‘Oui, there are three hundred and eleven declarations of love written in two hundred and fifty different languages here.’
‘That’s brilliant! Not sure how many I’d be able to spot though. Languages have never been my strong point.’
‘It is never too late to learn. We should take a photo. Then you can look at it and learn a new way to sayI love youevery day,’ I suggested.
‘Nice idea. It’d help if I had someone to say it to though,’ she sighed.
‘But you do!’
‘Gabriel, you’re a great guy, but?—’
‘Not to me,’ I smiled. ‘Toyou. Please do not be offended but I get the impression that you do not have a very high opinion of yourself, which again, I respectfully would say is crazy, because you are a wonderful woman.’
Laila’s eyes popped.
‘Thanks. That’s kind of you. I… like I said before, I haven’t really had any reason to like myself that much so…’ She shrugged.
‘Well, maybe now is a good time to start.’ I looked around us and saw that the people who were filming and taking pictures were just about to leave. ‘Stand over there.’ I pointed to the centre of the wall. ‘I would like to take a photo of you in front of the wall. I know you came here for romance and you have decided that you do not want to pursue that with me. But perhaps if you will not allow yourself to fall in love with me, you will use this as an opportunity to fall in love with yourself.’
Laila looked at me with a stunned expression on her face. She opened her mouth to speak, then decided against it and positioned herself in front of the wall.
‘Smile!’ I said and she flashed a weak grin. ‘You can do better than that! Show me the beautiful smile you had after you threw orange juice at my crotch,’ I said and Laila winced before bursting out laughing. ‘There! That is much better.’ I took several photos of her. ‘Now do a heart symbol with your hands so that every morning when you look at this photo you will be showing yourself how much you love you.’
‘Is that what you do?’
‘Of course! Every morning, I look in the mirror and tell myself that I am amazing, kind and handsome. This is normal,non?’ I laughed and so did Laila.
Snap. Snap. More beautiful photos of her.
‘I can’t tell at this point whether you’re joking or telling the truth.’ She laughed again.
‘I guess you will never know! Come on. Give me your best love heart gesture.’
‘I think you’re trying to turn me into an egomaniac!’ she said as she put her hands together in the shape of a heart and held them in front of her.
‘Non, I just want you to see what I see.’
‘And what’s that?’ she frowned.
‘A wonderful woman who is smart, strong, generous, caring and very beautiful.’
Laila’s eyes widened and then her face broke into a big smile. I took another burst of photos.
‘You’re such a charmer,’ she said sheepishly.
‘I speak only the truth. You should listen to the song called “Soulmate” by Lizzo. I will add it to today’s playlist. Now, we should take some photos for our Love Tasks.’
I stepped beside Laila, being sure to keep a respectable distance, then held the phone up and snapped away.
A crowd was gathering and I could see that other people wanted to take pictures so I stepped aside.
‘I have an idea to help us to get extra points,’ I said. ‘I think that we should write down something that we both love about each other. And before you start to get worried, it does not have to be romantic. It can be something innocent. For example, I love your smile or I love the very excellent drawing you did of me earlier.’
‘Ha!’ She laughed. ‘We don’t even have any paper.’
‘That is true.’ We could write something on my phone, but it would not be the same. I scanned the gardens. I spotted a woman sitting on a bench who was writing in a notepad. ‘Wait here,’ I said before rushing over to the woman. A quick glance at what she was writing told me that she was not French. ‘Excuse me, do you speak English?’
‘Yes,’ she said.
