‘I thought she was just a fling, like all the others.’ George’s words strolled into his mind once again. Slowly but precise, Paul’s memory started assembling pieces of a conniving jigsaw. He put Adi’s diary on the desk and lay back in his chair, raising his arms and joining his hands together at the back of his head. His eyes were distractedly staring ahead at an invisible target.

For months after George walked out of his life, he regretted letting him go. George was his best friend. It was true, he had made a mistake by hiding his knowledge of Adi’s affair, but Paul was convinced that he had his interests at heart. Now he wasn’t sure anymore if he was the one that George had tried to protect back then. Or Adi.
‘I didn’t know you’re so serious about her. I thought she was just a fling, like all the others.’ his words kept coming back over and over again, like a tiresome tune on a defective record.  For the first time Paul became conscious of the discrepancies in George’s actions.

A couple of months after Adi moved in with him, he had to attend a conference in Paris. George and Richard were to join him.
‘I’m taking Adi with me.’ Paul told them. ‘If she wants to go, of course. I haven’t asked her yet.’
Richard was surprised; Paul had never taken any of his girlfriends on a business trip before. George seemed delighted.
‘Brilliant. I shall ask Anne if she wants to go, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind a shopping trip to Paris. Then Adi won’t be on her own while we’ll be at the conference. Why don’t you take Laura with you?’ he turned to Richard.
‘I might as well. I don’t want to be bloody stuck on my own while you’re spending time with your ladies.’ Richard agreed to compromise.
‘Good boy.’ Paul’s hand tapped the back of Richard’s head with a friendly gesture.
When Paul told Adi about the trip, she was over the moon. She’d never been to Paris before.
‘I’m sure Mark could spare me for few days, I can’t see why he wouldn’t give me the time off. I’ve always wanted to go to Paris.’ she dreamt with her eyes open before throwing her arms around his neck and giving him a loudly thankful kiss.
‘You’re so good to me, thank you.’
She was so excited, like a little child given an early Christmas present, and Paul’s heart softened with affection seeing her so happy.

They flew there on the Tuesday and were supposed to come back the Friday afternoon.
When they checked in their hotel, Adi looked overwhelmed with the luxurious surroundings.  While the guys were getting the keys from the reception desk, and Anne and Laura, dipped in two big leather armchairs scattered over the reception floor, were merrily chatting, she stood quietly to one side staring at the impeccable dressed porter, who was struggling to get through the door the mountain of luggage unloaded from their cab. Paul smiled watching her: she looked like she was about to go and offer the poor guy a helping hand. He walked across the floor to where she was and put his arms around her.
‘Are you ok?’ he asked, hoping to ease her tension a little.
‘Yes, thank you.’ she nervously smiled.
‘Are you sure we’re allowed to sleep in there?’ she joked once in their room, pointing at the huge immaculately made bed.
‘Yes, as long as you make sure that tomorrow morning it’ll look exactly the way it does now. Perhaps it would be a good idea if you took a picture before trying it on.’ he teased her.
‘Very funny.’ she cheekily stuck her tongue out at him before throwing herself, face up and arms largely spread,  on the bed.
He gently lay on top of her, pinning her arms down and grasping her hands with his:
‘Let’s try it on now, shall we?’ he whispered in her ear then slowly moved his lips down on her neck.
‘Adi,’ he turned his head towards her later as they were lying next to each other, ’I’m afraid I won’t be able to spend much time with you while we’re here. I expect the conference to take most part of each day. But at least you won’t be on your own, you’ll have Anne and Laura with you.’
‘It’s ok, I did expect that.’ she said keeping her eyes closed. Her face was lacking expression and Paul wished he knew what was going through her head.
 He had another reason to be glad that Anne was there. He hoped that, spending more time together, she and Adi would get closer. He would’ve liked them to become friends.

