Augustin accepts to stay without much resistance and he watches as she busies herself in the kitchen, like a little bee making some honey for her queen. But in this occasion it’s the queen who is obviously preparing a feast for her king, and it makes him smile with ease, to know that Guillaume has found such a rare pearl to fill his once too empty life.
It’s only when she jumps on the counter that he finishes the glass of water and hands it back to her, still reflecting on the idea of staying here, where it smells like home and a good dinner awaits him. He snorts at her comment and takes hold of the chair in front of him, reminiscing nostalgic memories with a light smile. “I see you’ve never heard of his former cooking skills then. He used to scare everyone whenever he stepped into a kitchen and proposed his services, and he once made everyone sick with a plate of lasagnas.” After Simone, the ghost of Emillienne greets his mind, since it had been for their third marriage anniversary that Guillaume had cooked the most, and he has to clear his throat to compose himself.
But then, her request to not leave sends a wave of relief in his body, as if her validation is what he needed for his bad thoughts to spread away, and he resides himself to spend the evening here, as he had planned. He nods his thanks while seating at the kitchen table, resting his elbow on the hard surface to cup his chin and massage his temple.
“Just give me the cognac hidden under the sink please.” The point is not to get drunk, he reminds himself to exude confidence in his request, since he would hate for Elodie to think of him as a toper. He just needs something strong to freshen himself up. “Did you spend the whole day cooking then?” He asks even though the answer is obvious, but he wants her to feel proud of her dedication for Guillaume.
He likes to do the same with his friend, when they go shopping and his friend buys her perfume or a piece of clothing. He’ll just ask Guillaume why he thinks it would fit Elodie and it will only take a second for him to get started on an endless rant about her beautiful ankles or laugh or anything else. They are so full of love for each other that he finds it absurdly mind-blowing, yet still uplifting.
She has never hated herself or her age as much as she has so recently. It was so difficult to be so young, left out of all the joyous nostalgia and reminiscing that the people around her got to partake in. Her youth was so bothersome, and as much as she tried to forget about it, how could she when everyone around her looked back so fondly on good old days and memories that she had not had the chance to make, yet? It seemed to be another thing to punish herself for, as she squares her shoulders and straightens her posture in an attempt to make herself look older, more elegant.
“He hasn’t told me about that, but I think you would be surprised now.” She shrugs, a hint of a smile creeping onto her face as she recalls a sunny morning just a few days ago. All rosy cheeks and hair still messy from the night before, wide white smiles on both their faces. “He makes a pretty good breakfast, these days.” Then again, maybe it was the company itself she was more impressed with.
The cognac under the sink. She nods in agreement and goes to grab it, rifling through bottles of various things before she finds what she thinks is the cognac in question. “This?” She questions, raising it up and examining it before passing it off to him. Judging by the dark rings under his eyes, she need not really bother with glasses. As he begins to speak again, she goes to work to find plates and silverware to set the table for the three of them.
“Not all day, but a good bit of it.” She shrugs as she retrieves three plates and three bowls. “I spent a while just reading this morning. I had a day off, so I tried to make the most of it.” Days free of rehearsals and performances were as rare hen’s teeth, and she’d had the loveliest start to her day before Guillaume had headed off to work that the rest of her day was destined to be wonderful as well.
“What about you? Please, tell me all about your day. I’d love to hear about it.”
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snowghoul
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