Smoke Screens

Chapter Twenty-Two

All eyes stared between the redhead and the mystery man. All was still until the man slowly crossed the room to her. Once he stood in front of her, a wide smile spread across his lips as he reached out to gently cup her face in his hands.

"God, I've missed you. I love you so much," He whispered as he slowly moved his lips closer to hers, almost as if he were trying to tempt her. His lips were a fraction of an inch away from hers.

"If you love me as much as you say you do then why did I find you fucking a girl in our bed, Éliott?" She whispered the words to him, but due to the silence in the room, everyone heard her words. He let out a sigh and stepped a few steps away from her, letting go of her reddening cheeks.

"Aurélia, it was the worst mistake I've ever made in my entire life. I love and miss you. Not a day has passed that I haven't thought of you." He looked away from her to glance at all of the men in the room glaring at him. The only man who wasn't glaring was Enjolras who simply looked confused. He was trying to piece together why on earth someone would be stupid enough to have Aurélia and think for a moment she was anything less than a miracle. "Can we speak somewhere private?" He whispered into her ear, but Grantaire caught it. He shook his head and took a step forward, but the redhead grabbed his arm.

"Fine." Without another word, she guided the dark-haired man outside of the cafe.

"What the hell just happened?" Grantaire asked the men, all staring at Aurélia through the window in shock. Enjolras, however, had forced his nose back into the book in front of him.

"All I know is I almost feel bad for the guy-" Courfeyrac said, cutting himself off when he saw the glare his leader was giving him. "I just mean Aurélia is not someone's bad side I want to get on. She can be rather frightening." The men waited inside for her, eager to see the man run off with his tail between his legs, but he never did. Instead, after a few minutes of talking, Aurélia walked back in, but the man remained outside.

"Why is he still here?" Grantaire asked, confused. "I'll go tell him to leave." He stood from the chair he sat in but was stopped by Aurélia when she grabbed his arm.

"No, he's waiting for me. We're going to dinner. I just wanted to let you all know so you didn't think I disappeared." Grantaire placed both of his hands on her face, staring deeply into her eyes.

"Have you lost your mind? You're going back to him after he cheated on you?" She swatted his hands away and rolled her eyes.

"No, of course I'm not going back to him just like that. I am giving him a chance to prove to me he is worth forgiving." She cleared her throat and scanned the room, eyes resting on Enjolras who refused to look up from his book. "Bonne nuit." Without another word, she left the cafe. The man in red watched through the window as she took the man's arm with a smile on her face. Enjolras didn't know which was worse; for his love for Aurélia to be unrequited or for her to return that love, but he was too late. The room was quiet for a few moments, all of the men processing what had just occurred.

"I need something stronger than wine. I'm going to a tavern, who wants to come with me?" All of the men hummed in agreement with the drunk, grabbing their coats. Enjorlas too stood but collected his papers. "Staying to work on the revolution?"

"No. I'm coming with you. Just let me set these down." Without another word, he started up the stairs to return his papers and books to his desk.

"Did he just say he's going to drink with us?" Courfeyrac asked, not attempting to keep the surprise from his face.

"Something is wrong. He very rarely drinks, and says it clouds his thoughts of the revolution." Of course, that was true. Enjolras thought alcohol was just a distraction from life. But a distraction was exactly what he desperately needed. He needed to stop thinking about Aurélia.