Roux was waiting for Josephine as she left Café Gealach, his dark
eyes intensely fixed on her as she crossed the street. "So what did she
say?" He demanded as he nearly pounced on her. "I don't think she poses
much of a threat to you Roux, she's probably less then half your weight,
and by the look of it, it can't be much," She murmured as she eyed Roux's
long lean torso with some interest, which she quickly squashed. She didn't
swim in other people's pool, and by the way Roux had been acting lately,
Peony Ellis had Roux held tightly around the collar.
"Looks can be deceiving, Peony Ellis can rip your head off and ruin your life without thinking twice about it" Josephine rolled her eyes. "You need to relax a little Roux Callahan" She said with a laugh and she immediately knew it was a mistake. His eyes went to the color of onyx and his face looked as if it had turned to stone.
"Did Peony tell you that?" He asked and Josephine couldn't do anything but nod. "I'll kill her" He said in an odd voice and began to march towards the café, Josephine snagged Roux by the arm and pulled him out of the middle of the street before he could reach the pretty door of Café Gealach. "Roux stop acting like a PMSed woman and tell me what is the huge animosity between you and Peony, she seems like a really nice person-" "Yeah she does seem like it, but she's.there are no words to describe how Peony really is, but what you see is definitely not what you get"
Josephine almost had to drag him across the street to Café Armande and earned a few disapproving clucks from the 'pure blood' townspeople. She shoved him into the café and sat him down at a table, ignoring the curious glances from the dwindling crowd. "Tell me what's gone on between you and Peony Ellis" Roux waved a hand away, as if trying to disengage a pesky fly, it was an ultimately French gesture but Josephine didn't dare tell him so. "7 years ago, Peony and I were.involved.and this involvement let to her having a baby, a little girl named Sinead. We planned on getting married, starting a new life and being happy. But then my dad got very sick, and I didn't want to have the burden of all that money, so I left Peony with our daughter and traveled where the water led me
"But while I lived with Sinead, she was the sweetest little girl, big brown eyes and the finest blonde hair, she would sit with me and I would read stories and play little silly games, then one morning I found out about my dad and left. This morning, when I first talked to Peony after 7 years, I found out that Sinead had died, she had been sick for a long time" Josephine's eyes dimmed slightly, she could see how making Roux talk was hurting him, but she had to know, she had to know all of it. "Roux why are you ashamed of who you are?" Josephine asked gently and Roux jumped out of the chair so quickly it skidded backwards and fell to the floor. "I am NOT ashamed" He roared and had everyone in the café looking at him.
He stomped out the door but Josephine was close at his heels. "You are ashamed Roux Callahan, everyone can see it. Something else that everyone could plainly see is that you were so in love with Vianne Rocher that it hurt you, because you knew as well as the next person that she wasn't going to say! And now, now this woman that you had a CHILD with of all things, comes to our sleepy little town, and you can't stand it because she represents everything you were, everything you still are on the inside!"
Roux stared at Josephine like no one had ever talked to him that way before. A muscle in his jaw was twitching and his eyes were pitch black, gone was the color of rich warm chocolate. He muttered something quick and violent in Gaelic that Josephine was sure she wouldn't want to hear translated. "Everyone knew who I am, what I was," She continued when he only stared. "What I was like and I'm not hiding from it. I don't care if you like Peony or not," at the sound of her name, Roux winced. "But if you had any decency, if you want to prove to everyone here that you're better then the disgusting diseased river rat that everyone perceives you to be, you go down to that café and get closure"
She spun on her heels and was half way back in Café Armande before Roux called back. "You said everyone, does that mean you too Josephine?" She eyed him for a long moment and flipped her dark curling hair over her shoulder and sighed. "I'm beginning to" She said and spit at his feet, which was very, very insulting. He could hear her shouting to someone inside the café in rapid French and he sighed. People who were walking down the cobblestone streets had now stopped and stared at the huge scene that he and Josephine had made. He sent them all shadowy, damning looks and they hurried off the streets as if he were going to attack at any minute.
He stalked across the street, teeth set and jaw muscles twitching so horribly it looked like he was convulsing all over. Without paying attention, he ran into something that felt like a feather, but when he looked down at the ground, he saw a minuscule woman with corkscrew auburn hair and glassy cobalt eyes. "Sorry," Roux murmured as he bent down to help her up. "I wasn't looking". She batted her long inky eyelashes at him for a minute before a naïve smile crossed her face. "Not at all" She said a little dreamily and watched Roux walk away with a young woman's admiration.
The sky was edging towards night when Roux reached Peony's café, the stars beginning to materialize in the clear blue-black sky and the moon shining down delicately onto the quaint French streets. He could hear the water lap at the sandy banks where he had docked before and he tried not to think about Vianne, he couldn't right now, no matter how much he wanted to.
Chairs were stacked neatly on the tables when Roux knocked on the door a little crossly. She certainly took her time answering as he stood out in the frigid night air. When she did answer, her striking hair was piled neatly on her head and she was barely covered in a thin draping of sea green silk and lace. 'She looks like a rose', Roux thought to himself and for a minute couldn't say anything. "Do you have a point being here Callahan or did you just want to stare like an idiot?"
"How is that supposed to keep you warm?" He asked, staring down at the material that clung to her breasts. "That's for me to know," She said in a charily cold voice that held none of the bite of the wind but twice the affect. "What do you want Roux?" She asked, a minnow of a golden eyebrow raised. "We need to talk, Peony, about our past" A cynical smile crossed her unpainted yet unmistakably feminine lips. "That's very splendid that you finally decided to believe that we actually had a past, but I can't tonight because I've had such a hard day and I'm very sleepy" As if to prove her point, she yawned into her palm and smiled a bittersweet smile before she shut the door in his face.
