People don’t take trips, trips take people - Antoine 16

The next day, Antoine's torment continued, as he was now living in his personal version of hell.

It was Monique’s last day in Paris, and with Lily having to work, she had left it up to Marianne to decide the day’s activities. When asked what she'd like to do that day, she smiled happily and announced that she wanted to go sightseeing, having not visited the famous attractions in years, and with her starting her internship soon, she wanted to see them once again while she had the opportunity.

Under normal circumstances, walking around some of Paris’ world-famous attractions, would have sounded like fun for Antoine, he had grown up in the city but like most people who live in a tourist destination, he rarely if ever visited the famous sights, but on this occasion, as he soon found out, when Marianne joined him in his room whilst getting ready,  it wasn’t going to be a very enjoyable experience.

“No, you can’t wear that”! Marianne announced, looking at the simple casual outfit Antoine was wearing and pulling a face.

Antoine sighed, “but it’s just sightseeing, do I really need to wear something fancy”? he asked.

“Zara, you’re a fashion major, girls like you need to make a statement at all times”, she replied walking towards the wardrobe, “now let's see if we can find you something more appropriate”.

Ten minutes late, now dressed in a thin white dress, so short, his silky underwear would have shown if it weren’t for the tiny pair of floral shorts, he wore under it, Antoine watched in horror as Marianne located the shopping bags from where he had dumped them the previous day, pulled out a shoebox and place it beside him.

“Oh, no, not those shoes, please”, Antoine begged, “I can’t walk around all day in those, it’s not possible”.

Marianne smiled and removed the lid, picking up one of the tall red-soled pumps and holding it out for him to take, “I seem to remember asking you a question the other day about what shoes you would wear for a day of sightseeing, do you remember your answer”?

The memory of the conversation came flooding back as he suddenly knew why the name of the shop, where he had purchased the ridiculously tall shoes, was so familiar at the time, “but…I... I didn’t understand what you were talking about, you tricked me”. Antoine replied pouting.

“Ha, tricked you, are you serious”? Marianne said almost laughing, “there is only one trickster her, Zara, you've lied to me and Aunt Monique from the first moment we arrived”, she stated, emphasising the word Zara, “now put on your fancy new shoes, that a lot of girls would kill to own, and I want to hear no more complaints, do you understand me”?

Defeated Antoine reached out and took the towering shoe from her, and with shaky hands, he reached down and slipped the designer pump on to his left foot, watching his foot arch into a preposterous angle, and feeling a tightness in the back of his calf. As he slipped on the second shoe, feeling the tight restrictive leather constricting his foot and compressing his toes, he knew it was going to be a long tiring day, and he wasn’t sure how he was going to get through it.

“Are you ok”? Monique asked Antoine, mid-afternoon as he hobbled along slowly trying desperately to keep pace with the three women.

Antoine glanced over, too miserable to smile, physically and mentally exhausted. They had just arrived at the grounds of the Eiffel tower and having already minced his way around the Arc de Triomphe, the remains of Notre-Dame, and the Louvre, every step was now agony perched atop his tall thin heels, and he was fighting the urge to scream, “yes, I’m fine, Monique”, he replied politely “just a little tired, that's all”.

(See image 28)

“I’m not surprised in those fancy shoes”, Monique said, looking down at his feet, “I did tell you back at the apartment, I didn’t think they were appropriate for the day’s activities”.

Antoine looked to her left seeing Marianne and Claudia smiling, as the thought of killing them entered his mind, the more painful the better, “I know, Monique”, he replied meekly, “but I’m fine really, but if you guys can slow down just a little, I’d really appreciate it”.

With the group now moving at a snail's pace, they continued on up the long straight path of the Champs de Mars, onwards towards their destination, with Antoine tottering along, one tiny step after another as the magnitude of the task was at hand was threatening to overwhelm him, with the imposing tower looming over them in the distance, never seemingly getting any closer, the thought of making it there just seemed impossible.

Trying to take his mind off the crippling pain in his feet, and the stares and comments from the tourists all around, Antoine thought back to the first time he had visited the tower, a happier time, accompanied by his mother and sister. He remembered how excited he had felt seeing the tower up close for the first time, running along the path, racing his sister to see who could make it to the base first. The memory, briefly, brought a smile to his face, an ironic smile as he realised, he wouldn’t be winning any races that day, it was going to be a challenge in itself just to get there.

But with a lot of internal strength and will power, get there he did, feeling proud of himself for now giving up, and realising that perhaps he was stronger than he had given himself credit for.

“This is the spot girls”, Monique announced, "pass me that camera of yours, Claudia, this is the perfect spot, to take a picture of the three of you”.

Happy to oblige, Claudia handed the camera to Monique and skipped back over to join Antoine and Marianne.

“Perfect girls, you look so pretty, oh to be young and beautiful", Monique sighed",  but just take a few steps to the right”, she told them as she looked down the lens of the camera trying to get the perfect shot.

Following Marianne’s lead, Antoine took two painful steps to the left,  stumbling slightly as his heels sunk into the soft ground, he reached out and grabbed Marianne’s shoulders for balance as he heard the click of the camera, once again feeling annoyed, knowing the embarrassing moment had been captured and was now stored forever. 

As Monique went to take another picture, Antoine was too tired to move, he just looked over and hoped things would get better once Monique left, "they could hardly get any worse", he thought to himself, but first he would have to make it back home, a journey he really wasn’t looking forward to.

(See image 29)