I entered the small bookshop. It had been a few weeks after my little incident with Eponine.
"Good morning, Monsieur Marius!"
Greeted Eponine from behind a stack of books.
"Oh, those looks heavy! Let me help you!"
I quickly took half a portion of the stack. "Thank you," She said gratefully.
"No problem, besides you looked like they nearly toppled over you"
"Marius! Dear! Why didn't you said you were stopping by?" Madame Beauchamp immediately surfaced from the backroom.
"Oh, I just feel like you can use some help, and I hope I'm not disturbing..." The old lady merely chuckled in that fairy godmother kind of way.
"Nonsense! Even though Eponine did manage to handle quite well on her own..." Madame Beauchamp smiled at Eponine. "But it's still nice to use some help"
"Eponine, please do help Monsieur Pontmercy here," Madame Beauchamp said to Eponine.
"Of course, Madame, of course!" Eponine said as Madame Beauchamp went on her way.
"You can help me with those stacks of books that needs to be categorized and I'll be over there if you needs me" She pointed towards the counter.
"I see, thank you, Eponine!" She only give me a small smile.
It is well after eight when I saw a young man came in.
"Morning, Phillipe!" Who is that? He looks quite familiar to me..
."Morning too, Eponine!" Is this man really came here to flirt with Eponine? Really?
"So, any books you're looking for?" Eponine asked the man.
"Actually, I came here to ask you to dinner tonight..." The man said, well, he's probably my age.
"Wouldn't that cause an uproar, I mean...you're Phillipe D'Arquette, for Goodness's sakes..." Eponine chuckled a little. "I'm sure that wouldn't be a problem"
Now I finally remembered him! It's Phillipe D'Arquette! The maids talked about him all the time. He's the promising young opera singer recently taking over the lead role in Palais Garnier. Of course, had captivated many ladies's hearts seeing as he's quite goodlooking. 'Please say no, please say no, please say no...' I chanted in my mind.
"I don't have anything to do tonight, well, I'll think about it" Eponine said. It seems like the only answer the poor boy's can get, he only smiled happily.
"Have a nice day, Eponine!" He waved. "You too, Monsieur!"
Eponine closed the door as soon as the man is out of earshot. Eponine's finger touching her forehead lightly, her face scrunched up.
"Eponine, are you okay?" I asked carefully, my hand weighed on her shoulder lightly. Her eyes locked with mine. Flashes of emotions crossed her eyes at once; bewilderment, anger, sadness, disappointment, realization. She pushed herself away from me.
"I'm...I'm fine, Monsieur" She walked back behind the counter and just sit still. "Do you want me to get Madame and Monsieur Beauchamp?"
"No, that wouldn't be necessary" She said absent-mindedly.
She walked back to her bench and starts to work. She looked so lost in thought. She didn't even said a word to me throughout the day.
"Eponine, dear, are you okay?" Madame Beauchamp asked worriedly. "I think you should go rest" Eponine immediately cutted in, "Oh no! I'm fine, Madame!" Eponine keep insisting she's fine, but she'd been spacing off for nearly three hours.
"Just go and rest, besides, Marius will take care the rest, right, dear?" I immediately nodded. I caught a glimpse of Eponine as she switched her gaze towards me worriedly and walked upstairs to her tenement.
Madame Beauchamp shook her head as she retreated back to the backroom. The store is relatively quiet. Only a few customers came in. I felt a bit relieved that Quincy didn't showed up in here.
Lunchbreak finally came. I went upstairs to Eponine's apartment.
"Eponine, would you like to have lunch outside?" No response.
Few minutes later, "No, thank you. I feel a bit unwell"
I walked downstairs dejectedly. What's wrong with Eponine? One moment we're fine then the next she avoided me. After putting the 'closed' sign outside, I walked outside towards my home.
"Madame? I'm home!" I hanged my coat on the hanger. Madame Beauchamp came out of the kitchen. "Where'd you been? I looked for you in your office but Edgar said you took a day off"
"Ah, yes. I went out to help Madame Beauchamp in the bookstore" I followed her into the kitchen. "Where Eponine works?" She asked as she set down the plate and silverware in front of me. "Yes, where Eponine works"
"That's terrific! How'd it go?" Madame Magloire sat down in front of me. Her curiosity radiating from her smile. "She doesn't remember me!"
"Give it time, Marius. No miracle can happen in an instant" Madame Magloire said wistfully. She put a comforting hand on his shoulder. Silence fell
"I hope" Marius only said before standing up from the dining chair. "I'm going to my room, thank you for the meal, Madame"
Madame Magloire shook her head at Marius's retreating figure. She can only pray for these two children. They didn't deserved to be played like this, running around aimlessly. She can only hope that the two eventually will find their way to each other's arms, though from the looks of it, it's not going to be easy.
She can only hope that a miracle will come eventually.
a/n: WEEEEE! I'M BACK! Sorry I've been missing for the past few months :'( There's this little thingy that starts with an s and end with an l that'd been keeping me away from writing anything at all (if you can guess what it is ;) ) Anyway, due to my months-long hibernation, my mind had become some sort of freezed. So, please tell me what would you like to see in the next chapter and how should I develop this story. And as for my other story, I'm working on it. Review! Thank you!