A genuine smile found its way onto her face when he described the night as exciting. It had been too long since Maddie had done anything truly spontaneous just in the name of a good time. Her entire job was dedicated to catering towards the decadent and extravagance, beauty and taste but this was just.. fun for fun's sake. Something different, something rare. And in her word, rare was the goal. Everyone competed for the most unique, the most audacious, the best of all they could find to show off to the world and here she was, completely satisfied blending into the sparkling crowd.

That and she was pleasantly drunk. The sounds of the gypsy-style jazz thrummed through her as it bounced off the marble walls and it seemed as though the great masters' works were dancing along with it. Maddie had spent many an afternoon in this very hall, from the time her hand was held tightly by a nanny to when she was finally allowed to spend an afternoon alone luxuriating in the unparalleled beauty that surrounded them. "No, you have to come back and see it. There's nothing else like the Louvre, so long as you don't go on a Saturday. Then it's somewhere between Times Square and a zoo."

Maddie ordered another martini, tapping her foot lightly to the music as she sipped from the elegant crystal. "When do you head back to.." Her mind was fuzzy as she tried to remember where he mentioned school was but it was blank behind the fog of alcohol. Maybe she should have eaten something, but another side of her laughed at the idea of fitting into this dress with food in her system. "Wherever your school is."

Her first instinct was to immediately drop her smile, her moment of relaxation called out. At work Maddie was known as hyperfocused and a take-no-nonsense type-A kind of girl, the kind of persona that got one far in the fashion world. It was said that Anna Wintour never smiled and she was the prototype that almost everyone followed. After the year she had it wasn't that difficult to put on the aloof look of a true fashionista, the facade had come to truth. Maddie looked down at her drink and stirred it a little before shrugging. "Thanks. I.." She stopped, not sure of what to say. A part of her wanted to excuse herself and go gently into that good night. No, she told herself. That is what a child would do and such behavior was unbecoming for someone dressed in couture. Instead she just picked up her martini and sipped it slowly, eyes scanning the room. A slight shadow of a smile was still on her lips, not quite ready to let go of the memory of her momentary carefree demeanor.

"Yeah. I've been coming here since I was a baby in a basket. It was important to my parents for me to be exposed to the classics at a young age." That was one of her favorite memories, her mother picking her up despite the possibility of wrinkles so Maddie could see the Mona Lisa. When she was finally old enough she would walk here from the flat and just explore, ignoring the outside world to live in the more beautiful one inside the museum. Now she came here to escape the all-encompassing loneliness that plagued her days off.

"Another day? Well, if you don't have any plans tomorrow..." Was this too pushy? "Unless you have something else in mind for yourself. But I'd love to continue taking your Louvre virginity."

Sometimes it shocked her how quick the liquor she consumed caught up to her but here she was, getting drunk at the party that had taken months of tedious planning. It was almost over and soon the magazine staff would move on to the next example of decadence but that was something she could ignore until Monday. Tonight she was done and she was drunk and she had plans with a boy she had never met before to go to the Louvre tomorrow. Work was something Maddie could worry about later; for the first time in a while having fun was her main priority.

He was observant, she had to give him that. Part of her knew she had become unpredictable, mercurial at best. Even when she became lost in thought and unable to communicate how she felt. The girl had built up her walls so impressively that it was near impossible for even her to make sense of her emotions and express them properly. Fun had become a word that was no longer a part of her vocabulary. Hard work, meticulous attention to detail, but never fun.

"Awesome." Maddie smiled and swigged back what was left of her martini before realizing that it could possibly be a poor decision. Martinis were viscous: if James Bond drank martinis than they had to be something special, even though he was a vodka drinker. Gin made her feel warm and smooth, combined with the earlier shots of scotch she was on the tipsy train.

"Oh, it's not even a problem. It'll be good times. But if I need to get up some time tomorrow I need to get home soon, I've been awake for too many hours." She began to stand up and straighten out the hem of her dress when she felt a slight drunken wobble. "And that last martini did me in."

He had the most adorable smile, she had to give him that. Who would have thought that this was how the night would turn out, meeting an artist off the street, sneaking him into the Vogue Gala to get drunk with? Only Paris, she thought. It could happen in New York but there was an inherent magic about Paris that made such things possible. Good times had been known in the city long before the two had met but it seemed like a worthy addition to the great legacy of Paris. And the good times were yet to cease.

Maddie grinned when he offered to walk her home. "Quite the gentleman. You can do one better. I've got a guest room you're more than welcome to." His pick of guest rooms more like it but she already had one in mind, with a morning view of the sun hitting the museum. It would be perfect. "It'd be no imposition and you're more than welcome." Her flat had been completely redone since she last had guests but it was a different time and had become quite lonely at times since then. "I just have to go and grab my jacket." She grinned as she turned away from him and scanned the crowd. "And you should probably return yours. I'll meet you out back, the same door as we took in?"

