Hey, the book is in my apartment. On top of the coffee table, you won't miss it.
Enjolras read Grantaire's text. Enjolras rolled his eyes.
"Note to self: never lend Grantaire anything, ever." he muttered to himself as he walked the corridor towards Grantaire's apartment. Nevertheless, he needed that book for a little inspiration for next month's arraignment.
Two people were charged with murder after they were caught with unregistered firearms. They matched the descriptions of two out of four people who assassinated a former councilman, Francis Dubois. Rather exciting development. Francis was opted to run for mayor for the upcoming elections since he ran last time but failed. He tried to recall.
Enjolras was dismayed. Francis' work during the past year was very excellent. If he ran for mayor again, he might have won. Maybe that's why he was killed. He thought to himself as he peered through the symbols nailed on each door and tried to find the one that belonged to his friend.
Was it 4B or 4D? he asked himself. He grabbed his phone from his pocket and read the last few texts that Grantaire sent him.
"4B it is." he concluded as he read his phone. He found the right door. He paused for a moment. Shouldn't it be locked? Enjolras suppressed a groan.
"Another note to self: never ask Grantaire for directions." He twisted the doorknob and was surprised to see it unlock. He must've left it unlock for me. He thought. Still, Enjolras thought it was a little bit reckless.
He opened the door and his eyes went wide as he saw that there was someone already inside.
A few days earlier, they were all gathered at Grantaire's apartment. It was a little cramped for them, but cozy nonetheless. Coufeyrac, Marius, and Combeferre sat together on the couch. While Musichetta and Bahorel prepared dinner in the kitchen. Dinner was mostly reheated take out but a meal shared with friends is already a feast.
Cosette was setting the table while Grantaire waited by his printer as it spat out printed documents. Enjolras sat on an armchair adjacent to the couch, listening to his friend's conversation.
"Do you really think that it was an assassination?" asked Marius, his eyes filled with horror as Combeffere filled them in with details of the medical examiner's findings.
"Of course it is." Coufeyrac said. "He was hit with four bullets and each one hitting their mark. The brain stem." He pressed two straight fingers on the side of his neck. "The frontal lobe." He pointed to his forehead. "His stomach." He pointed to his abdomen. "And finally his heart." He thrusts his two fingers at Marius chest and he jumped.
"Boys, if you won't stop talking about dead bodies and gunshot wounds, you'll might gross yourselves out and miss dinner." warned Cosette as she walked over and gave Marius a comforting pat on his shoulder.
"Cosette, I work in the Emergency Room. I've seen it all." said Combeferre. Cosette rolled her eyes.
"Still, it is taxing to talk about a high profile case with an empty stomach." grinned Coufeyrac.
Enjolras stood to pour himself a glass of water when he heard someone knock the door. He turned to open it but Coufeyrac was already on it.
He leaned on the countertop as Bahorel plated their dinner beside him.
"Are we expecting someone?" he asked him. Bahorel shrugged his shoulders. As far as Enjolras knew, anyone of their group who wasn't busy was here tonight.
He could hear Coufeyrac's conversation with the person outside.
"Hey. Is Grantaire here?" he heard a woman say.
He looked at the doorway but she was blocked by Coufeyrac who was leaning on the door frame.
"Well, yes. I'm Grantaire." Enjolras deduced that Coufeyrac deemed her pretty, since he was clearly flirting with her. He rolled his eyes. He heard the girl snort.
"Oh yeah, then what's my name?" she said as a challenge. He heard Coufeyrac shuffle in his feet. Enjolras hid his smile with the rim of the glass as he drank.
"It's um..." Coufeyrac snapped his fingers as if to recall. "It's Elaine right?" he asked. "Whatever Coufeyrac." Coufeyrac laughed.
"Grantaire! Eponine is here to see you!" he announced. He sidestepped and Enjolras could see the girl who Coufeyrac was flirting with and he choked. He doubled over the counter, coughing and Bahorel patted his back, hard.
"Are you okay there?" he asked but he didn't hide his cheeky smile.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Enjolras replied as he cleared his throat.
"Eponine, I just need to print one more page. Come in." he called to her.
Eponine stepped inside a little awkwardly since Coufeyrac announced her presence albeit dramatically. She smiled, a little blush on her cheeks. One side of her hair was partly braided. Her brown wavy tresses hanged loose on her shoulders. Her gaze was steady and her smile was gentle. She looked calm but her hands clutched the sling of her satchel a little too tight, exposing her discomfort.
She stood in the center of the room, waiting for Grantaire to come out of his room. Cosette greeted her first and it seemed to calm her.
"Eponine, what a pleasant surprise. I didn't know you were friends with Grantaire." she said. Her smile was warm and welcoming.
