This is for my twin who is the person I discuss DuMardle with on a daily basis and helps me with ideas, even without knowing it. She is also the reason tea gets mentioned so often in this story.
Please read and review, I love to know your opinions and whether you want me to continue.
"Florian?" Agnes said in shock as she watched the man approach the shop, a small smile covering her face as she moved away from Victor and stared at the foreigner. "What are you doing here?" she immediately questioned, surprised to see him in Oxford Street. Florian didn't usually visit this area of London, especially before the shop had opened. He occasionally met her and Miss Mardle after their shifts to visit something but he never visited without it being arranged.
"I've got to see Miss Mardle about something," he explained as Agnes nodded, smiling across at Victor who excused himself and entered the shop to prepare for the opening.
"Come with me, I'll take you to her on my way in," Agnes smiled as Florian nodded quietly, holding the door open for the woman before following her into the shop. "It's beautiful isn't it?" she commented, noticing the amazement that was covering Florian's face as he glanced across at the various areas that filled the shop and the staff who were currently preparing for the day ahead of them.
"You are both very lucky to work in such a wonderful place," he responded quickly, following her through the building as Agnes continued to smile before approaching accessories. Miss Mardle wasn't in sight but Agnes knew that she was probably sorting out the various shelves of products nearby.
"Miss Mardle, you have a visitor," Agnes smiled before excusing herself and disappearing to deal with her own work, just as Miss Mardle appeared from below the counter, shock covering her face as she found herself staring at Florian.
"Florian? What are you doing here?" she immediately questioned, walking out of her section to approach him. "I'm working, it's inappropriate for you to be here," she stated as she approached him, her hand resting on his arm to lead him away from accessories and towards the exit. "What are you even doing here Florian?" she questioned as they stood in the corner of the shop, away from anyone who was watching as he quickly took something out of his pocket.
"You dropped this on your way out this morning, I thought you might need it," he explained as she glanced down to see her purse in his hand, an embarrassed smile covering her face as slowly reached out for the purse. "I'm sorry for coming here, next time I'll give it to someone else to give it to you," he explained, moving away as she reached out and grasped his hand to stop him, still embarrassed about how she'd acted.
"No I'm sorry," Josie said quietly as he stared at her for a moment, her hand still clutching onto his as they watched each other in silence. "Thank you for bringing this," she smiled as he nodded, noticing the embarrassment on her face. "Florian I am sorry about what I said, I shouldn't have said it was inappropriate for you to be here, you're always welcome here. You can go wherever you want, I don't have any impact on where you can visit in London, this is your home now. You are allowed to go wherever you want," she blurted out, annoyed with how she'd acted at his arrival.
"Miss Mardle," he blurted out, trying to stop her as she stared at him, finally falling silent. "I'm sorry for interrupting you at work," he stated as Josie shook her head at him, upset with herself for having that argument with him.
"Florian…" she began, falling silent however when someone cleared their throat behind her. Looking around, Miss Mardle quickly found herself staring at Mr Grove who had his arms crossed, the look on his face forcing her to step away from Florian and let go of the hand that she hadn't realised she was holding. "I have to get back to work," she stated before excusing herself and disappearing towards accessories as Florian stood nervously in front of Mr Grove who was staring at him.
"You should leave now Mr Dupont, you are not staff and the shop is not open to the public," Mr Grove stated as Florian nodded and slowly moved towards the exit, glancing back for a moment to see Miss Mardle standing in accessories not doing any work, a far away look on her face. Watching Mr Dupont leave the building, Mr Grove straightened his jacket before approaching accessories. "He shouldn't be here before opening, you shouldn't be receiving visitors while you are working anyway," Mr Grove commented as he approached accessories, his voice snapping Josie Mardle out of her thoughts.
"He just came to give me my purse, I dropped it on the way to work," she muttered, organising the gloves in front of her as he stared at her. "I don't see how it's any of your business," she said quickly, putting the gloves away as he continued to watch her.
"I'm concerned about you Josie," he stated quickly, frustration covering her face for a moment before she replied.
"Mr Grove there's nothing to be concerned about and even if there was, my life is nothing to do with you," she said quickly before looking around, noticing that there was no one nearby before she turned to face Mr Grove again. "You gave up the right to have an influence over my life when you married another woman," she explained quickly before moving away from him. "Now excuse me Mr Grove, I have to get my station sorted before we open today," she stated before walking away to the other side of accessories, trying to pretend that he wasn't watching her.
XOXOXOXOXOXO
"You are asking if I have fallen in love with you?"
"Well yes… Well no, no I merely…"
"It is true. I have."
The conversation was almost haunting her as she forced herself to smile at another customer who approached in search of various things. Finding the needed items, she quickly organised the sale before watching another woman leave. It was a good thing that she could almost do this job in her sleep because she really wasn't in the mood to work today. All she could think about was how it had felt to have Florian's lips on hers and the look of disappointment that had covered his face when she'd pulled away from him and disappeared, ultimately refusing his advances.
