It was still quite early in the day and a few people were eating breakfast out on their balconies or on the restaurant street fronts. He walked along the Promenade des Anglais, a popular location and always lively. There are tourists relaxing along here, street vendors selling the day’s freshly made crepes and people cycling, rollerblading and jogging. The sun was shining, it was still quite low across the beach producing a symphony of light over the sea, causing it to glisten. On the beach itself, there were some nice restaurants and there were already a few active souls strolling but it was not hot, just warm at this time of day and a gentle breeze caused the palm trees to sway a little. To Steve this was truly paradise, never had he seen anything like this before and he was loving it. He had not yet eaten and the smell of some of those crepes just made his mouth water and he found a bar that was much smaller than most of the others, with just six or seven tables on the front outside, overlooking the beach. He sat down at one with a parasol and put his bag on the floor. The menu was on the table but he was busy looking at three girls jogging by, when he heard a quiet female voice talking to him. He turned to see the waitress standing over him and she smiled as she stood holding her little order book ready.
“Oh, I am sorry” said Steve, he was embarrassed that she may have seen him gawping at those lovelies that just went jogging by.
She still stood there smiling at him,
“ok” she said, just as if she understood men!
“Do you want to look at the menu?” she asked, crouching down.
Steve saw that she had a figure to die for, with long brown hair and a beautiful face. She was about twenty five years old, had large oval brown eyes, wore a short black skirt and her long tanned legs made her look as if she was from one of those fancy socialite magazines.
“Menu?” she repeated.
“Oh, I am so sorry” he said and he quickly grabbed it.
He fumbled with it but it was all in French and he did not understand it, any of it. The waitress chuckled as she could clearly see he did not have a clue how to order what he wanted.
“You are English?” she asked.
He looked at her in the face, she was so beautiful, he almost stuttered as her beauty struck him, he replied
“Yes, I am”.
“Then I must help you, what would you like to eat?” she asked.
Steve looked again at the menu, it may as well have been written in Chinese, he couldn’t understand any of it, but on the right hand side of the menu were the prices and they were steep. She could see that his finger was running down the price list and realised that cost was obviously important to him. There is an assumption that just about everyone in the area is well heeled, but not Steve, he was on a tight budget. The waitress suggested she come back in a few minutes, but Steve simply asked for a coffee, that would do. She smiled and turned heading back inside, he could hear a radio playing inside and it looked as though he was the only customer.
After about twenty minutes, the waitress returned with a tray with Steve’s coffee, there was another plate on the tray with beans on toast. She put both of them down in front of him. He looked up at her
“but, but I didn’t order this”, he said.
She smiled wryly,
“enjoy it” she replied and walked away.
Steve really did not know what to do, he was hungry but “why should he suddenly get a free meal”, he thought. He drank some of the coffee and noticed that she was watching him from inside. He smiled back at her for the first time and she grinned and quickly went out of sight. After a few minutes she came back to his table, the plate was empty and so was the cup.
“Another?” she asked, picking up his cup.
“Yes please” he said and she was gone in a second.
He could see her through the doorway inside the bar, making up his coffee. “God, she is really beautiful” he thought to himself. A man came into the bar at that moment carrying some boxes, a delivery and she signed something and he left, but all through this Steve was watching her and she knew it. She soon came back with his coffee, but this time she asked if she could sit with him. He was delighted that a girl of such beauty would want to sit with him.
“Please!” he said holding out his hand to the chair.
She sat down and Steve asked her where she learnt English.
She told him that she had learnt a lot at school and then lived in England for almost three years, in Surrey. She asked if he was on holiday or working there. He told her that that it was a holiday for two weeks.
“Do many people work here then?” he asked.
“For sure” she said.
“Many work in bars and restaurants like me in the summer” she went on.
She asked him what his job was in England and he was explaining it to her when he realised that she was actually interested in what he was saying. She asked him several questions about his home and family. Steve then turned the conversation to her.
“I am sorry” he said “I didn’t get your name.
She was embarrassed and held her hand to her mouth momentarily,
“I should be sorry, my name is Camile and I live about ten miles inland from here with my parents”. Steve formally introduced himself and at that moment a customer came and sat down at a table near the door. To Camile, the customer was a now nuisance, she wanted to talk to Steve.
“Excuse me” she said as she got up, still looking at Steve for a second.
She spoke to the customer and went inside, it seemed they only wanted a coffee and she was back in a minute or so. She quickly sat back down and they continued to chat. Steve told her how impressed he was with the area and how he liked all the things to do there. Camile told him that at night, the place becomes alive, it changes even more with music and street performers, she was proud of the place, Steve could see that. He asked her where she actually goes for a holiday herself, when she lives in such a beautiful part of the world. She did not answer and looked down at the table,
“I am sorry”, he said, “I didn’t mean to pry into your private life”.
