French Kiss (Novella) Read Online Free

really doesn’t apply here, but I’m
afraid of heights!”
    Cameron laughed, “Well, now is your chance to
actually experience ‘height’ without the fear, what do you say. I’ll catch you
if you fall ... I promise.” He said, his voice turning gentle with the last two
words.
    Such a gentleman.
    “You will?” Maria asked, with mock disbelief.
    Cameron showed made a show of flexing his biceps and
said “I’m your knight in shining armor, Sir. Cameron, remember?”
    “In that case. Yes, let’s do it!”
    They both laughed as they stepped into the elevator
hand-in-hand and the doors shut behind them with a metallic rasp.
    In the elevator, they were alone but instead of
talking on the way up, they simply stood and watched the world below as it
slowly moved away from them with a rumble of gears and pulleys.  Maria wanted
to say how wonderful the city looked but found herself lost for words. In fact,
she thought, words would only intrude on what they were building that evening.
    It was too perfect for words. More than Maria had
anticipated.
    Two broken halves inexplicably drawn to one another
due to their similar circumstances. Both needing the same thing, they had
naturally sought it in the same place and discovered each other, much to
Maria’s delight.
    She turned to look at Cameron and saw that he was no
longer looking at the scenery outside the fire engine-red elevator, but was
instead staring at her, unsmiling, but intent.  And Maria watched him, her
heart aching for only the second time in her life.
    Had Cameron ever felt love for anyone before? She
decided now wasn’t the time for such questions.
    The doors slid open and they stepped out onto the
top floor, the silence between them continuing as they made their way slowly to
the railing where the great expanse of Paris lay before them.  The City of
Lights stretching off in all directions. Directly in front of them to the South
East was a long strip of dark green in the night and lit all along its length
with lights that gave it the appearance of a massive runway awaiting landing
planes.
    “Incredible.” Maria breathed, as she leant over the
railing, surprising herself with her courage, but it was as if being with
Cameron nullified her fear of heights.
    Cameron was equally in awe of the perfectly
symmetrical, green pathway that stretched off into the distance, dotted with
walking people like ants going about their business for the night.
    “Champ de Mars. ‘Field of Mars’ in English.” Cameron
said without taking his eyes away from it.
    “Field of Mars ...” Maria repeated, watching Cameron
once more as he gazed into the distance.
    “Is it just me, or does the Champ de Mars resemble
the Catholic cross?” Maria suddenly blurted out, as if she had made an amazing
discovery.
    Cameron turned to her, a lopsided grin on his face,
“That’s exactly what I was thinking ...”
    “Great minds think alike, I suppose.” Maria laughed.
    He laughed with her for a second and then his face
turned serious. “Speaking of religions, do you believe in God, Maria?”
    Maria quickly shook her head and her smile faded all
at once.
    “No ... no I don’t. I mean sure there are some
pretty incredible places on this planet of ours, like this ... but if you ask
me, there’s too much suffering for there to be a God, at least the God the Bible
speaks of.”
    Cameron nodded.
    “Not that I have read the Bible or anything.” Maria
added quickly.
    “What about you, Cameron. Are you a religious
person, is there such a God in your life?” Maria asked, sliding up the railing
until her shoulder was against his.
    “You know, I’m not sure anymore. Before the
accident, yes, God was everything to me. I went to church on Sundays, prayed
before sleeping, the works ... then ... despite all that, all my devotion and
faith, the fact that something like that had to happen to me.”
    He laughed, but there was no humor in the laugh,
only bitterness.
    Maria, once again, knew how he