innocence and arrogance entwined

The feeling of being tugged in a different direction caused eyes of lazuli to creep to the woman; he knew her. Amelie. Seeing her so close, a woman, he tried to relax. His body visibly showed the disdain and stress in each muscle that crept through the white crisp shirt. However, Olivier shot his eyes back to the man in question, stood only a mere for few from him. Without a second thought, he lifted his finger, pointing it at him, a look of pure hatred shining on every feature. 

‘‘You got lucky.’‘ He practically spat. 

It didn’t take more than a passing second before he stumbled in the direction he was being taken, looking down and willing himself to feel anything else. Anything but the mind numbing pain that was wreaking havoc on his heart. But nothing came. There was no solace. 

‘‘Next time—’‘ his voice cut through the silence. ‘‘Don’t rescue me.’‘

She assumed that he thought that those words would mean anything to her. Amelie wasn’t rescuing him, she was rescuing the other man. Though, she’d save that argument for another night. She could tell just by the way her friend was acting that he wasn’t doing well. While she didn’t know the details, she did know that it was affecting him terribly. 

Once she’d safely pulled him away from the row, she smoothed out the wrinkle she made in his white shirt. Calmly, but somehow with the same amount of edge she replied. “ Olivier—” she mimicked, eyes locking with the large man. “ Don’t tell me what to do. ” 

Remarkably even after everything she cared about this man. She wasn’t afraid of the potential outcome of him snapping at her. In the end Amelie knew he meant well— even if he had the worst ways of coping with things.  

Olivier pressed his hand to the side of his cheek, scoffing loudly before his eyes shot up, shoulders shrugging as if he was getting ready to cause an even bigger issue — he was far too drunk for this.

‘‘Okay, I see—’‘ He states. ‘‘Let’s take this outside.’‘ 

Yvonne held her glass in her hand as she surveyed the room. Valentine’s Day wasn’t her holiday of choice, but she was more than happy to celebrate Un-Valentine’s Day. Considering that her last part had been Théo, getting laid was her number one priority for the night. Especially with Maddie tucked away safe and sound with a baby sitter.

Her finger flicked from body to body as she chanted a nursery rhyme almost to herself. “Eeny, meeny, miney, moe. Catch a tiger by the toe…”

Amelie took Valentines day for what it was: a holiday for cooperations to make money off of love-sick individuals. Maybe she just looked at the holiday this way because she’d never had a decent date for the event. She had Theo, but that wasn’t real. He was her best friend and boyfriend for as long as he needed her to be. There wasn’t anything romantic and Amelie wouldn’t want to see their relationship in any other light.

Théo: Good because I am too.

Théo: Honestly, I'm really glad that we've become friends, it's nice to have conversations with someone that I have a lot in common with. And I really try because you're setting the bar for fake girlfriends.

Amélie: You make me feel comfortable and if this happened with anyone else I wouldn't have agreed. Also, that's just what friends do. I'm fiercely loyal, Théo. I'm glad you've become someone who's worthy of that trust.

Théo: Of course I remembered! And I am sure that your gift is perfectly fine.

Théo: It took a little while, but I know my way around the rare book scene. Figured it was the least I could do for you putting up with this.

Amélie: Shut up! I'm not 'putting up' with anything. You are my good friend and I'm having a blast playing pretend.

Théo: I'm not sure that you will want to when you find out what I got you. I spent a long time hunting down this good condition first edition of Welcome to the Monkey House.

Amélie: Théo! You're kidding. You remembered? Now my gift seems a bit lousy in comparison.

Théo: So I forgot that it's Valentine's Day (sorry) and since we're still "dating".....what kind of flowers would you like with the book I got you?

Amélie: I can't believe you! I should take back your gift just out of spite. I'm appalled you forgot about your very beautiful and very real girlfriend.

Her loud laughter could have been heard from across the flat complex. Wine usually made her a giggly mess, but adding Olivier’s company just made it worse. It had been a while since the two had time to catch up and there was still a giant elephant in the room. They hadn’t discussed her recent recruitment to the organization. She hadn’t necessarily been avoiding the conversation, but there’d been so much to talk about. From catching up on interpersonal relationships to talking about what shows they’d managed to watch. It was the first time she’d really felt transparent with him. She’d met him first, he’d been the first person from the organization that she really got to know. He was the first road bump in the very unorganized revenge plan against Mathis. 

She didn’t know if she’d tell him, but he was the flame that got her interested in joining. Amelie saw herself in Olivier. He was all soft interior with this heavy armor-like exterior. Cruel and evil when needed, but an absolute delight over all. Or at least he was to her. She placed down her empty wine glass after another giggle-fit and rested back against the couch. She got quiet for a moment, biting her lip as she contemplated her next words. 

