Townspeople wandered around outside Café Gealach all morning, only a few
popping their heads in, indulging with an early drink of coffee liqueur,
coffee or the simple hot water and lemon that Peony had never cared for at
all, for she preferred a drink with robust flavor that burst on your tongue
and burned your throat. She could almost hear her mother clicking her
tongue and scolding her. "Bi a ribhinn" or to ' be a lady' in other words.
Peony loved her family dearly, but it was so stifling and after 24 years, she decided that it was time to make her own way, to be saor. Aingeal, the Saluki she had bought from a traveling Scotsman was what brought Peony back from memory lane. Peony gathered the poppy colored skirt she was wearing and walked outside to begin work on the logo she had sketched across the glass the other day. She had chosen a wonderfully cheerful sunshine yellow that couldn't do anything other then catch someone's attention. The paint glittered in the early morning sun and Peony smiled, it was just how she wanted it to look.
The script on the glass was in thick pretty loopy letters that curved and dipped as if it were under the spell of some unknown master. She ran her fingers through her loose hair and looked over her shoulder as a clutch of blue0haired ladies scuttled past her, eyeing the shop with a mix of interest and contempt. She smiled brightly at them. "Good morning madams, would you come in for some coffee?" Catching the accent of her voice, they scowled at her and walked away in a closer group as if Peony would attack them at any moment. "We're the lowest rung of society" A mocking voice said in her eye and she didn't bother turning around, she knew it was Roux. "Why don't you go to what ever hole you crawled out of Callahan?" She said coldly and turned to walk back into the café. "Well that's not very nice now is it?" He asked with a smile. An icy fire was burning in her eyes, turning them the color of burnished gold coins. "I'm through being polite with you Roux". He raised a dark eyebrow and a sarcastic smile played around his mouth. "I didn't know that you were being polite, but if you say so, I'll trust you"
He stepped across the cream white tiles that she had set the other day and scattered dry mud all over the floor. "Callahan," She said annoyed. "I just set those the other day, now you've scattered mud all about them". She went and fetched the stiff bristled broom and threw it at him. "Clean it up". Despite the hate in Peony's eyes, Roux was still grinning. "You sound just like my mother" He said, but took the broom and obediently began to sweep the dry mud out of the quaint café.
Aingeal now bothered herself enough to force herself to her feet and now began to sniff around Roux. "Pretty dog," He murmured and ran a hand over the silky fur. "What happened to Sinead? I thought she was allergic to dogs?" Peony shook her head and snatched the broom from his hand. "Thank you Roux, you can go now" She said coldly and tapped a foot impatiently. "What have I done besides leaving to make you so angry with me Peony?" Peony wanted to yell at him, she wanted to through things at him and rage, but she couldn't. "You broke my heart" She said quietly and couldn't look at Roux as he stared at her in the silence.
"I'm so sorry Peo," He said, using the nickname he had given her as a child. She shook her head and sighed. "I don't want you to be sorry Roux, what I want to know is how you plan to make it up to me, to everyone." He didn't speak for a moment and took the opportunity to evaluate him. His hair that used to be brown was now streaked blonde with the sun; his skin had always been the wonderful light caramel color and his eyes were as dark as ever, and damn him to the devil, he was insanely handsome.
"Why did you come here Peony?" Roux asked softly. "Of all the places in Europe, of all the places in the world, why did you come here?". She didn't know how to give him an answer that didn't sound completely ridiculous, so she lowered herself to lie to him. "I figured I wanted to tackle France before I went for the whole world just yet" He nodded and settled against the bar, propped on his elbows. The truth of the matter was that she had been searching for him, looking in all the places that he had ever talked about visiting. She never expected to find him in a little quiet countryside in the south of France.
"You always talked about opening a café," He said as he stared up at the ceiling then back to her. He wished she wasn't so beautiful, he had left when she was 17, and while she had the ability to turn heads when she walked into a room without ease, she never exercised it, not like she was now. Her hair was falling in gentle curls around her face, framing the delicate heart-shape of it, accenting her eyes and lips that were painted a sheer raspberry color to ward off the chill that the morning had brought. The poppy colored skirt made her skin glow like alabaster with a brightly burning candle. She took his breath the moment he had walked into Café Gealach. She didn't even need the make-up she was wearing, her lips were plump and naturally the color of antique roses and her skin provided the subtle blush that accented her high cheek bones that could only been achieved by excellent breeding, and her eyelashes where perfectly curled and dark gold.
A tiny necklace was hanging from her elegant neck and Roux traced a finger around it daringly. A tiny yet glistening pink sapphire hung from the end and Roux's lips tilted in a smile. "You always said you were going to have a pink sapphire necklace some day" He murmured, looking up at her from under his thick dark eyelashes. "Well it's not exactly what I had in mind but it's a start." Roux was silent for a moment. "Aye you could say that, yeah you could" He was fond of repeating himself; it was something that had always endeared him to her.
