Chapter Text
Sitting at his desk and typing rather furiously, Enjolras was doing his best to finish his last article of the season before the holidays. Not that he had a holiday scheduled, but the idea of the holidays existed nonetheless, and he was the only one still working on the evening of the Christmas party. There were warm lights twinkling in the next room and he could hear Let it Snow playing distantly under the clinking of glass and cheerful chatter.
"Knock knock," came a soft, smug voice by the door. A smile tugged at the corners of Enjolras' mouth before he could help himself. He spun half around in his chair.
"Felix," he sighed, looking up at a tall dark-haired man with a crooked grin.
"How do you do it? I could swear you're the only dedicated one working here by far," said Felix narrowing his eyes as his grin grew even more crooked.
Enjolras gave a little laugh and spun back to face his computer. "One second," he said putting up a finger. "Don't go anywhere." He wrote one last line of text and filed the article, finally relaxing his when he spun back around to face Felix.
"And an amazing ending as always, I assume?" Felix asked, sitting back on the side of Enjolras' desk. Enjolras rolled his eyes.
"Oh shut up, I only just finished it," he replied, scrunching up his face. When he opened his eyes again Felix was looking right at him very intensely.
"Hi Angel," he said. Enjolras caught his breath. Those eyes were mesmerising, and so easy... Too easy to trust.
"Hi," he managed to get out.
Felix looked up, his face losing its intensity and becoming more playful. "Hey, I actually got you something for Christmas," he said.
"I don't celebrate Christmas," said Enjolras. Felix sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Well for the holidays then. You're so pedantic."
"Which is why I'm so good at my job! But I actually have a gift for you as well." Enjolras opened the top drawer of his desk and pulled out a beautifully wrapped and ribboned little box no bigger than his palm.
Felix's face froze when he saw it. "Uh... Angel, I haven't actually got my gift here for you. I might have temporarily lost it, but... I did get you something. I can tell you what it is if you want. It’s… kind of hot, truth be told," he said with a bit of a wink.
Ah, thought Enjolras. Of course, why should this time be different? With the expectation of ‘hotness’ or the forgetfulness. "No," he said, fighting to stay smiling and charismatic as ever. "No, that's alright. But this is... Something I think you'll like." He held out the box and Felix took it, undoing the ribbon and lifting the lid off the little box. Enjolras studied Felix's reaction as he pulled out the folded piece of paper and read it.
He had spent weeks organising this collaboration between a major human rights organisation and their own little Scottish lefty magazine, and they would finally be getting the recognition they deserved considering how much Felix cared about the magazine.
"Oh you didn't," said Felix once he'd read the printed email to himself. "How did you... When..?" Enjolras just shrugged. "You're incredible, man," he said and reached his hand out to Enjolras who stood and was instantly pulled in for a hug.
A knock on the glass startled them and Enjolras pulled away to see Eponine knocking on the glass office door. "I should... Go see what's up with her," said Enjolras, and both him and Felix awkwardly left the office and parted ways.
As soon as he was out of the office, Eponine grabbed Enjolras' arm and lead him around the side of the office. "What the hell are you doing?" The Glaswegian accent always grew in strength whenever she was annoyed at him.
"What? I just gave him his Christmas present," Enjolras sulked. He knew Eponine hated Felix with all her guts.
"Yes I know you gave him a present. It was a stupid thing to do. You don't do that to a guy who treated you like that, and then hug him where anyone could see!"
"Yeah, well, what can you do? It's not like I'm still starstruck over him or anything."
Eponine raised a perfect eyebrow at him.
"Why would I be trying to impress someone who cheated on me and dumped me?" Enjolras asked incredulously. Eponine's eyebrow stayed raised as she crossed her arms, bringing hem to a halt beside the smallest of the office Christmas trees. "We just... Work better as friends. That's all. And besides, he's my boss! Us being together was totally inappropriate."
"So it's somehow better that he's still doing that cunt from production?"
"Better her than me," he joked. Eponine reached out and grabbed his arm.
"Hey, him cheating was despicable enough, but doing that then dumping you for being ace? Fucking vile. He knew what he was getting into."
"Well... We're friends. And... I like spending time with him, so maybe try to be nice." Even if he was secretly (not so secretly) hoping that Felix would realise he should come back to him.
"I'd do my best if he didn't keep making you do his job for him. You practically run half the magazine at this point, and he's supposed to be in charge of press. You seem to do all that. What does he do?"
