I pressed my face against the airplane window like a kid at a candy store, watching Paris unfold beneath us. The car drive from the airport felt surreal. We drove past the Arc de Triomph and streets lined with cafés.
"What are you thinking?" Asher asked.
"That this doesn't feel real."
He held my hand.
"It's real."
The hotel was huge like a palace.
"Madame Wang, welcome to Paris." The doorman greeted us.
I blinked at Asher.
"How do they know our names?"
"I may have called ahead." He winked as he offered me his hand.
I took it and we walked into the lobby like a happy couple madly in love.
"Close your eyes." He said as we reached the top floor.
"Asher…"
"Please. Trust me."
I hesitated. Trust wasn't exactly our strong suit but something in his voice made me do it anyway. I closed my eyes as I felt him move behind me, he placed his hands on my shoulders as he guided me forward.
I could smell the flowers.
"Okay. Open."
I opened my eyes and forgot how to breathe.
The suite looked like something straight out from a movie. But it was the windows that mesmerised me. We could see the Eiffel Tower clearly from the huge window.
"Oh My God."
There were my favourite flowers: white roses and peonies everywhere.
But how did he know?
"Do you like it?"
I spun around. He stood there with his hands in his pockets, and looked actually nervous.
"Like it?" My voice came out weird. "Asher, I can't…"
"Good or bad?" He took a step closer. "I can't tell if you're happy or about to cry."
"Both. I don't know." I pressed my hands to my cheeks. They were wet.
When had I started crying?
"This is too much."
"It's not enough." He said as he cupped my face. "Two years, Rysa. Two years I kept you in that guest wing like you didn't matter. I can't give you back that time. But I can give you this now which I should have given you from day one."
I just stared at him because I couldn't speak.
He smiled and kissed my forehead.
"Come on. Let me show you around."
The bedroom had its own balcony with two chairs and a table. I could already picture us having coffee there in the morning. I opened the closet and it was full of at least a dozen of dresses of my size.
"When did you…"
"I had someone shop for you based on your style and measurements." He looked embarrassed.
My heart fluttered.
"I'm going to unpack. Take your time. Get comfortable. We have dinner reservations at eight, but…" He pulled out his phone and tapped the screen. "I just cancelled them."
"What? Why?"
"Because we're not on anyone else's schedule." He set the phone down. "We eat when we're hungry. Sleep when we're tired. Do exactly what we want. This trip maybe a business one but it's our first one together. I've scheduled my all meetings for tomorrow which means today it's only both of us together and nobody else."
I just gave him a big smile. His phone rang.
"It's important. Give me a minute." He said as he walked towards the balcony to attend the call.
I walked to the window and put my hand on the glass. The Eiffel Tower stood there looking beautiful. Within a minute, I heard Asher coming back from balcony.
He came to me and wrapped his arms around me from behind. I leaned back against him. We stood like that, looking out at Paris together.
"Rysa?"
"Mmm?"
"There's something I want to tell you tonight." His arms tightened around me. "Something important."
"What is it?"
"Not yet. I want the moment to be perfect." He turned me in his arms.
I looked at him, he looked nervous.
"Okay."
"We should get ready. I want to take you somewhere before the sun sets."
"I thought we weren't on a schedule?"
"We're not but Paris at sunset..." He smiled. "That's not something you schedule. That's something you don't miss."
An hour later we were on the streets of Paris as the sun was about to set.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"You'll see."
We walked through neighborhoods with beautiful old buildings, little shops with glowing windows.
"Have you been here before?" I asked.
"Once. Five years ago for a business trip."
"Did you like it?"
"I don't know. I didn't really see it."
"How can you not see Paris?"
"Easy… just stay in your hotel room working, have meetings in the conference rooms, and fly out the next morning." He squeezed my hand. "I was here for three days and never actually saw the Eiffel Tower except from the plane."
"That's sad."
"I was an idiot."
"Was?"
"Am." He corrected himself with a smile. "Present tense. But I'm working on it."
We turned around a corner and suddenly there was a little square with a fountain. Trees were glowing with lights. An old man was sitting on the fountain's edge playing accordion.
"Wow!"
Asher pulled me towards the square. A few other couples were dancing to the music.
