The Angel's Shadow || The Phantom of the Opera || Book Two

23. Paris

Chapter Twenty Three || Paris

Third Person

Due to the steady rain that had not let up since La Sirène's departure from New France, most of the four day voyage to France was spent indoors. The ship tossed like a twig in the ocean during those four days, the rain getting heavier and heavier and the winds blowing with a fierce vengeance. The Renoir siblings and the Vallette family were only comforted by the fact that their trip was almost over.

Mélodie couldn't wait to see land. Not only because it meant seeing Erik again but because it would mean an end to her horrendous sea sickness. She had promised Fleur that she would spend time with her during their four day voyage. However, after day two, Mélodie could barely get out of bed; the sickness and dizziness so terrible that the slightest movement made her toss up whatever she rebelliously put into her stomach. You can imagine how Fleur must have felt when she realized this left her with no escape from her admirer, Dantes.

During their agonizing and unavoidable get togethers with her parents, Fleur made no effort to hide her distaste for the charming King. She kept quiet while her parents conversed with the annoying admirer and she made sure she never made eye contact with him.

However, on day three, she noticed something odd. Now three days into their four day journey, Fleur's mission to give Dantes the cold shoulder came to an abrupt halt. While she had been averting her gaze to other tables and doing her best to ignore the flirtations she noticed - there hadn't been any passes coming from the King. This entire time, Dantes hadn't even tried talking to her. In fact, the more Fleur thought about it, Dantes hadn't even really looked at her. The only form of acknowledgment from him was a simple nod to say hello. After that, Dantes gave his attention to Fleur's parents. 

"Odd." she thought. She was so certain his flirtations would continue once he was away from his homeland and on vacation with her family. What bothered her even more was...she felt disappointed. "Did he lose his interest in me? Did he find someone else?" How quickly people change when the shoe is on the other foot. 

On day four, Fleur spent most of her time studying the young King Dantes. It suddenly dawned on her that she hadn't actually looked at the man since they met. As she sipped her tea she peered over her cup and studied Dantes as he conversed with her parents. She noticed that there were many features he shared with his sister Mélodie. Dantes and Mélodie had the same wild curls, but instead of brown like his sister's, Dantes's hair is a midnight black. Their eyes were both a warm, honey brown. And his full lips...his red lips...

"Fleur, darling."

Fleur accidentally allowed some tea to slip down the wrong pipe, causing her to cough and nearly spill the dark liquid all over her cream colored day dress, "Y-yes, Maman?" She felt the heat of her blush spread through her cheeks and she set down her cup and saucer, knowing it would be safer there on the table than in her shaky hands. She tried not to notice the strange looks the people at her table gave her. 

Fleur's mother blinked at her a few times before asking, "What was the name of the gardener we had, love?" The strange look remained on Amelia's face while she waited for an answer.

Fleur kept her eyes trained on her lap, clearing her throat and dabbing the corners of her mouth with her napkin, "Pierre, Maman."

At the sound of the name, Amelia's face lit up and she exclaimed, "That's it!" Her mother threw up her hands and laughed, "What a nice young man!" Turning back to Dantes she continued on with her story, telling him how Pierre had to leave so he could tend to his new growing family.

Fleur didn't dare raise her gaze to the man sitting across from her now. What was she thinking? She had no business staring at him the way she had. She hoped Dantes hadn't noticed. How embarrassing would that be!