Realizing that he was thinking something bad, he cleared his mind and smiled, waving at Bella, “Do you want to take a picture?”
“Yeah.”
Bella agreed.
Kevin took out the camera prepared beforehand and seriously took a few photos of different styles for Bella. Bella cheerfully ran over, “It’s no fun to always take photos by myself. Let’s take a group photo.”
“Well, good.”
Kevin spoke to an American in fluent English, and the American took his camera and took the first group photo of them.
“It’s nice.”
Bella stared at the photo in the digital camera, smiling brilliantly.
“Where do you want to go next?”
“Sacred Heart Cathedral.”
“Good.”
Kevin teased her, “You’ve never been to Paris, but you’re quite familiar with the architecture here.”
“That’s right. I’ve been searching here on the Internet.”
Sacred Heart Cathedral was built on top of the Montmartre Heights, a Catholic church with a Byzantine style. Montmartre heights is a place with winding paths, elegant streetlights, neon lights, mountain scenery, nightingales and soft love. It was a place where Paris was at its most romantic, and where religion, art and love were harmoniously embraced. This hillside, far from the hustle and bustle of the city, was full of poetry, giving the Sacred Heart Cathedral, which stood on top of it, a fairy-tale romance, all white and elegant. The Sacred Heart Cathedral was a place of worship closer to the common people than Notre Dame de Paris, the nearest sacred land to the earthly world, where grocery stores lined the streets and the smell of food filled the air. In a sunny day, it was always crowded with visitors, and the scenery and people were beautiful and pleasant. The music of the organ and the view of the city from Montmartre Heights was peace and quiet.
When they arrived inside the church, Bella tugged on the sleeve of Kevin, “Let’s make a wish, shall we?”
“Well, okay, you go.”
“Are you not going?”
“What do men wish for?”
“There goes the machismo again, right? No, you have to go.”
Bella tugged on his arm without a word and pulled him in front of the statue, then folded her hands in respectful silent prayer, “Almighty God, please grant me and this man beside me the almighty power to never part for the rest of our lives, to hold the hand and grow old together.”
She opened her eyes and skimmed a glance at Kevin, “Have you wished yet?”
“Yes.”
“What did yo wish?”
“If I tell you, it won’t work.”
“It’s okay, say it, I want to know.”
Kevin cleared his throat, “Almighty God, the wish granted by the lover next to me is my wish, please fulfill her wish and don’t forget mine.”
Bella was teased, “You are not sincere.”
It was getting dark. They left the Sacred Heart Cathedral and ate very authentic snacks in the restaurant at the foot of the mountain. Bella didn’t want to return to the hotel so early, so she suggested to go for a walk around the Seine.
The Seine River at night was beautiful like a painting, the evening breeze blowing on people’s faces. They walked along the river for a while. Bella felt thirsty, so casually said, “I’m a little thirsty.”
Kevin stopped his pace, “I’ll go buy you water.”
“There doesn’t seem to be any shops around here.”
“I know where there is a shop. You just stand here and wait for me, I’ll be right back.”
“Okay.”
Kevin turned around and instructed, “Don’t move. I’m not responsible if you get lost.”
Bella smiled, “Got it.”
When Kevin disappeared, she wandered in the same place alone with boredom, She heard the sound of rock music and was excited, looked around and soon determined that the rock music was coming from the east.
Thinking that Kevin would not be able to return for a while, and even if he did, she could still use her mobile phone to contact him. She was driven by curiosity and walked to a lively open space.
It took her a lot of effort to squeeze in front of the crowd. It was a wandering band, including three men and one woman, led by a very handsome looking lead singer, holding a big guitar in his hand to sing Beyond’s Wide World of Sky. Beyond was also a band that Bella liked very much. In this foreign country, she could hear the Chinese people’s singing, and was very surprised and excited. After the song ended, she vigorously applauded, and took her purse out of her pocket. When she was about to draw money when a hand reached out to her and snatched her purse swiftly and fled in a flash.
“Stop right there, thief!”
With a furious roar, Bella chased after the thief.
She couldn’t outrun a man even if she ran as fast as she could, and was in despair when a man sprang up behind her to catch up the thief.
