They going to meet in a café, on the side of the Seine. He wore a pressed shirt, chinos and polished shoes. He stared into his coffee and waited for her. He wondered if she would look the same, he began to stir the coffee round and around until the cream began to make a whirlpool in the middle. He heard footsteps approaching the table and looked up from his drink.
There she stood, as if years had never passed. He still thought she looked as beautiful today as she did eight years ago. He saw her swollen belly and a knot formed in the pit of his stomach. She was and still is someone else's. He stood and held out a chair for her to sit, and hailed a waiter to come and take an order. Now she was here, he had no idea what to say. At first he suggested that they should run away and be together, to fill out some childish fantasy he had played in his head over and over for the last eight years.
She broke the silence first by clearing her throat and leaning over to him. "You look just the same." She said, with a small smile. He couldnt help himself and returned her smile. "Yes," he replied, "so do you." He hesitated. "There is one small change..." he said, and nodded toward her stomach.
"Oh," she said shyly, "yes. A boy. My husband already has a girl, Annie, from a previous girlfriend before me. She is gorgeous." Marius tried hard not to choke on his coffee. "Husband?" he managed. He had looked in the marriage announcements every day just to see if she had been taken and he had not been the one to do so.
"Yes. He is called Luc. He is an investment banker. We married in the West Indies four years ago." The waiter brought over some juice for her, and she sipped it quietly as Marius studied her face. He couldn't believe all this time she belonged to someone else. He especially couldn't believe she was pregnant, of all things.
"What about you?" she asked, still sipping her juice and watching young children with their mother walking along the riverside. Marius paused and thought of Éponine and stopped. "I have a girlfriend," he said, "we have no children. I met her eight years ago here in Paris and I think a lot of her. I don't know what our future holds, but I had to see you before I could commit myself to her properly. I wanted to make sure you were okay before I did anything."
"Marius," Cosette whispered, "why can't you just let me go? It sounds as though you and your girlfriend could be so happy together, if you let yourself love her and if you let her love you in return. I can't be yours like you want, and besides, you don't know me. You saw me once, eight years ago, so much has happened since then. I am going to be a mother, and you could be a father, or a husband, or anything you wanted to be with your girlfriend."
Marius fell silent. She saw him stare back into his drink and wondered if she had been harsh. What she had said had been truthful, and she had meant each word. She could not be his, she belonged with Luc. They would be a family. She could carry on as she had been, as if today hadn't ever happened and yet she knew that Marius could not.
"Her name is Éponine," Marius said, before putting some cash down onto the table to pay for drinks, "she is married to a man named Gavroche. He is a rich man, and he thinks he makes her happy by showering her with gifts. He thinks you do not need to love a woman to make her happy so long as you have money. I know this is not the case. I know that you need more than that, and I have tried to give her that. She wants to hold out on her marriage for a child to keep her company. What excuse is that for a child? For company? No, she doesn't know love. I don't know that I should be right for her. She comes to me sometimes, when she is sad, when she is lonely. I can't offer her more than that. My heart isn't in that for her."
He gave a small laugh and stood. His face darkened. "I came to see how you are getting on, and here I have my answer. You are just fine, Miss Cosette. I clearly wanted to be your knight on my steed to sweep you off your feet and take you away with me. I foolishly thought you would have no attachments and I am wrong. Now I reflect, it was stupid of me. Thank you for your time. Good luck with your new family and I wish you all the best. This money should cover the drinks. You have my number, and I know I don't have to add that you know I am always yours when you need me."
He stood and turned and didn't look back, despite Cosette's calls. She sighed and felt tears prick her eyes. How could she feel this way over a man she barely knew?
She felt a sudden urgency. She needed to go to the toilet again. Oh, she thought, the joys of being a hormonal pregnant woman. She left the café after using the bathroom, and walked slowly back to her car. By the time she got back to the car, rain had started to fall heavily and she was soaking through to the bone. She sat damp in her drivers seat and for the first time that day, she allowed herself to cry.