[Paris - December 2001] I love Paris in the winter when it drizzles (Émilie)

Paris was beautiful at any time of the year. However, Ségolène found that it had a special appeal in the winter. The lights were making everything look even prettier. The cafés looked cosier and the shops seemed to offer even more interesting items in their display than usual. Therefore, the young witch had been delighted to hear that Émilie wanted to meet her there between Christmas and New Year's Eve. Truth be told Ségolène hoped for snow for the day, thinking it would make Paris appear like a perfect winter wonderland. However, upon arriving in the French capital the librarian wrinkled her nose in distaste. While it had been moderately warm and friendly in Chatoeil she was welcomed by a grey sky, temperatures just a few degrees above freezing and it was drizzling, making it feel colder than it really was.

She pulled her collar of her coat up and pulled her hat further into her face. Her gloved hands held a gift wrapped in green paper and tied with a red ribbon which was for Émilie for Christmas. She was anxious to find out if her friend liked her choice of a book she had got at a gallery in Beauxbatons. It was the catalogue of an exhibition of portraits painted by a famous witch who liked to capture the latest fashions on canvas. Hair styles that were photographed for Witch Weekly were shown as well as make up trends. Some of the pictures were even animated to show the development of a certain style. Ségolène had hoped to make the time to see the exhibition together with her friend but as it had ended right before Christmas she wanted to give Émilie at least a chance to see it in a smaller format.

She was glad to be away from Beauxbatons for a bit now, the giants were making the castle a less enjoyable work space. In fact, the sight of the grounds made a shiver run down Ségolène's spine these days. So many things were destroyed or at least quite damaged. It hurt to see the majestic castle and its grounds in such a state but she could do little to help although she tried to assist wherever she could. What the young woman did not want to do though was to get close to any of the giants. What would happen if one of them touched her? Would she have a vision of their past then? Would it be different from what she experienced with people? She wasn't curious enough to find the answers to these questions. In fact, she didn't want to find them at all.

As she arrived at the café that Émilie had suggested, Ségolène hesitated. She knew she was early. Should she wait outside for her friend or should she already go inside. Normally the librarian would have chosen to wait outside but the weather was making her freeze and she decided that she could as well go inside and secure them a good place near the window from which they could observe the passers by nicely. She took off her hat, gloves and her coat, revealing a purple turtleneck sweater and sat down. Feeling that it was awkward to have the present visible at first sight, she put it on the chair next to the one she had chosen for herself and pushed it under the table so that the gift was nicely hidden from sight. When a waiter arrived, asking her if she wanted to order anything yet she told him that she would be waiting for her friend. Then she leaned back on her chair and stared outside. Now, sitting in the nicely warmed-up café the weather looked a lot more appealing than it had at first. It gave Paris some mysterious charm that reminded the former Bellefeuillle of a fairy tale she had read as a student about a young girl who got lost in Paris in such a weather and met her prince in the end. A thoughtful smile spread across her face as she tried to remember the details of the story. Her train of thought was interrupted though as the door of the café swung open.

@Émilie Côté <333

Émilie was engaged. Of course, she had been engaged once before, to the same man, no less, but it was no less exciting the second time. She wanted to tell everyone, of course, but they were tricky waters to navigate. First, there was the whole matter that Volker had left and spent two years away from her, just to reappear suddenly and repropose. Émilie had no second thoughts whatsoever about saying yes to him, but she knew it would be hard for other people to understand. No one else had the sort of bond that she and Volker did, the bond that was on a whole other level above ‘soulmates’.

So she had so far only told her flatmate, mostly a courtesy because she was hoping Volker would be spending a lot more time at their place from now until they were married in February. Plus, Maddie was a baker and Émilie would love nothing more than to have her help with desserts for the reception. Next on her list should have been her family, but she was still figuring out the best way to approach them with it. Something like ‘Remember that boy that broke my heart? Well now he’s back and we’re getting married.’ just didn’t have the level of refinement that the woman thought the situation warranted. She had worn her engagement ring to work but had been sure to slip it off and into the pocket of her apron any time her father or Roland paid a visit to the coffee cart. Of course, it had only been a couple days, but it was enough to drive her crazy not telling people.

She knew Ségolène would be excited to hear the news. It was news too big for a letter, so she had invited her for lunch at one of her favorite cafes (the one with the best hot spiced wine) to tell her in person. Plus, she had her Christmas present to deliver, and doing it in person was so much easier than finding an owl to borrow. With the present stowed neatly in her purse, Émilie shrugged on her still-fairly-new white coat and made her way to the cafe, only a few minutes late. Fashionably so. She slid her gloves into her pocket, only having them for when she desperately needed them. She didn’t want anything to obstruct the view of her ring from anyone.