The man flashed past her. At the thought of the important things in her purse, she hurriedly quickened her pace, forgetting about Kevin who went to buy water for her.
The thief, who probably didn’t have the energy to run anymore, threw the wallet to the ground and got into a dark forest.
Bella was also exhausted. She squatted on the ground gasping for breath. The man picked up the wallet and brought it over to her, “See if anything is missing.”
She looked up slowly, surprised to find that the man chasing the thief for her was actually the very handsome young man who was the lead singer of the band earlier.
“Thank you, thank you so much.”
She took it gratefully, puffing open the zipper of her purse, skimming the picture of her with Kevin still there, and felt relieved.
“Didn’t you lose anything, did you?”
“No, thank you.”
She thanked him sincerely and the man smiled, “You’re welcome.”
“By the way.” She pulled a couple of dollars out of her purse, “Your singing is very good. I like it.”
“I’m glad you liked it, but you don’t need to pay for it.”
“Why?”
Don’t wandering singers sing to earn a living? This man was so strange. He didn’t want it.
“I have a steady job, and I’m just performing for free tonight on a whim.”
“Oh.”
She smiled apologetically, almost forgetting that dreams couldn’t be measured in money.
“Are you alone?”
Only then did Bella remember Kevin, and slapped her head, “I came here with my husband. He must be anxious if he can’t find me.”
“It’s okay, you give him a call.”
“Right right.”
She frantically reached into her pocket, “I think I dropped my phone.”
The man shrugged, “It can’t be that bad luck, right?”
“Yeah, what can I do about that? Where is this?” Bella was going crazy with anxiety.
“Don’t worry, you go back to where you were separated earlier. He should be waiting for you there.”
“Well okay, what about you?” She thought that his friend from the band should be waiting for him at the same spot.
“We can go together.”
As they walked back side by side, Bella asked curiously, “What’s your name?”
“I’m Parker Twain, what about you?”
“My name is Bella. Your name is so awkward. How come your last name is Twain?”
“Have you never heard of it?”
“No.”
“What is the surname of the famous writer Mark Twain?
“Twain.”
“So do you still feel awkward now?”
“I don’t think so.” Bella guessed, “Are you related to him?”
“No, how could Mark Twain have relatives in music?”
She smiled, “So, all the relatives of writers would have to be writers.”
“Even if they’re not writers, they should at least be involved with literature. Hamilton writes poetry and Jouice is an essayist.”
Bella was a little surprised, “You don’t look like you’re in music. You should have read a lot of books, right?”
Parker was at lost, “These days, there’s nothing strange about pretending to read often even if you haven’t read a book.”
Reaching the riverbank where she had just separated from Kevin, Bella thanked again “Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome.”
Parker looked at the watch on his wrist, “I’ll wait with you at this late hour. France is not much better policed than us in China.”
He made a favorable impression on Bella and she said, “Thank you so much.”
“Not at all.”
“Fine.”
They sat down on a chair on the side of the road and began to chat. Bella had a good chat with him, and she suddenly said, “Why do I feel that you look a bit familiar? Have I seen you somewhere before?”
Parker giggled, “Everyone who knows me or doesn’t know me says that. It’s really a burden to look like a star.”
“I don’t expect you to be quite smug.”
As soon as Bella finished, she heard a familiar call in the distance, and she stood up abruptly, “It seems like my husband is looking for me.”
She ran over and waved vigorously, “Kevin, I’m here.”
Kevin skimmed her and ran over, panting and questioning, “Where have you been?”
“I went to hear the band sing, and who knows…”
“Didn’t I tell you not to run around? Why are you so disobedient!”
Kevin’s face fell, and Bella was guilty, “I’m sorry. I was just curious, and wanted to take a look. But my wallet was stolen, so I went after the thief, then I lost my phone, and in the end, I couldn’t find you. I just had to wait here for you.”
“Why didn’t the thief steal you?”
She laughed, “How could an adult like me be stolen away? I wouldn’t be afraid if I was stolen away, someone would save me.”
“Oh, I’ll introduce you to a hero.”