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Cuttinginto her thoughts,Gabrielsaid, ‘Areyou still doing the spontaneous thing?’Hecrossed his arms.
Jessblew her nose into the tissue and tucked it into her pocket.Sheloved a dress with pockets for just this very reason. ‘Yes?’
Hecocked his head to the side, and she was struck again by how good-looking he was.Gabrielasked, ‘Haveyou ever been in a helicopter?’
‘No…why?’Shecould just about handle going on an airplane.Shealso hated rollercoasters and hot air balloons.Basicallyanything where the distance between her and the earth was unnaturally exaggerated.
Henarrowed his eyes and then shook his head. ‘Nah, never mind.Itwas a stupid idea.’
Nowshe wanted to know. ‘No!Tellme…please.’Shetouched him, laying her palm over his forearm.Shedidn’t expect how her hand tingled in reaction, so she jerked it away.Shehoped he didn’t notice her blush.
Hesitating, he pursed his lips.Shetilted her head and blinked with beggar’s eyes to encourage him.Finally, he sighedand said, ‘Well,I’mgoing up in a helicopter this afternoon.Shootingfrom the air.’Heturned and crossed back towards the desk; she noticed he had a very confident, assured stride.Overhis shoulder, he said, ‘There’sroom for one more…but you probably don’t want to do it.’
‘Yes,Ido!’No, you don’t.Shecould already feel a fine bead of sweat gathering at the back of her neck.Whywas she pursuing this?Itreminded her of youngJess, and the time she was dying to eat dinner at her friend’s house.Thefriend asked her mum ifJesscould stay, and the mother said, ‘Youcan, but we’re having liver.Doyou like liver?’Knowingfull well that she absolutely detested liver,Jesswaxed poetic about her love of the stuff.Shestayed for dinner and wanted to gag the whole time.
Butthis had higher stakes than a dinner; this was trusting somebody she didn’t know with her life.Onthe other hand, he was offering her a new experience.Inschool, they taught the kids to have a growth mindset, which involved puttingYeton the end of phrases.Ican’t spell..yet!Ican’t read…yet!Ithelped the children understand that life was a journey and things they couldn’t do today were possible tomorrow.
Shethought,Ihaven’t died in a helicopter…yet!
Forsome reason, that failed to convince her.
Anotherquestion surfaced: ‘Whywould you do this for me?’ she asked.Hewas a total stranger.Didhe have ulterior motives?Ifthat were the case, surely he would have taken advantage of her last night.Besides, she didn’t get a creepy vibe off him, like she did with the artists.Butstill…
Hequickly glanced to the side as though he wasn’t sure himself. ‘Let’sjust sayI’mpaying it forward.’
Theireyes held for a moment, but this time, he looked away first.There’sa story there,she thought.Iwonder what he’s paying forward.Ofcourse, she wouldn’t ask.Itwas none of her business.
Thatonly left one question: should she go?
Jessbit her lip.Shedidn’t want to spend her whole life playing it safe.Andthis was her chance to do something that would push her out of her comfort zone—like,so far outof her comfort zone that she’d need the aid of a satellite to communicate with it.SheimaginedKrish’sreaction if she told him she’d done this.He’dbe shocked.
Well, she’d show him.Shecould be adventurous.
Puffingout her chest, she said with more confidence than she felt, ‘Let’sdo it.Willwe get nicknames?LikeinTopGun?’Ifyes, she wanted to beBoudicca.
Gabrielshook his head as though they’d just agreed to the terms of a hostile corporate takeover and he was the losing party. ‘WhydoIalready feel likeI’mgoing to regret this?’
4
Asthe taxisped towards the heliport,Gabrielquestioned his common sense for the hundredth time since invitingJesson this excursion.Selflessacts of this sort weren’t usually his thing.Infact, he tried to avoid unnecessary interactions with other humans as much as possible.Itwas easier for him that way.Todayjust had to be the day that his gallery manager called in sick.
ButthenJesshad walked in looking like a coutureVenusand broken down in tears when her shit ex-boyfriend texted her.Somethinginside ofGabrieltwisted, and that voice inside his head that sounded likeFatimasaid:don’t be a douche.Youhave the power to do something special for her—and then the invitation came out of his mouth.Ifthere was one voice he couldn’t disobey, it wasFatima’s.
Whatwas the worst that could happen?He’dbrought along his sister,Elodie, on the last one, and she’d loved it.Jess’srental booking was only for six days and, if he could help take her mind off the asshole who’d dumped her, then why not?Tobe completely honest with himself—and after years of therapy he always tried to be—he could use some distraction at the moment, too.
GuessI’llbe part of herSpontaneityScienceFairProjectafter all, he thought.
Theride would be chilly, so he gave her instructions on how to dress, which unfortunately didn’t involve the incredible outfit she had on.Herlegs seemed to go on forever and the uninvited image of them wrapped around his waist flashed across his imagination.Heboxed the image up and dropped it into his internal delete bin.
Theyparted ways for half an hour and, when they reconvened, she was wearing figure-hugging blue jeans, a newly-bought pink sweatshirt that said ‘Parisje t’aime’, and a pair of white sneakers.Headvised her to braid her long blonde hair to keep it from flying around in the wind.
Tobe fair,Gabrielwas surprised she’d turned up at all.Herecognised the idea of flying in a helicopter scared the living crap out of her, even though she had that big scintillating smile pasted across her face.Shekept wringing her hands and tugging on her braid like it was a lifeline.Healso heard her muttering, ‘Youcan do this,Jess.Youcan do this.’Secretly, he thought it was kind of adorable.Andhe admired that she was willing to try.Heknew from experience that bravery could be a quiet series of gutsy small decisions.Itdidn’t have to be a big heroic act.
Healso knew that this would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for her.Itgave him a surprising warm glow that he could give her this.Thatsame unwelcome voice in his head said:see?Iknew you hadn’t turned into a complete asshole.Shiftingin his seat, he immediately tamped down the glow.Gabrielwasn’t doing this for gratitude or accolades.Hewas doing it because…because she seemed a little lost and he understood that.Itwas a one-off thing and she’d be gone in a few days.Itwasn’t like she’d grow attached to him or anything.
Theshoot had been planned for months.Gettingpermits to fly aboveParisrequired a masters degree in bureaucracy, whichhe completely lacked.Thankfully, he had an old colleague in the prefecture of police who let him complete two flights of 45 minutes each per year in exchange for using the images on social media and exhibitions in a few public buildings (plus a modest kickback from sales).Othercities around the world were much less restrictive about air space, but theFrench…if they could make something difficult, then they would.Stubbornto the core.Andhe said that as a stubbornFrenchmanhimself.Healways thought the famous motto should be amended to:Liberté, égalité, fraternité,obstiné.
Buttoday’s shoot was even more unique because they were heading out toVersailles, which had required another round of special permissions.Hisagent had done the negotiating.Theauthorities stressed that they hadn’t given a photographer consent to do aerial shots ofVersaillessinceYannArthus-Bertrand.