“Not at all, she responded. “It’s just that I am not rich like most people here, so I do not have a holiday”.
“That’s too bad” he said.
He wondered why, but would not ask.
“Are you coming here tonight?” she asked.
“Well, I can, it means I have to go back to my campsite late, but I really don’t mind” he said, hoping that she was coming too.
Then she confirmed that she would still be there and he tried not to show it, but he was very happy about that.
“Yes, this promenade will be alive by nine o’clock” she said smiling.
“If you meet me here around seven o’clock, I will show you the highlights”.
Steve was not looking for a female companion, what would Hannah think anyway. He did not want to appear to be looking for one either, but when such a beautiful woman asks one to join her for the evening, how could one refuse? After all, there was to be nothing in it. He went off rather dazzled by it all and set off to go to the Cours Saleya flower market. It is lined with cafes, shops and rows and rows of fresh flowers and was a twenty minute walk. Whilst transiting through the maze of streets on his way, Steve thought about Camile, quite a lot. She was beautiful, pleasant, she spoke good English, had a perfect figure and above all, she seemed to like him. He passed a number of shops, but chose to ignore their tempting window displays, there were beggars that he did not see, several beautiful girls that he did not see either. He seemed to be walking in a dream. As he came into a small square, he could see it was very busy, people everywhere and there were the famous flower stalls. There were indeed colourful, all types of flowers and plants and the aroma was simply overwhelming, a gorgeous smell in the air. A lady wearing an apron came up to him waving some sort of twig in his face, she was smiling and clearly wanted to sell it to him. He gently pushed her away as he noticed over her shoulder, a stall with small flowers and plants on, like wedding button holes (boutonnieres), small rosettes and decorative little corsages. He was interested in looking at them, he felt that he wanted to get a little something for Camile for tonight just as a thank you, a courtesy. He did in fact choose a small single rose, it was a very small yellow flower head, perhaps a miniature and had just a few leaves with it, wrapped with a thin yellow ribbon delicately twirled around the thin stem. It was quite different to all the others and he thought it would be a nice little gift from an Englishman. He stopped at a few more of the flower stalls as they truly were worth the look. He took a few pictures on his phone and sent them to Hannah, she liked flowers and all of these were rather special and even more so being so many together like this. He thought about Hannah then, he wondered what she was doing at that moment, he missed her.
By now the time was passing and it was already passed lunchtime. Steve was hungry again and found a chip van, the smell of chips cooking was now over powering the lovely aroma of the flowers. He walked towards the van, there were a few people queuing there, one of which was a little old man with a small pet monkey on his shoulder. The monkey was dressed in a red suit and matching fez, it had a cute face and little eyes that seemed as if they had little lightbulbs inside them, so alert. Steve raised his hand to touch the monkey, but he shrieked at Steve. The grinning man turned and said
“no, please, he not like touch, unless money”.
Steve then offered out a one euro coin and the monkey snatched it from his fingers in a flash.
“Oui m’sieur?” said the girl in the van.
“One chips please” replied Steve and in a second they were there, a rather large helping that looked delicious and they were not stuck together like a lump of fried potato.
“Merci” he said, as he took them and gave her the money.
At one end of the counter surface there was a selection of sauces and ketchups. It seemed mayonnaise is the one to accompany your chips when in France and a dollop was applied accordingly. Steve turned and licking his fingers, was confronted by Camile. She actually startled him momentarily and his face lit up. She was grinning like a Cheshire cat.
“Hello” she said. “I thought I may find you here, you said you were going to see the flower market”.
“Yes, but aren’t you still working? he asked.
She nodded and explained that she had to make a delivery of some sort so took a few hours out to find him and show him around. His delight at this showed and he followed her through a small crowd of children that were on a school trip. She laughed as they walked off and Steve laughed with her. He was really overjoyed that she had come to find him. She stopped then and asked what he would like to see. He thought for a moment, he really wanted to see her! His mind thought better and he quickly dreamt something up
“the museum might be nice” he said.
She was surprised “really, is that really what you want to see?” she asked.
Steve felt a bit silly, he was overcome with her, her beauty and all that went with it, her flowing hair, those wonderful dreamy eyes, full lips and that figure of hers.
“Well, we can if you want” she said, with a hope in her voice that he would think of something else.
He looked at her “shall we go onto the beach?” he asked.
She took his hand and quickly led him down an alley between tall buildings, without stopping she pulled him across the street and onto the promenade, still moving quickly, she led him down seven steps onto the beach.
