𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞 || 𝐀 𝐁𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐅𝐚𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐧

01

Juliette woke up as she normally did, sitting in her windowsill with a open book in her lap. It was early October the cool wind blowing the leaves around on the street below her. As she got up, Achilles, her black cat, walked around her feet.

"Bonjour Achilles, avez-fous faim?" She said softly, taking the cat food out of the cupboard and pouring Achilles a small bowl. She set down the bowl, walking to her room to get ready for the day. The bookshop didn't open until eight, so the blonde had plenty time to get ready.

Changing into a black skirt and turtle neck with a grey sweater, Juliette smiled softly at herself in the mirror. She slowly put on her Mary Jane's, brushing her hair before heading to the bathroom to brush her teeth. Checking her phone, she was pleased to see a good weather report.

Grabbing her purse and book, Juliette was out the door and on her way to her favorite cafe. The walk was short and sweet, the welcoming cafe scent of baked goods invading her lungs.

"Bonjour Juliette!"

"Bonj- Er, Good...morning, Richard." Juliette smiled proudly.

"Ah, you've been working on your english I see, very nice, very nice. Same as usual?" Juliette nodded at the elder, taking her seat one of the stools facing the window that looks out to the street with a shelf for people to eat.

Richard shortly came over and sat down a plate of two golden brown croissants with some strawberrys and a small cup of esspresso made exactly how she likes it, with a small paper bag that was unexpected.

"Qu'est-ce qu'il y a dans le sac?"

Richard smiled, "Je t'ai fait des bonbons de nourriture des anges hier soir puisque je sais que tu les aimes."

Juliette beamed and hugged the old man, estatic, "Merci!"

Richard smiled and nooded, walking back into the kitchen. Juliette ate her breakfast, a good feeling settling in her mind, today was going to be a great day.

As she finished, Juliette left ten euro's for Richard, his usual price for her. Richard waved to Juliette as she left, her returning the wave with a smile. Her walk to work was mindless, this routine engraved into her head since 15 years old. Juliet was now 23.

Moving closer, Juliette smiled at the old bookstore, her second home since she was 12. Unlocking the door, she turned on the lights, grabbing the duster left by the door, walking around and dusting off the bookshelves that seem to never stay clean.

She sat down in her comfy chair behind the counter, grabbing her purse and taking out her book. It was a quiet day like most, the only people coming in were the owners, a nice older couple whose love is still present, even after 50 years.

It wasn't until about 4:30, that somebody had actually entered, somebody who actually seemed interested. He was tall, definitely, with dark brown hair that rested on his shoulders. He was definitely muscular, his crisp suit did little to hide that. He didn't look the type to walk into a book store like this.

"Bonjour, n'hésitez pas à me demander si vous avez besoin d'aide." Juliette spoke sweetly, to not startle the tall, confident man. Obviously not expecting anyone to talk to him, he grinned, nodding and continuing into the forest of shelves. The blonde girl curiously watched him as he navigated throughout the store, seemingly struggling to read most book titles. "Uhm, excuse me, are you american? I...a...apologize if that comment comes off as rude." Juliette talks slowly to not fumble her wording.

The unknown man is yet again unsuspecting of her talking to him, caught off guard. "Yes, I'm only here on business, figured I'd look around the town." He smiles, watching her get up and walk over to where he is standing, "I guess I'm having trouble reading the titles." He rubs the back of his neck in embarrassment while Juliette merely chuckles.

"If you cannot read the titles, you may not want to read these books, they're all in French," Her accent was noticeable as she led him to another part of the shop, "This section would be better, everything is in english. I'm Juliette." Juliette smiles as she looks up to meet his eyes, her head barely reaching his shoulder.

"James Barnes, nice to meet you." They shake hands, James' hand fully engulfing Juliette's hand. His hand was rough in contrast to her softer one. Now up close, Juliette could get a better look at his face. He had a squared jaw, his eyes a striking blue and he had the slightest bit of stubble. As she took in him, James also analyzed her. How her green eyes had specks of brown and how her pale skin was littered with freckles. Her blonde, almost white, hair fell messily over her shoulders, small strands that weren't pushed behind her ears framed her face like a beautiful piece of art.

Finally realizing how long they'd been staring at each other, Juliette shyly pulled her hand away, "I should let you look around," she looked around, pretending to not feel his gaze on her, "I'll be up by the counter if you need me." Silently nodding at him, she quickly walked back to her spot behind the counter, internally yelling at herself, what was that? Jeez Juli, could you be any more awkward? Meanwhile, as James kept looking at books, nothing registered as his head was filled with thoughts of Juliette, Was I too quiet? She's ethereal, she could put Aphrodite to shame. She probably thinks I'm too clean.

After about 30 minutes of looking, James approached the counter Juliette was behind with a book in hand. Looking up from her novel, Juliette smiled and stood up, looking at the prices of each book. "Your total is 8.26 euros." Juliette said softly, grabbing a pen from the counter to write on a small piece of paper, quickly writing something and slipping it in the first page of the book before James could see. He slipped the money on the table, smiling at Juliette as she put the book into a bag. "Goodbye James."

"Goodbye Juliette." Juliette watched James leave with a small smile adorning her face. She happily sighed, sitting back down and reading for the next hour of her shift.

At 6 on the dot, Juliette got up, closing her book and putting it in her bag. She turned out the lights and locked up the shop, starting her walk home. As she walked, Juliette was totally unaware of the stranger, known as James Barnes, sitting in 5 star his hotel room, searching for every bit of information he could find on the beautiful woman known as Juliette.

James removed his eyes from his laptop when he noticed the small piece of paper stick out of the book he had bought. He grabbed it, smiling at the numbers written on the back with a smooth signature that read Juliette with a heart for the dot on the i. Grabbing his phone, he quickly typed in the numbers, holding his breath as the phone rang.

Juliette was startled as her phone beside her began to ring, the light flashing next to her on the bed. She sat down her book and cleared her throat, picking up the phone. "Bonjour, c'est Juliette." James smiled at the sound of her soft voice, smoothing his hair back.

"Bonjour Juliette, this is James, we met at the bookstore earlier." His voice was deep, soft, yet still deep, as if he didn't want to speak loudly to alarm her. Juliette's breath hitched, as she wasn't expecting him to call so soon. "I understand it's late, and if you're up for it we could go tomorrow, but how would you feel if I took you out for dinner?"

"Dinner?"

"Yes, I saw a nice restaurant on 15th street, figured that would be nice, if you would join me."

Juliette knew that the only restaurant on 15th was a very expensive one, she had dreamed about getting to eat there one day, in a fancy dress and heels. "I'd love too, but je devrais te réchauffer, that place is very expensive." Her voice was laced with concern and James almost laughed, but he instead quietly chuckled.

"Don't worry about that mademoiselle. Should we say seven?"

Juliette warmed at the name James had used. "Seven it is. You can pick me up at 643, 12th street. See you then."

"See you then."

A/n: I need to warn everyone that updates will not be consistent and may be even months apart, but I'll always crawl back to this book, no matter what