Drink with me to days gone by
To the life that used to be
At the shrine of friendship, never say die
Let the wine of friendship never run dry
Here's to you and here's to me
Drink With Me—Les Misérables
Mo seems lost after Dustfinger runs off, a decade's worth of guilt hitting him like a bus. "I know I said we would leave for Elinor's after we met with the author," he says," but let's leave that journey for tomorrow. There's something else I need to discuss with Fenoglio." Fenoglio must be the old man's name, the old man who had chased Dustfinger away just when he was beginning to open up.
Julianne walks a ways away from the group, her stomach twisting with secondhand guilt the longer she pictures the dejected expression on Dustfinger's face, his eyes shining with tears. She sits in the parking lot with her eyes closed and the sound of the waves crashing against the beach below soothing her into a false feeling of safety. It's working well until she feels the familiar pressure of Mo's hand on her shoulder.
"Where are we staying tonight," she asks.
"Fenoglio's offered to let us stay in an apartment that he owns." Julianne nods, taking Mo's hand and letting him pull her up on her feet. "I know you're angry, Juli, but I truly had no plan on telling Fenoglio about Dustfinger—"
"It just sort of happened," she interrupts, grabbing her bag out of the rental car. "I get it. No need to explain yourself to me." She hooks her fingers in the straps of her backpack, waiting on Mo to lead the way back to the others. He gets the hint, leading her to Fenoglio's home. The old man and Mo disappear into a study, Fenoglio's grandchildren chasing Meggie around the house while Julianne curls up in an old armchair next to a lamp. She balances The Hobbit on her knees, beginning to read.
Night is beginning to fall by the time the men reemerge, and Julianne has a good chunk of the book read, nearing the riddle game between Sméagol and Bilbo. It's her favorite chapter and Bilbo is her favorite character. Fenoglio, surprisingly, is a good cook, making pasta with bits of sage stirred into the sauce, the bitter tasting leaves quickly getting placed on Julianne's napkin.
"Would you like some, Julianne," Fenoglio asks, holding up a bottle of red wine.
"Sure." He pours three glasses to start out with and hands one to Mo and Julianne respectively. It's a bit too sweet for her, but it's welcome after such a horrid week. Right about now, if things hadn't gone pear-shaped, she would be relaxing in her dorm room with a text book and a line of shots to down whenever she got an answer right. It isn't the most conventional form of studying, but, besides a slight hangover, the results are good.
Between the three of them, the bottle of wine is emptied before dinner is finished and a pleasant warmth has spread from Julianne's head all the way to her toes. She may not be drunk, but her ragged nerves are all smooth again and she's drowsy. Mo helps her stay upright as they make their way to the apartment, Fenoglio leading the way since he's the only one who knows where he's going.
"This is where I wish you all goodnight, I suppose." The old man pushes the door open and flips a switch, the soft light making his wrinkly face seem even more so. "So, you'll look at my books as we agreed, Mortimer, and I'll get down to work first thing tomorrow."
"What kind of work," Meggie asks curiously, looking up at Mo with big eyes. Julianne leans against the doorway, waiting for Mo to answer with her eyes closed as she enjoys her slight buzz.
"I'd rather you didn't ask me that," comes Mo's response. "Let's just pretend like we're on a vacation. This is a great spot for that, don't you think?" Meggie doesn't say anything, and no one else does either as Julianne walks through the apartment to an empty bedroom, collapsing face first on a bed without undressing and falling asleep soon after.
Julianne doesn't wake up until early afternoon the next day, the sunlight spilling through the window and nearly blinding her. "Creatures of the night shouldn't wake like this," she grumbles, rolling off the bed and onto her feet. She grabs her bag and shuffles into the small bathroom, taking a shower and dressing for the day. She settles on jean shorts and a floral tank top with a short-sleeved jacket to hide the worst of the stretch marks along her upper arms.
She makes her way into the kitchen, looking around for her family and not finding them. On the counter is a note and some money, the note obviously written by Mo if the handwriting is anything to go off of. "We'll be at Fenoglio's house so I can cure his books, you should go for a walk around the village and soak up the sun. I love you, Juli." She smiles, stuffing the money in her pocket and tossing the note in the trash before walking out.
Her first mission will be to buy some sunglasses and then she's finding a bookstore. The village isn't at all large, so a vendor selling sunglasses it easy to find and the pink aviators are practically calling her name. The bookstore is a little harder to find but she does eventually, tucked away between two slightly larger stores. The smell that hits her when she walks inside is comforting, old pages and coffee, and she instantly finds an overstuffed armchair to curl up in with a few books.
"Excuse me, miss," the owner says," you'll either need to buy the book or put it back."
"How much for these three?"
"Twenty-five." She pulls out the needed amount and hands it to the man before collecting her books and walking down the familiar road that leads to Fenoglio's home. She spends the rest of the afternoon in his garden with a book of poetry opened in her lap. She's going to memorize The Haunted Palace if it kills her.
That's how the next few days pass; Mo up in Fenoglio's attic working, Meggie running around with Fenoglio's three grandchildren, and Julianne in the garden with a book. The nights are strangely quiet compared to what she's used to in a college town, no drunken brawls or off-key singing, just the yowling of tomcats outside in the alley. She misses the noise, the smell of burnt Ramen Noodles and stale beer.
Still, this village is like Heaven compared to the hell they left behind.