Part Three
A few weeks had now passed. Ailene was in every night except Sundays, grading papers and writing lessons, and the young man was in every other night, sitting in the same seat, minding his own business, drinking his black coffee and reading his strange newspaper.
Again, she would watch him, and he had the same mannerisms, everything about him did not change except for the color of his cloak and tie. It almost became boring, and Ailene soon found herself watching him less and less, thinking about him less and less. He would come at the same time, seven on the dot, and leave either ten minutes before closing time, or closing time itself. He never spoke anything either than a "Thank you," and "Goodnight."
Maybe he wasn't so strange after all. He was polite, kept to himself, even on the busier nights that would bring in more customers.
But even on those busy nights, it was only a handful of people who came and went, so he didn't have to worry too much about curious people, except for Ailene. Again, her curiosity was waning slightly, he was no longer as interesting as he was in the beginning.
Though, things had changed once again as September began to come to a close. Nights became cooler, mornings no different. The same scene, Ailene in her booth at the end, the young man a few tables down, still facing her, though paying attention to his paper. Ailene glanced up, as usual only to find him doing absolutely nothing different as she took a sip of her espresso. Suddenly, there was a knock at the window right beside her, jumping slightly to see a drunken, smiling man wave at her.
"Hey, li'le birdie. Mind if I join you?" He asked, a slur of his words. There was a local pub not to far down the road where men went to drown their sorrows in alcohol before heading home to their wives. Poor girls, Ailene would think to herself.
Ailene looked incredulously at the drunk, though not that surprised. She took a deep sigh and ignored him, returning to her grading. She took one hesitant look at the young man, and surprised to see him looking back at her with concern in his eyes, and they would flicker to the window next to her. She shook her head out of anxiety, trying to brush it off.
It was a few seconds later when the bell rang, the door thrown rather roughly aside. Ailene looked up to see the same drunk making his way over to her, knocking into a few chairs before sliding into her booth. She immediately retracted away from him, her body as rigid as a statue.
"Dunno if you could 'ere me out there." The drunk spoke, his breath reeked of vodka, Ailene's least favorite alcohol. She didn't answer him, just looked at him, not a single clue as to what to do. "Yer so beautiful, y'know that. Why don' I take you home t'nite?" He asked, his upper lip sweaty and his face as red as a tomato.
"I'm afraid I'd have to decline that offer." Ailene said with wary, trying desperately to reach into her pocketbook to find the perfume she carried, ready to spray him in the eyes. "Why don't you grab some coffee and go on home." She suggested, trying to kill him with kindness.
"Nah, 'm not ready to go home, not 'til I've got you." The man growled with seduction. He reached over to her, but he never had the chance to touch her.
In a fraction of a second, the drunken man had flown out of his seat horizontally, landing on the counter to her right with such a violent crash before slipping onto the floor. Rosa had screamed the loudest, Ailene had jumped several feet until she was practically standing on her seat. There was no way a drunk man could move that fast; it was as if some unseen force had picked him up by his trousers and throttled him. Broken glass lay around his body as he moaned and groaned, not sure what hit him. Ailene looked up, and the strange man was now on his feet, that harsh, intimidating look upon his face. He stepped over the drunk and peered down at him.
Ailene was stunned, frozen solid on the spot. The young man then turned to Rosa, who was just as stunned. "I would uh, get the police."
Rosa looked confused at the man. The drunk stirred, clearly disoriented from the hit, but his drunkenness prevented him from sitting up. With a foot now on the drunk's chest, the young man addressed Rosa again.
"Now!" He stated with haste, and Rosa snapped out of her confused state to go behind the counter and to the telephone on the wall.
Ailene was frozen as a block of ice. She could've sworn she saw something silver on the boy's belt, and when he turned to face Ailene, he had stuck something in the side of his cloak.
Rosa had come back to the front, standing in total shock at the destruction of her shop.
"Are you alright?" The young man asked Ailene, and she jumped at the question. She slowly nodded, very wary of him. Within minutes, the police arrived and carted the drunk off. They pulled the young man aside and asked questions, which he gave very straightforward answers and telling the police that he grabbed the man by the shoulders when he touched Ailene.
Ailene, still in shock, went along with the story, but she knew what she saw. The young man was no where near the drunk when he suddenly flung from the table.
Once everything had been cleared up, the young man stayed by Ailene's table.
"You sure you're alright?" He asked once more, his voice quite soft, and Ailene nodded.
