A Break from Ordinary

Darren had been driving for three days. Three entire days. And now here he was, stuck in some town with some fancy boarding school. Manson. Fancy. He slammed the hood of the car he had rented and slid to the ground, resting his head on his knees. "Stupide voiture américaine." He muttered, closing his eyes. "Je pensais venir ici aiderait, tout le monde est célèbre en Amérique"

It was then that he heard it. Someone. Darren opened his eyes, and looked up "Bonjour?"

Rachel was walking down to Ebonhale, needing to grab a few things from the drugstore and possibly meet Barney for coffee. Possibly. That probably wouldn't happen, but who knows? She'd chosen to walk because she didn't feel like driving. And honestly, she needed the exercise. Getting a little further down the road, she noticed a car, and eventually a person. Walking over, she saw that it was a man about her age. He greeted her, in French, possibly her most favorite language of all time.

"Bonjour," Rachel said, smiling and holding out her hand. "Je suis Rachel Emerson. Puis-je vous aider?"

Darren stood, nodding to the woman, who called herself Rachel. "Je suis Darren Shea." He said with a light smile "Ma voiture était en panne et je n'ai pas beaucoup currancy américaine" He ran a hand through his hair and waited for her to respond, hoping she could speak French, that she wasn't just one of those American's who 'knew' French. His English wasn't the best really, he didn't speak it much, seeing as he hadn't been around people for more than ten minutes for the past three days, and hadn't held a decent conversation with anyone in at least two weeks.

"Plaisir de vous rencontrer, Darren." Rachel said with a smile. She nodded as he spoke. "Désolé d'entendre que," She said to him, frowning. Grabbing her wallet, she handed him a few twenties. "Je vais vous marcher sur la ville, c'est moins d'un mile. Je suis sûr qu'il ya un mécanicien là." She said to him. "Donc, ne vous parle pas anglais?" Rachel asked, deciding it'd be nice to get to know him.

"Non non, je ne peux pas prendre votre argent." Darren said, shaking his head, when she pulled some money out, "I am not very good at speaking English" He said slowly, and smiled "I speak French at home, I do not speak English very much" He said, his accent thick. "But Practicing makes perfect" He nodded. "Your French is very good"

"J'insiste," Rachel said back, shoving it at him. "J'ai beaucoup, je ne peux vivre sans une centaine de dollars." They began to walk down the street and he talked about his English. "Ah, I see. Are you from France, then?" Rachel smiled when he complimented her French. "I like to travel, and my mother was Italian, so we spoke that in the house. Whenever I go visit I try to learn that country's language, and-" She cut herself off, laughing. "Dieu, je m'égare." Idiota sei. She thought to herself.

"Non non. Un gentleman ne prend pas l'argent qu'il ne peut pas payer de retour" Darren said, "Yes! I am from Paris" He smiled "I came to America, Got in a car, and started driving." He said with a nod "No no, tell me about yourself," He said as they walked, "You are more interesting than me, I think"

Rachel sighed. 'Bon, monsieur. Vous gagnez." Rachel smiled. "I love it there. It's gorgeous. God, I love France all together." Rachel said, then laughing. "I'm really not that interesting." She laughed. "I grew up in Alabama, moved here when I was nine, went to Manson and Yale, then came back to teach. I was also a stewardess for a while," Rachel said, shrugging. "Really, not that interesting."

"Je vous remercie. Je vais être en mesure de le réparer par la suite." Darren said, bowing his head slightly. "More interesting that I am" He laughed "I was born is Paris, I grew up in Paris, I went to an acting school in Paris, and then I came to America" he said, "I was a street vendor for a short time," He said "I sold flowers"

Rachel smiled. "Oh come on, France is my most favorite place in the world. I'm bound to find you interesting whether you like it or not." She said with another smile. "Acting school? Are you coming to Broadway?" Rachel loved going to the Broadway plays. A lot. "That sounds like fun," Rachel said, "I've always loved walking around to street vendors. They're so nice," Rachel said.

"I guess you get used to beauty if you see it every day" Darren said, kicking a pebble, and shoving his hands in his pockets. "No.. I was with a acting company for awhile, in France. We went to children's schools and put on plays for them." He looked up and smiled "I like that sort of acting more, I'm in it because I like it, not because it's good money"

Rachel chuckled. "That's so sweet." She smiled. "I loved doing plays when I was in high school." She nodded. "I know what you mean. So do you have a job right now?" She asked him, tucking a piece of chestnut hair behind her ear.