Parle vous angle?

"Good morning," said Imran.
"Morning. Oy, my head," replied Nicole. They were lying next to each other.
"Need some water?"
"Yeah, that would be good. What time is it?"
"Let me check." He looked at his phone. "10 am."
"I guess I should get up."
"Up to you. I'll get you that water." He left the room and went down the steps.
"Hey! Is my phone down there?" she yelled from the room.
"Let me check!"
"Fuck! I could've sworn it was with me when I went to bed!"
"Here." He handed her the water. "Don't worry I'm sure it's here somewhere."
"I have to find it now, I can't lose that phone." He could see the worry in her eyes.

Imran and Nicole met the night before. Both of them were tourists in Paris, the so-called most romantic city in the world. He was from the States, and she was from Australia. She was staying with family, he had rented an Airbnb. She was in grad school, he had a job. Of all the breweries in all the world, he just happened to pop into the one where she was sitting at the bar. Mikeler Brewery, based out of San Diego. An American brewery in Paris, what are the odds? He had sampled Mikeler in the States, it was a great beer. Nicole was heavily engaged in conversation with the bartender when Imran got there. They were the only two sitting at the bar. In a city where everyone seemed to be coupled up, they were alone. He said something, she smiled, and they were off to the races. Travel tends to bring the friendliest version of people out of them. They spent the next couple of hours drinking great beer and getting to know one another.

"I am so fucked," said Nicole. She was crying.
"Relax, it's going to be okay," he said as he hugged her. They searched through every square inch of the Airbnb but her phone was nowhere to be found. "I remember you having it at the food place right before we got home. It's probably still there."
"Ok, I'll go back there." She couldn't stop crying.
"I checked their hours, they don't open till 3."
"Oh no!" More crying. "What am I going to do?"
"We will go chill in a cafe till then."
"You would do that for me? Don't you have a train to catch?"
"It's at 4:40. It's no trouble at all."
"But...but...why?" More crying.
"Well, at least now I have something to do today. If your phone wasn't lost I wouldn't know what to do. Now I have a goal, a mission. I'm going to help you find your phone."

The idea to go back to his Airbnb was Nicole's. She played the damsel in distress. "Oh, I just don't know how I'm going to get back home today. It's so far and I'm a bit drunk. Whatever shall I do." Who could blame her, everyone wants a romantic fling on vacation. Imran and Nicole were both out for the same reason. He offered his place, and she agreed. There was only one problem. In the standard French tradition, there was a transit strike in Paris. No subway, no busses. It was chaos on the roads, with traffic everywhere. This was just fine with Imran, he was used to biking in cities. As a matter of fact, the first thing he did when he got to Paris was sign up for their bike-sharing program. While everyone else was miserable in traffic, he was cruising. Nicole, however, felt that biking was unsafe. She walked everywhere. They were two miles away from Imran's rental, so they decided to walk it. An evening stroll through the most romantic city in the world? Who's saying no to that?

"I can't do this," said Nicole. She started crying again. They had just left his Airbnb.
"Yes, you can! Stop it now!" said Imran. He had had enough. He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. "Listen to me. Crying is not going to get you anywhere right now. You lost your phone, that's it. It happens. People lose their phones all the time. I know you're scared. But you're an adult. We will get your phone back and everything will be alright. Do you hear me?"
"....why...did...this...happen?"
"I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere. It's going to be okay. Everything will be just fine."
"...okay..."
"Good. Now I don't know about you but I am starving. Let's go to that cafe right there."
"Okay."

