Chapter 9: Lucy

Five days after graduation, Danny, Ashley and Lynn boarded their flight to Paris. They were traveling coach. Danny and Ash could have flown business class, but the downgrade freed up enough cash to bankroll Lynn’s flight with money to spare. They could have easily afforded to pay for Lynn’s expenses, but flying in coach was a gesture of solidarity with their friend.

They had a row of three seats in the centre section, very much in the back of the plane. Lynn was a bit nervous before take-off as this was her first ever flight and she cuddled close to Ashley. Once in the air, however, she became her lively self again.

After the in-flight dinner – some beef stew – they watched movies on the entertainment system and sipped red wine. They were over eighteen and on an Air France flight where French law applied. The wine made them tired quickly and they readied themselves for some shuteye. Danny stretched out as much as possible in the narrow coach seat. Ashley could sit a bit more comfortable, but Lynn made use of her small size and lay across the seat row. Her head in Ashley’s lap and her bare feet against Danny’s thighs, she spread a blanket over her bare legs and made herself very comfortable.

The siblings looked at each other and shrugged.

“Our snuggle-bunny,” Ashley grinned.

“We could save on the air fare by putting her into the carry-on luggage,” Danny suggested and got kicked in return.

“You’re mean,” Lynn remarked.

“Stop kicking me, little girl,” he warned. “I happen to know that your calves are very ticklish.”

In a flash, Lynn sat up again. “You wouldn’t! I’ll scream bloody murder, I swear!”

“Relax, short stuff. Just stop kicking me.”

Lynn settled down again, but now with her head on Danny’s thigh. Danny grabbed a small pillow and put it under her head.

“That’s nice,” she purred. “Ash, your brother can be useful.”

After that, Danny killed the reading lights and settled back. The monotonous sound of the jet turbines and the gentle swaying of the plane lulled him sufficiently to fall asleep.

He didn’t know if he had slept five hours or five minutes when he woke again. The cabin was dark and most people around them were asleep. Lynn’s head on his thigh was moving and she was purring softly. Danny glanced to his right and saw a rhythmic movement under Lynn’s blanket. Looking closer, he saw that Ashley’s left arm was moving in synch with the blanket and he connected the dots. Ashley was busy between Lynn’s legs.

Ashley’s eyes were closed, but her mouth was slightly open, and the blanket covering her lower body was moving too. The way Ashley’s left leg was lifted, Danny figured that she was riding on Lynn’s left foot. He almost chuckled. Slowly, he put his hand on Lynn’s shoulder and gently rubbed the soft skin under her thin jumper. Lynn purred a bit stronger and Danny let his hand glide down her upper arm and onto her waist. He felt bare skin where her jumper had ridden up. She twisted her upper body and deftly placed his hand on her tummy under the jumper.

Danny could feel the minuscule contractions of her stomach muscles echoing the movements of Ashley’s hand under the blanket. He saw that his sister’s eyes were open now and glassy, and he figured that Lynn’s foot had something to do with that.

Lynn climaxed first, her body curling up around Ashley’s hand. His sister soon doubled over in her seat too and a faint smell of female arousal wafted up from under the blankets. At this point, Danny had a raging hard-on.

“Ash, we gotta stop or poor Danny will shoot into his pants,” she whispered. “That was neat. We’re going to have a fun vacation.”

Danny and Ashley look at each other and smiled wryly.

“That was hot but a little bit weird,” Ashley remarked.

“Definitely weird, but definitely hot too,” Danny agreed.

Paris was firmly in the hands of the American and Japanese tourists. In front of each palace or church there were huge lines of them following their tour guides and snapping pictures of everything. The only French people to be seen were the hawkers who offered cabaret tickets, guided tours and authentic paintings. Danny, Ashley and Lynn had planned for five days, but at noon on day three they were already running out of steam. They had been to Montmartre with its Sacre Coeur church and its cabarets, they had seen the Rive Gauche and the famous Sorbonne university, they had walked the Isle de la Cité from the Notre Dame cathedral to the Pont Neuf, and they had climbed the Eiffel Tower. The streets and buildings were beginning to blur.

“We need a break,” Lynn announced. “If I have to see another Gothic cathedral, I’ll scream!”