When he woke up the next morning, he watched Adi amused: she was so cute, sleeping like a spoiled child, lying on her front, hugging the pillow crushed underneath her.
‘What time is it?’ she moved slowly when she felt him trying to leave the bed.
‘It’s only seven o’clock.’ he whispered, stroking her back. ‘Go back to sleep, it’s early yet.’
He tried not to make much noise while getting ready and kept the curtains shut not to disturb her. Before he left the room, he kissed her good bye:
‘I’ll call you later. Have a nice day.’
‘You too.’ she mumbled before pulling the duvet over her head.
Around midday he tried to ring her,  to see how she was but her phone went straight to voice mail. Few minutes later she sent him a message:
‘Guess where I am. Just about to enter the Louvre! Can u believe this? I’m shaking:-)’
He couldn’t help but smiling.
He and the guys got back to the hotel around five. Anne and Laura were at the bar in the hotel’s restaurant, having a drink.
‘Do you know where Adi is?’ he asked Anne.
‘I don’t know, Paul.’ she said. ‘She left this morning saying that she’s going to visit few places. She mentioned Louvre so she’s probably still stuck in there, trying to crack the da Vinci code.’ Anne joked.
‘Oh ok.’ he said unpleasantly surprised. He thought all along that Adi was with them, that she managed to convince the other two girls to give up the shopping idea in exchange for a bit of French culture.
He stayed there for a while, having a drink before going upstairs to get ready for dinner. After he got out of the shower, he phoned her. She was trying to find her way back to the hotel.

‘Listen, I’m not here to babysit Adi. And if you think that I came all the way to Paris to start shopping at Zara or H&M, then you must be mad, my dear.’ he heard Anne an hour later, when he was just about to knock in their hotel room door, loudly talking to someone who, he assumed, could've only been George.
‘Did you ask her if she wanted to go with you?’ George’s voice unclearly came from somewhere inside the room.
 ‘Well, we did mention that we’re going shopping and she was welcome to join. Poor girl was probably too embarrassed, you know she can’t afford expensive shops, unless Paul’s prepared to lend her his credit card.’  Anne laughed ironically.
‘I don’t know what he sees in her anyway,’ she carried on, ‘he could do so much better. Let’s face it, George, she’s only a silly little girl. Paul needs someone more sophisticated, more of his class.’
‘You could be such a snob sometime, Anne. I’ve never seen Paul so happy before he met Adi. She’s good for him.’ Paul heard George’s frustrated voice approaching the door.
‘One thing I can’t understand, George,’ Anne replied irritated, ‘why are you so bothered about her? She’s Paul’s girlfriend, not yours, remember that. Sometimes you make me think that it’s more than sympathy or friendship you feel for her.’
‘Don’t be silly, Anne. I do like Adi, I think she’s a very fine young woman and I can’t see what your problem with her is. She deserves much more consideration than you’re giving her. I’m going downstairs, I’ll be at the bar.’ George ended the conversation.
Paul knew that it was just about time to knock in that door to avoid an awkward situation.
‘Ready for dinner, people?’ he asked as he walked in.
‘Sure. Where’s Adi?’ George asked, examining his friend’s face with worry, probably wondering if Paul heard any of the words exchange taken place earlier.
‘She’s on her way back. She apologises, but she doesn’t want us to wait for her. She’s just had the biggest burger ever.’ Paul smiled, remembering the gourmet picture that Adi had sent to him not that long ago.

