Summary: AU in 1950s Paris. Celebrated private detective Charlie Swan is hired to investigate wealthy playboy Edward Cullen who is suspected of having an affair with a rich businessman's wife. Charlie's innocent but overly curious daughter Bella gets too involved with the case.

Genre: Romance/Drama/Humor.

Main Characters: Bella, Edward, Charlie. Bella is 18, Charlie is her father, and Edward is 30. Other Twilight characters have cameos. No character death.

Disclaimer: This story contains Twilight characters and is based on the plot of the 1957 Billy Wilder movie "Love in the Afternoon." Includes quotes and portions of scenes from that movie. I do not own Twilight or Love in the Afternoon.

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EDIT (Oct 10, 2016): We are honored and thrilled that this story was voted #3 in the Top 10 Completed Fics of August 2016 at twifanfictionrecs dot com. Thanks so much to everyone! :)

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Charlie Swan shifted his position against the cold stone of the clock tower, and brought his large camera up to bear one more time on the hotel window across the street. Then he lowered it. It was still too dark for anything to be seen.

He grimaced and stretched his stiff limbs. It was commonly believed that the life of a private investigator was glamorous. However, in his experience, it was filled with long, tedious stakeouts like this one. He had never been involved in a shootout or anything dramatic. Patience was a more valuable skill in his profession than the ability to use a gun or chase down a criminal.

He drew his brown trench coat more closely around himself in the pre-dawn chill. Across the river, outlines of trees just barely leafing out were becoming visible. Springtime in Paris, he mused, often lauded as the most romantic time and place on the planet. A moment later the rim of the sun peeked out over the Paris skyline, tinting the sky a pale pink above golden clouds, and the still-dark Seine painted a pastel reflection of the sky below the shadowed buildings. The saying was likely true.

As if thinking of love in Paris reminded him of his work, he turned back to the hotel across the street and once more raised the heavy camera with its powerful telephoto lens, pointing it at the shuttered window. As he gazed through the lens, the curtains were drawn back and the shutters flung open. A man and woman stepped out onto the balcony to watch the sunrise, their faces illuminated by the rising sun. He focused the camera on the two faces, and clicked.

The man had a shock of messy hair in an unusual reddish color, his features handsome even from this distance. The woman, a tall statuesque blonde, flashed a provocative smile. He took her in his arms and bent to kiss her.

Click.

As they kissed, Charlie snapped several more excellent pictures of the two. By the time the woman had lowered her veil and returned inside, he knew his wait had been rewarded and he had obtained the proof his client needed.

Satisfied, he began the long trek down the stone stairs. The sun was now fully free of the horizon, spreading its warmth over the Paris streets. Slowly, the city was coming to life, the calls of the street vendors making themselves heard in the stillness, the early morning traffic beginning to wend its way along the narrow streets.

It did not take long to reach his small apartment, where he went straight to the closet he used as a darkroom and began developing his film. Within less than an hour he had several excellent 8 by 10s that he hung up to dry on a bit of clothesline strung from wall to wall in the narrow closet. He held one up, the developer dripping off the paper. Yes. A perfect likeness. His client would be quite satisfied.

"Papa?" his daughter Bella called. The two of them lived alone; she had just turned eighteen, and in a couple of weeks she would be performing with her orchestra at the theatre. She studied the cello, and his heart nearly burst with pride every time he heard her play.

"I'm here, Bella," he said, exiting the darkroom and closing the door behind him carefully, one sample photo in his hand.

"Did you just get in from a case?" she called out. "It's so early!" She met him at the door of the parlor. "I made breakfast." She stood tall and slender in the doorway, a heavy fall of auburn hair cascading halfway down her back.

"Thank you, but I don't think I'm that hungry this morning." He sat at his desk and began rummaging through his papers. "But do make sure to eat a good meal yourself."

"Did you close your case?" She spotted the photo he had brought in and swooped down and picked it up. "Ah! What a handsome man!" She turned large and very curious brown eyes on him. "What is his name?"

Charlie frowned. "A sweet and innocent girl like you should not be concerned with the likes of a man such as this." He plucked the photo out of her hands. "Although I have to admit he is responsible for a good portion of my income."

"I think I recognize him," Bella said, placing a finger on her chin. "Let me see…"

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A/N: We've seen others post stories this way but it's new for us; a story told in short drabbles of around 500 words a day, updated daily.

Please review if you can! :)