"I'm sorry that I behaved badly this morning Roux" She said embarrassed as she went to pour the both of them a cup of tea. "I acted like a stubborn child" "Yeah you did," He said immediately and Peony had to force herself not to say anything she would most certainly regret later on. "But I suppose I might have deserved it" Peony smirked. "Might have?" She said and Roux smiled wider. "Alright, I definitely did, plus I feel bad that you wasted one of your pretty tea cups to through at my head" Peony laughed and slide the cup full of fragrant coffee made the way she knew he liked it, heavy on the cream and sugar. "Believe me, it wasn't wasted"
"So tell me about this woman I've been hearing all about, Vianne Rocher?" Roux stared into the swirling light brown coffee and sighed to himself. "Vianne and her daughter, Anouk, they're wanderers, they no longer live here" He said it so sadly that Peony's heart ached a little for him. "You cared about them both a great deal, didn't you Roux?" She asked softly and he nodded. "Yeah, but you can't beat fate, and if you think you have it has a nasty habit of coming back and proving how wrong you are" He chuckled sadly. "This used to be her chocolaterie, although it's changed over time" He motioned to the walls that Peony had painted a dusty violet that had matched the color of the flowers on the elegant teacups that were sitting contentedly on wind chestnut shelves.
"You miss her, both of them" Roux nodded and took a sip of the coffee for time in case Peony wanted him to say anything else. "You couldn't beat Anouk's spirit though, sharp as a tack and as bright as the sun, but if wandering is in your blood them you can't deny it". The small ache in her heart spread for him. "I'm sorry I brought it up" She said and set her already empty cup aside. "Sometimes you have to talk about things, even if they hurt. So saying this, what about Sinead?" Peony's skin went unusually ashen and her eyes seemed to detach from the rest of the world at the mention of her daughter. "She died Roux," She said in a cold matter-of-fact voice. "And you weren't there"
"Peony-" He reached out a hand for hers but she quickly stood up. "I have to start the soup and building sandwiches before the lunch crowd comes in, I always get a good sizeable turnout for lunch" He wanted to say something, anything, to her, but she had clearly detached herself from the situation so efficiently that any attempted words of comfort would simply bounce off her icy exterior. He leaned over the counter and placed a kiss on Peony's cheek, slightly brushing her lips. "Well then I won't be in your way, I'll see you around Peony, it's a guarantee"
Peony loved her family dearly, but it was so stifling and after 24 years, she decided that it was time to make her own way, to be saor. Aingeal, the Saluki she had bought from a traveling Scotsman was what brought Peony back from memory lane. Peony gathered the poppy colored skirt she was wearing and walked outside to begin work on the logo she had sketched across the glass the other day. She had chosen a wonderfully cheerful sunshine yellow that couldn't do anything other then catch someone's attention. The paint glittered in the early morning sun and Peony smiled, it was just how she wanted it to look.
The script on the glass was in thick pretty loopy letters that curved and dipped as if it were under the spell of some unknown master. She ran her fingers through her loose hair and looked over her shoulder as a clutch of blue0haired ladies scuttled past her, eyeing the shop with a mix of interest and contempt. She smiled brightly at them. "Good morning madams, would you come in for some coffee?" Catching the accent of her voice, they scowled at her and walked away in a closer group as if Peony would attack them at any moment. "We're the lowest rung of society" A mocking voice said in her eye and she didn't bother turning around, she knew it was Roux. "Why don't you go to what ever hole you crawled out of Callahan?" She said coldly and turned to walk back into the café. "Well that's not very nice now is it?" He asked with a smile. An icy fire was burning in her eyes, turning them the color of burnished gold coins. "I'm through being polite with you Roux". He raised a dark eyebrow and a sarcastic smile played around his mouth. "I didn't know that you were being polite, but if you say so, I'll trust you"
He stepped across the cream white tiles that she had set the other day and scattered dry mud all over the floor. "Callahan," She said annoyed. "I just set those the other day, now you've scattered mud all about them". She went and fetched the stiff bristled broom and threw it at him. "Clean it up". Despite the hate in Peony's eyes, Roux was still grinning. "You sound just like my mother" He said, but took the broom and obediently began to sweep the dry mud out of the quaint café.
Aingeal now bothered herself enough to force herself to her feet and now began to sniff around Roux. "Pretty dog," He murmured and ran a hand over the silky fur. "What happened to Sinead? I thought she was allergic to dogs?" Peony shook her head and snatched the broom from his hand. "Thank you Roux, you can go now" She said coldly and tapped a foot impatiently. "What have I done besides leaving to make you so angry with me Peony?" Peony wanted to yell at him, she wanted to through things at him and rage, but she couldn't. "You broke my heart" She said quietly and couldn't look at Roux as he stared at her in the silence.