"I'm alright, he didn't actually touch me." Ailene reassured him, though still eyeing him with hesitation. Their eyes met, and his were soft, yet concerned. Ailene felt a weird sensation in her gut, like her intestines had melted into a warm mash.
He then gave a simple nod and walked back, picking up his paper. He then walked over to Rosa and set three of the same golden coins on the counter. "I'm sorry." He said to her before turning and walking out of the shop.
Ailene jumped to her feet the same second he passed through the door as the bell rang, running after him. She didn't quite know what she was doing, one minute she wanted to cower away from him, not sure of who he was or what he was capable of. The next she's chasing after him, wanting to know everything about him.
"Wait! Who are you?" She yelled into the street, but there was no one there. Not a single soul. She looked down the street to her right; no one. She looked across the street; no one. It made absolute no sense to Ailene, she was not more than three seconds behind him. He was gone the instant he stepped foot out of the door, disappearing like thin air.
It had been just two days before Ailene returned to the cafe. The counter top at the shop was completely new. It was a beautiful marble with new coffee contraptions and brewers. Rosa didn't seem fazed at all, in fact she was quite delighted to have her shop slightly renovated. The booths were still the same, and Ailene profusely apologized to Rosa, but Rosa brushed it off. In fact she was kind of glad that the young man had protected her.
"I know not anything going on. If I was here," She said, pointing to the front of the shop, "I'd have stronzo on the floor, too." Rosa said proudly, waving a spoon in the air like it was a knife.
"Those gold coins got you all of this?" Ailene asked Rosa, shocked.
"No." Rosa said with a shake of her head, a defeated tone in her voice. "No one take the coins. Refused." Rosa answered. "Had to go to bank, take out savings."
As Ailene took her normal seat, the bell suddenly rang above the door, and two men walked into the café. They were dressed as normally as they could be, but there was something rather strange about them. They seemed incredibly out of place. Rigid, as if they were being watched when the only other inhabitants in the coffee shop was Ailene and Rosa.
Both men looked at Ailene before nodded and removing their hats respectfully in her direction. She gave them a small smile, but she watched their every move. They sat at the counter top, ordering tea. They seemed to inspect the counter rather closely. Ailene then watched them eye the end of the counter, closest to her where just a few nights ago, the drunken man lay unconscious on the floor.
This was all entirely too strange. They kept to themselves, talking in low voices so Ailene couldn't pick up on anything.
Ailene, pretending to grade, would glance up every few minutes. She caught one of them looking at her very suspiciously before quickly turning his head. Ailene felt her anxiety rise in her chest, she knew something wasn't right.
Hours past and the strange men were still sitting at the counter, talking here and there. It was almost as if they were waiting for someone. They must've been on their fourth cup of tea when they finally decided to pack it in and leave.
Once they were gone, Ailene sat up and eyed the money on the counter. Regular currency. She relaxed slightly and rubbed her eyes. Perhaps she was just on high alert, but her gut told her something was off about those men. Something was off about everything.
There was still no sign of her quiet companion. Three weeks raced by and it was now late October. Halloween seemed to take the theme of the city, even Rosa had decorated slightly, though she didn't seem to keen on the idea. With every decoration, she would say a prayer in Italian and cross herself.
Then, the bell rang, Ailene nonchalantly glanced up, but the breath caught in her voice.
There he was. He looked nothing different than before, his cloak a deep navy blue. Both Rosa and Ailene looked at him, and he gave a smile. Rosa quickly jumped off of a chair that she was standing on to decorate and watched him as he made his way over to the same booth as he always sat in, smiling at the new counter top. Rosa poured his cup of black coffee and sighed. "Surprised you back, giovanotto." She said to him as she brought it to him.
"Well, this is the only café in London that knows how to brew a good cup of coffee." He said quietly. "So long as that new counter top suits you."
Rosa couldn't help but laugh. She then dug into her pockets and took out the gold coins he gave her the night of the incident, placing them in his hand. She winked, poking him playfully on the shoulder, and he smiled softly.
He turned his gaze to Ailene, who was watching him, and he gave her a small smile with a nod.
Ailene waited a few minutes, trying to keep herself busy. When she took a sip of her espresso and got some liquid luck in her blood, she stood and walked over to his booth. She slid into it and offered him a smile. His brows raised slightly as he watched her.
