A/N: This is just a small outtake from my full story Of Hockey, Harmonies, and Husbands.
It takes place before the story actually does, about two years after Montparnasse and Eponine are married. Thus, I do apologize that Enjolras is not in this. But this story provides a bit of background into the beginnings of their domestic violence relationship and how it was always developing. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this.
Rated T just to be safe even though there is absolutely no violence in this.
...
Of Perry Ellis and Pea Coats
Outtake from Of Hockey, Harmonies, and Husbands
...
The car coasted along smoothly as Éponine fiddled with the radio and Montparnasse drove. It was surprising that they didn't hit much traffic on their almost hour drive to the mall, but then again, it was a Sunday.
Today in particular, was one of those nice days where Montparnasse decided that he and Éponine could use some new clothes and so he planned a day for them to visit the Wrentham Village Premium Outlets outside of Boston. Éponine was always thrilled to spend a day shopping, it was a luxury she was deprived of as a child for lack of money and she never would've envisioned herself shopping at these lavish and sumptuous stores if it weren't for Montparnasse and his executive position. Yes, he was the one that made the sizable amount of money and thus he insisted on shopping at the high-end stores. Plus, he did lose a button off his suit jacket the other day and thus he needed a replacement.
The vibrating followed by a ringing of a cell phone disturbed the comfortableness of the car. Montparnasse let go of the wheel with one hand and dug through his back pocket for his phone. Éponine paid little mind as she scanned through the stations looking for something to her liking.
"Hello?" he answered. "Ah yes, hello Mr. Thatcher - "
Éponine's ears perked up, not from the phone call, but from the song on the radio. "Oh, I love this song!" she beamed as she turned the volume up on the radio.
"...yes, I did put in those reports - I left them on your desk...what?...I'm sorry...I said, I left them on your desk," he said a little louder into the phone.
Meanwhile Éponine hummed along and sang a bit off tune to the song playing. She reached her arm forward and raised the volume another notch.
"I'm sorry?" Montparnasse said again into the receiver. His eyes darted angrily to Éponine's hand touching the nob on the radio. He stuffed the phone between his ear and his shoulder and smacked her hand before he promptly shut the radio off entirely.
Éponine gasped lightly at the smack she received and retracted her hand before he could hit her again. She met Montparnasse's eyes only to see his fury.
"Enough, Éponine!" he scolded in a bitter whisper. His hand found his phone again, "I'm still here...yes, sorry. Now, what were you saying?"
The smile fell from Éponine's face and she sat timidly, staring at the road passing ahead of them.
By the time they pulled into the parking lot, found a suitable spot, and got out of the car, the small spat between them seemed to have been resolved for good. Éponine received her punishment - a slap to the hand - and that had been the end of it.
...
The first store the couple wandered into was Calvin Klein so that Montparnasse could get himself a replacement suit jacket. Éponine wandered along behind him, enjoying herself to the full.
As he immersed himself in a rack of suits, Éponine wandered to another rack and picked up a suit jacket. "Oh 'Parnasse!" she called, "I like this one, what you do think?"
"Yuck, 'Ponine," he criticized as his eyes wandered to meet the jacket in her hands. "Would I ever wear a granite colored suit? No! That's not even grey! And look at the material, ugh...I hate twill. Why would you even pick that out?"
Éponine slowly lowered the suit jacket back to the rack and ducked her head. "I don't know," she murmured, "I liked it."
She clasped her hands together nervously and met him by the rack he stood at. He seemed to notice how he upset her and gave her a comforting smirk. He picked another suit jacket from the rack. "Look at this one, this is something I would wear," he explained. "This is a grey suit - well perhaps more charcoal - and it's slim fitted. See? This is what I like."
Éponine nodded and gave a reassuring smile to show him she wasn't all that upset any more. "I see. I like that one too. It would look nice on you."
He returned her smile as he collected up the suit jacket he was ready to buy and clasped her hand. They walked to the registers together, hand-in-hand.