"Miss Mardle," a voice stated, immediately snapping her out of her thoughts as she turned to see Agnes staring at her, concern covering her face. "Why don't we get a cup of tea?" Agnes suggested as Josie turned around, trying to think of an excuse to stop her from having to agree. She adored Agnes but she knew the young woman would ask her questions and if pushed far enough she would probably tell the younger woman everything that had happened. "You need to stop working for a while," Agnes explained.
"I guess I have time," Miss Mardle commented before walking towards her friend, the two women exiting the shop together in silence.
"Are you going to tell me what happened between you and Florian?" the younger woman asked as they approached the stand, Agnes ordering two teas, before she turned to face Josie who was fiddling with the sleeve to her dress. "And between you and Mr Grove this morning?" Agnes added as Miss Mardle sighed, thanking the server for her tea as they were passed to the two women.
"Nothing has happened between Florian and I," Josie said quickly, desperate for Agnes to change the conversation. She didn't want to think about what had actually happened between her and Florian the previous day or how she had behaved their morning because she hadn't expected for him to arrive at work. "As for Mr Grove," she began before shaking her head and moving down the street, Agnes following her in silence as they both held onto their teas. "Mr Grove wasn't happy that Florian was in the shop before opening," she sighed as Agnes shook her head. "Now, Agnes, what has happened to George?" she asked, knowing that if the younger man had died Agnes wouldn't have come to work.
"He's alive," Agnes explained as Josie smiled at her. "He's coming home for a while soon but he's alive," she beamed, unable to stop the grin that was decorating her face. "I really thought…" she began, tears appearing in her eyes as Miss Mardle shook her head and rested her hand on Agnes' shoulder.
"He's alive, don't let yourself think about anything else," Miss Mardle smiled as Agnes nodded, watching the other woman for a moment. "How is everything between you and Mr Colleano? Have you started planning anything yet?" she questioned as Agnes shook her head, knowing that there hadn't been any time to think of their wedding.
"We haven't had the time between work and then Henri being arrested," she explained as Josie nodded, knowing that Agnes had been working hard to clear Henri's name. "We're actually going to dinner tonight, so I won't be home till late," Agnes admitted as Josie nodded, trying not to think about how that meant she would be alone with Florian at dinner that evening.
"That's fine, have a lovely dinner tonight," Josie smiled before approaching the entrance to the shop and sighing. "Thank you for the tea," she added as Agnes nodded and watched as the older woman approached accessories again. Something had definitely happened because she had never seen Miss Mardle act like this. She seemed almost scared and nervous about something.
XOXOXOXOXOXO
"You've fallen in love with me?"
"Is it so surprising?"
"Well frankly yes. I am so much older than you, for a start. And then there are the cultural differences, not to mention the…"
He didn't care about cultural differences or the fact that she was older than him. He couldn't help but smile when she entered the room or want to be around her. She was his friend and she had become a major part of his life, a part that he couldn't imagine living without. Hearing the door to the room open, he turned to see Miss Mardle entering as he placed his violin down and stared at her nervously.
"I didn't mean to interrupt," she said quickly as he shook his head.
"It is your home," he responded as she stared at him for a moment. He had felt so comfortable a few days ago, it worried her that she had made him feel like he didn't belong in the house anymore because of what she had done. "I am just a guest."
"And while you are here it is your home too Florian," she insisted before sitting down and shutting her eyes for a moment. She couldn't imagine this house without him in it. She had barely lived in it without his presence, it would become too quiet if he left. "Will you play something?" she asked quickly, desperate for noise as she opened her eyes to look at him while he smiled and nodded, reaching for his violin again as she watched. She loved watching him play, he looked so far away and happy, like the war hadn't happened and he hadn't lost almost everything. Hearing him start to play, Josie sighed as she relaxed into her chair and just felt herself calm at the music that was filling her home. "You always seem so happy when you play," she commented as he finished the piece he was playing.
"Music reminds me of home," he admitted as Josie smiled. "I used to play for my family," Florian explained as he put the violin away and sat down opposite her, neither of them knowing what to really say to each other. "This was the greatest gift anyone could have ever given me," he smiled as he glanced across at the violin case, Josie doing the same before she bit into her lip, not knowing what to say to him.
"Everyone needs something that comforts them, especially when they're away from home," she admitted. "And you've brought so much happiness to London with your music Florian. Everyone adored your music at the concert and Agnes and I love hearing you play at home," she explained before they both fell silent.
"I don't care about…" he began before she shook her head.
"No Florian," she warned, not wanting to have this conversation. "We're not…" she began before shaking her head. Why did he have to talk about it? "Can we just forget please?" Josie asked quietly as he stared at her for a moment.
"How can we forget? I love…" he began before she stood up and moved towards the door.
"You don't Florian. You think you do but you don't, so please stop," she begged as she stared at the door, not knowing what else to do. "You think you're feeling that but you're just feeling grateful because I've given you somewhere to live and the violin and…" Josie began before shaking her head and moving to open the door. "Please just forget," she said quietly before walking out of the room again, just like she'd done the previous day.