((I guess I was in a writing mood tonight. This is so long that I don’t know if it qualifies as a drabble anymore. Sorry about that :( ))
“And so in closing, I believe we’re ready to take things to the next level.”
Enjolras stepped back from the lectern as a smattering of applause - some enthusiastic, the rest a bit half-hearted - filled the back room of the Café Musain. Joly clapped hard for his friend, but in his heart he knew they were still far from ready to be as active as Enjolras had just suggested. He turned to share a knowing look with Jehan when suddenly…
“I disagree!” The voice rang through the room and hung in the subsequent silence. Everyone looked around the room, looking for the source of the incursion.
Joly felt movement next to him on the bench and suddenly knew what was going on. Jehan was subtly trying to calm the girl on his other side. Joly had met her several times before. She’d seemed like a very pleasant girl. She spoke her mind too, which Joly liked about her. What is her name? he thought. Emilie? Hélène? Elena? Yes, that was it! Elena!
As Joly came to this realization, Elena managed to slip out of Jehan’s gentle grasp and rose to her feet. “I disagree,” she repeated in a clear, calm voice.
Enjolras’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “You disagree?” he repeated, as though he hadn’t heard her correctly.
Combeferre, seated nearest the lectern as he usually was, abruptly stood up and stammered, “Um, Enjolras, I think there might be some sort of misunderstanding here. You see-“
“Ferre, there’s no misunderstanding. I think I get what Enjolras is saying perfectly,” Elena said, offering a small smile to the bespectacled lad. “I just happen to disagree with what he’s saying.”
“Oh dear,” Combeferre mumbled, turning to face Enjolras in hopes of calming him before his passion got the better of him. It was too late.
Joly saw Enjolras rubbing his temples with his forefingers and knew he was about to explode. The silence in the room was unbearable. Behind him, he heard Éponine trying to frantically shoo Gavroche out of earshot. Earshot. Shots. Were his shots fully up to date? It had been a while since he’d had a tetanus booster. He should probably-
“Might I ask why you disagree, Elena?” Enjolras asked, clearly trying to keep under control. Joly silently applauded his reserve, though he strongly suspected that despite Enjolras’s entreaties for equality for all, he was only remaining this calm because Elena was a woman.
“Look around you Enjolras. I think Les Amis are making great strides, and you’re headed in the right direction. But are you truly ready to mobilize yet? You don’t have any flyers, you don’t have signs, you don’t have a permit to protest, and I’ve only seen at most twenty people at any of your meetings. You have all the makings of a grassroots political group, but you need more people. Rome wasn’t built in a day, you know.”
Everyone cringed when they heard Elena mention Rome, as they knew it was one of Enjolras’s buzz words. Sure enough, the dam broke immediately.
“That’s just wonderful Elena,” Enjolras spat. “We know there is a necessity for more people. And we’ve been trying, with varying degrees of success. You know that. When you haven’t been at meetings, Jehan has, and I know he passes the information along to you. You are a member of this group as well, and as a member you are just as capable as bringing in new members as anyone else. So, since you’ve been so kind as to volunteer to run our membership drive, I expect to see plenty of new faces at our next meeting.” he then took his seat, intensity radiating from his body.
Elena stood, transfixed for a moment, then slowly took her seat again. As Combeferre adjourned the meeting, Jehan waved his hand in front of her face, but she seemed to not notice him. Around them, the members of Les Amis de l’ABC had risen to their feet and had begun migrating towards the door.
Jehan turned to Joly and whispered, “He really did it this time. I’ve never seen her speechless. I’m going to try to calm him down. Would you please keep an eye on her?”
Joly nodded, and Jehan walked over to the table at the front of the room, where Combeferre was speaking with Enjolras. Ferre seemed rather animated, and Joly suspected it had to do with Elena as well. He watched as Jehan joined the discussion, and then he turned to Elena. “Um, are you alright?” he mumbled.
She sat there, unmoving. Joly worried she was going into shock, and began considering treating her when he noticed a single tear streaming down her face. Touched, he asked again, “Elena, are you alright?”
She slowly turned to look at him. “No,” she sniffed. “I… I didn’t mean to upset him. But you know as well as I do that we’re just not ready to take to the streets in protest. We’re just not big enough. I was… I’m only trying to help, that’s all.”
More tears were threatening to fall now, and Joly couldn’t help it. She reminded him so much of Musichetta, how Chetta was always willing to speak her mind if something was bothering her. And he knew Elena was right. Before he fully understood what he was doing, he had wrapped his arms around her in an embrace. The voice in the back of his mind screamed at him about the hygiene issues involved in hugging strange people, but he managed to suppress them. After all, he and Jehan were close friends, and she seemed to be rather close to Jehan, so he didn’t really have that much to fear, did he?
After a few minutes, he unraveled himself from her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Everything will be alright, I promise. You know how Enjolras can be.” He gave her one of his awkward half-smiles, trying to be reassuring.
To his relief, she laughed softly. Her makeup was starting to run with the tears, so he offered her his handkerchief. She smiled as she took it and carefully dabbed at her face. “Thank you Joly. That means a lot to me.”
“It’s really no problem,” he replied. “I just don’t like when people are sad.”
He looked up to see Enjolras approaching. The golden-haired boy sat down next to Elena and said, “I’d like to apologize for my outburst. You are right about our numbers, and I let my pride get the best of me. I’m sorry.”
She laughed again and said, “No, it’s alright Enjolras. I’m sorry I was so blunt with you. Let’s just put this behind us.”
“I agree,” laughed Enjolras. He patted her on the back, then stood up and walked back to the front of the room. Joly looked back and forth between the two, happy that everything had been resolved.
Jehan reappeared. “Elena, is everything alright now?” he asked. When she smiled and nodded, he grinned. “Excellent. Do you mind if we head home now?”
She laughed again. “Yes, of course,” she replied. Before she rose from her seat, she gave Joly a quick hug. “Thank you again Joly,” she said, smiling. She then got up and walked out of the café with Jehan.
Joly sat there smiling. He suddenly remembered that he and Bossuet had some cleaning to do at the apartment, so he quickly stood up, grabbed the older man by the collar, and dragged him out the café door.