TEMPTRESS

XXIX.

ANGÈLE JOSÉPHINE MONET LAURENT CHASTIN - PARIS, FRANCE 1968

The next day, while Angele had stepped out of the apartment to go meet up with Emily. Julien had spent the whole day planning, he even ironed his favourite suit for the dinner he planned in the evening. To Julien, today was the perfect day for his surprise. He figured he had waited long enough to do something like this and with recent events, he did want to wait a second more. "Shut up, shut up. You're stressing me out." He set the crinkled paper on the table.

"Well, you can't just recite what you're reading. How is that going to sound genuine?" Adrien groaned, frustrated by Julien's actions. He was clearly not good at this. "You're terrible."

"I'm just nervous." He frowned. "Maybe I shouldn't have a script." He sat down on the couch next to Adrien.

"You're the one who insisted on it. I told you it wasn't a good idea." Adrien rolled his eyes.

He shrugged. "I know, I just have so much to say. I thought it would help to write everything down."

"Why don't you write everything down in bullet points?" The younger brunette brother appeared with a small box in his hands, passing it to Julien who thanked him. No, the two were not on the best terms yet, Julien figured that he needed to have both brothers helping him with such an important question. "Just don't make everything too big. Keep it simple so she won't feel overwhelmed." Alexandre sat down next to his older brother.

"You're right." Julien nodded. "Okay, let's back track. We have everything. The dinner reservation is made..."

"What restaurant did you end up choosing?" Adrien asked.

"Le Cinq. It's where I took her the first time we went out for dinner. I was so nervous, I just wanted to impress her."

Alexandre and Adrien both nodded. "Oh yeah, I remember she told me about that." Alexandre said.

"Well? Did she like it or what?" Julien stared at the younger man.

"Yeah, she did but I think I would be more meaningful if you prepared something for her." He suggested.

Adrien nodded. "That could be a good idea. You could ask the restaurant if you could prepare the meal and dessert for the two of you. Look at it as if it's a preview for the real thing." Adrien said.

"That's a great idea!" Julien grinned. "Alright, we need to go down there and talk—"

Julien was interrupted loud slam coming from the front door, making the three jump in confusion. They stayed quiet as they waited for any indication of who it was. Shuffling could be heard from the other side of the wall and Angele's body passed them as they stared at her walk to her room, closing the door behind her. "That's not a good sign." Alexandre mumbled.

"Shut up. Nothing's wrong, we're still doing this. Hide the box." Julien tapped Alexandre's leg. The French-Italian man made his way to Angele's bedroom, softly knocking on the door.