Turning on her heels, she walked to say a quick goodbye to a few coworkers before realizing that the night was absolutely and completely done and the girl had her absolute and complete freedom to do as she wished. The day off tomorrow and she would spend it at the museum and not as a worker, as someone who enjoyed art. What a great change within twenty-four hours. Maddie grabbed her jacket while tipping the coat check kid and walked out the door, lighting a cigarette the minute the crisp air hit her lungs.

It wasn't often that Maddie took a liking to people nowadays but there was certainly something about Rafaele that peaked her interest. He seemed different in an admirable way: it wasn't often to meet someone willing to sit outside in freezing weather in search of the best inspiration or decide to seek into a formal gala hosted by one of the most exclusive fashion magazines in the world. And it was certainly a leap towards the unknown to decide to stay with some random girl in a foreign country he had only just met so that the two of them could go to an art museum in the morning.

Part of her wouldn't have been surprised if he changed his mind as she stood outside, deciding it was safer to just go home and not possibly end up a statistic. Not that Maddie even would consider doing him any harm: this was the most fun she had in her life in a long time.

She smiled when he offered her his arm before dropping her cigarette, putting it out under her heel and took his arm. "You won't have to freeze for too long, it is right up the block." It was remarkably convenient and she honestly loved the flat. It had been in her family for generations and had become her home. When the two of them arrived, Maddie smiled at the doorman and stepped inside into the warm lobby. Her heels clacked across the marble floor as she spouted off some quick French pleasantries to the man and whisked her way into the elevator.

"Home sweet home." Pulling out her key she opened the door and entered, flipping on a few lights in the main foyer before leaning against the wall and sliding off her heels, unsure of what to do now that she had a guest in her apartment. It had been too long. "Do you want another drink or..."

Maddie had always loved the Paris flat above all the other family homes. The New York brownstone had a certain charm and there was no where else quite like the Upper East Side but in the same vein there was no where else quite like Paris. Her grandfather had bought it in the twenties and it sat like a time capsule to that decadent time until Maddie had redesigned it upon arriving after dropping out of Salem. It was too much for her to handle, too many memories and now it had become her dream home: clean lines, simple modern pieces, light and airy. Many of the original art deco pieces went to museums and more of the family heirlooms went into storage but now this was her dream. And it helped her move on from the shadows that had haunted her the minute her heels clacked on the floor after running away.

"Yeah... I mean, it's not mine, specifically. It's been in my family for a couple generations and I pay rent out to my parents. Well, that might be pushing it. I'm an only child and so long as I don't cause trouble with the building guild than I can live here unobstructed. But most of them have known me since I was a baby so.." Maddie realized she had been nervously babbling and bit her lip. She slid off her jacket in search of a distraction and draped it over her arm. "Let me show you around."

Reaching down, she grabbed her heels and began to walk out of the main entryway and towards the small living room and tossed her jacket on one of the loveseats before kneeling down in front of the fireplace. "Sorry it's a little chilly in here. I took to the smell of fireplaces when I was at school.." She fiddled with the matches for a minute before getting one to catch with a smile. "I prefer it to forced air heat. It makes me sneeze and this is an old building."

Maddie stood up and turned to face her guest. "So.. yeah. This is the sitting room. Sit, be comfortable, sure you don't want that drink? I'm kind of dying to get out of this dress so I can show you to your room, if you're beat. Or you can hang out here." And you would think the girl wasn't accustomed to having guests over, with the way she was acting. But it had been a while since she had allowed someone to enter the sanctity of her space.

"Not pushy in the least, I asked." Maddie turned on her heels and walked into the kitchen, so rarely used that (while in her drunken state) it took her a few minutes to find the light switch. In the morning she made herself a pot of coffee but past that the newly renovated kitchen sat empty. When was the last time she has used it? Had she even used it yet for more than coffee or a bar for empty glasses? It was easier just not to think about it and just be thankful she could ignore her hunger that often. Maddie stood on her tippy toes and grabbed a glass, plopped some ice in it and filled it up at the sink before turning back out to the sitting room where she left the guest. "Glass of water, enjoy. Do you want sweatpants or something more comfortable to sleep in?" Did she have sweatpants?

"I'll grab it while I go change myself." It would be so nice to finally change. She knew the dress was lovely and Maddie found it absolutely stunning but it was definitely time for something more comfortable. Picking up her heels from the floor, she walked to her room while feeling like a bad host. Other than mixing drinks were you supposed to be entertaining your guest but at this hour all typical rules were out the door. Walking into her room, Maddie ran her fingers through her hair, sitting on the edge of the bed while taking out her earrings and discarding them to her side table before attempting her zipper.

High up on her back sat the evil thing, something she wasn't sure in her drunken state that it was possible. Was it possible for her to get out of her dress? It had to be. "Merde." A stream of expletives found their way from her mouth as continued to struggle. Alright, she could do this. Or she would be trapped in couture for the rest of her life. Either would be fine, in her mind but she really wanted to be comfortable at this point in the day.