Excerpt of Encounters in Paris - A Collection of Short Stories by Carolyn Moncel

Actually, three letters arrived that Tuesday morning, but only two would change Ellery Roulet's life. It was a hot day, too hot for mid-September in Paris. The leaves were already starting to change from a vibrant green to a jeweled orange, falling from the trees, dry and prickly, and sprinkling the ground like crunchy fairy dust.

Evie and Maddie, her 10-year-old daughters, were already awake, dressed and had just finished breakfast. She could hear them in the common bathroom on the other side of the apartment, fighting over toothpaste, with Maddie (the older twin by a mere two minutes) warning Evie not to squeeze the tube from the center.

"Girls, hurry up!" Ellery yelled out to them from the foyer. Grabbing her keys from the wall hook, she opened the front door.

"I'm going downstairs to get the mail. When I ring the doorbell, have your shoes on, your backpacks ready, and meet me downstairs in the lobby...and, don't wake your father!"

"Okay!" they chimed in unison, as they continued their giggling and conversation in Franglais.

Ellery stepped out of her apartment into the hallway. The light came on automatically and she pressed the elevator button. Usually, she was fine waiting for the lift, as they only lived on the fourth floor, but this morning, she was in a hurry and decided to take the stairs down to the ground floor instead. When she opened the glass double doors, she became startled by the presence of the lady who worked for LaPoste already standing there. She was early, putting the morning's mail into the boxes.

For the first time, Ellery stopped and took a really good look at her. The LaPoste lady was a really tiny woman. Almost a foot shorter than Ellery, she had a willowy, almost prepubescent frame. In addition to her amazing shade of red hair and green eyes, Ellery also observed her feet–child sized. Thus, Ellery concluded that it must have been near impossible to find work boots to fit her. All of these features made the LaPoste lady seem far more youthful in appearance than maybe her actual age declared. Nevertheless, she had been delivering mail to Ellery's family for nearly the entire ten years that they had lived in their apartment complex. Though, Ellery still found it odd that she never knew the woman's name.

Like everything else, it was different back home in the States. For example, Ellery would have known that her postman's name was Charlie. And, she would have acquired this knowledge, not only because she wrote him a $25 dollar check every Christmas, but because he looked out for her. He felt more like a friend rather than some random government employee. On the other hand, this was Paris after all. Fat chance that the LaPoste lady would be stopping by for a coffee anytime soon.

"Tu m'as fait peur, Madame Roulet!" [You scared me, Madame Roulet!], the postal lady said breathlessly.

"Je suis désolée, Madame." Ellery apologized to her. "Avez-vous quelque chose pour nous aujourd'hui? [Do you have anything for us today?]

"Oui, un instant," she smiled. "Il y a trois lettres dont une recommandée. " [Yes, one moment. There are three letters for which you must sign.]

Ellery waited while she searched for all the letters in her bag. She pulled out her signature machine, handed Ellery the stylus and pointed to where she had to sign for the letter. The two women walked out to the pavement together and exchanged pleasantries and parted in different directions. Ellery's car, a black Range Rover was parked two streets away, just in front of the boulangerie. She put her key in the door, and opened it from the passenger's side. She placed one letter on the dashboard and absently tucked the others, including the registered one, in her coat pocket. Checking the time, she realized she needed to move quickly, so she jogged back toward her building.

"It's mom, come on down and get in the car," she shouted into the intercom system. Five minutes later the girls emerged from the elevators, carrying backpacks and happily discussing Pokémon and their other favorite television shows on Canal J. "Is the car door open, mom?" asked Maddie. "Yes," she said distractedly. "Go ahead and get in. You two be careful crossing the street...I'll be right back."

Even though Ellery wasn't working that day, she realized that she had forgotten a presentation that she needed to drop off at the office. It was for the American software company she had snagged as a new client for the PR firm where she worked.

Ellery pressed the elevator button, got in and returned to her apartment. She turned the key and stepped inside, but only far enough to grab the presentation, which was packed securely in its portfolio case and sitting by the door. When one of the letters fell out of her coat pocket and on to the floor, she picked it up and examined it. The letter was noticeable, especially since it was in a pale blue envelope. It resembled stationery she had purchased from the local papeterie some months back. Judging by the name on the front of the envelope, it appeared to be addressed to someone else, another woman. The handwriting was almost recognizable, but it was scribbled as if in a hurry. Receiving the letter had to be a mistake, she thought. She contemplated taking the letter downstairs with her to the mailbox so that the LaPoste lady could return it to its rightful owner the next day.

Evie was honking the car horn by then, shaking Ellery out of her reverie. She could hear the noise all the way upstairs. Her daughters were reminding her that they would be late for school if their mom didn't hurry. Instead, Ellery just stuffed the letters back into her pocket. She would deal with them when she returned from the office later that morning. She doused the kitchen light before closing the front door and heading back to the car.

"Mom, what took you so long? We're gonna be late and Madame Jacques punishes us where we are!" cried Maddie.

"You'll make it." There was silence. "Ah...stop ya complainin'. You'll get there on time!" Ellery said with a tinge of maternal annoyance and humor. She hated it when the girls cared more about the teacher's demands rather than hers.

"What do you want to hear this morning in the CD player?"

"The Red Hot Chili Peppers!" Evie shouted from the backseat, just behind her mom, as Maddie cheered along.

"Okay, Chilies it is," Ellery said. She started the engine, pressed song number six and away they went toward École Privée Sainte-Rita singing along to "The Zephyr Song."