Paris, France



After walking around for what seemed like an eternity to Theo’s growling stomach but was really only 30 minutes Lila and Theo settled on La Tour d'Argent as their venue for lunch. Lila had the mini cucumbers with caviar seeds and a water, while Theo opted for something a bit more filling, a filet of beef with young potatoes and chanterelle mushrooms flavored with parsley and garlic and a martini. Stirred, not shaken because he is not James Bond.

As the pair take in the ambiance of the restaurant while awaiting their check Theo decides to broach the previously off limits topic of “what will Lila do after graduating?”


”So I know you haven’t wanted to talk about this but now’s as good a time as any, what are you plans now that you’ve graduated?”

“Why is now a good time to talk about it?”

“Because we are in a nice restaurant in a foreign country so the chances of you getting upset are slim.”

“Fair point. Well, you know my degree was in Art History, ideally I would love to work as a Museum Curator.”

“That sounds like a perfect job for you. You have both the personality and knowledge to do it and do it well. Any idea where you would want to do this?”

“Ideally one of the big museums, sadly none of which are in the Phoenix area.”

“Why are you limiting yourself to Phoenix?”

“Because that’s where you are silly.”

“Don’t do that.”

“Don’t do what?”

“Don’t limit yourself because of me. You have the world in front of you, the possibilities are endless, and you deserve the best, so go out and take it.”

“What are you saying? Are you breaking up with me?”

“What? No. Not at all. I’m just telling you not to limit your possibilities on account of me. Hell, don’t limit yourself to America. Most of the best art museums aren’t even in North America.”

“Why are you trying so hard to get me away from you?” she says, a quiver in her lips and a look of sadness coming across her face.

“I’m not. Not at all. Why do women have to get so emotional and immediately think the worst? I’m just saying, you have it all, brains, beauty, motivation and the drive to succeed, more than anything I want to see you do that.”

“So you are ok with a long distance relationship?”

“I am. But why does it have to be a long distance relationship?”

“What do you mean why does it have to be a long distance relationship? You just told me to go and look at museums in other parts of the world. How can I do that without this being a long distance thing?”


Theo reaches into his pocket and pulls out his trinket, the nifty technological marvel that allowed them to traverse thousands of miles in a split second, and pushes it into the center of the table for Lila to see, her eyes widen when she makes the connection.


“You see now? With this baby nothing is long distance. Now granted it’s sort of one way in that you can’t just pop in on me but I can pop in on you. If you want me to come and visit I can, assuming I am not busy with work of course.”

“Wow. Sometimes I can be so dense. I can’t believe I didn’t put it all together sooner.”

“I’ll blame it on being overwhelmed by the beauty of this city.”

“Yes, let’s go with that.”

“You know, it’s a damn shame that a city as beautiful as this is inhabited by such worthless and elitist assholes.”

“Theo, lower your voice, you are surrounded by those people. And besides they aren’t that bad.”

“Aren’t that bad? They are the worst. And I mean that literally. The worst. They are the Peter Gilmour of the world, once upon a time they did something worthwhile and ever since then they’ve been holding up that one example as a reason why they are owed this or owed that. Not to mention they back out of battle constantly. And then still expect something in return. The more I think about it the more accurate the analogy proves to be.”

“Who is Peter Gilmour?”

“No one. He’s a no one. Forget I said his name. It’s honestly better that you not know who he is or of his existence. To know Peter Gilmour is to hate Peter Gilmour and you are much too sweet to have an ounce of hate in you.”

“Thanks. I think.”

“You’re welcome. So, I was thinking, while we are here, how about we check out Le Louvre?”

Lila’s eyes widen, her face eludes excitement. “Can we? Do you have time for that?”

“Sure why not?”

“Well don’t you have meetings to attend to or other CEO activities?”

“Let me check.”


Theo reaches down into his right leg pocket and pulls out his cell phone, a Samsung S-5. He swipes the locked screen and then arches his brow, an action that draws Lila’s attention.


“What? What’s wrong?”

“Apparently I have 10 missed calls and 3 voicemails.”

“From who?”

“The calls are from Isabel, my secretary and Erica, the voicemails…one from Isabel, two from Erica.”

“Well that’s not good, what do they want?”

“I have no idea, and honestly, I don’t really care, I’d rather enjoy my time here with you.”

