𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐙𝐕𝐎𝐔𝐒 - ᴄʜᴀʀʟᴇꜱ ʟᴇᴄʟᴇʀᴄ

18

𝘌𝘭𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦'𝘴 𝘗𝘖𝘝:

I'd cried the whole night.

I was all over the gossip magazines, rumors were spread about me, but most important, I'd hurt Max again.

I knocked on the white door and tapped my foot putting my hands behind my back. I swayed around nervously and my heart skipped a beat when the door opened.

A tired looking Max appeared in front of me. He had huge eye bags under his eyes and his eyes were red. He sighed when he saw me. I honestly expected worse.

"Hey." I forced a smile and he pursed his lips and nodded. Not wanting to say anything. "I..."

"Save it, Elo." He cut me off and I looked down. "I knew it, I always did. I just didn't want to accept it. I'm the idiot." Max put all the blame on himself.

"No, no, Max."

"Elodie I know it's true. We all do. I just needed to open my eyes and see that you're never gonna see me as anything more than your friend." Max spoke and I saw him wipe his eyes.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. It's all my fault, I lead you on. I don't know why I did that, it was so selfish from me." I shook my head apologizing. I didn't know what else to do.

"It's my fault too." He looked down and breathed out passing his hand through his face. "God, I'm so fucking stupid." He mumbled.

"You're not stupid, Max." I told him and he looked at me. "You have a beautiful heart. It's not your fault if you feel too much." I spoke and gave him a little smile. He smiled a little bit.

My eyes got teary as I looked at him. I never meant to do this to him.

"Can...can we be friends?" I asked and he chuckled softly with tears in his eyes.

"Yeah, let's do that." He extended his arms.

I hugged him and he wrapped his arms around me.

"I'm so sorry." I whispered.

"It's okay." He whispered back and I tightened my grip.

He kissed my head and I chuckled softly.

𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘴' 𝘗𝘖𝘝:

I fixed my shirt as I knocked on the door. I heard footsteps and fixed my posture when the door opened.

She looked at me with her bright brown eyes, the same ones that immediately saddened when her eyes met mine.

"Hey." I forced a smile and she couldn't even get herself to smile.

"Hey." She mumbled.

"Listen, Clara, I'm so sorry about last night. I never meant to hurt you." I apologized and she sighed. "I brought you flowers." I pulled out the bouquet from behind my back and gave it to her smiling.

She looked at the bouquet of tulips and swallowed hard. She looked down and sighed to then look back at me.

"Roses are my favorite flowers." Her voice cracked as she looked at the flowers.

My eyes widened and I raised my eyebrows a little bit when I realized I'd messed up. Again.

"Tulips are her favorite flowers. Not mine." Her voice was shaky.

"Oh, fuck me." I passed my hands through my face. "Clara I..." I tried apologizing again, it seemed like it was the only thing I could do lately. Apologize.

"Save it, Charles. I didn't want to accept it but I've seen you look at her, smile at every thing she does, ignore everyone else when she walks in. You might like me but you love her. And I'm not her. I don't wanna stand in your way, Charles." She spoke and I pursed my lips and breathed out.

"I never meant to hurt you."

"I know."

"We can still be friends." I spoke and she chuckled softly.

"That might work." She replied and I chuckled softly.

"Yeah." I shook my head smiling. "You wanna keep the flowers?" I asked and she laughed and gave me a little push. "No really, I can change them."

"I'll keep the flowers." She shook her head smiling.

𝘌𝘭𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦'𝘴 𝘗𝘖𝘝:

I was drinking a glass of wine.

Okay, let me rephrase my last sentence. I'd just finished downing my sixth glass of wine. I brushed my hair out of my face.

"Pour me more of the red liquid." I put the glass in front of me and Pierre pursed his lips and took a dee breath.

"Elodie, it's wine, not vodka." He grabbed the glass shaking his head.

"Hey, I'm gonna need that." I extended my arms and furrowed my brows annoyed.

"Not anymore." He put the glass in the sink and I sighed.

"It's not that bad Elo. The articles are not horrible and Max forgave you." Margot tried making me feel better.

"I beg to differ." Lando looked at his phone and laughed. "This one's pretty bad." He looked up from his phone. His smiled faded when he saw us all glaring at him. "Forget I even spoke." He grimaced.

"Dieu, je suis tellement stupide." I leaned my head on the cold marble counter and sighed.

"Oh no, the French's slipping out. That's never a good sign." Pierre spoke and I whined.

My phone rang and I groaned. I grabbed it and looked at the screen. I saw Olga's name on the screen. She was calling just at the right time. Hearing her voice was all I needed right now.

I answered and put it on my ear.

"Olga." I answered with excitement and smiled.

"It's not Olga." My smiled faded when I recognized the voice. I breathed heavily, I was infuriated.

"Why are you calling me from her phone?" I asked annoyed.

"Chérie..."

"Don't call me that."

"Listen to me."

"Give me a good reason to not hang up in this instant, mother." I remarked each word.

"It's about Olga." Her voice suddenly became shaky. I furrowed my brows, thrown off by her worrying tone.

"What...is she okay?" I asked worried.

"No, she's at the hospital. She had a heart attack. She said she wanted to see you and your friends. Oh mon Dieu. Elodie, you have to come, now." She sobbed on the phone and I gulped, tears forming in my eyes.

"I'm on my way." My voice was shaky. I hung up and Pierre looked at me confused.

"What's wrong?" Pierre asked worried when he saw tears in my eyes.

"Olga's at the hospital." I replied and a tear slipped down my cheek. Pierre's expression changed completely.

He hugged me tightly and I broke down in his arms. I sobbed on his shoulder and he tightened his grip.

This was too much for me.

[...]