The next few days, all the filming was done in buildings, which James was sure to tell me so I didn’t have to go to. I didn’t mind though, I simply went to the spa in the hotel. The surrounding area was easy enough to navigate, but James forbade me from getting in a taxi and actually seeing Paris. So instead I visited cafés and practiced my French and walked around the park right across the street. I hardly saw my brother, let alone the other actors during this time. James told me they were busy, but he came back way too happy to be simply “working”. I knew that ‘just been kissed’ face better than ever these days. Well, at least he and Ava were doing well.

A few days after we arrived, James finally told me that they were filming in the Louvre and I was so excited, I could have cried. Beautiful art around every corner, high arching ceilings. Not to mention that areas would be closed off for the filming. Oh yes, this I could enjoy.

We left early in the morning and I made sure I had my Monster and sketchbook, plus laptop, phone, and chargers. We drove through the city and I was able to see even more. My stomach was erupting in butterflies as I saw the glow of sunrise reflecting around the buildings. The car parked outside of a square of creamy stone and we made our way through the courtyard until we approached a large building. I wanted to stop and stare for awhile, but I was pushed along until we came into another courtyard and that’s when I saw the glass pyramid.

“I love Paris,” I whispered to myself, following the crew and company into the building where we didn’t have to buy tickets or wait in ridiculous lines. Bags were quickly searched, we went through security, and then began to be escorted through the wide and tall halls of the Louvre. I was hardly paying any attention as I we made our way to where we’d be filming and that’s when I realized there were no filtering crowds. 

“Where is everyone?” I asked Carson who had been walking with me.

“Not allowed in this area. We aren’t just filming in one room today, there’s a lot of action going around the building,” he told me.

“Am I allowed to wander?” I asked hopefully.

“Yeah, I see no reason why not?”

“Yes,” I said quickly, fist pumping the air and began to run off in the Louvre. 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, where do you think you’re going?” Finch grabbed my arm stopping me before I could dash off into the museum.

“To explore!”

Finch let out a bark of laughter. “Camille, if you can get lost on the small set in England, you’re definitely going to get lost in the Louvre. And this time it’ll be a lot harder to find you. Just stay with us,” Finch told me and I pouted like a little child.

“Please, Lisa, I just want to see the museum. It can’t be that difficult,” I justified, hoping she would let me go.

“You’re kidding right? You know how many rooms and halls are in this place? There’s also no guarantees of you getting back into the filming area if you leave it. The museum staff have a strict job and they aren’t going to just let you come back in if you leave.”

“I have my pass!” I held up the lanyard around my neck for her to see better. “And I know French alright, I’m sure I can work my way back in,” I added, hoping it would convince her.

“The workers know English as well. Let’s just show you where we are and maybe then you can run off.” I sighed dramatically and dragged my feet behind Finch as we walked in the wide hallways. I remember hearing something about how one of the Louis’ rode their horses in the corridors because the castle was so spacious. If only I could do that. 

We eventually reached a wide open space with paintings that took up the length of the walls and benches in the middle so people could enjoy them, however I could see the tracks for the cameras and the lights were still being set up. The actors dispersed into their corners to put on their costumes and get their hair and makeup done and I looked at Finch expectantly. She sighed and laughed before walking towards an arched walkway. Acting like a lost puppy, I followed her to where I found a table full of coffee, tea, and snacks and I smiled thankfully. 

“Camille,” I turned to Finch as she started walking away, “I’ll see if I can get you someone to take you around the museum. But not now. Can you promise me you’ll wait here?”

“Here here or general vicinity here?”

“General vicinity. I’m sure they have a spot out there for you to wait. Now, I have to go find our curator,” Finch mumbled to herself as she walked off down a dimly lit hallway. I fixed up my coffee and grabbed a croissant before walking back into the open area. The crew was moving about, shuffling things to and fro to get perfect lighting as Bonnie spotted me and pointed to a place nearby the director’s chair. I smiled at her gratefully before taking my spot and  nibbling on the end of my croissant. Good Lord, that was delicious. No chocolate or butter necessary for this piece of God-given goodness. 

I sat there for probably an hour, but I didn’t mind. Over these past few months, I’ve learned to enjoy sitting and watching it. Everyone was in their costumes and they were still getting lighting a bit situated, although I didn’t understand the problem. The Louvre was very well lit and the sunlight was pouring in beautifully. Whatever. I’m sure there was a science to it that I wasn’t going to try to understand. 

Eventually an elderly man in a blazer and slacks came up to me and told me that his name was Hervé and he would be showing me around the museum. I jumped up eagerly with my Monster in hand and followed him out of the room we were currently in and back into the wide hallways. My eyes scanned each picture and I was sure to stop Hervé to ask him questions about pieces as I pleased which he was perfectly okay with.

“And this piece is The Coronation of Napoleon, when –”

“I actually know this! I studied it in my history class!” I said excitedly and Hervé raised a white-haired eyebrow at me, his wrinkles deepening as he looked at me, quite confused.

“So you don’t need me to explain it?”

“Well, you can. I’m sure there’s a lot more to the history than what I studied.” He obliged and continued on with facts of the time it was painted, the artist, and the difficulty of dimensions captured. I sighed in awe every time I looked at a different painting, my heart wanting nothing more than to reach that level of perfection. This entire museum held everything I desired in life. Beauty and pain all expressed with oils on canvas. Nothing could match the perfection this museum beheld. 

