‘Not bad!’ Cassie said as she took in the breathtaking views of the Paris rooftops, Sacré-Cœur and of course La Tour Eiffel.
Nico nodded his approval.
‘And the bedrooms? How many do you have?’
‘Two,’ I confirmed. ‘Let me show you the rest of the apartment.’
Since I bought this place two months ago, I had been eager for Nico to visit. As a French billionaire with an impressive real estate portfolio, Nico knew all about property, so I valued his opinion.
Once I had completed the tour, I opened a bottle of vintage Dom Pérignon champagne, poured Nico and Cassie a glass then sat with them on the new white leather sofa.
‘Cheers and congrats!’ Cassie said as we raised our glasses.
‘Merci. So, what do you think?’ I asked Nico.
‘It is a good location and a wise investment. A property like this will always be in demand. But the most important question is, how do youfeelwhen you are here? Does it make you happy?’
I paused. That was a good question.
Nico and Cassie fixed their gazes on me, awaiting my response.
‘I… I think the views are very nice,’ I replied.
‘I bet you’re out on the balcony all the time having breakfast!’ Cassie added enthusiastically. ‘I loved chilling on the rooftop when I first came to Nico’s place.’
Who would blame her? Nico’s duplex penthouse was probably worth ten times the price of this one.
‘Not really,’ I answered honestly. ‘I did the first morning, but after that, I stopped.’
I still was not sure why. I was about to admit that perhaps it was because I could see my neighbour’s terrace was twice the size of my balcony and I felt inadequate, but stopped myself because I knew that sounded bad.
‘Oh…’ Cassie winced.
‘Does it feel likehome?’ Nico pressed.
‘Honestly?’ I asked.
‘Oui.’
‘I am grateful that I can afford a place like this,’ I replied. ‘When I was working night and day developing my app, this is the kind of apartment I dreamed of owning one day. I had always wanted to live in Paris, with amazing views. I even hired a celebrity interior designer to decorate it before I moved in and everything looks beautiful. But I just feel…’
‘Empty?’ Nico suggested.
‘Exactement!’ My eyes popped. ‘How did you know?’
‘Because when I first bought my place, I felt the same.’
Hearing that I was not alone eased the tightness in my chest. Ever since I had sold my app I had been overcome with a strange feeling. I knew part of it was disbelief because I had never seen so many zeros in my bank account before. But the rest was hard to articulate.
For as long as I could remember, I had always believed that when I had money, my life would finally be perfect.
I had bought my dream car, travelled for months staying in the best hotels and had my pick of women. The teenage version of me would have been impressed with the models, actresses and influencers that I had spent the night with.
But when I finally returned to Paris and sat here, in the place that I thought was my dream apartment, just like Nico said, I felt empty.
And it did not make sense, because I had everything I had always wanted.
I would never have to worry about paying bills like my father did whenever my mother decided to quit her latest job and disappear with whatever new boyfriend had caught her eye.
