The Last Café in Paris E-Book

Danniel Paraiso Da Silva

• Herausgeber: epubli
• Kategorie: Abenteuer, Thriller, Horror
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 88

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

The Last Café in Paris A story about love that is lost, love that remains… and love that is reborn. Camila has the perfect life on paper: engaged to a stable man, with a promising future in sight. But everything changes when she finds an old letter from Antoine, the Frenchman who broke her heart ten years ago with an unexplained goodbye. Driven by impulsive courage and a longing that never went away, she sets off for Paris in search of answers — and perhaps herself. But the city of lights holds more than memories: it offers reunions, revealing silences and the chance to rebuild what seemed lost. Between cafes on street corners, unseen letters and promises from the past, Camila will discover that true love does not always arrive like a hurricane — sometimes, it arrives as a simple gesture… like the last sip of hot coffee on a cold morning. "The Last Café in Paris" is a sensitive, mature and poetic novel about new beginnings, choices and the power of leaving the past alone.

Leseprobe

Copyright Notice

(c)2025, Danniel Paraiso.

All rights reserved.

This book/work is protected by copyright laws and international agreements. No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the express written permission of the author, except where permitted by law.

The Last Café in Paris

A story about love that is lost, love that remains… and love that is reborn.

Camila has the perfect life on paper: engaged to a stable man, with a promising future in sight. But everything changes when she finds an old letter from Antoine, the Frenchman who broke her heart ten years ago with an unexplained goodbye.

Driven by impulsive courage and a longing that never went away, she sets off for Paris in search of answers - and perhaps herself. But the city of lights holds more than memories: it offers reunions, revealing silences and the chance to rebuild what seemed lost.

Between street corner cafes, unsent letters and past promises, Camila will discover that true love doesn’t always arrive like a hurricane - sometimes, it arrives as a simple gesture… like the last sip of hot coffee on a cold morning.

“The Last Café in Paris” is a sensitive, mature and poetic novel about new beginnings, choices and the power of leaving the past alone.

The Last Café in Paris

Daniel Paradise

I dedicate this book

to the loves that left without explanation,

to the silent new beginnings,

and the courage to follow your heart -

even when it takes us down unfamiliar streets.

To everyone who has ever had a coffee thinking about someone…

This one is for you.

- Danniel Paradise

SUMMARY

Part I - Echoes of the Past

• The Yellow Letter

• Runaway Bride

• Ten Years in One Second

• The Corner Café

• The Name on the Door

• Paris is Raining

• Memories on the Boulevard

• The Picture on the Wall

• The Forgotten Promise

• Louis’ New Life

• Feelings in Suspense

• The Silence Between Us

Part II - Between Two Worlds

• The Ring in the Pocket

• My Almost-Husband

• Secrets of Montmartre

• The Garden of Uncertainties

• A Night on the Seine

• The Weight of Words

• The Woman in the Portrait

• The Confession

• Pieces of the Past

• Camilla’s Choice

• The Last Page

• The Letter Never Sent

Part III - Rewriting Destinies

• The Silence of Hugo

• The Streets That Know My Name

• In Search of Me

• The Empty Chair in the Café

• The Saint-Germain Window

• Louis and the Truth

• When Time Stops

• The Cancelled Wedding

• The Escape of the Two

• A House in Ruins

• The Girl in the Photograph

• Camila’s Awakening

Part IV - The Last Coffee

• New Chords

• The Rose in the Book

• Grandma’s Secret

• A Dance in Paris

• The Heart Decides

• The Last Promise

• What If It’s Love?

• The Farewell

• The Last Coffee

• Between Heaven and Paris

• What was left unsaid

• The New Beginning

• Epilogue - A New Beginning

Chapter 1 - The Yellow Letter

The wedding dress hanging in the corner of the room seemed to smile at her. White, light, with small pearl embroidery on the bust, it was the dress Camila had always imagined wearing on the big day. There were only twenty-seven days left until the wedding. The flowers had already been chosen, the invitations sent, the catering paid for. Life was following an impeccable script - at least until that morning.

Camila was searching for an old book on the office shelf when something fell from the yellowed pages. She bent down to pick up the folded paper, and the moment her fingers touched the fine texture of the letter, her heart stopped for a second.

She would recognize that handwriting anywhere in the world.

Louis.

Her hands began to tremble. She sat on the floor, right there, among books and dust, while she slowly unfolded the letter. The paper was yellowed with age, with a small wine stain on one of the edges. She read, feeling the weight of each word as if it were a blow to her chest:

“Camille,

If you are reading this, it is because I was cowardly enough to leave without being able to say goodbye properly. Forgive me for leaving. Forgive me for not being enough. There was so much I wanted to say, but I didn’t have the courage. Maybe one day, if fate is kind, you will return to Paris. And, who knows, we can have that last coffee I promised.