Once the suit jacket was paid for and they exited the store, Montparnasse led the way to another shop, but this one he picked with Éponine in mind - White House Black Market. Her eyes visibly widened as they entered the immaculate store. The clothes were neatly stacked and hung up and absolutely everything caught her eye. The fashions were so cutting edge, slim, and chic, she was having a hard time deciding where to look first. But luckily, Montparnasse knew just where to go and so he led her to an area where dress pants were laid out meticulously.
"Pick a pair out that you like," he told her.
"But 'Parnasse, why do I need new dress pants? I already have a pair at home?"
His eyes met hers darkly. "Don't you have an interview next week with Attorney Gallagher? Or have you forgotten?"
Éponine scraped her foot against the floor. "Well, yes...but I don't even understand why I need this new job."
His hand tightened around hers and she winced. "You were the one who told me you didn't want to work part time any more. Remember?" he bit out. "We had a big argument about it?"
"Yes, but I remember saying that I wanted to stay where I was but just work full time, instead of part time."
Montparnasse released her hand roughly and pinched the bridge of his nose. She flexed her fingers while his eyes were closed. "You can't work at that damn cafe for the rest of your life, Éponine. You need a real job. A requitable one. And that's gonna be hard for someone who only has a high school diploma. Besides, I like this new job. If you get it, you'll be close to home and you are only working nine to five."
"So then why do I need new dress pants? What's wrong with the ones I have at home?"
"What those disgusting ones? Éponine, I can see the loose threads in those. If you wear those, you won't have any chance in hell of being hired. You need new ones and that's the end of it. Understand?"
She nodded solemnly before she began thumbing through the clothes to pick out a pair of dress pants she liked. Her fingers stopped and she pulled out a pair from it's place on the table. "I like these."
His eyes narrowed. "Again with the twill," he snapped. "No, pick out something else." But before he could let her pick out a pair she preferred, he began to search through the pants until he found a pair he liked. "These," he announced, unfolding them and holding them up. "These are a good pair. Perfect black, slim fitted, boot cut. These will look good on you."
Éponine gave a small smile. "Yes, I like those..." she said meekly.
"Good, now let's pick out a few more outfits and try them on."
She smiled as she followed him through the store and he pulled various items off racks that he knew he liked on her.
"Oh," Éponine gasped as she jogged to a rack and picked up a sleeveless flared black dress from the stand, accompanied with a red cinched belt around the waist. "Now, this is beautiful. Oh, I just love it. What do you think, 'Parnasse?"
Montparnasse walked a few steps and came up behind her. "Eh," was all he said to it. "It won't look good on you."
Éponine's heart sank. "But I can just try it on, right? There's no harm in that, right?"
"You can, but you'll just be disappointed. I wouldn't even waste my time. It's not that pretty. You'd look better in a different cut." He turned away from her and started looking at a few other dresses. Ruefully, Éponine placed the dress back on the rack along with the similar ones. She gave a sigh but was then interrupted by Montparnasse as he tossed a dress her way. "You can try this one on."
When Montparnasse had gathered enough items for his liking, he led the way to the fitting rooms. A worker escorted the couple to one located at the end of the row and unlocked the door for them. He walked away as Montparnasse held the door for Éponine to walk in. He hung up the clothes on the hooks and then shut the door behind them.
Éponine gave him a puzzled look as he stood in the dressing room with her. He gave an impatient sigh, taking a seat on the small bench. "What are you waiting for? Go ahead and change, I don't have all day."
She looked flustered for a moment before she suddenly began to take her clothes off. Her face became a bit flushed under his stare as he watched her like a hawk while she changed. She did her best to avoid much eye contact with him until she had the first dress on.
Graciously, he stood to his feet and zipped up the back of it for her. "Turn around," he commanded and eyed her meticulously as she spun in a single circle. "No, I don't like it. It bunches too much by your waist. Take it off and put on something else."
So she did, not questioning what he said or expressing her opinion on the matter. She just listened to him. She tried on the dress pants that he had picked out and watched as his smile grew. "Perfect," was all he said. "Next," he then added shortly after.
She tried on each garment, waiting for his rejection or approval. She felt like she was on display, just a doll in a shop being dressed and undressed for another's eyes. "I like this one," she dared to say at one point when he flat-out told her how awfully it was made.