Eventually we reached the most crowded part of the museum – The Mona Lisa. I managed to squeeze myself to the front, Hervé trailing along so he could give me some history on the piece. When I reached the front, I felt like the air was knocked out of me. There it was. Behind bullet proof glass, a wooden barrier, and a rope barrier – not to mention guards standing at their post along the sides with security cameras surrounding it. That painting wasn’t going anywhere. But that didn’t matter. It was a tiny painting, especially from this far away, but it was incredible to see. That was the actual painting. Right there in front of me. I could have cried, I was so excited.

“Mademoiselle Camille,” Hervé said, pronouncing my name the French way which I liked, “Shall we move on?” I didn’t want to move, but I could feel anxious tourists pushing me aside. I held my Monster up to my eye and snapped a few photos.

“Wait, could you…” I held up my Monster hoping he would catch on. He nodded briefly, taking my camera as I smiled like Mona Lisa into the camera with her smiling behind me. He snapped a few before handing it back to me and, deeming them fair enough, shuffled through the crowd into the open halls again.

I’m not sure how long we wandered the hallways of the palace, taking turns through narrow door ways and open corridors. The space on my camera was rapidly filling up as I took picture after picture which Hervé didn’t seem to mind. I wasn’t a demanding tourist, just dreadfully curious. I took a few pictures of Hervé and I saw him smile. It was a tiny smile, something you wouldn’t really notice, but I saw the corner twitch up as he shook his head slightly. He guided me back to the movie area where the crowds had officially vanished and I spotted the lights and cameras facing us and I was momentarily blinded.

“Cut! Someone walked into the shot,” the director said, angrily, swiping his head with the back of his hand. “Camille, you just ruined that take,” he yelled and I realized he was directing his anger at me. Hervé nodded his head briskly before dodging away. He didn’t get in trouble!

“I’m sorry! Nobody told me, I’m moving, sorry!” I scuttled off to the side, trying to get out of the way completely. 

“Come on, Cammie, you need to move,” an Australian accent yelled at me and I looked over to see Carson smirking at me.

“Oh shut up.”

“Run, Cammie, run!” This time it was James and there was no way in heck I was running past dozens of actors and crew members. I settled for a brisk walk, hoping to reach Finch or Bonnie before someone yelled at me again. 

I reached them just as the director was shaking his head, obviously frustrated. That was probably their best shot of the day and I just screwed it up.

“I’m so sorry. No one told me I couldn’t come in,” I whispered to Finch who was typing away at her computer furiously.

“It’s fine, Camille, just go back to your spot,” she ordered me and I was beginning to realize that all the workers were in a very foul mood. I slunk over to my spot and sat quietly, desperate to not disturb anyone for the rest of the day. It was too late to go running back after Hervé, so I suppose I was trapped here for now until something else could distract me. I scarcely dared breathe, I was so worried the sound would pick it up and then I’d have all of those workers on my case too. My Monster was still slung around my neck so I decided pictures were quiet enough. Delete that one, save that one, develop that one, cringe at the weird selfies.

“Hey.” I looked up to see Liam sitting beside me. I mentally rolled my eyes. Another day of pretend. Wonderful.

“Hey Liam, how’s it going?”

“Stressful. Today has been a load of stress on all of us. Tom –”

“Tom?”

“The director.”

“Oh, okay. What about him?”

“He’s not happy with how each scene is going. We might have to film here tomorrow –”

“Really?” I asked, happily.

“That’s not good. If that happens, all our other days of shooting are going to be pushed back and it’ll throw off the entire schedule,” he explained, not looking pleased about the situation himself.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

He shrugged. “It is what it is. What’d you do today?”

“I toured the museum. Most beautiful art I’ve ever witnessed. I found myself getting a bit overwhelmed by how impeccable it was.”

“Did you cry or something?”

“Nah, I’m not a big crier,” I told him and my eyes widened slightly when I realized that was exactly what I said to him the night we kissed. The entire air around us seemed to grow tighter as I hoped that he wouldn’t notice that either.

Wait, what am I talking about? I just gave him the perfect opportunity to tell me what he meant by that kiss. He better take the bait I just gave him. I looked directly at him, not quite with an expectant look on my face, but close enough that I was hoping he would catch the hint.

“Good, because I’m not comforting you,” he said, a bit quietly and then I noticed him smiling to himself. Oh, so hilarious, aren’t you? I wanted to hit him. He knew exactly what I was referring to and what does he do? Say his exact words back to me and pretend it’s some kind of joke. That jerk.

I looked up at him, almost tempted to just confront him about it there and then, when James approached me, shaking a towel through his hair.

“Hey Cam, we’re taking off in about ten minutes okay?” He asked and I nodded silently, grabbing my bag to start putting my things away.

“Guess that’s my cue to get cleaned up. See you later, Cam,” he said, lifting himself away from the chair and towards where the makeshift dressing rooms were.

I glared at his departing back when I noticed James was still there. All I could do was shake my head and say, “I’m going to kill him,” for him to get the message. He came and sat beside me, elbows resting on his thighs, folding his hands in front of him, as he leaned closer to me.

“I can do that for you if you want.” For a moment, I was going to take him up on that offer.

“I’ll deal with it. Give it some more time,” I said, patting his knee and he sighed, rolling his eyes at me before going off to get ready.

It’s going to happen at some point, I reassured myself. I’m not sure when. But it will, right?

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Hey hey hey! Sorry this is a bit of a late update. I wanted something to happen, but I didn't quite know what I was doing with it until last night. So here it is!

Favorite parts of the chapter? Least favorite? Any particular character you want to kill or hug or something? Let me know by commenting! I love your comments, for reeeaaalllzzz.

Anyway, I'm going to go take a nap now because I'm sick and I hate it and I have to work in two hours. I love you all and stay classy,

-Kate

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