With love,

Louis.”

She read the last line over and over, as if she could change its meaning with a glance. How could he just disappear? Ten years had passed since that summer in Paris, and she had never known why he had disappeared. Louis was the Frenchman she had fallen madly in love with. It had been intense, brief, and lasting-like loves that never fade.

For years, she swallowed the pain and buried it under the daily rush. She thought she was cured. Until now.

Camila held the letter to her chest and looked out the window. Outside, the city remained impassive, but something inside her had broken.

Without thinking, he opened his notebook and looked for the first flight to Paris.

She didn’t know what she expected to find, but she needed to understand. She needed answers. Or one last coffee.

Chapter 2 - Runaway Bride

Camila closed the suitcase as if sealing a secret. It was dawn and the city was sleeping, oblivious to the storm that was forming within it. The apartment was silent except for the faint hum of the air conditioning and the clink of hangers still swinging in the half-empty closet. The wedding dress still hung in the corner, like a silent accusation.

She left a note on the dinner table. Two lines, maximum.

“Hugo, I need to understand a part of my past in order to move on. Forgive me.”

It wasn’t fair. Hugo was good, kind, the kind of man any woman would dream of having by her side. But Camila never believed that perfect loves would be silent. With him, everything was balance-and that, at times, made her feel invisible. Maybe because, deep down, part of her was still in Paris, frozen in the summer when Louis had first made her feel alive.

The taxi arrived at 2:14 a.m. The driver didn’t ask anything, he just put her suitcase in the trunk while she hugged her coat to her chest. The cold of doubt was much more uncomfortable than the cold of the early morning.

On the way to the airport, the city lights seemed to dance outside the window. Camila watched everything with distant eyes, as if she were seeing her own life from the outside, like a character in a movie who makes a reckless decision - and we hope she doesn’t regret it.

Arriving at the international terminal, she took a deep breath before facing the check-in line. She was really doing this. Paris. Louis. Ten years later.

The boarding pass printed with a crisp thud. A chime sounded, announcing the flight to Charles de Gaulle. She walked to the gate with slow steps, as if with each step she was leaving behind a version of herself-the perfect bride, the confident woman, the one who always did what was expected.

As the plane took off, Camila looked out the window and whispered softly, almost like a promise:

- I just need one answer, Louis. Just one.

But she had no idea that Paris had plans of her own.

Chapter 3 - Ten Years in One Second

The plane touched down in Paris at 1:42 p.m. local time. The sky was gray, tinged with thick clouds that threatened rain at any moment - as if the city were setting the perfect stage for a reunion of unfinished souls.

Camila stepped off the plane with her heart racing and her hands cold. The last time she had been here, it had been summer, and the city had smelled sweet and electric. Now it was March, and the biting cold brought a different air. More melancholy. More real.

She walked through the Charles de Gaulle terminal as if she were returning to the place where it all began - and ended. As she waited for her suitcase on the conveyor belt, flashes of the past came flooding back to her: Louis smiling with a baguette under his arm, the two of them running across the Pont des Arts at sunset, the stolen kiss in front of Notre-Dame Cathedral. It was all so distant… and yet so vivid.

She picked up her suitcase and took a deep breath. A taxi was waiting for her outside, and she gave the driver the address in hesitant but sufficient French:

- Rue de l’Abbaye, s’il vous plaît.

That was where the small apartment he had rented for a week was located. An ancient villa hidden behind a charming bookstore in Saint-Germain-des-Prés. A place she hoped would be neutral, safe. But little did she know that it was three blocks from the café where she and Louis had breakfast every morning that summer.

During the journey, Camila kept her eyes glued to the window, trying to recognize pieces of the city. The banks of the Seine, the low rooftops, the crowded cafes even in the cold. It was all so similar… and she was so different.

The taxi stopped in front of a wooden gate painted blue. Camila walked in and found a cozy little studio with stone walls and tall windows. He dropped his bag in the corner, took off his coat and went straight to the window. There, in the silence of that moment, Paris spoke to her again.

It was then that his cell phone vibrated.

A message from Hugo.

“Did you get there okay? Can we talk when you get back?”

She looked at her phone for a few seconds. Then she turned the device upside down and left it on the table.

Camila knew she wasn’t ready to answer.

Instead, she took Louis’s letter from her purse. She read it again. And made a decision: she would go to the café. Today.

Ten years had passed.

But maybe just a second would be enough to relive it all.

Chapter 4 - The Corner Café

The door bell rang with a soft sound, announcing his arrival.