Out of my street

If there was one thing that could make Louis smile, it was the sun. There was no feeling in the world like the intense caress of a bright ray on his lightly tanned complexion. The softly coloured sky warmed his heart, perfectly mimicking the bright blue of his eyes. In the South of France, the weather was fine. Which meant two things :

Louis was happy all the time.

Louis loved to go out.

And how could you not be when you lived in a rather well-to-do family quarter, a stone’s throw from the city of Nice ? When you combined dynamism and tranquillity, there was no reason to complain. Louis knew it: he was an epicurean. Apart from his law studies and his job as a salesman, he sought absolute pleasure. Of any kind.

Last week, he was raving about an exhibition on the Tea Routes at the Asian Arts Museum. Last night, he was enjoying a good beer at the Pub 12, surrounded by his college friends. And today, Louis needed some air. To meditate, to breathe, to clear his head. It was at times like these that Louis would happily go to the Parc du Mont Boron to stretch his legs and get rid of the traces of his busy day. His body and mind deserved it. For Louis, it was a question of rewarding his two long-time allies who had accompanied him and brought him exactly where he was today, where he had always wanted to be. Deciding to give himself a little hour of freedom, Louis had put on his cleats and sports shorts with haste. But Fanny disagreed.
Fanny was the darling of the house. At two years of age, this dominant but cuddly little ball of fur took great pleasure in thwarting all of Louis’ plans. Since his mother had adopted him a few months ago, Louis had fallen under the spell of this little Beagle, fond of caresses and attention. That’s why they walked together to the entrance of the park. Fanny wagged impatiently at his feet, wagging her tail with such energy that it was almost comical. When her feet hit the stone floor hard and her legs went on for miles, Louis felt himself take off. The wind whipped mercilessly at his cheeks, which were surely reddened by the effort, and his heart rate went into overdrive, both from the physical exercise itself and from the rush of adrenaline and excitement that left a burning trail through his blood. He glanced at Fanny, who was keeping up with the frenzied pace of this liberating run, more joyful than ever. Her hair was waving in all directions, her little legs seemed to be dancing against each other, but her dark eyes were sparkling with amusement. Louis raised his head, a big smile on his face. Yes, it was a perfect day. At least on the surface...
As soon as his breathing became shorter and his calves began to shake excessively, Louis allowed himself a well-deserved break. Fanny was still full of energy and that surprised him just as much. His feverish steps led him to the heights of the hiking trail. A panoramic view opened up and he had the luxury of admiring the sumptuous beauty of Nice. Its scarlet-roofed villas, its impressive greenery and its deep blue sea...Louis was drawn out of his thoughts by a vibration in the pocket of his shorts. He glanced at his phone and was surprised to read a message from Daphne, his long-time girlfriend.

« Baby, meet me tonight at the residence. I can’t wait to see you <3 »

A tender smile stretched Louis’ lips. He hadn’t seen Daphne for a good week and he missed his girlfriend a lot. They had been dating for five years and Louis couldn’t be happier to have her in his life. Without further ado, he tightened Fanny’s leash and hurried home. Located a quarter of an hour from the park, Louis quickly found his beige walls, large windows, vast garden and swimming pool, directly visible near the sliding aluminium gate. The villa was deserted when he entered. The big screen television was off. The sun reflected peacefully on the velvet armchair and the wooden shutters.

His mother, Catherine, had obviously not yet returned from work, but she would soon. After feeding Fanny and when the dog had fallen asleep, exhausted by the long day, Louis locked himself in the bathroom.

A good shower and a spritz of perfume later, the student left the house. Daphne had sent him a new message, telling him to meet her at nine o’clock. This gave him thirty minutes to buy some delicious food and a nice bottle of wine. Determined, Louis stopped at a supermarket on the next street corner. He was immediately overwhelmed by the background noise of conversations, the beeping of checkout machines, the shrill movement of old trolleys and the smell of food. As he exited the shop, he took advantage of the few minutes he had left to go to the music shop next door. The sound of old school rap music that greeted him made his heart tremble with emotion. Inside the familiar store, Louis felt like he was floating on a cloud.

There were quite a few customers at the checkout so he decided not to buy anything... today. Louis’ fingers wandered pleasantly over the strings of a folk guitar before landing on a Marshall speaker. He completed his little visit with a brief passage to the CDs when an object caught his eye. It was an Indie Rock vinyl.

Louis immediately felt sick to his stomach as he recognised the name of the artist on the cover. The Sex Pistols. His late father’s favourite band.

Louis turned away from the painful sight. Four years ago, his father had died of severe pancreatic cancer. And although life had returned to normal, Louis couldn’t bear to stumble upon memories that revived the pain in him that he thought had gone. It was his mother who had suffered the most during this period, locking her soul in medication and her voice in a silver prison. Mute and dull, Louis had spent sleepless nights replaying an unknown and frightening face replacing the sweetness he loved so much in his mother’s smile. Now that Catherine had mourned and become the head of her own association for young people in difficulty at home, Louis was wavering between pride and melancholy at seeing his mother less and less.

And at twenty-three, he felt all the more foolish for feeling the regular need to spend time alone with her. Perhaps the fear of seeing her disappear so suddenly justified his state of mind. He didn’t know. To tell the truth, he could feel nothing but the stabbing pain that pierced his chest. The last straw for this lover of life, wasting away again.

-Sir?

A high-pitched female voice startled him. A little girl of about nine years of age was watching the student with wide, curious eyes.

-I’m looking for my daddy. I’m lost.

Louis immediately knelt down in front of the child.

-Oh, sweetie! Don’t worry. I’ve got time on my hands. I’ll help you find him, okay ?

And the girl’s smile was enough to turn her life pink again.

When Louis arrived at Daphne’s house, he found that he was twenty minutes late. However, he knew that his excuses would be valid and accepted by his darling. How could he refuse to help such a lovely young woman? When Elena had found her daddy, her hand firmly clasped in Louis’, left him abruptly to rest on her father’s shoulder, obviously very relieved. After modestly brushing off the adult’s thanks, Louis found himself snuggled in the little girl’s arms, who then insisted on giving him a hug.

Now refreshed by this outpouring of tenderness, Louis stood ready to join his sweetheart, a smile on his face. He entered the residence code he knew by heart before climbing the metal stairs. Daphne opened the door for him a few moments later.

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Hello ! This is basically my first english story (I’m keeping the french version on another app) so let me know if there is mistakes or weird sentences. I’m using a translator mixed to my own knowledges in english so be nice with me :)

The goal for me is to improve and be able to use the translator less in the next weeks because I always dreamt to write an english book but this is getting harder than I thought it would be.

Nevermind, I love challenges and I think you’ll be able to help me during this journey !

I hope you like the first chapter and see you friday for the next part of chapter one <3

See ya !