Enjolras opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off.
"Alright everyone," came Felix's voice as the man got up in front of the whole staff. "I hope we're all having a wonderful time at this holiday party. Enjoying the cake? The prosecco?" There were a few cheers. "Now before we all head off on holiday or... Continue celebrating at work for the next couple of weeks, I have quite the important announcement. Two things actually. Firstly, we all were sad to hear of the retirement of our production manager, Stefano. So allow me to welcome our newly promoted production manager: Favourite!"
Enjolras felt his face freeze as that gorgeous woman stepped up to join Felix in front of everyone. She gave an awkward wave, but all Enjolras saw whenever he looked at her was her and Felix that day he went to surprise Felix at his flat and they were both there. All over the dining table. Arched back, hair splayed everywhere, skin and sweat, and he couldn't get it out of his head. And Felix hadn't even been sorry. Hadn't even apologised. "I have needs, you know"... And besides, what had she done to deserve a promotion? And what had he not done?
"And just one more thing," said Felix, putting his arm around Favourite's shoulders. "I am absolutely delighted to announce the engagement of Favourite and myself!" And his heart started going. And his vision blurred. He turned around, blinking over and over.
This was the worst Christmas party of all time, office or otherwise.
*
Cosette hurled a shoe at Marius with the fury of a warrior.
"Babe, what do you expect me to say?" asked Marius, walking backwards in just his pyjamas.
"Don't you fucking 'babe' me," Cosette spat. "And hmm, I don't know... Tell the truth maybe?"
"Why do you not believe me? I've only ever trusted you, why can't you do the same for me?" Cosette advanced, glaring at Marius, holding the other shoe firmly in her hand.
"Oh I don't know, maybe because I can't think of a good reason for you to be staying in the office until four in the morning with your twenty-two year old secretary?" It hadn't been a one-time thing. It had been going on for a few weeks, maybe even months, and he'd finally come home the night before smelling like another woman. Cosette was done.
"That doesn't mean I slept with her, and even if I did, it's not like I ever get your attention when I'm back here!" Marius responded. Cosette gave a shriek of frustration and threw the other shoe, purposefully missing Marius by inches. She fucking knew it. And what kind of a response was that? He hadn't even denied it that time!
"God, really, Marius? Your secretary? Not only a cliché, but this is literally why I never accepted any of your damn proposals! I guess I always knew something like this would happen." Cosette walked down the stairs into the living room, Marius trailing along behind her. This was it, for good this time. She couldn't keep dealing with the fact that there really was no love between them anymore. Maybe there never had been.
Marius scoffed as Cosette started gathering up a laptop and some shirts that lay on the sofa.
"Okay, just calm down for a moment in your life. And also, it's obvious we've been having problems for a while already. At least for a year, and you don't ever want to talk about it! Where does that leave me"
Cosette spun back to face Marius, her hair like a furious halo around her head as she advanced on him, forcing him backwards.
"What, you think I don't know that? Of course, I know we've had some pretty big problems, especially considering you kept trying to bully me into marrying me every other month."
Okay, so maybe he hadn't bullied her, but she had made it pretty clear that she wasn't in he place for marriage, but the over-the-top proposals kept coming.
"And if I dare to work too much, you act like I haven't so much as looked at you in the past six months and you get all clingy, but if you spend all your time working, it's because it matters and I need to stop judging you?"
Cosette reached over and opened the door now directly behind Marius. She shoved him backwards, pushing the laptop and shirts from the sofa into his hands.
"My work is important," he insisted.
"Oh please," she said. "This is it. We're done. For good" And with that, she slammed the door in his face. "I'll send you your things" she yelled through the door, and that was it.
Cosette paced through her house, breathing hard. That was her boyfriend of so many years, and she's finally broken it off. Her chest felt tight, but she wasn't sure what she was feeling, and she wasn't crying. That was weird. She gave a bit of a laugh. No, it wasn't weird, she just couldn't cry. Ahhhhh and what now? What were you supposed to do after a break up? She hadn't had one in such a long time.
God, she really needed to not be there right now. She needed to get away from that house, that city, from things that reminded her of Marius. Cosette couldn't even tell if she was sad in that moment, she was just... Bewildered. She needed some space from that.
Cosette walked over to the sofa and grabbed her phone that was lying on it. Still pacing, she dialled the number of her workplace.
"Hi uh... I need a holiday," she said when the receptionist Maddie picked up.