“Guys, come on! We’re done for today, I promise. Tomorrow, we’ll go and see the Louvre and then on Friday, we’ll drive out to Versailles,” Ashley tried to infuse some fighting spirit into her companions.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Danny moaned. “Another two days like this? Versailles I can understand, but the Louvre? Why?”

“It’s one of the largest art collections in the world and...”

“Z-z-z-z-z!” Danny made and Lynn giggled.

“Ash, darling, I don’t wanna sound ungrateful, but a full day in a fucking museum? Can you imagine the lines? It looks like half of Tokyo and all of Florida are in town, and they’ll all want to see the fuckin’ Louvre.”

“I wanna see the Mona Lisa!” Ashley insisted, almost stomping her feet. “And the Venus de Milo.”

“I wouldn’t mind seeing those; maybe some other stuff too. Guys, why don’t we make a short list of ten pieces we want to see and hire one of the guides to show them to us? Preferably an English-speaking guide?”

“Twenty,” Ashley haggled. “And I get to pick ten.”

Danny and Lynn looked at each other and nodded.

“We have a deal. Let’s sit in a cafe and make that list. Then we can return to our hotel, take a nap and perhaps make arrangements for tomorrow, like hire a guide?”

“Okay,” Ashley sighed. “Let’s sit somewhere around the Place St. Michel. I wouldn’t mind taking a nap.”

Outside the Champs de Mars they were able to flag down a taxi that brought them to their destination. The cafe had wireless internet allowing them to do their research over coffee and sandwiches. In the end, Ashley picked twelve of the art pieces, but their list had only eighteen items. They also found out that private guides were available. They booked for a ten o’clock tour on the next morning.

By then it was three p.m. and they returned to their hotel. They had a three-bed room in a small hôtel off the Boulevard St. Michel. It offered a five feet-wide French double bed shared by the girls and a single bed for Danny, but no air conditioning. Wooden blinds in front of the windows kept out the direct sunlight, but it was still hot in the room.

Danny let the girls have the dingy bathroom first while he lay down on his bed in just his boxer shorts. He could hear a lot of giggling from the bathroom and he had to smile. Ashley and Lynn had not had much private time so far. They took an awfully long shower and then it took them some time to dry off before they emerged in panties and halter tops. Ashley seemed a bit flustered, but Lynn was her brash self.

“Take a loong shower, Danny-boy, willya?”

Danny grinned. “Counter proposal. This room is too hot. I’ll take a quick shower and sit in the shade by the river for an hour or two. That okay?”

Ashley blushed but Lynn grinned at him. “Make it a full two hours.”

It took Danny less than ten minutes to shower and dress. Ashley and Lynn were already lying on top of their bed when he emerged from the bathroom, but Lynn got up to close the door behind him.

“You guys enjoy,” he couldn’t help to say.

Ashley squawked and threw a pillow, but Lynn gave him a kiss and a quick squeeze of his dick before she shoved him through the door. Outside, Danny waited for two minutes and then knocked again. He heard a squeal and the rustling of clothes and blankets before a pissed-off Lynn opened.

“What?”

“Forgot my cellphone,” Danny claimed, pushing her aside and pretending to search for it. Then he slapped his forehead.

“Wouldn’t you know it! It was in my pocket all the time! Sorry to interrupt, Ladies.”

This time, Ashley and Lynn joined forces to kick him out, threatening him with emasculation should he return before two hours were over. He was still laughing when he stepped out on the street.

Crossing the street at the Quai des Grands-Augustins, he took the steps down to the embankment. Here, he found shade and a stone bench to sit and watch the masses of tourists as they streamed towards the Notre Dame cathedral. He sat there for half an hour, enough to cool down, before he decided to look for an ice cream vendor. He walked along the Quai Saint-Michel and crossed the Seine River on the Pont au Double. Here, in front of the cathedral, he found a vendor and bought an ice cream cone. Again he sat down on a bench, enjoying his ice cream and watching the people around him.

He had not noticed her approach, but suddenly a vision of beauty in a yellow summer dress was improving his vista. She was of medium height, with straight, raven-black hair and exotic features. She was holding one of those travel guides in one hand and the handle of a trolley suitcase in the other.

“Excusez moi, Monsieur,” she addressed him in heavily American-accented French, “pouvez-vous m-me dire que ... Oh, damn French!”