"Dance with me." He said.
"Here? Now?"
"Why not?"
"Because we're in the middle of the street."
He pulled me close, his one hand was at my waist, and the other one held mine, and we started dancing.
"We're in Paris. The city of love. I'm with my wife." He looked down at me. "I don't need any more reason."
We stumbled at first but then found the rhythm. People passing by smiled at us.
"Come on." He said suddenly when he looked at his watch. "We need to move or we'll miss it."
"Miss what?"
"You'll see."
We left the square. The streets got busier. We stopped at a tiny café with outdoor seating.
"Quick break." He said, pulling out a chair for me.
"I thought we were in a hurry?"
"Fifteen minutes." He checked his watch. "Time for wine."
He ordered in perfect French. The waiter brought a bottle of rosé and two glasses.
"To Paris." Asher toasted.
"To Paris."
The wine was slightly sweet. We sat watching people pass. There were teens laughing , office workers rushing rushing somewhere, a young couple making out under a lamppost.
"I want that." I said.
"What?"
I gestured towards the kissing couple.
"That ease, confidence, and freedom." I looked at him. "With you."
"You'll have it." He reached across the table for my hand. "I promise."
"How can you be sure?"
"Because I'm falling in love with you." He said it casually. "And I think…I hope….you might be falling too."
"Asher…"
"Don't." He squeezed my hand. "Let me do this right at the tower."
He said those words so casually that I didn't know how to react. I just sat there sipping wine with his words echoing in my head. After we were done with drinking, he checked his watch again.
"Time to go. I know I said we're not on schedule but this is worth it. Trust me."
He left cash on the table and pulled me up. We walked faster now.
"Where exactly are we going?" I asked.
"Trocadéro. Best view in the city."
We came out of a side street and the a new world opened up in front of us. There was a huge garden, fountains, and The Eiffel Tower. I stopped walking.
"Oh my god!" I whispered.
Asher held my waist.
"Worth it?"
"It's perfect."
Hundreds of people were there already, all for the same reason. To see the tower, to capture the moment. But Asher didn't stop. He took me forward, down stairs, across a bridge, into the gardens, where it was quieter and the view was better.
He found a spot and positioned me in front of him. His arms were around my waist, pulling me back against his chest.
"Perfect." He murmured.
"Do you know why they call it the City of Love?" Asher asked.
"Because of moments like this?"
"Partly but also because Paris doesn't judge. You can be anyone here. You can reinvent yourself, and start over." His arms tightened. "That's what I want with you. To start over."
I turned in his arms to face him.
"You can't erase the past two years so easily." I said.
"I know but I can make the next fifty years better." His thumb brushed my cheek. "If you'll let me."
His phone rang. The sound shattered everything. His jaw clenched.
"Answer it." I said trying to pull away.
"No." His arms locked around me. "Absolutely not."
"It could be important…"
"I don't care." He pulled out his phone without looking, declined the call, and then turned it off. "This is more important. You are more important."
I couldn't believe this was the same Asher Wang, I've married for two years. The Asher Wang for whom only work mattered was now declining a call which maybe important and then turned off his phone just to be with me. When did he change this much???
He held my both hands in his hands.
"I'm falling for you. And I don't want to stop. I want to keep falling with you."
"Asher...what…"
"You don't have to say anything. I'm not asking you to love me back. I know I haven't earned it. But I will. Every single day, I'm going to prove I'm worth it."
Behind him, the tower started to sparkle. Thousands of tiny lights flickering on. The crowd gasped and cheered. Cameras flashed everywhere. But I only saw him.
"I'm falling too." I whispered.
His eyes went wide.
"What?"
"I'm falling too. I'm terrified and it's probably stupid because you hurt me so badly but I'm falling."
The smile that appeared his face was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.
He kissed me. He didn't ask, didn't hesitate. He just leaned in and kissed me. His hands cupped my face while his lips moved against mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck, threaded my fingers into his hair. He pulled me closer with his one hand on my waist, and the other cradling my head.
We kissed like we were drowning like we'd been waiting our whole lives for this.
But I didn't know then that it wasn't the beginning of our love instead, it was the beginning of something far darker, something I never saw coming.