Chapter I -THE EVE

It was three weeks before her 19th birthday on a July afteernoon. Chloe pushed aside the double glass doors leading to the backyard of the house and into the peonies garden, walking the alley in her usual confident manner. The first thing to capture her senses was the unknown voice she heard coming from the table in the yard, where she and her family had their dinner every other day. She glided through the hedgerow, turned the corner and joined her uncle and aunt at the table:

- Hi dear, her aunt Samantha greeted her.

- Good evening! she said, glancing at the stranger, sitting at the table, while he got up and raised his hand towards her…

- Bonsoir, he replied, je suis Alain Lambert. C'est un plaisir de te rencontrer.

- Oh, bonsoir, French, she tought, and then continued: vous aussi, Monsieur Lambert. Je m'appelle Chloe Aston.

That day carried the scent of a fresh start. As Chloe sat at the dinner table with her family and their new neighbour, she thought to herself that maybe, them moving from California to Paris wasn't that bad after all. And for the first time ever, since they arrived in France, she felt that, even though she missed home, she might like it here.
Later on, after Chloe had given the excuse of needing some refreshment, she disappeared from the dinner table, heading to the house.

- Chloe, she heard him call, so she stopped and turned around.

- Monsieur Lambert ... souhaitez-vous une canette de Coke?

- Sure, he replied walking with her to the house. You can call me Alain, I'm just 25.

- Bien Alain, je ne savais pas que vous parliez anglais.

- Que tu, TU parles anglais et oui je parle un peu, j'ai juste besoin de pratique ...

- Okay, we could practice, she said taking him by the hand and he followed her around the house for a quick tour and then walking the narrow alley passing by the pool on the way back to the dinner table, Chloe stopped:

- And this, she said with flourish, is the pool.

Alain smiled:

- Yea. All the water kind of gave it away.

Chloe laughed:

- Fait attention dont tu me parles, she said teasingly, ou tu pourrais finir mouillé par tout!

Alain arched an eyebrow and looked from her to the pool he was standing in front of:

- Oh, non ... he said, ne même pas y penser ...

She smiled and turned to go back to the table in the garden asking:

- You’re no fun, are you?

He exhaled, relieved, when in fact he was in for a surprise. Just as he turned around, she tackled him. But he was laughing when they both went sprawling into the pool.

« Sometimes it doesn't take a lot to open someone's heart, because sometimes it's all about making the first step ... »