An hour later Adi joined them in the hotel’s bar. She was wearing a light, flowers patterned summer dress while her feet were obediently tucked in a pair of flip-flops. She looked so innocently sweet, with her hair curling up as it was getting dry and her skin dispersing a refreshing smell of shower gel as she moved.
‘Oh God, I’m exhausted.’ she sighed, sitting down next to Paul after giving him a quick kiss and greeting the others. ‘I must’ve done miles today. I’ve never walked so much in my entire life.’
‘Where did you go, Adi?’ George asked smiling.
‘Well, I didn’t manage to see a lot. I started with the Orsay museum this morning, then visited the Notre Dame. Then I had lunch in a very typical French bistro. That was lovely. I’m a big gourmand, you know, and I absolutely adore French food. In the afternoon I went to the Louvre.’ she gave him a brief description of her itinerary. ‘I must say, I was overexcited when I stepped in. This has been always one of my dreams, to visit the most famous museum in the world. It’s magnificent.’
‘Hmmm, I can understand your feelings. I remember my first time there, I was just the same.’ George sympathised.
Paul watched Anne’s face. At first he was surprised by the way she felt about Adi, but he couldn’t blame her: Adi was absolutely adorable, the way she looked, her so friendly and unaffected attitude were deemed to attract jealousy from other women. More over, Anne was right, George had always paid Adi lots of attention and it was only natural that Anne didn’t like it. ‘A woman’s soul and mind are so volatile and hard to understand’ Paul smiled sympathetically. He took Adi’s hand into his, holding it protectively. He felt his heart filling up with warmth, he hoped that Adi would never find out about the hostile feelings she could, sometime, spark around her.
‘So, what are your plans for tomorrow, girls?’ Richard asked a bit later. ‘More shopping? While your boyfriends are stuck in an unfriendly enormous amphitheatre, listening to interminable boring speeches.’ he jokingly added.
‘Of course.’ Anne laughed. ‘What else is better to do in the world’s capital of fashion?’
‘Why don’t you go with Laura and Anne tomorrow, Adi?’ George suggested. ‘You might like the Parisian shops, they’re definitely worth a look.’
‘Sure.’ Anne grinned, unimpressed with George’s attempt to hook her up with Adi for the day. ‘It’s better than wondering on your own in a big city like this. And I’m sure a day of shopping in Paris won’t break Paul’s bank account.’
Adi looked at Anne confused, obviously uncomfortable with her insinuation: she would’ve never expected Paul to pay for her shopping. .
‘I don’t know.’ she said, her eyes trying to catch Paul’s, asking for back up. She didn’t want to be rude, but there were so many other more valuable things to be explored. ‘I’m sorry,’ she blushed apologetically, looking at Anne, ‘but this is my first time in Paris, I’m just trying to get the most out of it.’
Paul wondered if Adi was genuinely uninterested in the shopping proposal or it was more that she couldn’t afford it.

The next morning, before he left the hotel, he got two thousand euros from the hotel’s exchange bureau and put them in an envelope, which he left on the dressing table, leaning against Adi’s handbag. ‘Adi, please, buy yourself something nice. Paul.’ he wrote on it.
He rang her later.
‘Are you ok?’ he asked.
She gave him a rather apathetic ‘yes.’
‘What are you up to?’
‘Shopping, with Laura and Anne.’
‘Great. Are you enjoying yourself?’ he said, pleased to know that she was not on her own again.
‘’course.’ her answer sounded just as impassively as the other two. He wondered what was wrong.

When he came back to the hotel, Adi was sitting on the terrace with the girls, enjoying the late afternoon’s gentle sunshine.
‘Hi.’ he leant over, trying to give her a kiss. She turned her head, avoiding his eyes, allowing his lips to touch her face, but not the mouth. He sat down in the chair next to hers, looking at her concerned, trying to figure out what could’ve possibly upset her. He knew it was pointless asking her because she wouldn’t have told him, she’d never had when something was bothering her. He’d always had to guess.
‘Come on, boys, go and get ready for dinner, I’m absolutely starving.’ Anne urged the men to make a move.
‘Are you coming with me?’ Paul tried to lure Adi upstairs, hoping that, once on their own, he could make her talk to him.
‘I’ll wait here if that’s ok.’ she turned him down.
‘Sure. I’ll see you soon then.’ he didn’t insist.

