Chapter Text
Defernand wasn’t aware of the relationship at the time, though he knew Macron went often to Auzière’s house. “I assumed there was a flirt between him and her daughter Laurence,” he says.
[x]
The end of Laurence's first week of school involved her luring Emmanuel into her home court - the drama club that her mother is an adviser of. She thought that she was going to get the home court advantage that she wanted (and her mother promised her with); Instead, she has witnessed this very boy she was trying to outsmart try to win her mother's heart - not in a way that a suitor would treat her beloved's mother nicely to win her approval over his relationship with her beloved - instead, Emmanuel was winning her mother's heart as if he wanted to date her mother instead of her.
Laurence was infuriated while her mother found the entire display of affection from Emmanuel to be shocking - in that she literally had to remind the boy that she is a married woman and if he really wanted to date a woman who was like her so badly, Laurence is literally like her because she is literally her daughter.
"So this is how you want to play this game, Manu..." Laurence said to herself as she put on a pair of earrings that she snagged from her mother's jewelry box, "...I am not one of the brightest girls in Truchtersteim for nothing and I surely will be one of the brightest girls in Amiens now."
Laurence then put on some of her mother's Lancôme Trésor perfume while seated by her mother's dressing table. This was always the scent her mother wore when she reported to work at la Providence and it was probably the scent that sealed the deal for Emmanuel that he was going to go for her mother instead of going for her.
In a few moments, Emmanuel should arrive at their house because her mother had invited him over to work on the script of a play called "The Art of Comedy" by Eduardo De Filippo because it turned out the play only had a few roles but the drama club had so many members so now they had to revise the script so that there could be more roles for the club members to take. She too, had a role to play in the revision of the script - her mother had literally made her the head scriptwriter in the hopes that Emmanuel would put his attention on her.
Laurence had then finished preparing herself for the writing session and walked out of her parents' room as if nothing happened (when in reality, she decided to adapt a bit of her mother's style in the hope that Emmanuel would pay attention to the right person). She walked towards the living room where to her surprise - the guest of the night was already waiting. None other than Monseur Macron himself.
"Hey Manu." Laurence said in a tone that was between shy and easy-going.
"If it isn't Mademoiselle Auzière..." Emmanuel said, acknowledging the girl in front of him, "They are right, you are really like your mother."
His common sense has finally kicked in!, Laurence thought to herself. Then, she took her seat near Emmanuel.
"Of course, I am her daughter, after all." Laurence answered with a smile, "Anyway, I am glad you could make it tonight. Revising that script all by myself would be a nightmare. It's good Maman decided that I should have an assistant scriptwriter."
"This play we're working on...It's called L'arte della commedia in Italian, which would be L'art de la comédie in our language..." Emmanuel went on to say, "An interesting play, really. It was finished in 1965 by Eduardo De Filippo who was named senatore a vita by the President of the Italian Republic Sandro Pertini for his artistic merits and contributions to Italian culture."
"And yet, he did more than contribute to Italian culture," Laurence continued, "De Filippo also managed to export Italian culture into its neighboring countries. Its why we're here today to create our rendition of his 1964 play."
"Ah, glad to see that you've finally made it here!" Brigitte said as she walked into the living room where her daughter and Emmanuel are waiting, "Monseur Macron, you will be working with my daughter tonight. Of course I will be here to supervise the script that you have both created but know that the both of you have creative control over your work. I am only here to guide you."
"You know, Emmanuel is a great match for our Laurence." André-Louis, Brigitte's husband said as he looked on his daughter and Emmanuel.
"I agree with you," Brigitte said, glad that her husband is on board with the idea that Laurence and Emmanuel should end up together (which is in any case, always better than her own marriage being ruined by that boy), "I really made the good decision to accept the offer to be the drama club adviser. If it weren't for that, I don't think our daughter would ever get to know Monseur Macron better."
"I heard that Emmanuel's father is a neurology professor at the University of Picardy and his mother is a physician," André-Louis mentioned, "Our Laurence is going to marry into a good family someday."
While Laurence's parents were talking to each other from a distance, Laurence was now arguing with Emmanuel about how many more characters they should be adding into the play. Emmanuel wanted to give the chance to as many club members as possible to appear onstage but Laurence had to constantly remind him that if he overdoes it, it might affect the quality of the play when it comes to the fact that adding more lines might change the plot drastically.
"Well you see, Laurence..." Emmanuel explained, "The fact that your mother allowed us to do this means that we have all the creative freedom to produce this play as we please..."
"...But not at the expense of making De Filippo's work look nothing like the original!" Laurence protested, "You of all people should know this."
