Oops (Antoine Dupont)

Chapter 15

That Sunday was difficult, I hugged Antoine on his driveway, he held me tight and stroked my hair.
"This won't be forever mon amour." He had said through the tears.
I quickly kissed him before saying goodbye. Clement stayed with Antoine and Pascal to keep them company.

A week went by as quickly as it had  come and I sat watching the final of the six nations. France won against Scotland but this time it wasn't enough to give them the top space, they came second after the winners Ireland.

In this instance I was stood watching Nemo the new Zebra foal at the zoo that Ebony worked at. I usually came to the zoo when I was feeling conflicted, right now I was conflicted  about  Antoine and I, was long distance all we where going to be. It had only been three months but all the travelling backwards and forewards made it feel longer and the goodbyes were heart shattering. Maybe It wouldn't be forever as Antoine had said , maybe I'd move to France or maybe once he had retired he could move over here. Nemo galloped along side his mother Coral.

"Hey girly, what brings you here today?" Ebony questions a bucket of food hanging from her arm.
"I came to see this beautiful zebra baby in real life." I lie.
"Well as you are the best friend of their sole carer you can feed them with me." She says with a smile .
I smile back, we call Coral and Nemo over and grab handfuls of food before throwing it on the floor for them to graze.

"So when are we going to find time to book our next trip to Toulouse to see Damian and Antoine?" Ebony quizzed.
"Umm, I have a slight issue , extending my stay last week set me back £300 pounds, so I can't go." I explain sorrowfully.  "But that doesn't mean you shouldn't go Damian's been talking about nothing else for three weeks." I add.
"Are you sure?" She questions.
"Certainly." I reply.

"Where will I stay, I'm not gonna stay with your boyfriend that's weird, and I can't expect his families hotel to put me up ." Ebs rambles.
"First of all I wouldn't mind you staying with Antoine, neither Clement it's a hotel that's what they're there for." I tell her. "Focus on getting your travel sorted." I add.
We finish feeding the zebra and now Ebony was on break so we move to the jungle themed cafe and grab a coffee before talking some more.

*
Work started once again, I was doing my best to save my money so that I could go to Toulouse next time. Ebony had booked her travel and had called Damian to ask advice on where she should stay , he didn't have to think twice about asking her to stay with him at his house in Clermont and she didn't think twice about accepting his offer.

As I was walking a pair of calm shitzus my phone buzzes, it was Antoine he had sent me a photo of his cast that was now bright pink with signatures from the whole Toulouse squad. I wished I had been there to sign it too.
Manon: How are your broken limbs?
Antoine: Healing well.
Manon: How are Ebony and Damian?
Antoine: I wouldn't know I haven't seen much of them, Damian messaged saying they're going to laser tag today.
Manon: Haha such kids

I laugh at the fact that Damian and Ebs had chosen to spend their time at a laser tag. I pined to be with the others but I didn't regret spending more time with Antoine. I circled back to the house I was staying at and make a coffee , sit on the sofa and open my laptop so that I could plan out my next two weeks.

Later on I fed the lazy small dogs and started cooking a small chicken stew.
Whilst I was chopping carrots and other veg, Ebony rang me.
"Hey , how was laser tag." I ask with a small chuckle.
"It was good, wait - how did you know?" She questions with a small pause.
"My boyfriend talks to Damian too." I laugh.
"Well it's good that our boyfriends talk." She says a large smile stretched across her face.

"Huh?" I say as the penny drops about what she had said.
I match her content smile.

"He asked me to be his girlfriend whilst we were shooting each other with laser guns." Ebony explains, it sounded as though she was quite pleased with the presentation of his question.
"So romantic." I say.
"He matches my fun energy so well." she swoons.
"It's crazy how we're both dating our celebrity crushes , how did we end up here." I say in a short spurt of disbelief.
"I don't know who controls this universe but they've dealt us great cards." Ebony says.

We talk a while longer as I cook my dinner. I think that I may have had bigger eyes than my stomach as I wasn't able to finish my stew, I scrapped the rest into a Tupperware container and placed it in the fridge.

Every night Antoine, Damian and Ebony made sure to FaceTime me every night and we'd watch a movie or play the name game where someone said a name and the next person would have to say another name beginning with the letter of the persons second name.

Once the guys had left the room to get more drinks I didn't know why it took both of them but Ebony quickly explained, apparently the two men where planning something secretly, we guessed that it was a surprise for the two of us. She also informed me that Damian had received a parcel and had immediately messaged Antoine. This is what got us excited.

Antoine's pov
The Oscar midol Olympique where coming up ,Damian and I had the idea of inviting Ebony and Manon, although risky due to it being publicised we wanted our biggest fans with us. And it doubled up as a couples weekend in Paris.

The two of us had asked our managers if we could have some of our team's merchandise so I received a Toulouse shirt for Manon and Damian had received a Clermont shirt for Ebony. We would gift the girls the shirts before asking them to come with us to the award show.

I didn't like being the third wheel to Damian and Ebony , but I understood why Manon couldn't make it, I couldn't bare the thought of her being alone with only a strangers dog to keep her company, so I tried not to think about it. Unbeknownst to her she had left a grey woven shawl on my sofa, she was always leaving things when she came to visit, I moved it to my room and it was now sprawled over my pillow so that her scent engulfed my senses every night.
....................
I go to bed wondering what sort of night the others where having , tomorrow I would be going home for two days rest break.

The next morning, I work hard to make sure the clients house was so tidy it looked like no one had stayed there for a week.
Once my car was all packed up and the shitzus were back in the right hands I make my way home . I don't waste any time checking my bank , finally I had enough to go to France whenever I wanted.

Antoine: So when are you next coming over , I miss cuddling.
Manon: I'll be there next time we planned, I promise.
Antoine: that's 13 weeks away
Manon: I know but they'll fly by.

Antoine and I talk for longer , I do my best to try and prise information from him about the surprise him and Damian were planning , but he was undeniably tight lipped. It was fun to try anyways.

I sink into my homely warm bed that smelt like me and fall asleep almost instantly. After talking to Antoine all evening my dreams where full of the two of us being reunited. I missed his arms laced around my waist and torso , I missed his fringe tickling my forehead when we kissed, I missed the rosebud coloured lips he kissed me with.
*
Work had slowed down significantly, just in time for me to be able to pick up Ebony from the airport when she came back from France.
"What was his house like?" I question curiously.
"I don't really know, I'll be honest we didn't really leave his bedroom." Ebony grins showing her graciously aligned white teeth.
"Jeez Ebs TMI." I practically scream as we approach a stop light.
She chuckles to herself.

Ebony and I make it to her house , she invites me in for a coffee, I accept I needed the caffeine due to waking up early to make sure that I wouldn't be late to pick up my best friend.
"Are we any closer to finding out what the guys have planned for us?" Ebony asks.
"Nah , they're being extremely secretive, but knowing them it'll be great." I say.

I say goodbye to Ebony and make my way home. I decide to have a lazy evening and watch movie after movie from the comfort of my throw and my sofa, snacking on some of the chocolates that Ebony had brought back from Toulouse.