Page 55 of One Week in Paris
“You barely spoke a word to her,” she points out.
“Well, she was kind of busy, chatting up Mark.”
She shoots me a tight smile, as if she knows what I’m getting at. “Well, you know Mark. He’s so charming. He gets along with everyone.”
“Especially those with nice asses,” I mumble under my breath.
“What was that?” she asks with a cocked brow.
“Uh… I said, uh… ‘it’s good that he’s so nice’”.
“Yes, he is.”
“Not as nice as Antoine, though.”
She blushes again, and Oscar makes his appearance; disheveled hair, inside out t-shirt, wrinkled boxers — he’s a glorious mess.
“Good morning, Oscar,” Mom cheers.
“Put some pants on,” I scold. “My mother’s here.”
He mumbles something under his breath and turns on his heel.
“So you and Matt,” Mom says. “Is there something going on between you? I couldn’t believe when he told us he took you to dinner at the Eiffel tower. So romantic…”
I smile at the memory. “He did… it was nice. He’s changed.”
She lights up. “I believe it. He seems like a nice young man. Very polite. Can you imagine if you and him…”
“Wouldn’t that be incest?” I point out.
She laughs. “Not quite.”
Corrie trudges in, looking as hungover as I am. She was knocking down the wine last night too— I’m sure she feels even worse than I do. “Good morning,” she moans. “I want to die.”
We both laugh. “Are you hungry at all?” Mom asks.
Corrie shakes her head.
“Have a little something,” Mom insists. “It will make you feel better.”
“I’ve got something planned today,” Mom tells us as we all sit down to eat. “Antoine invited us for a stroll in his neighborhood,” she tells us. “We were planning to head there anyway. It’ll be even better with him as a guide. He says he can show us all the little local hotspots, places tourists don’t know about.”
A mischievous smile stretches Corrie’s lips. “Uh huh. You and Antoine have become quite the close friends, haven’t you,” she teases.
Mom blushes… yet again. Seriously, she’s like a junior high school girl with a crush, all flushed and giddy. It’s actually super cute. She seems to have completely forgotten that she’s getting married to someone else tomorrow. “He is very nice and welcoming,” she tells Corrie.
“He certainly seems smitten with you,” Corrie points out.
Mom waves a hand in the air as she serves us our eggs Benny. “Oh, I don’t know about that. He’s probably this friendly with everyone.”
Corrie shakes her head. “Well, he hasn’t given me a second look,” she says. “And not to toot my own horn, but I’m hot.”
Mom laughs. “Well, that makes one of us. I’m afraid I’m past those days.”
“No way,” Corrie says. “You’re a knockout! Look at you. You’re a total MILF.”
Mom cocks a brow in confusion. “A what?”
