Disclaimer : Yes they're mine! All mine!! *cackles evilly* Bwhahha *stops cackling* Okay they're not…they're Victor Hugos.
Author's Notes : Told you updates were going to be frequent : ). Really a very nothingy chapter – bit more Tholomyes. Oh and big thanks to Eponine87 who reviewed not once but twice! Don't worry, there will be more Enjy later – especially for you Enjy's rabid fangirl! : )
When men were kind….
I smiled at this man who was still shaking my hand. "And you are?" he repeated.
"Fantine" I replied.
"Just Fantine?" he grinned.
"Just Fantine" I told him.
Whenever I met anyone knew I would always take time to study their face closely, and I did this to Tholomyes. He was older than me, in his late twenties I estimated – tall, skinny, gap-toothed with a bald patch in the middle of his brown hair. He seemed very high spirited though. The smile he wore never left his face.
"Well Just Fantine" he said. "It's not every day I bump into beautiful young blondes on the street" he smiled when I blushed. "And if I do I normally never see them again."
"Why's that?" I asked.
"I just bow and let them carry on" he replied. "But they've never been as pretty as yourself. If you don't mind me saying so you look rather skinny…how about we go and get something to eat?"
It was as though he'd read my mind, I hadn't eaten since that piece of bread on the cart and accepted his offer gratefully.
Tholomyes practically skipped all the way. With him at my side I felt safer in the busy midday human traffic of Paris. People didn't push into me anymore, although he was skinny Tholomyes gave off an air of authority, which made people walk around him.
Suddenly he stopped his conversation and grabbed my wrists dramatically. "Fantine, where are you staying?"
"Oh…." I racked my brains for somewhere. A guesthouse? Maybe a rich relative?
"You're sleeping in doorways" he said, his face taking on a expression of pity.
"Well, under a bridge actually. Doorways are draughty" I replied.
"I have a room!" he announced, as though he was in a play. "I don't use it"
"You must be very rich" I said. "And you must have a very good job"
He shrugged. "Not really, but my parents do. You're welcome to stay there"
"Where?"
"My room!"
Warily I replied "we've only just met."
"I'm not a con man Just Fantine, I'm not going to have my wicked way with you or anything..I dread to think what could happen to a girl as lovely as yourself on the streets alone. At night"
"Are all the men in Paris this kind?" I asked.
"Is that an acceptance?" he crowed.
"Well…"
He clapped his hands. "To the room!"
I soon found him to be great company. His eternal optimism seemed to rub off on me slightly, as he skipped like a child all the way to his room.
It was in a house near the centre of town, and close to the dress shop. It was tiny and bare, but had a bed, a mirror, a chair – everything I needed.
"I know it's a little small" Tholomyes apologised.
"It's perfect" I assured him. "But I have no money to pay you for it."
"Free of charge!" he exclaimed.
"Oh no monsieur I couldn't.."
"FREE OF CHARGE! I won't hear of you staying on the streets again."
"But – "
"No buts"
"What can I give you in return?"
"Your thanks and an acceptance to the invitation I'm about to offer you."
"Invitation?"
"To have dinner with me tomorrow night" he replied, lowering his tone.
"I accept" I smiled, showing off my pearly teeth.
Tholomyes left about ten minutes later, then it began to rain. Thunder rolled and lightening flashed. I sat on the bare wooden floor with my knees pulled to my chest, rocking back and forth – tears running down my face. It was sixteenth birthday today, and I was spending it alone.
Memories of Marie and Marcelin flitted about the room, seeming almost real. I wept even harder. Marcelin would forget me and grow up to be just a farm owner. And Marie didn't know where I was. Monsieur Enjolras had torn me away from a happy world where I belonged, to a cold existence where I was alone. There were two bright sparks however, my job and Tholomyes. They alone brightened the cold, and made me warm.
