Empêchement

Twenty-Six: Don't do the alcohols, kids.

About five minutes after we arrived, Andrew was asked to go up on stage a deliver a speech. Because this wasn't planned, there were a lot of verbal fillers and stumbling over words. All and all, he did a great job. Just as he was finishing, d'Etoiles made an appearance on stage and shoved some champagne into Andrews hand before making a toast.

"To a long partnership!" d'Etoiles said, lifting his glass in the air and then drinking. Anyone who had a glass followed, including Andrew. They then shook hands formally, with big smiles and walked off the stage together.

Somewhere along the way from the stage to me, d'Etoiles had grabbed another glass of champagne and handed it to me. He smiled the biggest smile he could manage, and he seemed genuinely happy.

"It's lovely to finally meet you, my dear!" He said, going in for a kiss/hug that's traditional to French culture. "Andrew talks about you a lot! That's how I found out about you," He laughed, "He wasn't going to tell anyone he was getting married!"

"Thank you, It's nice to meet you too." It felt weird saying that even though we already knew each other. I laughed quietly, "We agreed to keep it on the down-low for a little while, but things don't always happen as planned." I smiled up at Andrew, trying to sell the "We're in love" memo that d'Etoiles was picking up.

"No, they certainly don't!" He laughed again. "I hope you know that I am very pleased to be partnering with your betrothed. He is a very smart man."

"I'm glad." I said genuinely, "He seems to have been very thrilled about this as well."

We had stood around and talked for a while, laughing and sipping champagne. It was a lot of fun, actually. Eventually, d'Etoiles decided to entertain some of his other guests and left us to, as he put it, 'mingle with the rich and wealthy'.

So, we did. About half way through the entire event, a band showed up. Of course, bands in this time consisted of string instruments that resembled some from the 21st centuries equivalent. The music wasn't great, but it matched the scenery and the mood of the night. Everything was going really well so far.

Several times we saw Mikael. He often had more than one woman batting their eyes at him. In all honesty, I didn't blame those girls. He was really good looking, but he was way too quiet and formal for my taste. Every time he would nod politely at us, but made no attempt to start a conversation.

Andrew and I danced, and once we had done that, we watched others dance. Then towards the end, d'Etoiles came back over and swung his arm around Andrew.

"Andrew, buddy" He drew out the word buddy. It was obvious he was drunk and I could smell his alcohol soaked breath from here. "Guess what I'm doing in a few days!" Was slurring his words and leaning on Andrew. "I was wondering if you'd like to go with me."

Andrews furrowed his eyebrows, "What are you doing in a few days?" Andrew asked, struggling to support him.

D'Etoiles stopped swaying and whispered loudly into Andrews' ear, "I'm sneaking out." He paused, "Come with me, Andrew!"

"What?" Andrew asked, looking at me straight in the eyes. "This is important" He sent.

I nodded, already getting ready to remember what he was going to say.

"I'm sneaking out. I'm not going to work and I'm not going to come back home until very late."

It was funny how this grown man acted like a teenager. The man owned a bank, I'm pretty sure he could do whatever he wants and didn't have to sneak out to do it.

"Uh, okay, when?" Andrew asked with the appropriate amount of curiosity.

"SHHHs." D'Etoiles hissed into Andrew's ear. "I'm not going to tell you."

"Well, how am I supposed to go with you if you aren't going to tell me what you're doing?"

"It's in three days." D'etoiles hiccupped, all concerns of secrecy lost.

Andrew stared at me like you need to remember this, this is important. I nodded again.

"Where are you going, then?" Andrew asked.

Another hiccup "To the museum." He giggled "Just kidding. I'm going to the whorehouse closest to where I work."

God, drunk people. I thought rolling my eyes, Giving out way too much information for their own good. Too bad this one would lead to the end of his life. It was morbid. I didn't know how to feel about this.

"Uh, and how do you think you're going to get there?" Andrew asked.

"There's a riot planned that day. I'm gonna sneak out in its confusion and then join the crowd that's protesting with religion. They're generally a more relaxed," hiccup "crowd."

This could be problematic for us. If his life is attempted while in a crowd, we could kill someone else and end up starting WWIII in the future. That's a problem.

"Shhh. No one knows, okay?"

Andrew nodded. "Of course."

I picked that moment to step in to complain about my husband to-be going to a whore house. Hey, if I'm stuck with the role of fiancé, I might as well sell it. "Andrew, don't we have something planned that day, like your parents visiting or something?" I gave him a pointed look.

He gave me a questioning look, "Well, I thin-"

"Wait!" d'Etoiles screeched. "I know you, don't I?" He said, pointing angrily at me.

I took a step back in surprise but quickly got my wits together "Excuse me?" I asked. I knew this would happen. Damn it, I knew! I had a sudden urge to cry, but it faded quickly.

"I know you from someplace, I know I do. You seem so familiar."

"I'm sorry, sir, this is the first time we've met."

"DON'T LIE TO ME, WITCH!" D'Etoiles raised his hand as if he would strike me, but Andrew was much quicker.

He stepped in front of me, grabbed d'Etoiles arm as it came down and twisted it behind his back before pushing him forward.

The drunk man stumbled and then tripped into a table. Then the table toppled town as he did. Awe, man. I thought. That was the table with the pastries.

The people that were left at the party looked over but made no attempt to help.

I didn't know what to do, so I simply stood back with my hand on my chest and a shocked look on my face.

To be honest, I was actually really happy that Andrew had done that for me. d'Etoiles was a big man, obviously a lot stronger than I was. I don't know if I'd be able to stop him from hitting me.

Andrew turned around and cupped my face, "Are you alright?" He asked, his voice soft

I nodded, still acting shaken up. "What do we do about him?" I looked behind Andrews' shoulder at d'Etoiles who was slowly trying to get up.

He looked behind him, then back at me, obviously really angry. "I'll take care of it." He let go, grabbed a chair for me and set it down behind me. "Make sure to act like you're in shock."

I nodded and sat down, pulling a collapsible fan out of the little bag I had and fanning myself with it. My hand still on my chest for the dramatics.

Finally, someone wondered over. "What's going on here?" He asked

"It was a drunken burst of rage," Andrew told him, his voice going from soft to authoritative. "That's all. I have it handled."

The man looked at me. "And she's alright?"

I nodded at the same time Andrew said, "Just a little startled."

"This is your betrothed, yes?" He asked.

"Yes," Andrew said.

"Take her home. It's been much too eventful for a lady. I will get d'Etoiles to his room." He said.

Andrew nodded, "Thank you." He walked up to me and helped me out of the chair. "Let's go home, love." He said.