Chapter 3. Mount Sur Mar, West Virginia 5 years later 2018

Fantine wiped her brow as the lunch bell sounded and put down her drill before taking of her safety goggles and heading to the break room. As she sat down she pulled out a folded envelope from her coverall pocket and opened it quietly. The letter was from the Thenardiers.

Dear Fantine,

Please send us 100 more dollars your child needs medicine, she has the flu and requires very expensive antibiotics. Fantine sighed recently due to Cosette growing quickly the Thenardiers had pushed up her living price to one hundred dollars a month. Suddenly the letter was yanked out of her hand.

"Well, Well ,Well. What do we have here?" Christine, one of Fantine's coworkers said examining the letter.

"What are you hiding Fantine."

"Give that back, it's private." Fantine said trying to grab her letter back.

"Well then you shouldn't be reading it in public then should you." With that Christine read the letter. When she was done she looked up slighly at Fantine.

"Fantine aren't you the world's biggest lier." Fantine had had enough and slapped Christine across the cheek. Then there was an all out catfight. It took three men to pull Fantine off the other. Fifteen minutes later after being chastised by the owner of the factory, Mr. Madeline. Fantine and Christine were sitting in the Foreman's office.

"Well which one of you started the fight?" he asked before Fantine could say anything, Christine jumped out of her chair.

"Fantine started the whole thing!"

"What?!" Fantine cried standing quickly, "You're the one who started it. You took my letter and I just wanted it back!"

"Wait." The Foreman said, coming between the two women before they had a chance to go at it again.

"What letter? I want to see it."

"It's a private letter." Fantine said.

"I don't care, it started a fight therefore I have a right to see it." He replied.

"Here you go sir." Christine said sweetly handing the letter to him. The foreman unfolded it and took his time reading it.

"Fantine if I can recall you said that you didn't have any children when you applied here." Fantine looked down at her shoes.

"Well." Fantine looked up,

"I knew that if I said that I had a kid and was single you wouldn't have hired me. But I do, her name's Cosette and she will be eight in a few weeks. She lives with some motel owners and I send them money." The foreman just shook his head,

"That doesn't change the fact that you lied in your interview, I'm sorry but I have no choice, you're fired."

Fantine was shocked.

"What?" she squeaked.

"You heard me, I'll give you till the end of the day to clean out your locker. We'll send your last check to your home." Fantine left the foreman's office close to tears, but she would not let anyone see her cry. Fantine quickly emptied the contents of her locker into a small cardboard box. It was obvious that as soon as both women had been dismissed from the foremen's office, Christine had told everyone about the letter and her daughter, everyone was whispering and staring at her as she walked past. She refused to make eye contact with anyone, when she got to the door she looked back and saw everyone still staring at her, she quickly left with the little dignity she had left. As Fantine walked towards her apartment, she kept telling herself that everything would be alright, that she could find another job and still send money for Cosette.

I know that it's short. I just couldn't think of what else I could write