She saw Ségolène through the window as she approached, and she beamed and waved as she got closer, speeding up to get inside now that she knew she was being waited for. “Hi, hi, sorry I’m late.” She waved, careful to use her left hand before using the same hand to tuck a bit of hair behind her ear, hoping that she was being obvious enough about her ring that Ségolène would notice without her having to say anything.

Ségolène didn't have to wait for very long until she saw her friend approaching. Émilie always looked gorgeous and already when she hurried past the window, Ségolène thought that she looked like a princess from a fairy tale with this beautiful white coat and the beaming smile on her face. While the librarian was mostly content with who she was and how she looked, she always felt that her friend was more prettier than she was. She was not envious though or so she told herself. It would be of little use for her to be as beautiful anyway, would it? She might attract more attention then, risk getting touched more often and thus having visions more frequently. No, everything was good just as it was.

When Émilie approached her table, Ségolène felt awkward because she did not raise from her chair to greet her friend with a hug. She never did that, of course. Most of her friends knew not to touch her because she always reacted oddly. However, sometimes the Bellefeuille graduate wished that this thing about her was different. She could not greet a friend with a hug without fearing having a stressful vision and intruding into an intimate moment of another person's past. Sometimes she wished she could get a comforting hug when she felt lonely but she would never ask for that because of the before mentioned worries.

Émilie did not have to wave with her left hand to make Ségolène notice the shiny ring on her finger. The librarian didn't know what to think or say. Eye wide open, she stared at the ring that was clearly an engagement ring. It looked beautiful and it suited Émilie well but who had given it to her?

"Salut," Ségolène breathed, "I think you've got a lot to tell me." She only briefly looked at Émilie's face before turning her gaze down to her hand again. "That's a stunning ring," she added aware that Émilie hardly needed another invitation to start sharing what had happened recently. Truth be told, the former Bellefeuille felt certain that she would soon have a hard time to get a word in. However, this was quite fine with her. Ségolène was convinced that her friend had exciting news and she didn't have much to talk about anyway.

Oh, thank goodness. Émilie had been momentarily worried that Ségolène wouldn’t notice the ring, though she quickly realized what a silly mistake that was. Of course she noticed it. Who couldn’t? Volker had done a remarkable job finding it for her, in some cave or temple or something. She hadn’t really followed the story that easily. Point was, it was beautiful, breathtaking, and as Ségolène put it: stunning.

“Oh this?” Émilie brought her hand done in front of her, affording her the opportunity to gaze at the ring yet again, for probably the hundredth time that day. “Well,” she started slowly, drawing out the pause rather dramatically as she took the seat across from her friend. “I’m getting married.” She started with the obvious, knowing just how to spin a story to keep her audience captivated. “It was all a bit quick, but it’s meant to be, of course.” She wondered what sort of man Ségolène was picturing, figuring she could help her out a bit. “He’s tall, and handsome, and has the most incredible hair,” she added with a nod, again using her left hand to push her hair back from her face.

The waiter returned just as Émilie was going to reveal that her someone was Volker. She ordered a hot spiced cider, beaming at him as he left after getting the Bellefeuille’s order. “You might know him,” she continued without invitation, a cheeky grin spreading across her lips.

“It’s Volker,” she finally revealed, not waiting to take a breath before launching into her next sentence: “I’m getting married to Volker, I’m getting married.” She clapped her hands together a few quick times, too giddy to not share her excitement with the rest of the cafe, decorum be damned. She took a breath, before reiterating, “Volker and I are getting married.” She didn’t add any other details, not yet, wanting to get the most important bit of information out of the way first.

Ségolène smiled when Émilie lifted her hand to take a look at her ring again. Although the librarian did not yet know the story behind the engagement ring she could already see how jubilant her friend was and how much she enjoyed the situation. That was enough to make Ségolène feel really happy for Émilie. She was patient enough to allow her friend to take her time with the story. She would not hurry her to give the essential information of who the lucky future husband was no matter how curious she already was.

The Bellefeuille graduate chuckled softly when Émilie stated that she was getting married. It was obvious, of course. While Ségolène would not have made a show of this story like her friend did she understood that it was the right thing for her. "Of course," Ségolène echoed the other girl. She really had no idea what kind of man they were talking about. Truth be told, Ségolène had a hard time imagining her friend in a lasting relationship with anybody else than her ex boyfriend Volker. A new man in Émilie's life would always have to compete with him and as much as she wished her friend a happy love life she did not believe that any man would survive this comparison for a long time.

