“This is the perfect break before we get back,” Natalie said. “I can’t quite believe I have only one semester left.”
“Forget the last semester,” I advised. “Focus on Paris.”
Natalie’s smile was brilliant and wide. “I can’t wait to start exploring; the decorations around the city are breathtaking.”
“They go all out for Christmas,” I nodded.
Natalie’s expression faltered a little at the mention of Christmas. At the beginning, I would never have noticed such a subtle change, but I was starting to understand her now. I was starting to see the nuances in her personality, the simple little things that a stranger would never see.
She made a face every time she saw pickles in her salad. She loved reading books in the horror genre, but she hated watching the movies. She always raised one eyebrow when she was trying to figure out a problem. She pursed her lips when she felt awkward, but she was trying to cover it up.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, taking her hand.
“Nothing,” she replied immediately.
I raised my eyebrows and looked at her pointedly. “Come on, you can tell me; I know that look.”
“What look?” she asked in amazement.
“That look you get when you’re a little sad about something, but you don’t want to admit it.”
Natalie looked shocked for a moment and then she smiled. “How do you know about that look?”
“I’ve been paying attention,” I said smugly.
She stroked my face with her hand. “I’m not sad,” she rushed to assure me. “In fact, I couldn’t be happier than I am right now.”
“But?”
“There’s no ‘but,’” she said, shaking her head. “I was just thinking that this is the first Christmas that I haven’t spent with my parents. I guess that made me a little sad for a second. Only a second, though.”
“Were they very disappointed when you told them you weren’t going to be home for Christmas?” I asked.
“They were wonderful,” she assured me. “They were just so excited about the fact that I’ve met someone that they couldn’t have been happier for me.”
“They sound like great parents.”
“They are,” she agreed. “The very best. And, they know how long I’ve dreamed of coming to Paris. They were actually saving for a trip in the future.”
“Have they always encouraged you to travel?”
“Always,” Natalie nodded. “I think they both regretted not being able to travel as much as they would have liked. So they wanted to make sure that I wouldn’t have the same regrets. I was actually offered a scholarship to the University of Reading, but I turned it down so that I’d be closer to them.”
“Wow, turning down a scholarship is not the easiest thing to do,” I pointed out.
Natalie smiled. “I got a full ride to North Greenfield, too,” she said. “So, it wasn’t that hard to do.”
“No kidding? You’re on a full scholarship?”
“I am,” she nodded.
“I didn’t know that.”
“It’s one of the reasons I’m so inexperienced. I spent my adolescence buried in books because I wanted to get into a great college on a scholarship. I also wanted to relieve my parents of the financial costs of college, so I guess I had my blinders on and forgot to live a little.”
“You’re a great daughter, you know.”
“Nah,” Natalie said, waving away my compliment. “I’m the lucky one; I got the great parents. I’d really like you to meet them one day.”