He only responded harshly, "No you don't," he snapped. "This makes you look fat. You don't like something that makes you look twice your size."
Granted, Éponine was only a size two, but still, the comment turned her off from her opinion. Obviously, if he told her the outfit made her look fat, she was going to believe him. But finally, she ran out of clothes to try on and he had enough that he liked on her to buy.
And yet after all of that, they left the store hand-in-hand.
...
The next store on the list was Coach. Éponine had seen it and practically run off straight away into the store, whether Montparnasse would follow her or not. Reluctantly, he never let go of her hand and so he followed her into the store.
"Hello!" the woman greeted at the front door. "Welcome to Coach! Anything I can help you look for today?"
"No," Montparnasse answered as Éponine opened her mouth to say something. "We're just looking," he deadpanned.
"Alright," she responded cheerily, "Well if there is anything you need, let me know!"
He nodded and pulled Éponine in another direction.
"Oh, 'Parnasse! Look at how beautiful these bags are. Wow...I would just love to have one."
Montparnasse picked up one of the bags she was looking at a grimaced when he saw the price. It was far more expensive than he would ever expect to pay for a handbag. "Why the heck to you need a bag this big? What would you even put in it? You don't even have a phone, Éponine."
She frowned. "Well...I'd figure it out. Girls always carry lots of things with them. And besides, you said you would think about getting me a phone."
"You don't need one, I thought about it. Happy?"
Éponine went to refute but she caught his deadly gaze. He was being serious, so she didn't press him and she turned her attention to another set of handbags, picking on up and inspecting it. The last thing Éponine needed was to make him mad and then get punished for her actions in public.
"Hi," another woman greeted as she approached the couple. "Need help looking for anything? What are we shopping for today - Oh!" she said, cutting herself off and looking to Éponine as she picked up a handbag. "I love this one too, the cut of it is beautiful. Really a great option and the price isn't even all that bad."
"Really?" Éponine said, feeding into every word she spoke.
Montparnasse inwardly groaned. It seemed the people were much friendlier in this store than the pervious ones and he did not like it much. He preferred to shop alone with no one interfering him. "Actually, can you point me to your selection of small handbags?" he said, halting their conversation before it go too in depth.
Éponine's features lit up.
"Well, what exactly are you looking for? Wristlets or - "
"Wristlets," he cut her off. "Just those are fine." The woman nodded and walked them to a stand with a variety of wristlets dangling from hooks before she turned to help other customers. "Go ahead and look," he instructed Éponine.
She was visibly excited at the prospect of picking out her own wristlet, and even the fact that he was agreeing to get her one. She picked up a light tan colored one from the shelf. "I like this one."
He took it from her and began to inspect it, pulling at the strap, playing with the zipper, moving the material of it, stretching it, and twisting it. "No, this one is too thin." He picked up a dark brown one. "This one," he said as he proceeded to do the same inspection on it.
"I don't really like the color - "
"I do. It matches you." Her eyebrows furrowed. "It's dark brown like your hair and your eyes," he explained. "It will look much nicer."
"But, 'Parnasse, this one costs more than the one I picked out."
"Buy cheap, get cheap," he said flatly. "This one will last you longer anyway." She nodded and took it from him, believing his every word. "I just want to look at the belts before we leave," he remarked as he began heading over to the Men's Section. Éponine followed along behind him, this time knowing better than to put in her opinion on whatever he picked out.
He fingered a few of the belts in his hands as her eyes wandered to the other leather goods around them. The sound of the leather snapping alerted her back to Montparnasse. "This one is nice, what do you think?"
Was he actually asking her opinion? She nearly doubled over in shock. She ginned broadly, taking a step closer to him. "I think it's perfect," she said, planning to agree with whatever he liked best.
He nodded. "But I think I might go with this one. It's genuine Italian Leather and not too gaudy. I don't need a belt with a big 'C' for the buckle."
"Then, I'd go with that one," she smiled.
Montparnasse placed the belt in her hand to hold along with the wristlet and led the way over to the line. It was a bit of a wait by how many people were in the store. But the couple waited silently on the line for their turn to pay. Éponine had her back turned when suddenly she felt Montparnasse lean up against her from her side. She smiled at the warm affection and leaned into him as well. He responded by dropping his head against hers. They stayed like that for a few moments until the woman behind the register called, "Next!"