It seemed typical to Ségolène that Émilie described her fiancé's looks rather than his character traits and position in life. She grinned a little. Of course, a man that managed to steal Émilie's heart had to be a handsome guy. Still, the librarian had a hard time imagining a new man at her friend's side.

The waiter interrupted Émilie's story, but naturally the girl did not take very long to continue with it once they were alone again. Eyebrows raised, Ségolène looked at her friend when she told her that she might actually know the so far secret fiancé. It could not be that he returned, could it?

It could.

She let out a sigh of relief, happy that no new acquaintance was going to enter a doomed relationship with Émilie. However, knowing how things had ended or, well, given the new realisations, been interrupted, Ségolène was not entirely sure that this was really a good thing to happen. She wished her friend the very best indeed. She hoped with all her heart that the two of them would be one of these couples that lived happily ever after but the decision did seem a little rushed. Then again who was she to judge them? She didn't know what exactly had happened.

For once in her life, Ségolène was tempted to hug her friend to congratulate her and risk or even evoke a vision. She had seen the couple breaking up. She'd much rather witness the delightful scene of a proposal than the emotional pain that Volker had inflicted on Émilie by leaving her.

"I'm speechless," the Bellefeuille graduate whispered, lifting her hand to her mouth. She really didn't know what to say. It was good news, or so she hoped. However, how did one react to this news knowing the background story? "I'm so so happy for you both. I hope that this time it all works out the way you want it. You deserve nothing but a perfect wedding and ever lasting happiness with the love of your life." Ségolène blinked a few times, her eyes glistening with tears as she couldn't hide her emotions anymore. 

She might have mentioned to Ségolène a few negative things about Volker, almost exclusively after a few glasses of wine, and she was fully prepared to take them all back, to paint everything as just a big misunderstanding, but she could do all of that later. Right now, however, it was time to focus on the important matters at hand. Like her hand. Her ring. Her engagement ring. Her being engaged to be married. Married.

‘Speechless’ was just the sort of reaction she had been hoping for, though she would have appreciated some sort of speech to tell her just how happy she was for her. But it was no matter. She didn’t need Ségolène’s words because she was getting married. Émilie didn’t have to wait too long for that speech, though, as the other woman was soon talking again. She beamed, clapping her hands together excitedly a few times.

“I think everlasting happiness with the love of my life is really the only option.” She honestly couldn’t picture a different outcome for all of this. She kept catching her reflection (and specifically the reflection of her ring) in the mirror, almost distracting her enough to miss that Ségolène was being moved to tears with her good fortune. “Oh no, Ségo, it’s okay,” she reached into her purse and pulled out a white lace handkerchief and held it out for her to take. She couldn’t blame her though. She could hardly believe it herself that she was about to be married.

Émilie nodded again, holding out her left hand for Ségolène to get a better look at the ring, her new nail color perfectly matching the red of the stone making up the heart of the ring. “It’s going to be in February, on the fourteenth,” she started, her hand still outstretched. “I know it’s soon, but you’ll be able to make it, right?” She wanted to make sure she would be able to go before putting herself out on the line and asking her to be an actual part of the wedding.

It was so wonderful to see her friend this overjoyed. Ségolène blinked to hide the tears which came along with the emotions she felt at this moment. She had seen a happy Émilie before. She had been delighted and emotional when Volker had proposed for the first time as well but this was different, this was just more. She smiled as she observed her friend, listened to her words and just enjoyed how jubilant she was.

"I think you're right," Ségolène agreed as Émilie said that everlasting love and happiness was their only option now. It was probably really meant to be. However, should Volker ever dare to break Émilie's heart again Ségolène felt certain she'd seek him out and give him a piece of her mind. Émilie deserved nothing but being perfectly happy with the love of her life. The librarian herself did not see such an option for herself. With her special ability to see into other people's pasts she was not meant to have a partnership or so she thought. How could she be with anyone? In the most intimate moment she might have a vision of her partner with someone else they have known in the past... She was destined for heartbreak if she ever opened up to anyone.

Biting her lips and closing her eyes, Ségolène tried to cast these thoughts away. She wanted to be happy for her friend and not mourn her own fate. She could live through Émilie a little, the other witch would probably share quite some details about her life and Ségo could imagine how it would be to be so lucky herself.

