Warning: ever so slight smut in both perspectives. Not explicit or drawn out (it's a paragraph at the most), but it's there just in case.
Acquiesce: (v) to accept something reluctantly but without protest
Chris
I miss her. I really, truly do. Only half of the weeks have gone by and I'm still counting down the days until she can come home like a child counting down to Christmas. We Skype nearly every day, but it's not the same.
We pooled together some funds so I can come down for the evening and visit her. A couple hours on the Eurostar by myself is worth it, even for just a few hours. I wanted to stay the night, but hotels in Paris cost an arm and a leg.
After the commute, I made a beeline for the Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain. Learning from the last time I visited Paris, I bought tickets ahead of time to avoid the line. As I stepped inside, I was instantly directed towards Alex's exhibit. Well, I guess it's not Alex's but she's there. Trying to navigate around the little French I know, I eventually found Alex. Her back was to me, but I'd know it anywhere. She wore the most beautiful dress. It was black, just how she likes it, and draped around her knees. It hugged each of her curves. She also wore a black choker and glittery silver shoes that looked just a tad too small for her feet.
As I got closer, her somniferous lullaby filled my ears. The juxtaposition of her music with the macabre paintings around her was perfect.
"Excuse me, miss?" I said to her. She instantly whipped around. Her confused expression melted into a smile once she saw me. "Can you tell me about this artwork here?" I pointed to the painting right behind her. It's a hyper realistic painting of a foggy forest with a creepy little girl standing in the middle.
"I don't know, to be honest." She giggled as I put my hand on the small of her back. "I think she said it's supposed to represent her childhood in Cambodia."
So far, from what I gathered, Jing Yun is a political artist. Most of her art has some element of social thought engrained into it. But, I believe all art is up for interpretation so maybe it's just me that's seeing it.
"When do you get done for the night?" I asked while she continued with her melody.
"My replacement should be here soon so I can leave then," she replied. About twenty minutes later, a man came by and took Alex's place. "Let me get my stuff from the back and I'll meet you at the entrance, okay?"
A few minutes later, Alex emerged with her bag and her coat. I asked her what she wanted to do, but she just shrugged her shoulders. I suggested going to her hotel, to which she agreed. We hailed a cab and made our way there. Right as the door closed, she practically jumped on top of me. She placed big, slobbery kisses all over my neck and cheek.
"I want you so bad right now," she breathed in my ear. She raked her fingers up and down my thigh. The cab couldn't get back to her hotel fast enough.
Reminiscent of our weekend getaway a few months ago, we ran all the way to her room, kissing as much as we could without drawing attention to ourselves. She quickly threw the door open and locked it behind her. We didn't even turn on the lights before we collapsed on her bed.
"Where is everyone?" I asked between kisses. When sharing a room with three other people, surely someone has to be home.
"They're still at the exhibit. I asked to leave early," she sighed.
She ran her fingers through my hair as I kissed and put small bites on her neck. I moved my hands down her back as she started to unbutton my jeans. She moved my hand to her thigh beneath her dress and gave it a nudge, silently telling me to move my hand up. Her hand made its way down my stomach and into my pants, sending pure ecstasy through my body. I was about to unzip her dress when someone tried to open the door.
"Alex?" a Southern American voice called through the crack in the door. "Alex! What are you doing? Let me in!" Alex shushed me while we tried to stay as still as possible to avoid making sound. "I know you're in there. C'mon. Just let me in."
"Just hold on a goddamned second!" Alex shouted as she rolled her eyes. She gave me time to put my pants on before opening the door. "What do you want, Savannah?" The girl looked beyond Alex and locked eyes with me.
"Who's this?" Savannah demanded. "You know you're not supposed to have anyone in here. I'm getting Parvati."
"Wait, wait, wait," Alex pleaded. "Don't do that. We'll leave."
"Fine," Savannah said, crossing her arms.
Alex and I sulked out of the room. She apologized as she hugged me. We stopped when we heard footsteps behind us, worried that it would be Parvati or whoever.
"Hey," the person said. I turned around to see two girls who kind of look like Alex. They both wore formal dresses. Like most people, I towered over this girl. "Is this your little boyfriend? Well, I guess he's not so little."
Did she just call me Alex's boyfriend? I didn't have much time to think about it before they started asking me a million questions about myself.