"Me too. If anything, I suggest you two had an elicit affair that both of you hid from your friends because you're too ashamed for it to become public. " Musichetta jested and wriggled her eyebrows. Enjolras made it a point not to drink anything so as to not choke, again.
"What?" Combeferre turned to face the woman, Eponine, who was blushing furiously.
"We're not. We're just friends." Eponine stuttered slightly. "And you've been reading too much romance novels." she narrowed her eyes at her.
"I'm just joking 'Ponine." Musichetta said as she giggled.
"As much as people assume I am sleeping with Eponine, I am super gay." Grantaire burst out loud as he entered. He handed Eponine a small stack of papers. Her eyebrow quirked as she scanned through. Cosette laughed as she pulled out wine glasses from the cupboard. Coufeyrac joined Enjolras on the counter, pouring himself a glass. Their gazes met and he winked at him, his head motioning at Eponine. Enjolras pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned softly. He opened his eyes to see Coufeyrac giving him a wry smile.
"You're asexual." she deadpanned.
"Poe-tay-toe, po-tah-toe." Grantaire said.
She rolled her eyes and pulled out a folder from her bag. Grantaire opened it and gave a low whistle.
"What?" she asked. Grantaire flipped the folder and showed it to Eponine. Enjolras saw a line drawing of a pair of hands covered in blood. The background looks like an alley but it looked out of focus. The darkness intensified by the strong crosshatches on the far corners of the page. It was black and white, save for the red of blood. Enjolras was impressed with the attention to detail.
"Inspired by recent events?" he teased. Eponine shrugged. "It's kind of vague." Grantaire added. "But I'll make it work."
"It's payback for giving me eight pages, and a third of it was dialogue." she deadpanned. Grantaire clutched his hand on his chest and his eyes wide, feigning shock.
"Plus you're handwriting sucked. Took me a whole minute just to decipher a word." She crossed her arms over her chest.
"Oh Eponine, you hurt me so." he said, faking his hurt. She smiled.
"Your sorrow gives me life like the darkness that seeps through my soul." she said with flair. Her arms flailing as she quoted a line from -what Enjolras thinks is- Grantaire's poem. Grantaire laughed.
She placed the papers inside her bag and zipped it shut.
"So, same time next week?" she asked. Grantaire nodded in agreement. She turned towards the door, signalling to leave when Cosette piped up.
"Oh Eponine, you should stay for dinner." she walked towards her and grabbed her hands. To be honest with himself, he wanted her to say yes.
Eponine smiled. She gave Cosette's hand a squeeze.
"Sorry, I can't. I have to meet with the curator of an art gallery tomorrow. He agreed to display ten of my works in his gallery." She said with glee and Cosette was shocked and quickly embraced her friend. Grantaire gave Eponine a high five.
"Then this calls for a celebration. You have to stay." chimed in Coufeyrac. Combeferre and Bahorel gave her their own encouragements for her to stay. Eponine looked back at him and smiled. Her gaze met Enjolras' and it didn't take him long to smile back.
"Soon you'll become famous and forget your dearest friend. Me." Grantaire said. Eponine rolled her eyes.
"Says the guy who met with his publisher last week."she smirked. Grantaire's grin did not falter.
"About that, can we meet tomorrow?" he asked.
"I told you I have to-"
"After?" Grantaire interrupted. Eponine grabbed a little black book from her bag and flipped through the pages.
"I have to meet with my old professor in the afternoon, but I'm free for lunch." she said as she shut the little book closed.
"Then lunch it is." Grantaire announced.
"It's a date." she concluded. She immediately looked at Musichetta.
"Not an actual date. Just friends meeting at lunch. Together. Totally platonic." She said to her.
"Yes, yes we all know you're single." Musichetta teased. "I need to do something about that." Momentarily he saw Musichetta steal a quick glance at him and he blushed.
"I really need to go." She said as she walked backwards towards the door.
"Bye everyone." she said to everyone in the room. Then she shut the door and left.
Eponine is her name. Enjolras was still looking at the door as Bahorel announced. "Dinner's ready."
Everyone got to their seats and dinner started with the conversation about Eponine.
"How did you and Eponine meet?" Cosette asked Grantaire, who was helping himself with a hefty glass of wine.
"Both of us were in the School of Fine Arts at the university. I majored in Creative Writing, while she was in the Visual Arts. We played this game where I write a scene for her and she illustrates it and vice versa. We've been doing it regularly. To be honest it has been the glue of our relationship. She comes by here sometimes, to paint. Says there's not much room in her apartment and I let her." he says with a shrug.
"How about you?" he asked Cosette.
"Oh she was foster sister for quite sometime. We reconnected a few years after, when me and my father moved here." she smiled as she twirled the spaghetti with her fork.