She took her friend's handkerchief and dried her tears, laughing nervously. "I'm sorry. This is just such great news. I'm so happy for you." Her voice was brittle now but she soon managed to regain control again. "On Valentine's Day..." she acknowledged the mention of the wedding date. "That's pretty soon indeed but a perfect choice for a wedding day. Of course I'll make it! I wouldn't want to miss this special moment for anything in the world."

“I’m definitely right.” She ought to know that. Émilie nodded excitedly, softening her wide I’m-so-in-love smile into a smaller you’re-such-a-good-friend smile as Ségolène took the handkerchief. “So great,” she agreed automatically, catching her reflection in the window and getting just a tiny bit distracted by her own reflection, the normal curls and face, only complimented by the equally reflective ring. But she heard the word ‘you’ and she nodded again, looking back to her friend.

She nodded again, picking up more excitement as Ségolène promised she would be able to make the date -- and didn’t miss the fact that it was Valentine’s Day. “It’s soon, yes, but honestly, I’d wish it was sooner.” To be even more honest, she probably would have married him the other night when he had first knocked on her door if it had been any day other than Christmas Eve. But she could wait two months, she supposed.

Not like she had much of a choice, anyway.

“It’ll be fun, I’m sure, even with all of Volker’s family there.” She was heavily implying she simply meant they were German and much less fun at parties, surely, even if there was no truth to the implication. She really shouldn’t be worrying about their families boredom inducing presence, anyway, considering they still hadn’t told either set that they were engaged again. That was a worry for a different day, she supposed.

She moved suddenly to reach for her purse, remembering that she had brought Ségolène a gift. It was a small box wrapped in white, opalescent paper, tied with red ribbon, and she handed it over eagerly. It was a small light blue leatherbound planner of sorts, but instead of dates and lookaheads, it had lists to keep track of books that had been read and lines for details about what was enjoyed, what wasn’t, etc. It was certainly something Émilie would ever use, but she could only assume that as a librarian, Ségolène might get some use out of it.

But just in case it was as silly as she thought it was, Émilie had included a silk scarf similar to one she had worn and been complimented on in Italy.

Seeing Émilie this happy was just wonderful. Ségolène hoped that things would really work out the way her friend was expecting. Endless love and eternal happiness did not have to be a myth, it could be real, couldn't it? Not everybody could experience it, of course. However, Ségolène hoped that Émilie was one of these lucky few.

She could barely keep her eyes off of her now, seeing the beaming smile, the confidence and happiness reflected in her friend's face was just heart warming. Why did she never have visions of such moments? It was innocent and pure and at the same time deeply romantic just like in a perfectly written love story.

In response to her friend's comment that the wedding could not come soon enough, the librarian smiled. She could understand Émilie's eagerness to make it official although she believed that she would enjoy the anticipation as well. Preparing things so they'd end up perfect was also part of the appeal, wasn't it?

“I'm sure you do,” Ségolène said understandingly. “It's not long though and you probably still have a lot to prepare, don't you?”

The comment about Volker's family being there and that apparently not being an asset was noted but Ségolène didn't quite know what to make of it and decided to let it slip. Apparently Émilie did not like her fiancé's family much or did not think they were much fun anyway. That definitely was nothing to discuss in a moment of sheer happiness though.

When Ségolène was still thinking about her friend's comment, Émilie suddenly gave her a present. The girl was confused for a brief moment, before realising that she had a gift for the former Papillonlisse as well. She smiled, opening the present carefully as though she was afraid to harm it in a way by ripping the white, opalescent paper too quickly.

As she opened the box, she made a soft “oooh,” which, accompanied by her smile, made sure that she liked what she saw. She ran her fingers over the silk scarf, pulling it out gently afterwards. “It is so pretty,” she said in a hushed voice. Then she took a closer look at the book and nodded. “That's a good idea as well. Thank you so much, Émilie!”

She paused to admire the presents for another moment before reaching out for gift she had for her friend, wrapped in green paper and tied with a red ribbon. She hoped that the exhibition catalogue that featured portraits of models wearing exquisite dresses would be something her friend liked. Now that she thought about it – there was also a section about wedding dresses and hair styles in the book. Hopefully Émilie would appreciate her present just as much as she appreciated the ones she had just received.

“Oh, I have so much to prepare, you wouldn’t believe.” Émilie nodded, happy that she would get to vent about this. Of course, she had all her plans from that last time she had planned to get married, but in the couple days since getting engaged, she hadn’t decided if it was bad juju to reuse those ideas. If she needed new ideas, she needed to focus and get started. She didn’t want to think about it now, though. She’d much rather talk about Christmas presents.

