Free Spiraling Deception by Noree Kahika

blah, blah,
blah, which led to numerous eye rolls from both Jake and me.
    By the end of the ride, I’d had enough and
snapped, “Okay, Court, I get it! I love you, babe, but enough with
the Roman Knight fan club, please. I’m begging you.”
    My exasperated plea garnered a, “Hear, hear.
I second that, Court. For fuck’s sake, enough about Knight
already,” by an equally exasperated Jake.
    Court’s responding huff of
indignation was a little funny but for the remainder of the
journey, she didn’t mention Roman’s name again. Thank God!
    The limo dropped us off at our
accommodations, an elegant building that was transformed into a
hotel in the early 1920s and had a distinctly Parisian style and
charm to it. The hotel’s location was in one of the most beautiful
areas of Paris, according to our travel agent, and within a
ten-minute walk from the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs-Élysées, and
the Eiffel Tower.
    Courtney squealed in delight and jumped up
and down as soon as we’d entered the hotel. “I can’t believe we’re
actually in Paris!”
    “ I know, right? Paris!” I
squealed back.
    To all our surprise, when we handed over our
confirmed reservation voucher, the hotel manager announced in
heavily accented English that we’d been given a complimentary
upgrade from the standard hotel rooms we had booked. The upgrade
was to two luxury suites and included buffet breakfasts for the
duration of our stay. The news brought on another round of squeals
from both Courtney and me. Poor Jake, used to our fits of girlie
enthusiasm over the years, just rolled his eyes but when his mouth
curved into a wide grin, I knew he was just as thrilled. We were
all on tight budgets for this trip, so for our rooms to be
unexpectedly upgraded and breakfast thrown in was an awesome
windfall.
    After we dropped our bags off in our
respective suites—which, by the way, were totally amazing—we
freshened up and then made our way to the pick-up point for the red
double-decker hop-on/hop-off sightseeing bus. We’d booked a two-day
pass and according to the bus timetable, the route covered all the
major attractions on a revolving two-hour loop.
    Paris was all I’d imagined and so much more.
The city was simply extraordinary, from the impressive architecture
to the beautifully winding cobblestone streets. No matter where we
looked, as we rode the open-aired bus, every sight was
mind-blowingly more spectacular than the last. The day couldn’t
have been more glorious: the sun was shining—not even a cloud was
present in the sky as we rode from one grand historic monument to
the next to hop out to take photos and walk around before we caught
the next bus.
    First stop was the iconic Eiffel Tower. We
took countless photos, and then rode the decoratively painted
wooden horses on the charmingly antique carousel. We followed that
with lunch, which for me consisted of the most mouthwateringly
delicious cherry-flavored jelly crepe in the world. Then we were
back on the bus to visit the world’s most famous museum, the
Louvre, followed by a photo stop at the magnificent Notre Dame. The
sheer size and beauty of the Gothic cathedral literally took my
breath away—it was that impressive.
    Two days in Paris would never be enough time
to experience all the incredible splendor and vast history this
amazingly romantic city had to offer.
    Hours later, after the three of us had
strolled the banks of the Seine, walked the fabled stairs of
Montmartre and meandered around the impressive structure of the Arc
de Triomphe—which, from firsthand experience I could now say, after
climbing over two hundred and eighty steps, absolutely did have the
best panoramic views of Paris—we ended back at the Eiffel Tower as
the sun began to set.
    Courtney and I had bought fresh baguettes
filled with ham and local cheeses from a nearby patisserie while
Jake bought a bottle of white wine and some plastic cups at a small
grocery store. We took our goodies and found a nice spot