Come dance through the night, and forget all your woes

Nick’s heart pounded with anticipation as they descended from the Eiffel Tower. What Rose had shared with him, what they had shared with each other… it hung over them like a cloud. He could still feel her lips against his, softer and sweeter than all the other kisses she had given him.

It was just like I thought. Rose really does have feelings for me. Contrary to popular belief, Nick was not, actually, a dense moron. He had picked up on the possibility of Rose’s feelings in the previous round, because in spite of her acting skills, she was very easy to read when she got flustered.

Like now, for instance.

Her face was as red as a cherry and she kept shooting him furtive glances out of the corner of her eye. He couldn’t blame her for her feelings of embarrassment and anxiety- after all, she’d confessed her love for him atop the Eiffel Tower, which apparently had been a dream of hers, and while the kiss they’d shared had been amazing, he had never given her a reply.

Nick’s own feelings for Rose were rather complicated. I definitely enjoy her company, and there’s no question I find her attractive. And I can’t say I don’t understand why she would fall for me, either, he thought as he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

In spite of their differences in terms of attractiveness (though Nick was working on that; Dani had given him a routine to help get his body back in shape) Rose was a lot more emotionally fragile than Nick ever could have guessed. So him comforting her at a point when she was alone and emotionally **** had led to a seed of infatuation to take root, one that had apparently sprouted.

But… how do I feel about Rose? That’s the real question, he asked himself. She could be fun, and while definitely a little selfish, she balanced it out with odd acts of selflessness and compassion here and there. She felt like a cute puppy sometimes, always eager to please for some treats.

But did Nick love her the way he did Mary? Or any of the other girls, for that matter? Gina, Dawn, even Carly and Kim, they were all people he’d gotten to know and fell for during his life, but Rose had been dropped in on him out of nowhere. And now they were bonded, so long as she remained in the harem. He’d have to confront what he felt about her sooner or later.

So it might as well be sooner. Like right now, when they were the only two people in Paris.

“Rose,” he murmured, causing her to jump slightly. She glanced hopefully at him, and then turned pale when she saw the serious expression on his face.

Nervous, she swallowed and resolved herself for what he was about to say next.

“Yes?” She asked, trying to keep her voice even.

“About what you said… I’m going to think about it,” Nick said seriously, looking into her eyes. “Today, let’s just enjoy our time together, and we can talk about all the serious stuff tonight. Does that sound okay with you?”

It felt kind of shitty of him, like he was putting pressure onto her shoulders to make this the best date she could. But Rose didn’t seem to see it that way. Her rosy cheeks lit up with glee and a beautiful smile spread across her lips.

“I couldn’t ask for anything better, mon compagnon,” she cooed, batting her eyelashes.

“So where are we going next?” He asked. It was still early in the morning, and they had a lot of ground to cover. Nick was the kind of guy if you asked him what to do in Paris, he’d say “The Eiffel Tower” and not be able to come up with a second answer.

So he was counting on Rose to know her stuff.

And judging by the smug smile on her face, she was happy to rub her knowledge of Parisian culture in his face.

“Tell me, Nick, what do you think of fine art?” Rose asked, flashing him an inquisitive look.

Nick raised his eyebrow. Then he realized what she was suggesting. “Oh! The Louvre! I forgot all about that!”

“Oui, exactly,” Rose nodded. Then she wagged her finger from side to side. “But not quite. There are two excellent art museums in Paris. Everyone knows le Louvre, but have you heard of Musée d’Orsay? Or Musée de l’Orangerie?”

Nick shook his head. He had no idea.

“Well, no need to fret,” she tittered. “We’ll be heading to all three! There’s plenty of time. Come, come!” She turned and led him… towards the river?

“We’re not walking anymore?” Nick asked, raising his eyebrow.

Rose looked back at him incredulously.

“Nick, how big do you think Paris is?” She asked.

“Well…”

She sighed and shook her head, massaging her temples. “Americans… no, no, it’s fine. We’ll be going by boat, down the canal.”

“Oh, uh…” Nick tensed as they arrived at the canal. He glanced down the flowing water anxiously. “That’s, well…”

“Hmm?” Rose looked up at him innocently. “Is anything wrong?”