"Well I met her, when she came to Joly one night with her brother. He looked like he was in a fistfight. Either way, Joly treated him while I talked to Eponine." Musichetta didn't say anything after that. Enjolras listened each one's story about how they met Eponine. Except for him. Apparently he was the only one who hasn't met her. Enjolras thought it was peculiar. He eventually shrugged it off but it seemed unnerving that he didn't even know her name until a few minutes ago.
"Now what was it about a publisher?" Combeferre asked him. Grantaire smirked and he talked about his new book deal.
He didn't really go into the specifics since he didn't want to "spoil the surprise" but he thought that it could really sell and maybe it could sell internationally. This was greeted with hoots and hollers of congratulations.
"A toast" Enjolras announced raising his mug of wine. "To Grantaire and his successful book deal." The others raised their glasses.
"And to Eponine's success in her art and other endeavors." Grantaire added he glanced at Enjolras and he winked at him. Enjolras found it hard to swallow. The dinner carried on with their jests and light hearted conversations. In some instances Enjolras imagines what's it like to have her here in the table probably having snarky conversations with Grantaire and teasing Coufeyrac.
He tucked the little daydream in the back of his mind and focused his attention at Combeferre speaking to Musichetta about his latest discovery on how to get an extra chocolate bar from the vending machine in the doctor's lounge.
She was sitting by the window, the afternoon light shining golden rays onto her form. Her eyes fixed on the canvas propped by the easel. Her right hand gripping the paintbrush as it glided through the canvas. A little table was beside her. Jars of brushes, tubes of paint, and a wooden palette was on top of it.
Enjolras was struck with how beautiful she looked. Her body was relaxed, her shoulders slumped and her breathing steady but her brown eyes was full of concentration. Her hair tied on a braid and resting on her shoulder. Her mouth partly parted.
"Take a picture, it'll last longer." Eponine muttered, her eyes not leaving the painting. She smirked but she was quickly surprised when she heard the shutter of a camera. She looked at Enjolras and she rolled her eyes. Enjolras smiled and pocketed his phone. It was a pretty good picture, but he isn't going to share it any time soon.
"I better be pretty in that photo." she warned as she dipped her brush in paint thinner.
"That won't be a problem." Enjolras quipped. Eponine looked at him for a moment. Her eyes scanned his face for what, Enjolras doesn't know. She smiled and warmth bubbled in him.
"So you must be Enjolras?" she said. She wiped her hand with a cloth. She clicked her tongue when a paint smear on her palm won't come off. She shrugged her shoulders in defeat and offered him her hand. Enjolras took it anyway.
"And you're Eponine?" She nodded. Enjolras gazed at the painting. It was a picture of the cobble-stoned streets beside the Seine. there were lamppost that lined the edges. The colors were vibrant. The yellow from the street lights reflected by the blue of the Seine. The leaves of the trees were golden brown of autumn. Enjolras could see that Eponine was now filling up the sky with stars.
"It's beautiful." he said. Eponine smiled. "Thank you."
"Is it part of the gallery?" he asked. Eponine looked at him, perplexed.
"You came by a few days ago. Me and my friends were having dinner. Well, there you're friends too but not me. In fact I never really knew your name. I-" He rubbed the back of his neck.
Eponine's brows furrowed and her eyes widened. Her mouth made a little "oh".
"I remember." she told him. "No this isn't part of the gallery. The paintings were already delivered to the curator. Tomorrow's the opening. You should come. There's free food." She offered.
"Ah yes, come for the food, stay for the art."he said. She narrowed her eyes and jabbed her finger in his chest.
"That should be my new tagline." Eponine joked. Enjolras laughed. "Seriously though, you should come. Our friends would be there." she said
"Of course, I'll be there." he agreed. She then picked up her brush and started mixing colors. Enjolras took it at his sign to leave. He made his way towards the door when he heard Eponine call him.
"Enjolras." He turned. Eponine had her eyebrow quirked and a smirk on her face.
"The book?" she asked, a laugh threatening to break free from her lips.
He looked at her and he seemed to forget why he came in the first place.
Then he remembered.
"Oh yeah."
Eponine laughed and Enjolras blushed. He stalked towards the coffee table and picked up the book. He made his way towards the door again.
"See you Enjolras, hopefully soon." she bid goodbye.
"Definitely tomorrow." he replied. Eponine smiled at him, her blush covering her cheeks. Enjolras looked at her one last time to savor the moment. The he turned and shut the door.
He walked through the corridors and opened his phone. He gazed at the picture she took of Eponine. She was pretty in the picture, beautiful. A text bubble popped up showing Grantaire's contact photo which Grantaire took of himself.
How was Eponine? ;)
Enjolras was shocked but then it all came together like a puzzle piece. How Grantaire "unfortunately" left the book at his apartment. How Eponine knew he was going over there to pick it up. How Grantaire knew that Eponine was going to be in his apartment.
He ran a hand through his face and groaned. He didn't know if he should be mad at Grantaire, or thankful.