TEMPTRESS

XII.

ANGÈLE JOSÉPHINE MONET LAURENT CHASTIN - TOULOUSE, FRANCE 1968

The twins exited the bathroom and went to their own directions. Angele got dressed into a pale green blouse and a matching green plaid skirt. She carefully brushed her hair, staring at herself in the mirror and tied her hair half up, half down. She put her make up on as per usual and made her way downstairs. "Wow, Angele. You look beautiful." Ethan complimented her as he set his book back down on the living room table.

"Thank you." She smiled, sitting down next to him. "What page are you on?" She asked him.

He leaned forward grabbing the book, using the bookmark to check his page number. "139."

"Wow, you read fast."

"Shockingly, this book is easy to read. I thought it would be harder like 'Les Rougon-Macquart'."

"Émile Zola?" She grinned. "I love him. But yeah, his stuff can be hard to read." She added.

"Ethan, are you ready?" Adrien asked, storming in from downstairs.

Ethan nodded, giving him a thumbs up. "Are we using my car?" Ethan asked.

"No, we're biking." Adrien answered.

"Biking..." Ethan nodded slowly, grabbing his bag that he had packed.

"Yes, biking. Put on your sturdy shoes. Vamos." Adrien said, tapping the wall before exiting.

"I'll see you later." He asked.

Angele nodded slowly. "Okay." He smiled and gave her a small wave before following her older brother.

She leaned back into the couch and exhaled deeply. He even likes Émile Zola. She checked her watch for the time and wondered if it was the right time to call her boyfriend. Julien. She hadn't called him in two whole days. She needed to hear updates from him. "Allo?" She heard an answer through the other end.

"Julien!" She grinned. "Hi, how are you doing?" She smiled.

"I'm doing great! Sorry, I haven't called much. I'm just swamped with this work. I'm sorry." He apologized. Julien was resting on his bed after a long day of presentation and discussing the new curriculum for students.

"It's okay. I haven't been on top of it as well." She responded pulling the cord from the kitchen towards the stairs where she sat down.

"How are you?" He asked from the other end. "You and your brothers?" He stood up, walking towards the balcony of his hotel room, lighting up a cigarette.

She twirled her fingers around the phone cord like a schoolgirl. "They're fine. Alexandre is swimming... I think, um, Adrien is out with Ethan to help him with his thesis." She smiled. "I don't really have any plans on the other hand."