ADIEU » LES MISÉRABLES | ✓

CHAPTER THREE

He was afraid.

His lean body, pressed tightly against the brick wall, was on the verge of collapse. His breaths were short and ragged and far too loud. His eyes were wide, and in the murky light of the alley, Claudine could not make out their color. Just for that moment, it seemed to be ever-changing.

Claudine's first instinct, as always, was to run. This man, whoever he was, was a bad man. Why else would he be hiding? He certainly wasn't a gypsy - the gypsies knew how to quiet themselves and make their presence as unobtrusive as possible. He was far too present. His warm presence suffocated the entire alley.

But the gendarmes were approaching. Claudine heard their footsteps, the obnoxious clicking of their boots against the pavement.

She shot another glance at the man. He was staring at her. 

She couldn't register anything about him other than his eyes. They communicated what words couldn't. 

Please.

The footsteps were getting louder. Claudine could slip into the alley and hope the gendarmes would overlook it. Or she could take the risk and talk to them. 

The man's eyes bore a hole into the back of her head, and she made her decision.

Swallowing, she stepped into the sunlight. 

The police officers skidded to a stop in front of her, their large chests heaving. 

"Why were you running, girl?"

Claudine bowed her head, casting her eyes meekly to the floor, forcing herself to appear a weak and frightened girl. "There... there were gunshots... and I was just... scared." 

The gendarmes exchanged glances. There were two; one short and the other tall. The tall one, with the enormous side whiskers, was the one Claudine had bumped into earlier. He narrowed his eyes at her in a manner that was meant to be mildly threatening, but in the bright sun, it merely seemed like he was squinting.

"No one can run away from the law forever," he growled. "You can escape from it now, but eventually, it will swallow you whole."

The other officer sighed, running a hand through his oily black hair. "Inspector, with all due respect, we should not focus too much on this girl. We have more important matters at hand, and I don't think girls like her go around breaking the law."

"Looks can be deceiving. Anyone can break the law. Even..." the inspector paused here, his features scrunching up to form a nasty scowl. "... Mayors."

His eyes, bland and slate-grey, were fixed on a faraway spot in the sky. 

The short officer sighed for the second time, muttering something about 'obsession' and 'that ex-convict'. He briefly glanced over Claudine. "You're free to go, but before that, have you seen a blond man with a burgundy coat anywhere?"

"No," Claudine replied without thinking. 

It was only when the gendarmes started walking away that she realized - the man in the alley - was he the one they were looking for?

Holding her breath, she turned around.

He had stepped out of the alley.

She had not, up till that moment, properly looked at his face before, and when she did, her heart skipped a full beat. 

He was beautiful. Ethereal, with the golden sun suffusing his ivory skin, wreathing his blond hair in bronze and amber. The light dripped into his eyes, and Claudine noted, with breathless awe, that they were the color of winter glass.