"Looks can be deceiving, Peony Ellis can rip your head off and ruin your life without thinking twice about it" Josephine rolled her eyes. "You need to relax a little Roux Callahan" She said with a laugh and she immediately knew it was a mistake. His eyes went to the color of onyx and his face looked as if it had turned to stone.
"Did Peony tell you that?" He asked and Josephine couldn't do anything but nod. "I'll kill her" He said in an odd voice and began to march towards the café, Josephine snagged Roux by the arm and pulled him out of the middle of the street before he could reach the pretty door of Café Gealach. "Roux stop acting like a PMSed woman and tell me what is the huge animosity between you and Peony, she seems like a really nice person-" "Yeah she does seem like it, but she's.there are no words to describe how Peony really is, but what you see is definitely not what you get"
Josephine almost had to drag him across the street to Café Armande and earned a few disapproving clucks from the 'pure blood' townspeople. She shoved him into the café and sat him down at a table, ignoring the curious glances from the dwindling crowd. "Tell me what's gone on between you and Peony Ellis" Roux waved a hand away, as if trying to disengage a pesky fly, it was an ultimately French gesture but Josephine didn't dare tell him so. "7 years ago, Peony and I were.involved.and this involvement let to her having a baby, a little girl named Sinead. We planned on getting married, starting a new life and being happy. But then my dad got very sick, and I didn't want to have the burden of all that money, so I left Peony with our daughter and traveled where the water led me
"But while I lived with Sinead, she was the sweetest little girl, big brown eyes and the finest blonde hair, she would sit with me and I would read stories and play little silly games, then one morning I found out about my dad and left. This morning, when I first talked to Peony after 7 years, I found out that Sinead had died, she had been sick for a long time" Josephine's eyes dimmed slightly, she could see how making Roux talk was hurting him, but she had to know, she had to know all of it. "Roux why are you ashamed of who you are?" Josephine asked gently and Roux jumped out of the chair so quickly it skidded backwards and fell to the floor. "I am NOT ashamed" He roared and had everyone in the café looking at him.
He stomped out the door but Josephine was close at his heels. "You are ashamed Roux Callahan, everyone can see it. Something else that everyone could plainly see is that you were so in love with Vianne Rocher that it hurt you, because you knew as well as the next person that she wasn't going to say! And now, now this woman that you had a CHILD with of all things, comes to our sleepy little town, and you can't stand it because she represents everything you were, everything you still are on the inside!"
Roux stared at Josephine like no one had ever talked to him that way before. A muscle in his jaw was twitching and his eyes were pitch black, gone was the color of rich warm chocolate. He muttered something quick and violent in Gaelic that Josephine was sure she wouldn't want to hear translated. "Everyone knew who I am, what I was," She continued when he only stared. "What I was like and I'm not hiding from it. I don't care if you like Peony or not," at the sound of her name, Roux winced. "But if you had any decency, if you want to prove to everyone here that you're better then the disgusting diseased river rat that everyone perceives you to be, you go down to that café and get closure"
She spun on her heels and was half way back in Café Armande before Roux called back. "You said everyone, does that mean you too Josephine?" She eyed him for a long moment and flipped her dark curling hair over her shoulder and sighed. "I'm beginning to" She said and spit at his feet, which was very, very insulting. He could hear her shouting to someone inside the café in rapid French and he sighed. People who were walking down the cobblestone streets had now stopped and stared at the huge scene that he and Josephine had made. He sent them all shadowy, damning looks and they hurried off the streets as if he were going to attack at any minute.
He stalked across the street, teeth set and jaw muscles twitching so horribly it looked like he was convulsing all over. Without paying attention, he ran into something that felt like a feather, but when he looked down at the ground, he saw a minuscule woman with corkscrew auburn hair and glassy cobalt eyes. "Sorry," Roux murmured as he bent down to help her up. "I wasn't looking". She batted her long inky eyelashes at him for a minute before a naïve smile crossed her face. "Not at all" She said a little dreamily and watched Roux walk away with a young woman's admiration.
The sky was edging towards night when Roux reached Peony's café, the stars beginning to materialize in the clear blue-black sky and the moon shining down delicately onto the quaint French streets. He could hear the water lap at the sandy banks where he had docked before and he tried not to think about Vianne, he couldn't right now, no matter how much he wanted to.
Chairs were stacked neatly on the tables when Roux knocked on the door a little crossly. She certainly took her time answering as he stood out in the frigid night air. When she did answer, her striking hair was piled neatly on her head and she was barely covered in a thin draping of sea green silk and lace. 'She looks like a rose', Roux thought to himself and for a minute couldn't say anything. "Do you have a point being here Callahan or did you just want to stare like an idiot?"
"How is that supposed to keep you warm?" He asked, staring down at the material that clung to her breasts. "That's for me to know," She said in a charily cold voice that held none of the bite of the wind but twice the affect. "What do you want Roux?" She asked, a minnow of a golden eyebrow raised. "We need to talk, Peony, about our past" A cynical smile crossed her unpainted yet unmistakably feminine lips. "That's very splendid that you finally decided to believe that we actually had a past, but I can't tonight because I've had such a hard day and I'm very sleepy" As if to prove her point, she yawned into her palm and smiled a bittersweet smile before she shut the door in his face.