Maddie sounded taken aback. "A what?"
"Yeah, you know, we deserve a break, right?" The more Cosette thought about it, maybe this was the best decision. She hadn't really taken a holiday in years. Not a proper one, at least. And as much as work might help her think about something else, she knew that she couldn't do her best work in this weird emotional state.
"But... But you literally always say this is a busy time of year. Are we supposed to just... Forget everything?"
"I just think I need to not be here right now, you know? I need to go... Away for a while. I'm sure you'll all manage amazingly without me." And she was right. Cosette had a lot of faith in her staff. The trailer for the newest Christmas romance film had been so good that the movie had beat out a major superhero movie at the box office! And that definitely hadn't been all her.
"O-okay. Well... Have fun, Cosette," said Maddie.
"Perfect. I'll see you all in a few weeks," and she hung up before Maddie could say anything else. Probably not the best course of action, and romantic struggles weren't really an excuse, but Cosette had always been the type of person to roll her eyes at the words "self-care". Well if everyone else did it, why shouldn't she? Just this once.
Sitting on her king-sized bed done up with burgundy sheets just a few minutes later, Cosette pulled her private laptop out from under the bed. She flipped it open and opened Ecosia. So... A holiday. She'd already decided she couldn't stay here in L.A. She could go literally anywhere she wanted.
Where did she want to go for Christmas? By herself, single, and emotionally confused, and at least a bit empty inside...
Well, start off with preferably somewhere she spoke the language. Just because she wanted to make things easy and didn't want to be that tourist who just spoke louder in their own language and hoped other people understood.
Speaking Spanish brought up some uncomfortable early childhood trauma, so maybe somewhere English speaking would be best. Another state? Eh... Not feeling it.
Cosette pulled up a list of countries and scrolled down. Hmm... How about Australia? Or ooh! New Zealand? No... She was sick of hot Christmases. Somewhere cold. Cosette wasn't even sure she liked the cold, but it was certainly a change of pace, and maybe... Just maybe that would help?
Canada maybe then. Or was that too American? And how great was the U.S. Really? Could be better. England, then. Yes, England would be a good place to go to. Cold, pretty enough, and quaint.
After a bit of browsing, Cosette stumbled across a site advertising holiday houses for hire in the United Kingdom. There were several options depending on what she was looking for, and she selected cottage. If she was going for quaint, then she'd go for something as quaint as it was possible to get.
After a fair bit of scrolling, Cosette spotted a cottage that was not only available over Christmas, but was adorable, and not a ridiculous size for just one person. She clicked on the property to see the description.
"A remote Scottish cottage surrounded by fields and forests. Clean, tidy, and cosy. Equipped with all the necessities for outdoor activities, or a comfortable day reading by the fire. Just a ten-minute walk into the small-town centre, and a half hour drive or train ride from Edinburgh."
Well, the person who wrote the description wasn't exactly flowery with their language, that was for sure. And it was in Scotland, not in England, as Cosette had anticipated. (If she was honest, she'd temporarily forgotten that the UK wasn't just England, and subsequently felt a bit guilty for it...) That said, between the description and the gorgeous pictures, the profile was very persuasive. Yes, this was exactly what she needed.
*
Enjolras put the kettle on. He couldn't work. For once in his life he just couldn't work, it wasn't going to happen. When people met him, they assumed Enjolras was quite a stern man, charismatic as he might have been. However, when people spent just a bit more time with him, they realised that Enjolras was in fact quite sensitive about things he cared a lot about, and actually cried relatively often.
He was definitely crying now. He filled his tea strainer with a blend called moondrop dreams and dropped it into his mug shaped and painted like a globe.
God, what was he supposed to do now? He couldn't believe Felix. The guy was so good at his job, and he had largely been delegating well and leading the newspaper in the right direction, but maybe Eponine was right. Maybe that didn't make him a good person, even if the work the magazine did was beneficial and excellent. And maybe the fact he could treat people like they didn't matter the way he'd just done to Enjolras actually said a lot more than he wanted it to mean...
Announcing Favourite's proposal and their engagement at the Christmas party when Enjolras could have sworn they'd just been flirting at least a little in his office might mean Eponine was actually very much right about him.
Or maybe the flirting had been wishful thinking? Maybe he was being too hopeful and just...
