Embracing The Light (Arno Dorian x OC), an Assassin's Creed Fanfiction

Chapter 8 : The Last Bottle

It had been four days since Rosalie did not see Arno and she was worried. Maybe she should not have told him about her uncertainties. Maybe the young man got upset and now he did not want to see her again. Even if she was indeed unsure whether she should trust him or not, she still enjoyed being with him. And now that he had stopped coming, she realized that she appreciated him more than she would ever admit, as if his absence opened her eyes on how much his presence mattered to her.
Tonight was Friday night, which meant that Rosalie was probably not going to have a single moment to breathe. She actually was fine with it, as it would keep her from thinking about Arno too much. But as she was serving some customers, she noticed a well-dressed man who entered the tavern. His brown pants matched with the waistcoat he wore above his white shirt. A little bordeaux scarf was tied around his neck. It was only when he met the young woman's gaze that Rosalie recognized Arno and now she could hear her heart beat like crazy inside her chest. Once he politely smiled at her, she imitated him and approached. Without his heavy stubble, she could really admire his well marked jaw and his lips, or more generally, his true beauty. This thought quickly made her cheeks turn red in spite of herself.
"Bonsoir (Good evening)." he calmly said.
"Bonsoir. Take your seat, I'll be right back." she replied to him.
The young man obeyed and left a pleasant odor of Cologne behind him. Rosalie grinned while she watched him walk towards his usual table before she went behind the bar counter and opened a bottle of red wine for Arno. But while she was leading towards him with the red wine on her plate, a sound caught the barmaid's attention. As she frowned, Rosalie turned her head towards her left, to wherever the noise came from, and noticed a broken bottle — thankfully empty, on the floor. A woman whose face was hidden by her hood was picking up the broken pieces. Rosalie then felt someone at her right walk past her, a hooded man who helped the stranger by grabbing the shards of glass.
"It's fine, I'll clean it up." the barmaid said but they did not listen.
After she watched them for a couple of seconds, she decided to first get rid of her bottle of wine and help the customers afterwards. While she was approaching Arno, the man had his back turned at her, until he felt her presence. The woman automatically smiled once he noticed her.
"How's your ankle ?" he softly asked.
Rosalie actually forgot about it as it had healed since then. "Better. Thanks." She smiled at him. "Where have you been ? I thought you would never come !" She slightly chuckled.
"Well, you said you needed time, so..."
"Yes, but not that I didn't want to see you again."
Arno opened his mouth, but nothing came out. So he only looked down.
Before the silence got too awkward, Rosalie spoke up. "I've struggled to recognize you when you came dressed like this !"
"Oui, it's been a long time since I haven't put those clothes on." he replied while he observed his clothing.
"Then you should put them on more often, it suits you well." Rosalie commented and, when she saw the surprised look on Arno's face she realized what she just said.
"Heu... Merci."
The young woman looked away as she internally cursed to herself, before she swallowed and rapidly changed the topic. "I have brought you some wine." She told him as she showed the bottle she was holding.
"Actually, I did not come here to drink." Arno said.
"Oh." Rosalie murmured.
"I wanted to talk to you." he added. "If you want to, of course."
The barmaid looked around before she replied. "I'm pretty busy right now. But if you can wait until we close the tavern..."
"Of course."
"Alright then." Rosalie sighed and nodded before she started to walk away from the table to join Louis back at the bar counter.
She put her bottle on it for the bartender. "I've opened it for Arno but he didn't want it." she explained to him.
"Let it there, I'll drink it later." Louis replied. He really liked to open a bottle of wine for himself after a long day of work.
Rosalie then went back towards the two customers who just had finished cleaning up their mess. The hooded woman then handed her the broken pieces she was holding and, while she put them inside Rosalie's hands, the barmaid noticed a birthmark on the client's left index.
"Merci." Rosalie smiled and the other woman's red thin lips seemed to curve. The barmaid tried to see the hooded woman's face, but in vain, as if the stranger was keeping her head low on purpose. But Rosalie had noticed a red cross-shaped necklace around her neck, catching her curiosity.
The other man put a little coin bag on the table, before he and the lady walked away while Rosalie watched them go. The young woman waited for them to leave the tavern to put the bag inside her apron's pocket, and then walked towards the pile of garbage at the doorstep to get rid of the pieces of glass she held. As she got back inside, she opened up the bag and was shocked. The amount of money in it was way too much for only one bottle of wine. Rosalie rushed to the bartender.
"Louis !" she exclaimed and the old man who was serving drinks at the counter turned his attention to the young woman who showed him what was inside the little bag. "Some bourgeois just left all of this for a single bottle of wine ! Can you believe it ?" she smiled.
The man raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Mon Dieu ! Are they out of their mind ?"
"I don't think so." She replied as she stored the coin with the rest of the money they had earned. "They're just rich."
While she was working, everytime the barmaid walked past Arno's table, she could not help but glance at him and, everytime their eyes met, she gave him a shy little smile which he always returned.