"I'm so sorry Peo," He said, using the nickname he had given her as a child. She shook her head and sighed. "I don't want you to be sorry Roux, what I want to know is how you plan to make it up to me, to everyone." He didn't speak for a moment and took the opportunity to evaluate him. His hair that used to be brown was now streaked blonde with the sun; his skin had always been the wonderful light caramel color and his eyes were as dark as ever, and damn him to the devil, he was insanely handsome.
"Why did you come here Peony?" Roux asked softly. "Of all the places in Europe, of all the places in the world, why did you come here?". She didn't know how to give him an answer that didn't sound completely ridiculous, so she lowered herself to lie to him. "I figured I wanted to tackle France before I went for the whole world just yet" He nodded and settled against the bar, propped on his elbows. The truth of the matter was that she had been searching for him, looking in all the places that he had ever talked about visiting. She never expected to find him in a little quiet countryside in the south of France.
"You always talked about opening a café," He said as he stared up at the ceiling then back to her. He wished she wasn't so beautiful, he had left when she was 17, and while she had the ability to turn heads when she walked into a room without ease, she never exercised it, not like she was now. Her hair was falling in gentle curls around her face, framing the delicate heart-shape of it, accenting her eyes and lips that were painted a sheer raspberry color to ward off the chill that the morning had brought. The poppy colored skirt made her skin glow like alabaster with a brightly burning candle. She took his breath the moment he had walked into Café Gealach. She didn't even need the make-up she was wearing, her lips were plump and naturally the color of antique roses and her skin provided the subtle blush that accented her high cheek bones that could only been achieved by excellent breeding, and her eyelashes where perfectly curled and dark gold.
A tiny necklace was hanging from her elegant neck and Roux traced a finger around it daringly. A tiny yet glistening pink sapphire hung from the end and Roux's lips tilted in a smile. "You always said you were going to have a pink sapphire necklace some day" He murmured, looking up at her from under his thick dark eyelashes. "Well it's not exactly what I had in mind but it's a start." Roux was silent for a moment. "Aye you could say that, yeah you could" He was fond of repeating himself; it was something that had always endeared him to her.
"I'm sorry that I behaved badly this morning Roux" She said embarrassed as she went to pour the both of them a cup of tea. "I acted like a stubborn child" "Yeah you did," He said immediately and Peony had to force herself not to say anything she would most certainly regret later on. "But I suppose I might have deserved it" Peony smirked. "Might have?" She said and Roux smiled wider. "Alright, I definitely did, plus I feel bad that you wasted one of your pretty tea cups to through at my head" Peony laughed and slide the cup full of fragrant coffee made the way she knew he liked it, heavy on the cream and sugar. "Believe me, it wasn't wasted"
"So tell me about this woman I've been hearing all about, Vianne Rocher?" Roux stared into the swirling light brown coffee and sighed to himself. "Vianne and her daughter, Anouk, they're wanderers, they no longer live here" He said it so sadly that Peony's heart ached a little for him. "You cared about them both a great deal, didn't you Roux?" She asked softly and he nodded. "Yeah, but you can't beat fate, and if you think you have it has a nasty habit of coming back and proving how wrong you are" He chuckled sadly. "This used to be her chocolaterie, although it's changed over time" He motioned to the walls that Peony had painted a dusty violet that had matched the color of the flowers on the elegant teacups that were sitting contentedly on wind chestnut shelves.
"You miss her, both of them" Roux nodded and took a sip of the coffee for time in case Peony wanted him to say anything else. "You couldn't beat Anouk's spirit though, sharp as a tack and as bright as the sun, but if wandering is in your blood them you can't deny it". The small ache in her heart spread for him. "I'm sorry I brought it up" She said and set her already empty cup aside. "Sometimes you have to talk about things, even if they hurt. So saying this, what about Sinead?" Peony's skin went unusually ashen and her eyes seemed to detach from the rest of the world at the mention of her daughter. "She died Roux," She said in a cold matter-of-fact voice. "And you weren't there"
"Peony-" He reached out a hand for hers but she quickly stood up. "I have to start the soup and building sandwiches before the lunch crowd comes in, I always get a good sizeable turnout for lunch" He wanted to say something, anything, to her, but she had clearly detached herself from the situation so efficiently that any attempted words of comfort would simply bounce off her icy exterior. He leaned over the counter and placed a kiss on Peony's cheek, slightly brushing her lips. "Well then I won't be in your way, I'll see you around Peony, it's a guarantee"