Éponine approached and placed the items down. She giggled a bit as she felt Montparnasse lean into her from behind and place his chin on her shoulder, watching as the woman rung up the items. She was a petite and plump woman who couldn't have been much older than her mid-thirties.
The woman even chuckled at the couple before her. "How long have you two been married?" she asked noticing their matching gold bands as she punched in a few numbers on the screen.
"About two years," Éponine smiled to her.
"Ah!" the woman gushed. "And you two look every bit in love as if you were married yesterday. How nice!"
Éponine leaned into him further and looked up to her husband adoringly, "I love him so much," she remarked.
Montparnasse picked his head up off her shoulder. "And I, you," he said back kindly to her as he placed a quick kiss to her cheek and pulled his wallet out of his pocket.
The woman beamed as she watched the loving couple interact blissfully. But she shook off her smile, remembering about their order. "Right, so your total comes to $193, but with our 30% off store wide discount, it comes out to $138.25 with tax."
Montparnasse nodded as he handed over his card. "Great, thank you."
She swiped his card and bundled up their items into a bag, handing it over to their collection of bags with a big smile. "No problem, and thank you both, have a wonderful day!"
They left the store elated and headed in a new direction. Montparnasse led the way into Perry Ellis. "I have to get some new dress shirts and a few ties," he explained as they entered the threshold of the store.
"That's fine," she acknowledged.
The couple made their way about the store and Montparnasse gathered and inspected a few of the clothes he would like. He didn't ask for Éponine's opinion and didn't say much to her when she would randomly say, "That's nice," or "I like that one." When a store manager came over to help them, Montparnasse kindly escorted them on their way saying how he was just fine and didn't need their help. Éponine gave them a reassuring smile to try and apologize for his rudeness.
When her husband had gathered enough items to his liking, he turned to Éponine, "I have to try these on," he explicated. She nodded and followed him through the store and through the people into the fitting room.
As he was about to enter the dressing room, he stopped abruptly causing Éponine to bump into his back.
"What are you doing?" he bit out.
She gaped at him sheepishly, "I'm coming in there with you while you try them on. I thought - "
"No, you're not. Go wait outside until I'm done."
"Bu-but don't you want to show me what you try on?"
He let out an exasperated breath through his teeth. "Not particularly. Now go do as I said, and wait." He took a step into the small room and slammed the door in her face.
Éponine was stunned to say the least. As she looked about, a man across the way gave her a sympathetic smile which she chose not to return due to her growing embarrassment. Meekly, she wandered to a corner of the fitting room and waited for her husband to emerge. He seemed to take forever and she did her best to remain optimistic about the ordeal. But it was odd that he wouldn't let her come in the fitting room with him. When it was her trying on the clothes, she didn't even have an option. She picked at her nail beds as she waited and waited, trying not to dwell on the odd fact and just be happy that she was even shopping somewhere so extravagant.
After what seemed like an eternity, Montparnasse came out and placed what he didn't want on the rack. He collected his wife from the corner and proceeded to pay for everything he liked. She didn't even dare ask him about what he thought of the clothes. Instead, as they walked away from the register, she slipped her hand inside of his and they walked out of the store in peace.
The day was coming to a close and Éponine was happy with all of what Montparnasse bought her and Montparnasse even seemed thrilled with his purchases. But as they walked down the quieter rows of shops, Éponine stopped and gazed into the doors of J. Crew.
"Oh please, can we just stop in there? Just to look for a moment? Please, 'Parnasse," she begged.
Montparnasse heaved a sigh and wordlessly let her lead them into the store.
After a few minutes of Éponine dragging her husband about the store to look at all kinds of sweaters and tops and accessories, her feet stopped in their tracks. Straight ahead of her was the most beautiful coat she had ever laid eyes on.
She walked up to it carefully, afraid it might disappear from her grasp with even the slightest thought. It was a double-breasted white peat coat with gold buttons. The middle of it gathered together by a loose belt and then flared out at the bottom. The material was stark white, not even a cream color. Everything about it was perfect. Her hand let go of Montparnasse's just so she could lay a finger on the soft, crisp material of it. "It's gorgeous," she said in awe. "Please, Montparnasse?" she asked, turning her wide and pleading eyes up to him.