"Alright...you do have a point there, Laure." Emmanuel conceded, "Okay, we will only put enough extra characters to give the play some more life, but nothing more."
"Good." Laurence spoke, in a similar way as those of her mother's whenever she was impressed at something, "You are not so bad, after all."
"Maybe that's why your mother selected me to be your assistant." Emmanuel said with a smirk, which amused Laurence because for her, this means Emmanuel is already starting to be interested with her. That was a good development.
Brigitte then walked towards the two teenagers and told them, "I would like to see your work so far."
"Here you go, maman." Laurence said as she handed to her mother the draft that she and Emmanuel had already worked on so far.
"Alright, you two should have a break," Brigitte said, "It will take me a while to go over your draft. You can use the television if you want."
Laurence and Emmanuel decided to go use the television as Laurence's mother suggested and they were just in time for the primetime news. The main news for that night was on the results of the referendum on the Maastricht Treaty that was only approved by only 51% of the voters in France. Obviously, the 51% meant that just over half of France's voting population agreed to "shared European citizenship" and "a single currency across the EU" to name a few which meant that France was now going to use the Euro starting November 1st of the following year and a French passport holder could now enter other EU countries without having to obtain Visas beforehand.
"You know, I've always wanted to visit the United Kingdom..." Emmanuel mentioned in passing, "And now, the Maastricht Treaty is going to make it easier for me to do that."
"And why?" Laurence asked, "Are you one of Princess Diana's many admirers?"
Laurence of course, was one of Princess Diana's many admirers and has been so since childhood. It is her dream to meet the Princess of Wales one day but the fact that her marriage with the Prince of Wales is starting to be shaky since the book she co-authored with Andrew Morton came out July of that year means that her dream might become a bit more difficult to pull off - especially if a divorce does happen and the divorce settlement doesn't include letting the Princess of Wales remain at Kensington Palace.
"Well...I do think Princess Diana is a remarkable woman," Emmanuel stated, "But the real reason why I want to visit the UK is because I have a great-grandfather who came from there and well, that means I've got relatives out there too. I'd love to see them someday."
"So you're part British..." Laurence said in bewilderment, "...and I thought I would have to fly to London to see a British person in the flesh when there's one beside me all along!"
"I don't have a British passport though..." Emmanuel went on to say, "Only British blood..."
"But the Maastricht Treaty will let us into the United Kingdom as if we have UK Passports, anyway." Laurence told Emmanuel, then she added, "You know, I'd love you to join me on a trip to the UK someday. I can accompany you in finding your family and you can accompany me to one of Princess Diana's events."
"And we could visit the West End too! They've got so many amazing stage plays there. There is a reason why the West End is held in high regard." Emmanuel added, "We would enjoy a visit to the West End."
By this time, the primetime news was now covering international news - particularly rumors that the Prince and Princess of Wales are heading to divorce thanks to the Princess Diana book that came out summer of that year. It was only a matter of time until their marriage would irrevocably break down but it is only September of 1992 and the world at that time still thought that those were just pure rumors made by tabloids hoping to make some easy money off the British Royal Family.
"At least I hope we can make it to the UK before they divorce, if they do divorce." Laurence remarked as she watched the news on rumors about the Prince and the Princess of Wales' marriage breaking down.
"We would have to act soon," Emmanuel stated, "I can see it in their eyes that they don't love each other so much anymore."
Emmanuel and Laurence had finished their writing session for the day with feedback from Laurence's mother which basically boiled down to praises when it came to the number of characters they added into the play and critique when it came to developing the dialogue. The two teenagers took those in mind and were told that the next session for the scriptwriting would be in the following week.
That night, the stars were bright above the skies in Amiens and Emmanuel could not help but look up the sky wistfully.
Laurence too, felt the same way and then thought to herself - I really hope Emmanuel has changed for good. I don't want him to ruin my parents' marriage like how Camilla is now ruining Charles and Diana's.
"Well that was productive of us." Emmanuel told Laurence.
"I could have not asked for a better assistant script writer." Laurence replied, "I can't wait to have you back here, in fact."
"In fact, I wish we could skip to next Friday," Emmanuel told her, "I would be very glad to see my favorite lady in this house again."
"Oh come on Manu, you're flattering me now!" Laurence said with a giggle.
I wasn't talking about her though, I was talking about Madame Auzière, Emmanuel thought to himself.
"Well, Bonne nuit et à la prochaine." Emmanuel told Laurence as they parted ways.
"Bonne nuit et à la prochaine, mon amour." Laurence replied, saying "mon amour" under her breath as she waved Emmanuel goodbye.