sadly, I do not own the characters of The Pretender. I in no way wish to defame any of its affiliates nor NBC or TNT. I know very little about France and have never been there. My knowledge of the French language is limited. I do not mean to offend anyone who is French or any establishment called the Claudette Hotel, if there is one. That's it.Read it now!
Summary: Clues to the past bring Ms. Parker and Jarod back together again. Very involved in IOTH, but you can understand it without having seen it. Ties up most story lines. Mostly from Ms. Parker's point of view. Chapters are short.
The Truth Is Waiting
By Bec-Bec
Chapter 12
Crazy Cab Drivers in France
The hotel that Jarod and Ms. Parker stayed at was in Harfleur, a city on the Normandy coastline.
When they arrived in France, they were greeted by a man named Henri, a friend of Jarod's from one of his pretends. Henri's son had been kidnapped and Jarod had found him. Henri was eternally grateful and wanted to help in any way he could. When Jarod had phoned to say that he was coming, Henri had reserved the best room in the hotel for him. Henri, however, was not expecting Ms. Parker, needless to say that Ms. Parker was not expecting Henri.
As Henri bumbled trying to help gather their luggage, Ms. Parker became slightly annoyed at his absentmindedness. She started to think that perhaps Henri's son had not been kidnapped but that Henri had lost him and then believed he had been kidnapped. To top it off, they got lost inside Orly airport, in Paris, for nearly fifteen minutes because Henri refused to follow the signs.
Finally, they got outside of the airport and began to walk to Henri's car. Ms. Parker sincerelly hoped that he had not forgotten where he had parked. She was very tired and was getting into a bad mood.
"So, Mademoiselle Parker, how long have you known mon ami Jarod?" Henri asked.
"Since we were children," Ms. Parker answered, hiding her annoyance
"He is interesting, non?" Henri continued, "He does not rest much. He is always working. Are you two here on business?"
"We're looking for a part of our past," Ms. Parker said.
Henri nodded and stopped in front of a very small blue car. "Voila! Mon voiture."
Ms. Parker turned to Jarod and said in disbelief. "Did he just say this was his car?"
"Yes." Jarod laughed. He turned to Henri. "Henri, I don't think there's enough room for us and the luggage."
"Non, non, you will fit." Henri assured them.
Five minutes later, after a lot of struggling to squeeze the luggage into the car, Henri agreed that they were not going to fit. Jarod and Ms. Parker had to take a train. Unfortunately, the hotel was on the outskirts of Harfleur, so they had to take a cab once they arrived at the train station. They ended up with a taxi driver, Paul, who was not having a particularly good day and did not pay attention to the road much. So, as they were driving along through the beautiful French city, they were bounced around in the back seat.
Ms. Parker, who was less than thrilled with having to ride in a stuffy airplane, hot train, and deranged cab, had become very annoyed that she bothered to go on this little outting and began to argue with Jarod.
"You had to stay with an old friend didn't you," she said sarcastically.
"What's wrong with Henri?" Jarod said defensively.
"Oh, nothing except that he took fifteen minutes to find the nearest exit at the airport and then he came to pick us up in a car the size of a bread box, forcing us to take a train and a demented cab," she said forcefully. She turned to the cab driver. "Paul could you please not take those turns so fast?" she yelled.
"Pardon?" Paul said.
"Great, cab boy doesn't speak much English," Ms. Parker growled.
Just then, Paul took another wild turn around a corner and Ms. Parker was thrown into Jarod's lap.
Jarod laughed. "Well, Ms. Parker, I guess that was Paul's answer."
"Shut up Wonder boy," Ms. Parker said softly before another wild turn threw her and Jarod into a kiss. The kiss was short and gentle. Then they both pulled back.
"Well, well, Parker." Jarod smiled. He brushed a wisp of hair out of Ms. Parker's face. Paul made one final unruly turn that threw all of Ms. Parker's hair back over her face before announcing that they had arrived.
Jarod and Ms. Parker untangled themselves from each other and stepped out into the pleasant early morning air of Harfleur.
Ms. Parker straightened herself out, tucking her hair back behind her ears and smoothing the wrinkles out of her suit. "Well Wonder Boy, we're in France, what next?" Ms. Parker asked.
"I don't know about you," Jarod yawned, "but I'm tired. I'm going to bed." Paul was payed a generous tip by Jarod, who warned him to be gentler on his turns, and they entered the hotel.
Henri's wife, Marguerite, welcomed them to the Claudette hotel and took them up to their room. Henri had not returned with their luggage yet, and Marguerite apologized for the inconvenience. Once inside the room, they noticed that there was only one bed, and Jarod, always the gentleman, decided to sleep on the couch.
As they lay in the dark, Ms. Parker whispered something barely audible.
"What did you say Parker?" Jarod mumbled sleepily.
"I said 'thanks,'" she whispered back.
"Anytime, Parker, anytime."
They both fell asleep smiling
Author's Note: This chapter was my favorite because, by nature, I'm a sitcom writer. I hope you enjoyed it too! Please Review!!!!!!!!!!!