The night was cool and dark as snow fell in drifts around Belle. Shivering with excitement and cold, she pulled her deep blue coat tighter and looked around the deserted parking lot.
Someone was supposed to meet her here. Someone very important. Someone Belle loved. So where was he?
He could have gotten caught up with something. Belle tried to rationalize as she backed up towards the twenty-four hour Dark Star Pharmacy. And he's only ten minutes late. Ignoring the voice in her head reminding her how punctual he normally was, she checked her watch.
Eight Hours Earlier
The airport smelled fake; nothing seemed natural. Everything was made of plastic and metal and at this time of year, it was bustling with people, scurrying around, trying to get on last minute flights home. Amidst the chaos, Ryan Gold stood stiffly in a queue to be admitted to his flight.
The employee attending the gate, a tall figure with neutral length hair and a shadowed face, looked on as passengers filed past, showing their tickets.
Ryan was already nervous to fly, having had a fear of heights when he was young, and after seeing the imposing human guarding the entrance, he fumbled through his papers to double-check his ticket. All his paperwork was as it should be, but that still hadn't completely stifled his nerves.
The employee wordlessly gestured for the next person in line to step forward. The waiting passengers shuffled forward in line.
As concerned as Ryan was about flying, he was more anxious that he wouldn't get to Maine in time to be with his True Love, Belle, on Christmas Eve. He'd promised he would meet her in Darton by six o'clock and he didn't want to miss their first Christmas together. He already felt they'd been apart too long.
The queue moved and Ryan stiffly handed his paperwork to the employee. Nervous thoughts ran through his head and he'd straightened instinctively and fixed a look of cool unconcern on his face to conceal it. The result was a fragile aura of nonchalant, unfeeling confidence and he doubted anyone would be able to see through it.
The employee nodded and gave Ryan his paperwork back. Still without speaking, the employee let Ryan go through to his flight and ushered the queue forward.
Relieved, Ryan hurried onto the plane and took his seat in first class. If he was going to have to travel via plane it was going to be in style.
Belle had woken up excited. It was Christmas Eve and she and Ryan were coming home that very day. After a long business trip, it would be their first time together in almost two weeks. They'd arranged to meet in the parking lot by the pharmacy in Darton before driving the last leg of the journey home together, which meant that Belle would be able to see him again in less than six hours.
Now, Belle was sat calmly in her seat on the train, which was steadily making its way towards Maine and Darton and the parking lot and then home. Having long since finished her book and not yet feeling ready to start the next one, she gazed out her window, happy to be heading home at last.
Ryan had gotten stuck attending an important week-long seminar in California and Belle had been called to meet with her editor in Boston. Knowing that neither of these things could be avoided, despite how close it was to Christmas, they'd made all the arrangements and went their separate ways, with a shared promise to see each other by Christmas Eve.
The week having past, Belle idly wondered where Ryan was right now. Probably on a plane, headed towards an airport in Maine.
The stewardess was offering him food again. Ryan was only one hour into the flight and this was the fifth time she'd asked.
She had long red hair and jewelry that made it evident she was trying for classy, but the way she'd had her blouse done ruined the effect. Her eyes were wide and she was trying too hard to be expressive. She kept narrowing her eyes in an attempt to look sultry and she laughed too much. Ryan could tell when someone was faking expressions.
"For the last time, I do not require any food at the moment." Ryan ground out through clenched teeth. "So please stop asking." His hands were clutching the armrests tightly and his whole body was tense.
The stewardess looked unfazed. "Ah come on, sir, don't be like that. I know you'd like it if you tried it." She smirked at him and moved on to her next victim. Soon after she left Ryan's section of the plane all together.
Ryan exhaled slowly, his face expressionless. Surveying the cabin, he sized up the other first class passengers. A few upper-class businessmen, a few people who had obviously splurged on this trip and were taking advantage of their first class privileges. No one who Ryan deemed noteworthy or important enough to be worth forging any contacts.
As the businessman in him studied the cabin his mind drifted. He thought of Belle and of how much he wanted to be with her for the holidays. He'd never much cared about Christmas before. There was no joy in it for him without someone he cared about to spend it with. Ever since his son married that Emma Swan girl he'd been alone on Christmas and he had taken advantage of everyone else's laziness during the holidays many times.
Slipping out of his musings he noticed that the plane had slowed. They certainly hadn't arrived yet, so what was going on? If this caused him to be late meeting Belle he was definitely not afraid to sue the airline.
Turning this mystery over in his mind, Ryan saw the redheaded flight attendant enter the first class section of the plane again out of corner of his eye.
"Hello again, sir." She sat down presumptuously in the empty seat next to Ryan. "We seem to be experiencing a bit of a delay. Must be turbulence. You wouldn't mind if I take my break next to you now, would you?"
"Well I don't suppose you'd move if I said I did mind." Ryan pointed out. "Just try not to bother me too much." He smirked in a way meant to off-put the red-haired flight attendant.