“That’s sweet but I think you should check your voicemails, it could be important.”

“ It could be. It could also be a giant waste of my time.”

“Check them, it will make me feel better.”

“How is it that you are not even a week out of college and clearly more responsible than me?”

“Upbringing?”

“Trying to score points with father. I’ll be sure to mention your comment to him.”

“Oh stop.”


Theo hits a few buttons on his phone and then places it up to his ear, listening to the voicemails in rapid succession. After about two minutes Theo puts the phone back down on the table and smiles at Lila.


“Everything ok?”

“Yep.”

“Care to tell me what all that was about?”

“Not really. Not worth it to be honest but it’s nothing that can’t wait until later.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. So where were we?”

“You were trying to get me to move half way around the world.”

“No, we moved passed that, I remember that.” Theo spends a few seconds wracking his brain trying to remember what it was that he and Lila had been talking about before he pulled his cell phone out. “Le Louvre, that’s it. We were talking about going to visit Le Louvre and whether or not you want to. So…do you?”

“Of course. Have you ever been?’”

“I have not but I’ve only heard wonderful things.”

“Well then I would love to show you around, it’s a truly magnificent place, so much beauty, so much history.”

“Have you ever thought about working at Le Louvre?”

“What? Are you serious?

“Yeah why not?”

“Because it’s one of the most well-known art museums in the entire world, they would never hire some wet behind the ears college grad.”

“Why do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Sell yourself short like that.”

“I’m not selling myself short, I am just being realistic. Le Louvre is the place everyone like me wants to work at, it is the top of the mountain. You work there, you’ve made it in my field.”

“I understand that. What if I told you that I could get you a job there, tomorrow?”


Her face lights up, shock, awe would probably be the best way to describe the emotions currently displayed on her face.


“What? What are you saying? How can you do that? Don’t play with me like that. That’s cruel.”

“I’m not playing. Not at all. The Prime Minister owes me a favor. Let’s just say, some of my personal security did some work for him, some work that if it got out for public consumption would have caused a shit storm that he would have never survived professionally. And possibly not literally. So with that said, I would love to cash in right now.”

“Really Theo? You can really do that?”

“Watch me.”


Theo picks his cell phone off the table, types in a 13 digit number and then a ringing begins. A few seconds later and the voice of a woman can be heard on the other end of the phone.


“Bonjour, c'est Theo Pryce, pourrais-je parler à ministre Valls s'il vous plaît?” (Hello, this is Theo Pryce, may I please speak to minister Valls please?)

…


“Oui” (Yes)

…

“Bonjour Manuel, comment allez-vous faire?” (Hello Manuel, how are you doing?”

…

“Très bien merci. La raison de mon appel, je me demandais si vous pouviez me faire une faveur.” (Very well thank you. The reason for my call, I was wondering if you could do me a favor).

…

"Très bon. J'espérais que ce serait votre réponse. Une personne très proche de moi aimerait bien l'occasion de travailler, conservateur au Louvre. Elle a récemment obtenu un diplôme d'histoire de l'Art." (Very good. I was hoping that would be your answer. Someone very close to me would love the opportunity to work as a curator at Le Louvre. She recently graduated with a degree in Art History.)

…

“Oui oui. Son nom est Lila Laroque." (Yes yes. Her name is Lila Laroque.)

…

“Merci, Manuel. J'apprécie vraiment. Prochaine fois que je suis en ville que nous allons faire le déjeuner.” (Thank you Manuel. I really appreciate it. Next time I am in town we'll do lunch.)

…

“Très bon. Prendre soin.” (Very good. Take care)


The call ends and Theo places the phone back on the table.


“So he said yes? And when did you learn to speak French?”

“When I was a kid, I had to take a foreign language in school and I picked French. And he said he would make a call but he said to consider it a done deal.”

“I can’t believe it. I…” Lila’s eyes start to well up, her lip begins to shake “I don’t know what to say. You are so amazing. I don’t know how I could ever thank you for doing that.”

Theo reaches across the table and takes a hold of Lila’s arm. “I could think of a few ways.”

“If only we weren’t in the middle of a restaurant.”

“Not a problem.”


Theo reaches into his pocket pulls out his nifty time travel device, takes a hold of Lila’s hand again and a second later the two of there are now sitting in Theo’s bedroom.


“Your move.”


Fade out.