“N-no!” He said quickly, shaking his head and forcing a smile onto his face. “It’s fine, let’s go! It’s just a boat ride, right?”

“Oui,” Rose nodded. “We’ll take the hop-on hop-off down la Seine, it should be nice and relaxing. Ah! Look, there it is now! Right on time!”

As expected from a dream, the boat pulled up to the dock immediately. And… it didn’t look like Nick expected. It looked like something out of a science-fiction book, like a space ship. It had a round body with the top covered in glass for maximum viewing. It looked safe enough, but it wasn’t what he expected.

It was also completely empty, like a ship of the damned. Nick was shaking as he got on board.

They were the only two people on the boat, but Rose still clung to him greedily, pressing her chest into his arm and resting her head on his shoulder. Nick felt bad. She was really going all-out in making this feel like a date, and meanwhile he was too nervous about the possibility of a sudden storm capsizing the boat.

“So Nick, actually, I have a confession to make,” Rose said, glancing up at him as the boat pulled out of the harbor. “You see, we could have taken the metro to the museums, but… I’ve always wanted to enjoy a nice, romantic boat ride down la Seine…”

She nestled in close to him, practically using his body as a pillow. The intoxicating aroma of her perfume made his heart pound… or maybe that was his fear of drowning. Either way, it just became a lot harder to tell her that he was afraid of running water.

Do it for Rose, he reminded himself, struggling to control his breathing. This is for her. She put a lot of effort into today, and I don’t want to ruin it.

Thankfully, the boat moved at a very slow pace, which kept his fears of capsizing at bay. The only problem was that it meant they spent more time on the water than he would have liked.

Thankfully, the boat stopped before too long.

“Here we are,” Rose said, gesturing up at the large, rounded staircase leading up towards the wide building. An old clock face stood over the entrance. “Musée d’Orsay!”

The two entered the building, which, like the Eiffel Tower, was completely empty. It actually made Nick shiver. Even though he was glad to be back on solid ground, walking around an art gallery in broad daylight with no one there just felt creepy.

“It’s like we’re the only two people on Earth,” Rose mused, putting his thoughts to words. “Well, now, wouldn’t that be a good idea for a movie?”

“What would?” Nick asked.

“Two young lovers in Paris, who realize that the rest of the world has disappeared… it’s poetic… almost sweet…”

Rose looked back at him with glistening eyes, and her cheeks flushed. “I-I’m getting ahead of myself,” she said, shaking her head quickly. “There’s much to see! Let’s go!”

She took him by the hand (apparently THAT wasn’t embarrassing for her) and led him further into the museum.

Nick had never been to an art gallery before, and Rose clearly never had either. They both just sort of wandered the hallways, commenting on the beautiful works of art they saw.

Nick cleared his throat at one particularly revealing painting by Manet. “That, um… well, and people say that stuff people make today is too racy.”

Rose rolled her eyes. “Ah yes, the American way, **** and **** are fine, but heaven forbid you show a nipple.”

“You know, I’m getting kind of tired of all your cheap digs at America,” Nick scowled.

“But you’re not denying them, either.”

Nick opened his mouth to reply, but realized that she wasn’t wrong.

“…Fair.”

Rose tittered and they moved onto the next exhibit. “We have two more galleries to get to, Nick, we can’t spend all day here,” she reminded him. “It’s almost ten! I was hoping we’d make it to lunch at le Georges by one!”

Nick didn’t know what that was, but he was happy to let Rose lead the way.

They left d’Orsay a few minutes later, only for Nick to realize that they were walking back the way they came by boat.

“Are you sure this is the right way?” Nick asked.

Rose nodded. “Musée de l’Orangerie is that way, across the river,” she said, pointing towards a bridge in the distance. Then she turned on her heel. “And the Louvre is that way, in the other direction. Both are on the far bank, and I figured that since we’ll ultimately be heading east, we should go to de l’Orangerie first.”

Her eyes twinkled. “And besides, wouldn’t it just make sense to save the Louvre for last?”

