The Man Clad in Black: Book Two

Le Bouillon Chartier - Chapter 33

Meg was beyond exhausted. It had to do with her pregnancy, of course- and the fact that she had to sneak with you out of prison undetected.

Antoine remained inside in order to lock up, although Matthew made sure to escort the both of you out of there safely...

And thanks to him, the lot of you made it out of there without a scratch.

"Say... Do the two of you want to go to Le Buillon Chartier?" Matthew asked. Thanks to the fact that using a carriage would have been quite suspicious, the lot of you decided to walk... Even though Meg was in a tremendous amount of pain.

"I think I might just need to rest for a little," she said. "I may join you later- but for now, I think I'm just going to rest."

Matthew's eyebrows furrowed just a little.

"Would you like me to walk you back?" he asked, glancing to Meg. He turned back to you, his handsome face doused in moonlight, and he offered a bashful smile. "If that's alright with you, of course... If you wouldn't mind sparing a few seats, that would he lovely- but if you wouldn't like to, we could easily figure something out. Maybe-"

"That's perfectly okay with me, Matthew," you said with a smile. You wrapped your arms around yourself slightly, your hands tracing over where Erik's had been just moments ago, and you found your heart dinking just a little. You missed him already. As you glanced back to a relieved Matthew, you realized that some time to think things out definitely couldn't hurt. "Thank you."

***

You sat alone in the restaurant you had once worked in. The candlelight gave off a warm, welcoming glow, as if trying to coax you into some sort of nostalgic state, but you couldn't help but feel empty.

The last time you were here (aside from the questioning, of course) was after Erik had stolen you away for the night. You remembered how carefree you used to be- when you were without any worry besides getting Erik to fall in love with you... but ever since the incident with Don Juan, things seemed to change.

Your heart sank when one of your favorite coworkers arrived at your table.

"Bonjour!" a voice chimed, laced with false positivity. A menu was slid in front of you. "Have you eaten with us before?"

When your eyes flicked up, you were greeted with the kind face of your cleft-lipped friend, and when you locked eyes, she paused.

"...[Y/N]?" she blinked. When you carefully nodded, she gave a small squeal before covering her mouth, then looking around frantically to make sure nobody was watching. She quickly leaned down. "It's wonderful to see you again! I heard what happened- are you okay?"

"Better now, yes," you said, giving a slight twitch of your lips (that you hoped would suffice for a smile). Your heart was completely mangled at the moment- but of course, you didn't know who around you might be listening in.

Chosen didn't quite seem to catch your drift, but nonetheless, she just went along with it.

"Hmm... Well, I'll go ahead and grab you some water- you look a little faint," she said. "Not to sound rude or anything."

"Thank you," you smiled.

As she went away again, you bit the inside of your cheek. Was it even possible to get Erik out of prison?

You clutched onto the embroidered napkin you had placed on your lap.

What had they done to him to make him so weak? Did Antoine have anything to do with it?

Chosen was quick to return with a glass of water.

"If you need anything, let me know," she said. "Do you want to order now or wait for your company?"