Danny grinned. “My sentiment exactly.”

“Oh, you speak English? I’m looking for a hotel. I thought I had a reservation, but the receptionist couldn’t find it and he didn’t speak English. I need to find something.”

“There are a few hotels on the Rive Gauche. We’re staying in one. You could ask there.”

“Where’s the River Gosh?”

“Rive Gauche, literally the left bank of the river. That’s how the French call the quarter on the other side of the Seine,” Danny explained, carefully suppressing a laugh. This girl knew even less French than he did.

“Oh! I must sound like a moron, but I don’t speak a single word of French. My boyfriend – well, ex-boyfriend – speaks French. We booked the trip but then we broke up and I couldn’t get a refund on my ticket, so I came here anyway. Stupid, huh? Anyway, could you please show me some place where I can ask?”

Danny couldn’t help it, he had to smile. This girl was talking a mile a minute and she didn’t seem to breathe at all.

“Whoa, easy! I can show you. Is this all your luggage?”

“Yes. I decided to travel light because, you know, I’m alone and I don’t like to...”

“Easy, please. Save some of that story for later,” Danny laughed. “You want me to pull that suitcase?”

“Oh, I better hold on to it. Don’t get this wrong, but I don’t know you at all, and I saw this movie with Meg Ryan where she left her suitcase with somebody and he ran away with it, and that was right here in...”

Danny held up his hand. “I get it, no sweat. Let’s go. I’m Danny, by the way; Danny Westbrook from Philadelphia.”

“Lucy Tanner. I’m from Sandusky, Ohio. I bet you thought I must have an Asian name, but only my grandmother is from Taiwan, but my other grandparents and my mom are ethnic Cheyenne, so I look Asian to most people.”

“Well, wherever you got your looks, no complaints,” Danny smiled.

“Thank you! Would you believe that my ex dumped me for some bookworm who doesn’t speak more than ten words in a day? Not that she’s ugly which she isn’t really, just some wallflower.”

They had crossed the river and were walking along the quay, but Lucy continued her storytelling.

“You know, I’m normally not such a chatterbox, but I was sitting with this really austere lady on the plane who did not speak English and was reading books all the time, and then I arrived here and nobody understood a word I was saying.”

“So what do you do for a living in Sandusky?” Danny was able to ask.

“Oh, I’m at OSU, Columbus. I’ll be a junior come the fall. I’m aiming for a communications major, you know, because I can express myself well and I’m not shy. I think communication is really important on all levels and it’s one of the most important achievements of mankind. If we don’t communicate, we cease being humans, don’t you think?”

Danny was thinking more along the lines of how to tape her mouth shut. If he was honest, he had been hoping for a pick-up when he offered his help. Now he had his doubts that she would ever shut up unless he gagged her. She probably talked in her sleep too.

“I’ll be a freshman at Penn in the fall,” he offered. “I’ll probably go for math as one major.”

“Penn’s a great school and ... You’re just a high school kid? What are you doing here all alone?”

“I’m not alone. I’m traveling with my sister and a friend. It’s a graduation trip.”

“Just Paris? Because I’ll be traveling to the South in a day or two. They have these gor-ge-ous beaches on the Mediterranean coast where you can go nude and get a tan all over. Well, my name’s Tanner after all. I’m thinking I’ll be having some fun there, meeting people and letting my hair down if you know what I mean. People here in Europe are so much more communicative and tolerant.”

Danny waited for the monologue to continue but Lucy stared at him.

“Huh?”

“Are you just staying in Paris or are you going someplace else?”

“We’ll have a rental car and drive to the South in two days.”

“I was thinking of taking the train, but a car must be nice too, you know, to get to places. The distances are so much shorter here that people don’t fly as much as we do.”

Over Lucy’s talking they had reached the Place de Saint-Michel and Danny led Lucy into the side alley where their hotel was. Luckily, the receptionist on duty spoke passable English. They even had a free room on the fifth floor and Lucy immediately took it. He helped her into the rickety elevator and bade his good-bye when she grabbed his arm.

“Not so fast, Danny. You’ve been so helpful and patient with me and I haven’t thanked you yet.”

“Well, that’s okay. I had fun being with you.”

“Maybe we can have dinner?”

“Oh, I’m with my sister and a friend and...”