Nick had to admit that she had a point. But still…

“What happened to all that talk about anticipation ruining the present, and how it was better to get the best stuff out of the way first?” He teased.

Rose stuck out her tongue. Just some of that French class she went on about, certainly nothing a boorish American would ever do.

They crossed the bridge (which Rose helpfully identified as being named “Pont de la Concorde” not that Nick knew or cared about that) and before long arrived at the building. It was quite large, and Nick was interested by the tall glass windows on the sides.

“I always thought windows on an art gallery was a weird design choice,” Nick said. “It’s like, why pay for a ticket when you could sneak a peek through a window, you know?”

…He said that, pointedly not paying for a ticket himself as they hopped the turnstiles.

“Ah, but those windows were already there,” Rose pointed out. “Did you know? Musée de l’Orangerie was once a greenhouse.”

“Really?” Nick stared at her, surprised.

She nodded. “Oui. Napoleon III had this place constructed to store orange trees over the winter,” she informed him. “Where do you think the name comes from? L’Orangerie? The orangery?”

“Is that what an orange grove is called?” Nick asked. “I’ve literally never heard that word used once before.”

Rose rolled her eyes and bit her lip, amused by his ignorance. “Come on, let’s get going. There’s a work in here that’s simply a can’t-miss!”

They headed deeper into the museum, when they arrived at a chamber that took Nick’s breath away.

“Oh, man… I know about Monet’s Water Lilies but this is just…”

If anyone had been on the internet, they’d probably heard mention of “Monet’s Water Lilies” once or twice. But Nick, like so many people who had heard it in passing, thought that it was just a painting. Like Van Gogh’s Starry Night or whatever.

Well, Vincent could Van Gogh fuck himself because as good as his paintings may have been, they couldn’t compare to this.

They were so… large!

“Monet painted eight of these murals,” Rose informed him, strolling up to the curved wall. “Each one 2 meters high and 91 meters in length.”

“Wait, eight? But I only count four,” Nick said, looking at the four panels in the room.

Rose rolled her eyes and beckoned him into the next room. Four more murals sat in panels along the walls. The two oval rooms made an infinity symbol, each displaying the beauty and grace of Monet’s Water Lilies. There had been some of Monet’s works in the previous museum, but in Nick’s opinion, nothing in that was as beautiful as what he saw here.

“This room was finalized when Monet was still alive,” Rose informed him. “In fact, he helped the architect design it specifically to exhibit these murals.”

“Well, the guy must have really liked water lilies,” Nick said, walking over to admire one of the long murals. “Is it true that he painted these while almost blind?”

“His eyes had cataracts, yes,” Rose confirmed. “But… you don’t really think that this is it, do you?”

Nick blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Monet painted around 250 paintings of water lilies in his career as an artist,” Rose informed him.

Nick’s eyes bulged out of his skull. “No way, are you serious?!”

“Completely,” Rose said. “Look it up. Or just check out this brochure.”

She strolled over to him with a foldout in hand, and Nick checked the information. Yup, it said it right there, in the trivia section. Approximately 250 works.

Man, there was a shit ton of art he didn’t know about.

Dani would have loved it here, he thought. Wait, no. I can’t be thinking about other girls right now. Not even her.

He turned to Rose, who was staring at him with a coy smile on her face.

“What are you thinking about, looking so hard at the water lilies, mister?” She giggled, leaning forward to give him a better look at her cleavage.

Rose wasn’t the only one who could play the teasing game, though.

“Oh, I was just thinking that you’re even more beautiful than the water lilies,” Nick replied.

“Wha… buh-?!” Rose stammered, turning red in the face. “I, uh… unbp.”

Yep, that sound summarized her feelings well.

Unbp.

“We-we need to spend more time looking at these!” She said hastily. “It’s proper courtesy to spare at least twenty minutes to admire the murals!”

She walked robotically over to the far wall and stared at the painting so hard Nick thought it might catch fire. Judging from the steam coming out of Rose’s head, there was a good chance she might as well.

Compared to the water lilies, there wasn’t much else in l’Orangerie to catch their eye. It really was the jewel of the museum alright.