Amelie always looked for trouble. Even on the days where she didn’t necessarily plan on it, she always kept her eye out for a bit of fun. She sat perched on a stool next to the bar with a glass of red wine dangled between her fingers. She shamelessly flirted with the bar keep, tossing him winks and smirking whenever her drink got low. She knew she wasn’t going to end up paying for her drinks. The bartender had been making the eyes at her for months and while she wasn’t interested-- who was she to waste an opportunity. This time he came over to her before she could even grab his attention, refilling her glass with a cheeky grin. “ merci beaucoup, ” she drawled with a grin of her own.

After the barkeep scurried away, she took a sip of her drink just to hide her giggle. She felt someone’s eyes on her, but thought nothing of it as she turned to meet their gaze. 

Théo smiled at her answer - he had a feeling that it would be this, but it was still good to hear it out loud. He was glad that he had trusted his gut that she truly wasn’t against the French as an organization, and that her talent had truly been underutilized by anyone else. And if her issues with her brother meant anything, it’d only motivate her to work harder.

After all, estranged sibling rivalry was a wonderful motivator, and Théo had no qualms of using it as such.

“Fine, but like I said one shot. I’m not opposed to anything else, but shots are nasty, I don’t care how drunk you get, they never get better.”

Théo was right, shots were god awful-- but they got you drunk quick and Amélie was absolutely willing to knock back a few in his favor. After three shots of her own she’d switched to red wine, the liquid tinting her cheeks into a soft blush. It was safe to say that she was absolutely aware that she would have little to no memory of the night. What she thought she would remember, was how much fun she had with Théo at the bar-- it was almost so good that she didn’t see her dearest brother from across the crowded room. Almost. It happened mid tangent and then suddenly she’d forgotten what they’d been talking about. She spared Mathis not even a second of her attention before she snorted a laugh at the situation. “ He’s been watching me all night, I think. ” If the way that she drank didn’t give away her nationality, her alcohol-induced accent did. It was the first real time she’d spoken about her brother and didn’t get angry. She found this to be humorous. He stood from afar and pretended to care-- protecting her from across the room just as he did when he was across the country. 

“I am only doing one shot, I am already feeling the alcohol more than I planned on, and I’d like to at least be semi-coherent throughout the night,” Théo stated, though he had a feeling that if it was going to keep everyone satisfied, he probably would end up completely wasted by the end of the night. And have the migraine to pay for it once he woke up. “And only if you tell me if you’ve thought about the business proposition that I gave you.” 

She’d actually made up her mind about the proposition a few days ago, though she wanted to think over her decision before finally bringing it back up to him. Cutting her eyes up at her friend, she let a cheeky little smirk play on her lips before finally letting it spill. “ I’m in. ” The years leading up to this couldn’t have ever predicted her ever choices. Growing from an angry, scorned child into this bold, confident woman-- Mathis had no idea how much power he gave her by leaving her behind. He chiseled away at her shell and left her unprotected from the rocks he threw at her psyche. She’d spent too many years hoping that he was okay that she hardly got the time to check in on herself. Relationships burned and destroyed over her need to fill the void he left. She once worried that he was in trouble with the French Organization... now she knew that he’d better watch his every step. He once told her that family wasn’t anything without loyalty and honesty... how fucking rich that was coming from him. It was funny because she found a better family through the same outlet he left their’s for. He gave her all the parts only for her to eventually build herself into a weapon.

God couldn’t even help him now.

For the girl to be willing to sit so close to her, she was clearly bold or dumb. Elodie had been working for the St Clair for… a long time- and if this girl was here to start trouble, Elodie would be one of the first to eliminate it. However, the relaxed nature of her body language was allowing Elodie to learn towards the instinctive reasoning that she was just ‘fresh blood’. “You say that with confidence,” she teased taking another drag from her joint and passing it to her.

“Chaussard is too friendly for his own good,” Elodie jokes with a chuckle, “We know how to have fun. Work hard, play harder and all,” tilting her head, still suspicious of the younger woman, “You have a name you want to share with the class?”

Amélie knew the position she’d put herself in and any average person probably wouldn’t have crossed the threshold into the party. Truthfully, she knew the reason she wasn’t afraid to talk so nonchalantly with the members of the same organization that her brother left for. She had nothing to hide. Not anyone at least. “I do have confidence,” she teased and leaned back into the loveseat. It was a damn shame that she’d had more of a connection with the group that she once swore ruined her life... rather than with the man who actually did. It just took her way too long to realize that. 

“Harriet the Spy was supposed to be you,” Théo chuckled, before taking a drink from his wine glass. He wasn’t sure how many he had (he was guessing somewhere around five) but it was enough that he was starting to feel it. “I really didn’t think that was going to go over your head,” he continued before giving her a smile, “You look nice too. Are you enjoying yourself?”