Montparnasse grimaced as he looked inside of the coat at the tag. His face paled, "It's a $400 coat, Éponine."
Éponine's bottom lip began to tremble as she gazed back at the coat longingly. "It's really that much? But it's so beautiful..." she said in a quiet voice, gently stroking the sleeve of the garment with her fingertips.
"Besides, you're just going to get the coat dirty, and then you'll probably have to get it dry cleaned," he groused, "it'll just be a hassle."
He turned his nose up to her, ignoring the disappointment in her features, in order to walk away from the rack when a tall, slender woman came up behind them, stopping him in his tracks. "Hello, is there anything I can help you two with?"
"No," Montparnasse interjected. "We're actually about to leave."
"Oh," Éponine cut in, as if to say something. "I was just wondering, is this coat really four hundred dollars?" Montparnasse heaved an infuriated sigh at the sound of her question.
The woman looked at the tag and her eyes brightened. "Actually this is one of our select items, so it's 35% off in our sale today. Would you like to try it on? What size are you?"
Éponine's eyes turned hopeful as Montparnasse glowered at her for continuing the conversation and not letting them leave.
"Two," Éponine responded eagerly as the store clerk fished her size from the rack. She opened up the buttons on the coat and held the jacket out for Éponine to put her arms into.
Once the coat was fully on, Éponine shone radiantly. "Oh 'Parnasse! Don't you just love it? Isn't it just the most magnificent coat you've ever seen?" Montparnasse chose not to move his set facial features.
"I think it looks marvelous on you," the woman said, adding her opinion.
Éponine spun in a circle and stopped, letting her eyes land on her husband's. "Well?" she asked, intent on getting an answer from him.
Suddenly, Montparnasse's stone features smirked. A small one, but still a smirk. An actual smirk! "It does actually look really nice on you," he said with a small shrug of his shoulders.
Éponine felt like she was on cloud nine, feeling as if her heart could burst at any moment. "So, please? Can we get it?"
Montparnasse stayed silent for a moment and quickly darted his eyes to the store clerk who still stood beside him. She was smiling from ear to ear just watching Éponine gush over herself in this coat. With her eyes watching the scene, it made the situation difficult for him. But he did have to admit, Éponine looked radiant the way her dark hair contrasted the white of the coat and the smile on her face was enough to even make his heart beat a bit faster.
"I suppose so," he finally said in a defeated breath.
His wife leaped forward and wrapped her arms around him in the strongest hug imaginable. He wrapped his arm around her, knowing that the women was still watching. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" she beamed. Montparnasse just continued to rub her back in small circles before she finally managed to let go.
Éponine just couldn't hide the joy that was seeping out of every single one of her pores. It didn't even seem to matter any more that her husband didn't care for her own opinion on clothes and essentially thought she had horrible taste. She didn't mind that he dressed her up like a doll and forced her to like the clothes he preferred. Not even did she feel any resentment toward him when he turned up his nose at the clothes she liked. None of that even bothered her right now. And even the annoyed feelings she had when her husband did not allow her into the dressing room with her at Perry Ellis fell away from her mind. That was only a small hiccup; yes, a small bump in their wonderful day spent together.
But the fact that right now, he liked the coat that she picked out; that was more than anything she could ever want from him. It was enough to send her over the edge and bring her to the biggest point of elation in her menial life. For these little moments, these wonderful small pieces of time, reminded her why she loved Montparnasse, why she was never afraid to call him her husband - the man whom she loved with all her heart. She would love him through every storm, through every trial, and bump in the road; she would love him in kindness, in goodness, and he would always own her heart. He was the world to her and this small moment here, solidified that.
The store clerk wrapped up the elegant white coat and gave it to them after Montparnasse swiped his card. Éponine reached up and placed a gentle kiss to her husband's cheek as they turned away from the register. "I love you," she whispered to him, her voice dripping in affection and adoration. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in close.
They left the store hand-in-hand and went home.