In the front of the theater school was a gigantic fountain of Dionysius. People knew him as the Greek God of Wine, but in the thespians of the world, he was the King of Theater. Crystal waters poured from his wine bottle. Sitting on the ledge of his marble territory was a young French man in skinny jeans and a white turtleneck. The man stepped off the border when a young woman in a red jacket approached him.

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting." she said with a weak smile.

"Don't worry about it Cherie." his French accent was like silk, smooth and gorgeous. He detected a small color change in her cheeks. "C'mon. Were about to eat at my favorite restaurant." Jean seemed like a professional to her, but then again she didn't know what professional flirting was. Jean looped his arm around hers and escorted her down the street.

"Jules told me this place is impossible to get into unless reserved six months in advance." she said. Jean chuckled.

"My parents know the owner. He'll get us a table."

When they got there, he opened the door for her. Jules' words rang in her ears. Ok, so he opened the door, she thought. That doesn't mean this is a date.

To her surprise, Jean was right. The moment they stepped inside skimming through the crowd, the host brought them upstairs. Candles and dim lights made Ariadne question the situation of the dinner. Jules was certainly right about it being a dating restaurant. A majority of the tables were for two.

At the table, Jean pulled Ariadne's chair out and pushed it in when she took her seat. So far, he was passing Jules' boyfriend test. To avoid awkward silence, she brought up a question she had already asked.

"Did you talk to the director?"

"As a matter of fact, I have. He said he'd love you to help out since last years set was one of the best he's seen."

"That's great." Ariadne opened the menu to skim through all the dishes.

"Their ratatouille appetizer is to die for." said Jean.

"Hence it being to name of the restaurant." said Ariadne as she looked at the poultry items. "What do you usually get?"

"Normally I order the duck but I really should try something else."

"Did you try the elk?"

"Not yet. Maybe I'll get that. The desserts here are the best."

"My stomach can only fit an appetizer and the main course." Ariadne laughed softly. "I get full too easily. I think I'll get the beef."

"That also looks good. It beats the airplane food we had."

Ariadne couldn't think of anything food related to say so it was time to shuffle the cards and bring out a new topic.

"How did you become so interested in theater?" she asked. Jean put his menu down.

"Well Cherie, I was born in a theater. Literally." Her eyebrows rose in curiosity. "My parents are both performers at the Paris Opera. When I was coming, my mother said they didn't have time to get to a hospital. And when I arrived, my father looked at me and told me I would be famous."

"So you've been training your entire life."

"I didn't mind it. They taught me everything involved with theater. They even taught me English."

"So French is your first language?" she felt a little sheepish asking him that.

"Oui. But I don't get to use it very often outside of home."

"Now what I think is funny is when people come to study at a foreign country and they don't know how to speak the language."

Jean chuckled. "Then why would they be here?"

"There's a funny story about that." said Ariadne. "My first year of going to school here, Jules and I met this Japanese girl. She was sitting by herself so we decided to greet her. We both assumed she could speak French, I mean why else would she be there? So we said 'hi' to her in French and asked her what her name was."

"She was speechless, wasn't she?"

"She just nodded her said and said 'uh huh'. We tried to talk to her again in English, but no luck."

"I wonder how she got around."

"She probably had a guide but they weren't there at the moment." said Ariadne. "But still, that would be embarrassing. It's a good thing I've taken French since middle school."

"Tell me about your family." he said. "Your a very interesting person Ariadne. I wonder what your family's like."

Ariadne could feel herself blushing. "Well, I have two younger sisters who are twins. Mirra's a fashion designer and Jenaya styles hair. Their total opposites but they both love roller derby."

"What's that?"

She seemed surprised about his question at first but then remembered that derby was more of an American sport.

"It's a woman's sport."

"Like cheering?"

"Not exactly. It's much more brutal than cheerleading. It's roller skating in an oval where you have to knock down people on the other team so you can score."

"And women play this?"

"My sisters have been skating since they could walk. It was something they've always wanted to do and Mirra is the captain."

"Good for her."

Ariadne nodded in agreement. "I've never been to a game but based on the way they describe it, I wouldn't bring anyone classy there."

"My family would hate it then." said Jean. "However, it sounds interesting."

"I'll give you the link to the teams website. They have videos and everything. So what's your family like?"

Jean waved his hand and put it on the table. "Well, as you know, my parents are actors. My fathers parents run the wine business."

"Any siblings?"

"I have a younger sister named Belle."

"That's my grandmas name." Ariadne smiled as memories of her with Belle replayed in her head. "She's crazy but I love her."

"Belle is very bossy and can be a real bitch." He explained. "Just be happy you haven't met her."

The waiter came and they ordered drinks. The dinner was absolutely delicious and both of them knew because they had trouble speaking between courses. Then the check came.

"Let me." He stopped her from taking her wallet out.

"Are you sure? I mean, I did order more."

"The gentleman pays." He said.

"We split it." She tried to fight. Jean shook his head and put his hand up.

"No. It's my treat."

She sighed in defeat. "Fine, but next time I'm paying."

They walked onto the streets with their arms looped again. Nighttime in Paris was always beautiful. Ariadne began to feel slightly odd because the atmosphere was romantic.

"Don't you love France at sunset?"

"I love it." Said Ariadne. They were in front of the Eiffel Tower. Jean sat down and leaned against a tree. Ariadne sat next to him but kept a distance.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Oui?"

"My friend Jules… she said that place we just ate at was a dating restaurant. Is this a date?"

"Uh…" Jean seemed speechless. "I did not intend for it do be a date, just a friendly dinner."

"That's what I thought." She sighed in relief.

"Did you want it to be a date Cherie?"

"Well I wasn't expecting anything romantic. Don't you have a girlfriend?"

"Non." He replied. Ariadnes eyebrow cocked up.

"Really?"

"You look surprised." Jean peered over and folded his arms behind his head.

"Well I assumed you were dating another theater student." She said.

"Non. The theater girls were never of my liking."

"Why not?"

"For starters…" he took a strand of her hair in his hand and put his finger over it. "None of them have hair this beautiful." She was signaled to crawl closer to him and she shifted a foot forward.

"Any other reasons?"

Jean smiled bigger than she's ever seen before.

"Well, none of them are interested in scarf collecting." His hand let go of her hair and pinched the end of the scarf she was wearing. "And all they do is fuss about their appearances… besides, I prefer foreign girls."

"And by foreign you mean outside of Europe?"

"Oui." Her face stretched a little closer to his. "Ariadne…"

"Yes?"

"I don't know how Canadian boys handle this but I'm French so I'm doing this the French way." A lump was caught in his throat but he swallowed it and moved on, his voice shaky. "I don't want to scare you."

Scare me? I've been to Limbo and fell hundreds of feet down to wake up. Not to mention I had to deal with Cobbs crazy dead wife. What can scare me?

"You won't." she pulled her hair back.

"I can't hold this in any longer." Jean started. "And I hope I don't humiliate myself after this."

"Whatever you say I'll keep secret." Ariadne promised him.

"Well, since you won't tell anyone… and if you don't agree, I hope you can forget I ever said anything and we still be friends."

The thumping that reached Ariadne's ears was the beating of Jeans heart. She waited for him to say it.

"I like you more than a friend." He finally confessed. "I wont be surprised if you don't believe me either. I've only known you for a few days but you make me feel happy. Never had I met anyone so fascinating."

Ariadnes hand went up to his cheek rubbing against his stubble. "I could honestly say the same thing." Without another word, she brushed her lips over his. Jeans breath consisted of a foul odor but that didn't stop her from kissing him again.

"So are we…"

"Yes." She finished. "Only if we take it slow from here."