"I... I just wanted to thank you for that night...it wasn't necessary, really. But I appreciated it." She said to him, and he nodded.
"I wasn't going to sit there and let him do something to you." He replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "It was the least I could do." His face was kind, quite the opposite of the expression from that night.
"Well, I'm glad to know that chivalry is still alive." Ailene laughed a little and nodded. She then stuck her hand out gently. "I'm Ailene..."
"Marden." He replied, taking her hand in a very gentlemanly manner, as if he were going to kiss it. Ailene's heart fluttered slightly at the thought of his lips on her skin. However, it sank when he didn't. "I'm sorry if I gave you a fright."
"Yeah, it was strange...one moment he was sitting across from me, and the next he was on the floor." She shook her head.
Marden simply stayed quiet, nodded and smiling.
"Well, I better get back to my work...it was nice meeting you again, Marden."
"You as well."
Ailene moved back to her booth, smiling to herself gently.
Marden watched as she did so, smiling to himself, too. There was a strange feeling in her chest, as if everything was made of air.
A week or so had passed, same scenario, the two in their respective seats, one reading his mysterious paper, the other deep in her work. Then, the bell had rung behind them, and a strange woman, tall with deep brown curls entered the cafe. She was wearing a dress with a long trench coat that was clearly too large for her. She wore black stockings and brown high heels. It seemed she was just as out of place as the strange men from the other day. She resembled Marden remarkably, from the shape of her eyes down to the point of her nose. The only difference was that her eyes were a pretty hazel. She let out a sigh when she spotted Marden, who watched her as she walked over and sat down at his booth.
"I'm surprised you're here..." She said to him disdainfully.
"Likewise." He simply said to her, leaning in and speaking quietly. "How in the world did you find me?"
"I have my ways... but don't try and deflect." She said with a hiss to her voice. "Just last week you went in for questioning..." There was emphasis of her choice in words," for doing magic here in front of Muggles...and you have the audacity to come back..."
She was suddenly cut off when Rosa approached them, asking this strange woman if she wanted anything. The woman replied with a request for a cup of tea, just to appease Rosa so she could go away.
Marden leaned back in his seat once they were left alone. "I'm not in trouble, Mia. You can relax."
"You should be." Mia hissed again. Then, there was a long sigh. "You worry me, brother...you do..." She said with such concern in her eyes.
"I'm fine. I come here, I drink a cup of coffee and I go home. Besides, that poor girl was being harassed, was I to just sit and watch it happen?
This so called Mia let out another puff of a sigh, lost for words.
Marden then leaned in. "I'm an Auror. I'm supposed to serve and protect, which is exactly what I did and exactly why I was let off the hook. Now, if you'll be so kind, you're blocking my view." Marden whispered to his sister, nodding gently towards the Muggle woman in the back. Mia looked over her shoulder at Ailene, who quickly glanced down at her work, pretending she wasn't just watching the two closely.
Mia shook her head as she turned back. "You are reckless. Mum and Dad will never approve of a Muggle and you know it."
"Who said I was looking for approval...?"
"They've been on your case about a wife." Mia whispered.
"I don't need a wife just yet. I'm content with being on my own."
"On your own yet you still live with them?" She questioned rhetorically. "They won't let you move out until you have a wife. Until they're certain you are secure before any of that gold and the house can come your way." She reminded him.
"Look, just because you're getting married in a few weeks doesn't mean you can be on my case about getting married, too."
"I just don't want to see you miserable at home. I want what's best for you." Now Mia had changed her tone to try to be sympathetic towards her brother.
"Look." Marden leaned in once more, with a very finite tone. "I don't want to pull any witch off of the street and put a ring on her finger. I don't want to be married to a complete stranger, unlike you."
His sister's expression quickly changed to one of pure anger, her face twitching slightly in attempts to keep her emotions in check.
"For your information..." She started, her voice dangerous and shaky. "I am in love with Fleamont. He is not a stranger to me, and if that's honestly how you think of our relationship than don't bother coming to our bloody wedding." She said through gritted teeth.
Angrily, his sister then stood in one swift, graceful movement. She then stormed out of the café, back onto the street. She strode by the window, her eyes like poison as she walked by. Her eyes then caught Ailene's as she walked by before she disappeared.
He snorted. "Fleamont...what a tosspot of a name." He said under his breath as Rosa, confused, returned with a cup of tea and no recipient. Marden, defeated, took the cup of tea and forced himself to drink it.