This way goes...

After what felt like many minutes, but had really just been seconds, Erin took her eyes off of Olivier's. "What the hell was that...?" she mused to herself. Certainly, Olivier had great looks and from their online conversations she knew he was charming, but she'd never felt anything like what had happened when they'd looked into one another's eyes before.

"H..Hello..." she muttered while sucking in a deep breath.

"Hello, Erin," he responded in a deeply sensual voice she had not expected, "you 'ave got ze key for our flat?"

"Yes, I've just checked in, if you're all finished, we can go find our new place," she responded, hoping that having a mission would lessen some of the energy and tension that was thick around them.

"OK, we go now," he replied.

They decided to leave their main luggage behind and return for it after they found their place, which from the quickly drawn map the administrator had drawn for her. It appeared to be an easy walk, just about a mile away and through some of the quaint housing areas and past a lovely creek. The roommates had all decided that while they wanted to live close to the city, they'd like to have access to a bit of nature and the calmness it provided.

So, off they set, preparing to make the short jaunt and return in the late afternoon for the rest of their things. As they set off, the sky seemed to darken just a bit, but it didn't look like it would rain any time soon.

They followed their directions and made their way past the lovely houses, their hedges all trimmed and lawns primly manicured. As they walked, they passed fewer people but nothing terribly unusual, until they made their final turn.

They only had to go a bit further, just over a small bridge, under which flowed a creek. As they came to the bridge, Erin, not always known for her grace, tripped over the uneven cobblestones and everything she was carrying went flying as she attempted to steady herself.

"Oh! Oh no!!" she exclaimed as she landed on her knees on the rough stones, "ouch!"

"Are you ok Erin?" Olivier asked with genuine concerned. At that, Erin couldn't stop herself from giggling. It was just her luck she'd trip and fall and make a fool of herself less than an hour after meeting her French hottie roommate. The only real damage done was to her pride, so she righted herself, with the help of Olivier's strong arms and regained her footing.

"Oh shit! The key!!" she couldn't believe she'd dropped the key. At that, the two began to search desperately for the key, which was nowhere in sight. They looked everywhere, but after a few minutes of desperate but ineffective searching, they determined that it must have fallen in the creek.

"I'll get closer to the creek and check it, Erin. Maybe you should stay here so you don't fall in?" Olivier said with a touch of humor.

"No, I'll help look as well." Erin was not about to be relinquished to the sidelines because she'd had a little stumble. At that, they clambered down the small shoreline of the creek and began searching. As the minutes passed they both became more frantic and exasperated.

Finally, after wading up to his knees in the creek Olivier said, "I can't find it, it's as if it has disappeared."

"Don't be ridiculous," Erin responded but in her heart, she was feeling a bit hopeless and could not figure out how her little stumble had caused their key to virtually evaporate into thin air.

After another 10 minutes of searching to no avail, they decided to give up the fruitless effort and return to the administration building to tell them what happened. Even if they had to pay for another key, it was better than continuing this task in the freezing creek. They both unrolled the pant legs they'd rolled up to wade into the water and picked up the small bags they'd brought along.