He found out the cause of Adi’s frustration when he got into their room: the envelope he had left for her that morning was still there, unopened. The only difference to it was that now it had a big question mark drawn over his writing. He felt bad, he should’ve known that she wouldn’t take the money.
Later on, at the dinner table, while everyone was enjoying their supper, loudly talking and laughing, Adi kept quiet.
‘Did you buy anything today, Adi?’ George asked her.
‘Pardon?’ she turned to him distracted.
‘I was wondering if you found anything nice to buy today.’ George repeated his question.
‘No, I’m afraid the French shops are a bit too expensive for my budget.’ she gave him a timid smile before dipping herself into silence again. Paul watched her distraught, he wished he could do something to make her smile again.

When dinner was finished, she excused her way upstairs, invoking a headache. Paul followed her five minutes later.
‘Adi,’ he said once in the room, picking up the envelope, ‘I just wanted you to enjoy yourself.’
She didn’t say a word, just gave him an angry look before walking into the bathroom. When she came back, she was wearing her pyjamas. She grabbed a magazine from the wooden rack next to the dressing table and lay down on the bed.
After few silent minutes, Paul approached the bed, sitting himself next to her.
‘Adi, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.’ he apologised.
‘Ok.’ she said unmoved.
‘Are you talking to me?’
‘Uh-huh.’ she nodded, pretending to be absorbed in her reading, refusing to look at him.
He took hold of her right ankle with one hand while the other one started playing with her toes. Then his fingers began to draw indecipherable signs on her sole. He could see a weak smile flourishing in the corner of her mouth.
‘Stop it, please, stop it.’ she was begging him few seconds later, between outbursts of laughter.
‘Not unless you tell me that I’m forgiven.’
‘Ok, ok, you are.’ she surrendered.
He pulled her towards him, holding her tight in his arms. He watched her face, trying to read her mind through her eyes. For the first time he felt her vulnerably open and he didn’t feel scared anymore. It was the knock in the door that stopped his feelings burst out of his mouth.
‘Come in.’ he shouted while gently laying her down on the bed.
It was George.
‘Hi, I hope I’m not disturbing.’ George apologised. ‘How are you feeling, Adi?’
‘Much better, thanks, George.’ she replied smiling.
‘You don’t mind if I take Paul for a drink downstairs, do you?’ he asked her.
‘No, of course not.’ she said. ‘At least I can read my magazine in peace.’
‘Don’t forget to turn the pages this time.’ Paul laughed before leaving the room.
Paul would’ve liked to stay there with Adi, but he could see that there was something that was troubling his friend.

‘What’s the matter, George? You look worried.’ he asked him after the waiter handed over their drinks.
‘Is Adi ok?’ George asked. ‘She hasn’t been herself at all tonight.’
‘She’s fine, a bit tired I suppose.’
‘I was just wondering…’ George seemed uncomfortable, ‘It’s not Anne, is it? She didn’t say anything to upset her, did she?’
‘Don’t be silly, of course she didn’t.’ Paul tried to put his friend’s mind at rest.’ It was me actually. I left Adi some money this morning, I just wanted her to enjoy the day. But she’s too proud, you know, she wouldn’t have that. So she got upset, she thought it was offensive. It’s all sorted now.’
‘Oh ok.’ George sighed relieved. ‘I was afraid that it was Anne, she can be a bit awkward sometime.’
‘Women, eh?’ Paul smiled, remembering the conversation he unwillingly witnessed the night before.
 ‘You’re a very lucky man, you know that, Paul.’ George sincerely looked at him.
Of course he knew.

The next morning he rescheduled Adi and his flight for Sunday evening and extended the booking for the hotel room.
‘We’re staying for the weekend.’ he announced the others just before they were due to leave for the airport.
‘You can’t.’ Anne said startled. ‘You’ll miss Dianne’s birthday party.’
Richard and Laura joined her in her protest.
‘Oh well, I’m sure you’ll still manage to enjoy yourself even without us being there.’ Paul smiled.
The only one who didn’t seem surprised was George.
‘Well done, mate. I hope you’ll have a nice time. Adi deserves it.’ he shook Paul’s hand before getting into the cab. (to be continued)