Émilie clapped her hands together as her friend opened the gift, eager to see another smile on her face. “Oh, I’m so pleased you like it!” She beamed, clapping her hands again. “I was so torn on what to get you. Don’t be surprised if you get more scarves for your birthday because I found so many that would look simply divine on you.” Émilie nodded quickly, equally pleased that Ségolène liked the book as well. “You’re so welcome, really.” Ségolène read so much, it must have been impossible to keep track of everything. Émilie was so proud of herself for finding that.

“Ooh,” Émilie reached for her own gift, admiring the paper and ribbon and offering Ségolène a wide smile. She wasted no time ripping the paper off (much to the chagrin of the passing waiter) and flipping the book over to take a proper look at the cover. It was such a relief to find that it was a catalogue of photos, different designs and ideas and everything she could possibly need for her upcoming nuptials, instead of an actual honest-to-god book with words.  “This is perfect.” She flipped through the first few pages, folding down the corner of one particularly stunning hairstyle she would be trying out immediately.

She sipped at her cider, having completely forgotten about it in the past few minutes with all the talk about Volker and the exchanging of presents. “I am really so happy we got to do this. I’ve been dying to tell you all of this, really.”

"There must be so many things to consider," Ségolène agreed. "How many people do you invite? Where are you going to celebrate?" These were questions Ségolène wanted to get answered rather than a list of things to do. However, she wasn't sure she had made this quite clear. "I mean, do you already know these things? I suppose these were among the first things you thought about, right?"

The young librarian smiled, happy to see her friend so pleased that she liked the presents. That was almost worth more than the actual gifts although she really appreciated those as well. She blushed ever so slightly as Émilie mentioned to give her more scarves on a later occasion. She didn't want or need that. It was simply too much. Of course, she appreciated the presents Émilie gave her but she felt somehow unworthy of them, of the attention.

"Thank you," she only whispered again, feeling slightly embarrassed. The Bellefeuille graduate was relieved when her friend's attention was on the present she had brought for her although she was a little nervous about that too. Hopefully Émilie would like the gift. She had given it quite some thought, after all.

It seemed like she had made a good choice as her friend stated that it was perfect. It certainly wasn't literally perfect, but it seemed to be good enough at least. "I'm glad you like it," Ségolène said, clearly relieved. "There are also some wedding dresses in the book. Do you already have yours?" No matter which wedding dress Émilie would choose for herself, she'd look absolutely stunning.

"I'm happy we found the time too. It's been too long and you had such exciting news! I mean, seriously, that's such a big deal and simply wonderful. I'm so happy for you, I can't even put it in words." The librarian felt like she was getting overwhelmed with feelings again and began to examine the scarf more closely as to distract from the tears that were glistening in her eyes. "It's so lovely," she gushed.

“Oh my goodness, so many.” She had no idea, and Émilie had no idea where she could even start to begin explaining how much there was to do. But Ségolène began asking questions and she couldn’t help herself. “A million people, at least.” More realistically, maybe a couple hundred? She thought she knew that many, at least. Plus their families, and all the people they wanted to invite solely for the purpose of wedding gifts. Some countries had traditions of giving actual gifts to the newly married couple -- how backwards was that? -- and she had never been more grateful for living (and getting married) in France.

She knew, at least, where it would be located. “Lavaveix-les-Mines, for sure.” She was so excited for everyone to see her hometown -- it wasn’t Paris but it was still home -- and she wanted February to be tomorrow. Except of course, she still didn’t have anything planned. “I know some stuff, but my tastes are so much more refined than they were two years ago.” She thought so, anyway. “So I’ll have to think of some new things, probably.” She shrugged, taking another sip of cider.

Émilie cooed at the mention of wedding dresses in the book, and she quickly flipped through the pages until her eyes landed on the sea of white. “So lovely,” she sighed, picturing herself in one right after the other. “Iiii don’t,” she answered with a sheepish smile when asked if she already had her wedding dress. She had one, years ago, but her grandmother had burned it for her as some sort of effigy after all of that business. Besides, even if she hadn’t, that would have been especially bad luck to wear it, right? That’d just be asking for something to go wrong.

“It is lovely,” Émilie sighed, closing the book and pushing it a little to the side. She was so happy that her friend took the news well; it would make telling her family just a bit easier, she thought. “But enough about me--” they would come back to the subject of her later, she was sure “--how is school? I hear people talking about the giants and stuff and it all seems so crazy. The library’s okay, I hope?” She didn’t, but it seemed like it was what she needed to be hoping for, for Ségolène’s sake.