They exited out towards the Tuileries Garden, which separated the Musée de l’Orangerie from the Louvre. It was a nice, breezy walk, and they passed the time with Nick listening to Rose describe the history of their final destination on the gallery tour.

“Did you know, historically, the Louvre was used as an art gallery as far back as the 1600s?” Rose asked.

As with many of Rose’s facts about Paris and France, Nick’s answer was an obvious “no”.

“Is that right?” He asked.

She nodded. “In 1682, Louis XIV chose the Palace of Versailles as his primary residence, and used the Louvre Palace to display the royal collection of artwork. After the Revolution of 1789, it was decreed that the Louvre be used to house the works of France, and the building has served that function ever since.”

“Whoa, so that’s over 300 years? That’s amazing!” Nick was surprised that a museum could actually be the old.

“It is, isn’t it?” Rose tittered. “Can you believe that the Louvre has housed works of art longer than your country has existed?”

Nick rolled his eyes. There she went again.

“Teasing, I’m teasing!” Rose said, patting him on the shoulder.

“You know, Rose, it amazes me that you can memorize all these facts, but you still can’t remember not to put your foot in your mouth all the time,” Nick said, trying to keep from sounding too judgmental. He’d meant for it to come off as playful, and thankfully, judging by her response of a laugh and a smile, it did.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she agreed.

“So are we going there?”

“Hmm? Going where?” Rose asked.

“The Palace of Versailles,” Nick said. “It’s a world heritage site, right? Is it part of your glorious Parisian tour?”

Rose stared blankly at him.

“Nick… you know the Palace of Versailles is in Versailles, right?”

“Uh… wait, Versailles is a place? I thought it was, like, one of your kings or something.”

Rose’s eye twitched.

“Versailles was the capital for over a hundred years! It was the stage of a revolution! Didn’t you read about it in one of your dumb American textbooks!? Stupide imbecile!” She practically screamed. She had to take a few deep breaths to calm herself down. “…Sorry, sorry, it’s fine, I’m fine.”

Being a phenomenal actress, she **** a natural-looking smile onto her face, even though at the moment she wanted to go grab a guillotine and give Nick a first-hand lesson in French history.

“…We’re here,” she said, leading him into the Louvre.

And just like that, the tense atmosphere was washed away in seconds. Both of the galleries they’d been to already had beautiful works of art to be sure, but the Louvre was just as magnificent, and everything was so… grandiose.

Nick could tell why this was known as one of the greatest art galleries in the world, if not the greatest.

They passed by great works of art that Nick had heard about in passing but never taken the time to look up. And Rose was happy to explain everything to him, she was practically giddy about it.

The two then arrived at a very famous painting, which they both stared at for what felt like hours.

“…I’m definitely prettier, right?” Rose prodded Nick, pointing at the black-haired portrait.

“…Rose, that’s a historical treasure,” Nick replied.

“Yeah, but I’m prettier, right?”

“…Yes, you’re prettier,” Nick said, barely able to suppress his amused smile. She seemed so proud of that.

The two admired the painting for a little longer.

“…I think I like the water lilies better,” Nick admitted.

“Same, I don’t really get the hype,” Rose agreed.

Then, a mischievous look crossed her face.

“…Say, Nick, have you ever seen the movie Arsène Lupin?”

Rose knew a lot of movies that Nick had never heard of. “No, is that some French movie?”

“Actually it was made in the US,” she informed him. “In 1932. Based on a famous French play, though. It’s about a brilliant gentleman thief, the Duke of Charmerace, and his daring game of cat and mouse with Detective Guerchard.”

“Huh, that’s interesting,” Nick said. “We should watch it sometime.”

“Yeah, we could…” Rose nodded. “Or…”

Then before Nick could react, Rose hopped over the railing and skittered over to grab the painting.

Alarms blared loudly across the gallery as Nick stared at her in shock.

“What are you doing!?” He exclaimed.

“Come on, it’s not real!” Rose tittered, tapping her hand against his cheek as she strolled past him, the painting tucked under her arm. “Let’s have a bit of fun!”

Nick sighed incredulously and shook his head. Rose was something else alright.