"Calm down. Chris, this is Esmeralda," Alex introduced the girl who spoke. "And this is Nizhoni. Essie's room is across from mine."
"You two should probably get out of here before Parvati sees you. You know how she is," Essie said.
We said goodbye and headed towards the elevator. Alex and I contemplated what we should do before deciding on a little café right outside of the hotel. A lot of people asked why were so dressed up to be in a tiny café so late at night. Or at least that's what Alex said they said as I don't speak much French. I promised Alex I'd take her on a real date to a real restaurant when she got back home.
"I didn't tell them you were my boyfriend," Alex said while I hugged her goodbye. "I mean, like, if it was weird for you. They just kind of assumed."
"No, no. It's okay. I kinda like it."
Just as when I left her three weeks ago, she stared at me before the crowd swallowed me whole.
Alex
Two things have been on my mind for the past few weeks. Chris and drugs. At this point, I don't even care what it is, I just don't really want to be right now. Yeah, having fun with my new friends is great all, but the novelty of it quickly wore off. Now I'm back at square one while throwing up in the bathroom with aching bones.
My tears and bile ran down the front of my dress. Or well, it's Chloe's dress as I don't really own any formal dresses, so she lent me a few, so sorry, Chloe. But the fact remains that I'm a mess. The hair touching my skin was pretty much soaked from my sweat.
"Are you okay in there?" Daya called, while knocking on the door.
"Yeah, I think I had some bad fish," I said, saying the first "risky" food that came to mind. I'm allergic to seafood but they don't have to know that.
"Well I'll tell Parvati you're sick."
No way they'd make me go out there while throwing up, so, obviously, I got a free day off. I tried to ease the pain with some over-the-counter ibuprofen for a few days, but it didn't work. Once I realized that nothing else would work, I worked up a plan to get my hands on anything. At first I tried cough medicine, but those dumb little packets of tablets they sell at the hotel don't really do anything. It's not like I could just google "where to get drugs in Paris" and expect results and I couldn't ask anyone here in case they'd snitch.
One day, a few days after I got "sick", I met Esmeralda, the girl across the hall who plays the cello. She's from London and even goes to the same uni I used to attend. A few days after that, she asked me if I wanted to go to a party with some French boys she met. My brain barely had time to process her request before I accepted. And then, Chris and I made plans for him to visit me for the night.
Like I said before, parties aren't my thing. The loud music thudding my ear gave me a headache and the odor in parties, a mixture of alcohol, body odor, and sometimes vomit, is repulsive. But it didn't take a second thought when asked if I wanted some extase by a French boy telling me everything looked like a comic book. Knowing me, I may or may not have taken advantage of this French boy's state and copped a couple extra for the remainder of my stay.
Essie got super drunk. She obviously can't hold her liquor. I, on the other hand, became serene. We retreated to a room in the house while she cried to me about her ex. Knowing she wouldn't remember in the morning and that this is what ecstasy does to me, I told her all about Adrian. She didn't offer any advice since she barely knows what her name is, but it was nice to get it out.
The afternoon of Chris coming to visit me, I took a little bit of my surplus. My body felt like it was being crushed by a thousand boulders, so I felt like I deserved it. With me, it doesn't really hit me until an hour later and doesn't last long at all. One moment I was talking with Chris just fine and the next we were back at my hotel room but I couldn't remember getting there. It was like someone hit fast-forward on my life.
Everything felt magical. The air felt like the softest fabric I've ever felt. For once in my life, everything felt okay. Don't get me started on how Chris's hands against me felt. Every time he touched me felt like little electric sparks on my skin and it felt amazing. I didn't even want to have sex but his skin against mine was enough for a life time.
Then, just like that, I finally came down. If before life felt like being fast-forwarded, someone just hit play. Things didn't feel as great, but it was okay because I was with Chris. Savannah had just interrupted us. Not too long after, Chris and I had to say goodbye. I love every moment with him, but I hate to say that I was relieved to see him go this time. When I come down, I come down hard. The light hurt my eyes and any sound gave me a raging migraine.
The next three weeks were a blur. I supplemented my withdrawal with whatever I had left, which, in turn, caused time to fly by. I thought being here would be fun since I love my music, but my sickness made it miserable.