No romantic walk is complete without a few romantic pit stops. Their first stop was in front of the river. They both looked out and then looked at each other. He leaned in, she leaned in, and they kissed. They kept walking. Their next stop was in front of a lamp post. Nicole was having second thoughts. Imran said something that rubbed her the wrong way. They talked about it. He clarified, she understood. They kept walking. They stumbled into one of the million boulangeries that exist in Paris. This one was on a corner facing a main street. It was superbly lit and had red chairs. They got a drink and shared a cheese plate. They kept walking. They walked past a bar that was blasting some great music. American music of course. American culture has pretty much taken over the world. They stepped inside and got drinks. Nicole was quite drunk by this time but still ordered a martini. A wild move. She wasted no time after the first sip. She started dancing. She was quite good, she had been a ballet dancer her whole life and it showed. Imran couldn't help but look on in admiration. He joined her. They danced. They kissed. They drank. They left. They kept walking. There was a fast food spot right next to the Airbnb. Imran went there every night. The food in Paris is great if you enjoy overpriced, tasteless food. The first night he went to a nice restaurant and ordered a duck that was so pink he was sure it was still alive. The fast food spot was a revelation, they had the best crispy chicken sandwiches. He had two of them every night. The place was packed this night with a bunch of delivery guys, never a bad sign. Nicole was rolling, she made friends everywhere she went. They ate. They mingled. They kept walking. They arrived at the Airbnb. They stopped walking.

"Okay, I'm just going to go," said Nicole as she attempted to rise from her seat at the boulangerie.
"What? Where are you going?" asked Imran.
"You're obviously not interested in talking to me. You've been looking at you're computer for the past thirty minutes."
"I've been chatting with a few friends on Messenger. Sorry about that."
"No, it's fine. I'll just go."
"C'mon no. Please don't do that. I didn't realize I was alienating you. I'll stop."
"It's fine, this is not you're problem anyway, I'll figure it out."
"You are in a strange country without your phone. You don't know how to get back to your cousin's place. Just sit down and we will get through this together."
"Fine. But you have to talk to me."
"Yes, of course."
"How long till the restaurant opens?"
"2 hours."

The Airbnb was surprisingly spacious. It had two floors with a bedroom and a second bathroom on the second floor. The two floors were connected by a tight spiral staircase. Nicole was impressed, most units in Paris were tiny. Space was always at a premium. Things started getting hot and heavy pretty quickly. They started making out on the couch. Nicole, almost out of nowhere, said that she wanted to take a shower before bed. The two of them went upstairs. She took her clothes off in front of Imran and went into the shower. She left the door to the bathroom open. Imran had seen this in a movie once, he knocked on the open door asking if she wanted company. She said 'Sure.' They showered together. He cleaned her, she cleaned him. It became quite apparent that Nicole had a bit too much to drink, the shower was an attempt for her to sober up. Imran was drunk earlier, but the walk and food had sobered him up. Nicole hopped out of the shower, put a towel around her body, and went to the bedroom. When Imran, who turned off the shower and dried himself off, went into the bedroom Nicole was lying on top of the bed naked. He jumped into bed and they started passionately kissing each other. Nicole got on all fours on the bed, and Imran put on a condom. The second Imran attempted to enter, out of nowhere, Nicole shrieked. She couldn't do it. She started crying. Imran comforted her before heading back downstairs for a bit. He needed a moment. When he came back up to the bedroom, Nicole was asleep. Imran got into bed and fell asleep as well.

"Parle vous angle?" asked Imran to the fast food clerk. The same fast food place they had been to the night before.
"Yes, what is it?" replied the clerk.
"My friend left her phone here last night, any chance you guys found it?"
"No sorry. We didn't find any phones."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, sorry." Imran looked back at Nicole. She had tears in her eyes.
"Don't worry, we knew this was a possibility. We just have to get you a new phone."
"Fuck!" cried Nicole. She covered her face with both of her hands. Imran put his arm around her and escorted her out of the fast food place.
"It's going to be okay, all we have to do is buy you a new phone. There are electronic shops everywhere. We will get you a phone, you will go back to your cousin's and everything will be fine after that. You hear me?"
"Yes, okay."