“How is this then?” she asked.
On the beach itself there were people all over, some paddling in the water, some under parasols and some were just ambling around. In the sea, he could see boats and yachts bobbing around, it really was a very lively place.
She took his hand again and walked over to one of the many little bars near the promenade edge of the beach, under some trees.
She said something to the man behind the bar and he simply nodded and then produced two small beers. They took the glasses and went to a table, away from everyone else.
They sat down and Steve sipped his beer. He looked at Camile and she looked at him.
“Thanks for the beer” he said.
She stared at him and then it happened. She looked right at him and said
“I like you Steve”.
He could not believe his ears, he did not know what to say or how to react, so nature took over and made him say aloud what he was thinking.
“And I like you”, he replied. “Lots”, he added.
Steve could not believe what he had just said to a virtual stranger, nor could he believe what he had just heard! There was an instant magnetism between them and it was not going to end, there would be repercussions at home, there would be sadness, for he had only just asked Hannah to marry him. He knew this was a dangerous liaison, but there was no stopping, it was a natural and mutual affection of such strength, it would be impossible to ignore. “Where do I go from here” he wondered.
They looked at one another, they knew it was strong between them, very strong but they had fallen in love and love has this way of cementing people together, even when they don’t expect it and it certainly had this time. They had another drink and time was passing, it was now late afternoon and Camile stood up
“come, let’s walk” she said.
They strolled along the beach on the stones, most people had gone by now and it had cooled a little but it wasn’t cold. She took off her shoes and wandered down to the sea, stepping into the small waves washing onto the shore. Steve stood there, still at the top of the beach, he could see her backlit silhouette in the setting sun. It was romantic, it was just lovely. He ran down to join her and kicked off his trainers and went into the sea up to his knees. He laughed loudly as Camile walked over to him, the sea made her walk as if she was on a treadmill. They held hands again, it really was true love, there was no doubt. Something had clicked between them that was going to change everything, in both their lives.
They went back on the beach and put their shoes on, they chatted as they walked much further along the beach toward the promenade, which by now was in low light and the little market stalls were beginning to be set up and music could already be heard.
“Forgive me” said Camile “but do you have a girlfriend in England?” she asked innocently.
“I do and I asked her to marry me but…”
he was about to say more when Camile put her finger over his mouth. “Shoosh” she whispered. “Tonight, I can take you home to your chalet, I have a little car” she said.
Steve was very happy about that, it saved him all the hassle of finding where and what time to get the wretched bus.
“That sounds like a dismissal” said Steve.
“Non!” was the short reply. “Never”, she said very quietly.
They smiled at each other and climbed the few steps up onto the promenade. By now it was just about dark and there was so much social activity going on, people everywhere, strolling, browsing, chatting, there were music and dancers and at one point, a man ran past twisting and turning as he did so whilst breathing fire! There were stalls selling anything from local art, paintings and locally made handicrafts to leatherware, belts, shoes jackets, it was all there under the little lights of each one. It was all so colourful and romantic. Steve wondered if he was being swept into this romantic ambience and none of this was sincere. Camile bought two Crepes, with banana and syrup in and they ate them giggling like teenagers, syrup dribbled down Steve’s chin and Camile wiped it from his face, she came close and then kissed him, just a peck. This relationship of just a few hours was developing rapidly like a train accelerating down the track.
They wandered around the stalls, somewhat aimlessly and before long it was after 10 ‘o clock. Steve suggested that they call it a day and they walked a short distance to the car park. Camile owned a small yellow Citroen and they jumped in.
“Do you know where to go” he asked. “Oh, yes of course” she said laughing.
In just twenty minutes they were at the entrance to the campsite that Steve temporarily called home. Camile parked to the side of the entrance and switched off the engine.
“Well, this has been an eventful day, eh?” she said.
They both knew too well that what had happened was quite extraordinary.
Steve nodded in agreement and leant over to her, she put her arm around his shoulder and they kissed, it was not a peck, nor was it a long meaningful kiss, it was in between. Both knew that it was moving too fast.
“May I see you tomorrow” he asked.
She smiled and simply replied “I will be here at 10 ‘o clock”.
“Great” he said loudly as he got out of the car, he leant back inside “until tomorrow then” he said.
As he walked towards his chalet door, he heard the little car start up and drive away. He went inside and lay on the bed, still with his shoes on. He looked up at the ceiling and wondered what on earth had happened today. He felt guilty, that was for sure, he thought of Hannah, their last night together, it was all too much and his eyes began to water. He thought of his father, his home, his pigeons, was this homesickness or even guilt? But he wanted to stay there.