Murder At The Oddesey In (Capucine’s V)

I was walking home from work, like I do every night after closing up the flower shop. The rain was pouring, the storm came out of nowhere, and I hadn’t brought my umbrella. It had been one year to the day since Adrien…since I saw him at Mr. Laurent’s party. The memory stuck in my brain like napalm eating away at me even now.

So when I saw him walking down the street my way, I thought my eyes playing tricks on me. I almost didn’t recognize him. He looked so different than the modest young man I had grown up with through the years. His average attire was traded for a gaudy suit, his hair polished and styled and dyed at least a shade lighter. His eyes less tired, but somehow darker at the same time. Meanwhile, I, on the other hand looked almost exactly the same, save for a hair trim and contacts. So when he said those three words, I don’t think I took him seriously at first.

“Who are you?” - those were the hardest three words to hear in my life.

As he had approached, looking right through me, a million thoughts ran through my brain. Fall into his arms. Smack him. Cry. Scream. Something.

But I ate those feelings just in time to casually stop him with a gentle touch to the shoulder.

“Adrien?” I asked, quietly. Incredulously.

I don’t know what I truly expected. Maybe for him to feel some level of embarrassment for what he had done to me. Hell, maybe for him to scoff and laugh at me, baffled as to why he had ever given me a second look to begin with. But for him to not even know who I was after 5 years together. Well. As I hurried away that evening, my tears getting lost with the rain, I swore to myself I’d have my revenge on Mr Laurent for everything he took from me. Adrien made his choices, sure, but Mr Laurent had a way of changing people.