Imran looked up an electronics store on his phone and the two of them went. Imran still had an hour till his train departed. It was a 15-minute bike ride to the train station. He wasn't worried about himself, he was worried about Nicole. If he left her, she would be left out to dry. Without a phone in a foreign country is a bad spot to be in, especially for someone of her temperament. They got to an electronics store and Nicole picked out a phone and attempted to pay for it. She only had a debit card and it didn't go through. They tried again, but no luck. Nicole started to break down again. Imran calmed her down and looked up the nearest ATM. They told the store clerk to keep the phone on hold and left for the ATM. Imran was quite confident he would be able to get them back to the electronic store from the ATM. They got to the ATM and Nicole tried to take out the 200 euros for the phone but was unable to. They went to a different ATM, one that was part of a bigger bank. Again she wasn't able to take out any money. She looked through her statements on the machine, she should have the money. She saw a charge that was pending from the electronics store. Her heart sank in her chest.

"Oh my god, what am I going to do?" said Nicole. This entire episode had worn her out.
"It makes no sense, your card didn't go through at the electronics store."
"Then why does this machine say it did."
"It's pending. It probably won't go through but you won't have access to that money in the meantime."
"That was most of the money in my account!" Nicole was now homeless, phoneless, and broke. Great.
"Don't panic. I know what to do. Follow me."

Imran led Nicole out of the ATM and back to the electronics store. Imran knew it might ultimately come down to this. Then something truly unexpected happened. On their way back to the electronics store the two of them got completely, utterly lost! Imran had an amazing sense of direction, he assumed he would be able to piece together the way back. But Paris has 5-way intersections and back alleys and the two of them found themselves completely lost. Imran tried looking up the electronics store but there were too many of them. He didn't know which one had her new phone on hold. Now Imran started to panic. He had about 20 minutes before he had to leave for the train station. He did not want to leave Nicole without a phone. They tried walking around to find their way but only got more and more lost. Imran had to think, how could they get back to the electronics store? The Airbnb! The fast food place! He knew the way from the fast food place to the electronics store! He looked up the fast food place and the two of them walked there. They retraced their steps to the electronic store, and there it was!

"Hey! It charged my card for the phone," said Nicole to the clerk in the store.
"It's not possible, I'll show you the receipt," said the clerk. He showed her the receipt that said the transaction had been declined.
"It's probably just pending, you will get you're money back, don't worry. Here," said Imran. He handed his credit card to the clerk.
"What are you doing?" asked Nicole.
"Paying for your new phone. We have no other choice. You'll pay me back when you're home safe." She had tears in her eyes.

The transaction went through. The clerk then helped Nicole set up her new phone.

"Why can't I use the account I already have with Samsung?" asked Nicole.
"Because this isn't a Samsung phone. You have to create a new account," said the clerk. Nicole did not like this. She was on the verge of tears.
"But I won't have my contacts!" said Nicole.
"Listen to me," said Imran. He had to leave for the train station in 5 minutes. "You don't need your contacts. You will have the internet. You can email your cousin, find your way back to her place, and put all of this behind you. You will go to sleep and rest. Then tomorrow you will start putting your life back together. Do you understand me?"
"Yeah, okay," replied Nicole. the clerk couldn't help but look on in amazement.

Nicole's new phone was operational. The two of them walked out of the electronics store. Imran had to leave. They exchanged contact information. The two faced each other. Once again, Nicole had tears in her eyes.

"Thank you so much!" she said as she hugged him.
"It's no problem. You would've done the same thing if you were in my place," said Imran.
"No, most people wouldn't do all this, why did you do it?"
"It felt like the right thing to do."
"Well, I'm grateful for it." They kissed.
"I have to go, email me when you get home."
"Okay, I will, have a safe trip."
"You too. Goodbye, Nicole."
"Goodbye, Imran."

Imran pulled away, turned around, and started walking toward his bike rack. After about 15 steps he turned around. Nicole hadn't moved. She was still looking at him, tears in her eyes. He waved goodbye. She waved back. They both turned around and went their separate ways.