“Bring them along. The more the merrier, right? God, I don’t want to have dinner alone. Please?”

“Okay, I’ll talk to them and then I’ll call you.”

“Which room are you in?”

“205. I’ll call you.”

Finally, the elevator closed and moved up. Danny stood there realizing that he’d just been steamrolled. He took the stairs up to their room and checked his watch. It was safe to knock.

Ashley opened the door and let him. He could hear the shower going.

“Again? Was it that hot in here?”

Ashley cuffed him. “Ass!” But then she hugged him. “Thanks. It was really weird on the plane. I don’t think I could...”

“Shh! I’ll give you some privacy from now on, okay?”

“I can also...”

“Ashley, you don’t have to share. Lynn is your girlfriend. You guys be happy and I’ll be happy.”

“I don’t want you to feel like a third wheel, Danny.”

He grinned smugly. “Well, about that, I met a girl. She’s from Ohio State and she’s at loose ends here. She broke up with her boyfriend and decided not to let her ticket go to waste. She’s a bit of a motor mouth, but otherwise she’s okay.”

“Cute?” Ashley asked tilting her head.

“Very. Look, she asked if she can have dinner with us.”

“Okay for me, but let’s ask Lynn too.”

“Good point. Has she been in the bathroom for long?”

“She should be out any minute,” Ashley answered. “Danny, am I too pushy?”

“Why?”

“Today I just insisted on going to the Louvre. I just demanded it.”

“I’m okay with the Louvre, but perhaps you should pipe down your assertive nature around Lynn. She’s not exactly on the same footing with us.”

“Oh shit, you’re right. With us springing for everything, she must feel awkward. Let’s talk to her.”

“She’s your girlfriend. You talk to her.”

“About what?”

Danny and Ashley turned to see Lynn standing in the bathroom door wearing panties and nothing else. Danny cleared his throat.

“I’ve got something to ask. I met a girl while I was out. She’s here in the hotel and she’s alone in Paris. Would you mind if she came along with us for dinner?”

Lynn shrugged. “Why do you ask me? I’m just...”

“You’re part of us,” Ashley interrupted her. “That’s what we talked about before you came out. I was kind of pushy this afternoon and I didn’t really ask your opinion about the plans. I’m sorry.”

“Ashley’s right. We’re on this trip together and you have the same say in things as we have,” Danny added. “I can imagine how you feel. It’s probably like I felt in the first months living with Dad, Marsha and Ash. I felt I was given a free ride and I tried like Hell not to fuck it up.”

“You’re Tyler’s son, Danny. That’s different.”

“You’re Ash’s partner and my friend. We want your input on stuff. You’re the oldest after all,” he added with a grin.

“Ha-ha! You want my opinion on that girl? How the fuck can I have an opinion? I don’t know her.”

“Would you be willing to meet her?”

“Sure. If she keeps you busy, Ash and I can have more quality time alone.”

“Okay then. Can I call her?”

“Oh, do it already,” Ashley laughed.

Danny used the antique rotary dial phone in the room to call Lucy’s room. She answered after the third ring and she was relieved when Danny gave her the plans for the evening.

They met in the lobby at seven. Ashley and Lynn were both wearing light summer dresses. Lucy had opted for a short jeans skirt, a backless, red halter top and linen deck shoes. She cleaned up nicely.

Danny made the introductions.

“Ash, Lynn, this is Lucy Tanner from Sandusky. She’ll be a junior at OSU, Columbus. Lucy, this is my sister Ashley and this is Caitlyn Keel. Ash just graduated and Lynn is a freshman at Penn. She’s also on the Quakers’ gymnastics team.”

Lucy regarded Lynn with caution. “Are you Danny’s girlfriend?”

Lynn shook her head and smiled sweetly. “He’s free and unattached. Ash and I are the couple.”

“Oh, wow ... That’s ... In fact, that’s so cool. Way to go!”

“Why is it so great?”

“Oh, I had this roommate, Kelly, and she would always pretend to flirt with guys, but she was totally into girls. She just wouldn’t admit it. Even when I came in one evening and she was swapping spit with Lisa Daniels, she said they were practicing for a drama play. So it’s great that you guys are open about it. Plus, I get to try my luck with Danny here. Oh, you’re not gay, are you? Not that it would make me, you know, feel uncomfortable, but it’s...