The kettle finished boiling, forcing Enjolras to uncross his arms from where they were tucked warm in the armpits of his thick knitted jumper to pour the boiling water into his mug. He shook his sleeves over his hands so he could hold the hot mug without burning his fingers.
Once he made it to the sofa, Enjolras placed the mug on his coffee table next to his phone and collapsed onto the soft cotton pillows, pulling a fluffy throw blanket over himself. He wiped his tears with it and took a deep breath, staring into the wood burner in front of him.
There was no pint crying about this. Yes, it was horrible, and yes, he didn't deserve it. But there had to be a better way to deal with it.
On the coffee table, Enjolras' phone made a little news announcement noise. No, it wasn't a news update, just a phone notification. The screen was lit up, and he leaned over to grab it.
It was his Home4Home app. Wow, that was a first. He'd never really used it. Had only set it up because... No, he hadn't even set it up. Eponine had set it up. She'd said it would be a good way to get money, and maybe even go on his own holiday.
Ha. Holiday. Hold on, thought Enjolras, Holiday. He hadn't had one of those in... He could barely remember the last time.
Before his thoughts could get away from him, Enjolras shook himself and clicked on the notification. It was from a user called Euphrasette.
Euphrasette: Hi! I'm just messaging on the off chance your house is available this Christmas?
Euphrasette: Because it looks like exactly what I need this holiday.
Huh, interesting. Someone desperate for a holiday. And Enjolras himself... Well, the idea of a holiday hadn't occurred to him until this very moment, but getting away from work, and specifically from Felix couldn't sound any more desirable.
And he had holiday and sick days to spare... What was it Eponine had told him about when she'd set this up for him? Home exchange?
Yeah... Yeah, his home was now only for home exchange. Fingers crossed this Euphrasette's place was nice! And far away!
Enjolrasss: Hi there. I'd be delighted to let you stay here, but the house is only available for home exchange if you're interested?
Euphrasette: Ooh, what's that exactly?
Enjolrasss: It's a little like a life swap. We stay in each other's houses, swap cars, everything. That way we both get a holiday at no accommodation price. I know it sounds wild, but let me know.
Enjolrasss: People do actually do it, my best friends have a few times, promise I'm not just strange.
He sat there, clicking his thumbnail against his front tooth, waiting for the other person to reply. It did sound a bit crazy to be fair.
Back in her house across the ocean, Cosette looked at this new message and laughed. This home ower sounded great. House swap, huh? Well that had definitely not been on her radar before but what the hell, right? If this was going to be her letting go of things, Cosette was going to do it the right way.
Euphrasette: That sounds fun!
Enjolras' eyes lit up.
Enjolrasss: Fabulous! Whereabouts are you?
He rocked back and forth a little, hoping Euphrasette was at the very least somewhere not in Scotland or England... He wanted to get Out!
Euphrasette: Los Angeles. Hope you don't mind the distance?
Enjolrasss: Wow, not bad!
He was now leaning quite far forward, typing enthusiastically. Los Angeles? Wow.
Enjolrasss: I'm Enjolras by the way. I'm quite normal. Tidy, bit loud, leftie, non-smoker, single.
Cosette grinned. "Hi, Enjolras," she said almost to herself before replying.
Euphrasette: I'm Cosette! I'm a bit eccentric, also non-smoker, also a leftie, and a bit of a total damn mess, but only on the inside, I promise! Your house will be spotless always haha
Coestte sounded fun, Enjolras decided.
Enjolrasss: Well, Cosette, I'd be delighted to have you stay in my house. What's yours like?
Euphrasette: It's really nice! Bit bigger than yours. I hope you like it!
Enjolrasss: I'm sure I will!
Euphrasette: One question before we really make up our minds to do this...
Euphrasette: Are there any single men in your town?
He almost scoffed at that. Single men around here that weren't very young, very old, or totally awful? No, definitely not. At least none that he'd found yet...
Enjolrasss: Not one
A reply came almost instantly.
Euphrasette: When can I come???
Wow okay, that was a great response. Enjolras considered... They were about halfway through December, and he was going to go away because by god he needed to. They'd just had the staff Christmas party so... Why wait?
Enjolrasss: Is tomorrow too soon?
God, this was insane. He had never done anything like this before! What was he even thinking?
Cosette looked at that message. Tomorrow was... Very soon. But to be fair, she had already called work and excused herself so...
Euphrasette: Tomorrow works perfectly!
Two weeks. A real holiday for two people who could not need it more. Starting tomorrow.