It didn't seem to work. She smirked back. "Oh I wouldn't dream of it. The name's Zelena, by the way. Zelena Wickmen."
"Ryan Gold." The Scotsman replied coolly. "But I do believe you just said you wouldn't bother me, so if you'll excuse me." Ryan pulled out some papers from his carry-on and, to make his point clear, began to study them.
Zelena's smirk melted off her face. "Right. Of course. I wouldn't want to interfere with your important paperwork."
Ryan ignored her, hoping that the flight would speed back up and he wouldn't have to put up with this pushy flight attendant again.
Belle was jolted out of her book induced trance by her phone ringing. Setting down her book gently on her armrest, she checked the caller. Unknown number. Curious, she answered.
"Um hello?" Belle asked, scrunching her eyebrows together in confusion.
An unfamiliar, but distinctly feminine voice answered. "Hello, you must be Belle. I'm just calling to inform you of an unscheduled delay on Mr. Ryan Gold's flight."
"Really? Is everything alright?" Belle frowned.
"Oh yes, we believe so." The woman's voice continued. "Should only be some turbulence. I'm sure everything will work out."
"Well thank you for informing me." Belle said politely. "When can I expect his flight to get in?"
"It's most likely just a temporary delay." The woman said again. "Expect his flight about thirty minutes late."
"Yes, alright." Belle replied, biting her lip uncertainly. "Thank you." She hung up.
Ryan's flight was being delayed. Despite that woman's assurances Belle was worried. She desperately wanted to be with Ryan for the holidays and she knew he wouldn't be very happy either hearing his flight was being delayed.
Belle tried to focus back on her book with some success, but her concern wouldn't leave her alone and she knew it was unlikely that it would until she and Ryan were reunited.
Ryan glanced at his watch. One o'clock. Three hours into the flight and according to the pilot they were out of the turbulence. They should reach their destination by 5:30 PM. That was enough time to reach Darton by six, Ryan assured himself. The more pressing concern was Zelena, who seemed determined to make the most out of the remaining time left in flight.
In the past two hours she'd make sixteen attempts to start a conversation with him and when he'd ignored her she had carried on talking to him. Fortunately she had had to leave multiple times to continue her job, but now she was back in full-force, attempting to get his e-mail address.
"No." Ryan said firmly. "Now stop talking to me or I'll sue your airline for harassment."
Zelena met his gaze. "…Fine. But you'll see me again, later." She left him alone, off to do, well whatever an angry flight attendant with attention issues does.
Ryan Gold sat plotting for a while, passing the time during the flight in an outwardly relaxed manner. Internally, he was trying to determine Zelena's motivations.
She seemed to have grown unnaturally fond of him, even acting in a way that could be considered kind to him, which made Ryan suspicious. In his own experience, people only acted kind to people they didn't know if they wanted something. Well, not everyone, Ryan thought affectionately as he recalled the image of Belle.
It was possible Zelena knew him though, Ryan considered. Maybe she'd heard of him from some source in the business world, or maybe she'd used to be one of his underlings. However, even if she knew him, her behavior led him to believe she wanted something, be it something material or a concept.
Shaking aside these thoughts, Ryan turned his mind to other things, knowing that whatever Zelena was up to he wouldn't have to deal with it in four and a half hours.
Belle's phone chimed as she received an email. Rushing to check it, she almost knocked over a coffee thermos she had resting between her and the armrest of the chair.
Shoving it back into its place, Belle checked the email. Just as she had hoped, it was from the airport workers, stating that Ryan's flight should be in at 5:30 PM, plenty of time for him to get to Darton and meet her.
She grinned from relief; that was at least one of her concerns gone. Now she only had to worry about Ryan getting to Maine safely. Should be easy, right? Plane crashes and hijackings aren't very common, Belle assured herself.
She exhaled in a long sigh. Time to get back to worrying about fictional people's problems.
"We are now preparing for our descent. Please do not stand up." Came a voice over the loud speaker.
Ryan Gold breathed a sigh of relief. He was almost home and Zelena hadn't pulled anything in flight. The last portion of the trip had passed almost uneventfully, with Zelena ignoring him. In fact, he hadn't seen her at all.
The plane started to lose altitude and several less frequent passengers' ears popped. Ryan swallowed hard and ignored the sensation in his ears. Almost home.
They landed with a slight thump followed by the sound of wheels moving. Ryan straightened in his seat, ready to leave as soon as they stopped moving.
Random passengers started to speak and the cabin was filled with the hum of people talking as the plane was finally still. They had arrived.
An announcement came on over the loud speaking, saying that everyone could disembark and Ryan stood up. He'd been in this plane long enough. Picking up his carry-on bag, a small duffel, he hurriedly exited the plane ahead of most of the passengers, while still attempting to appear unhurried and at ease.
Outside of the plane at last, Ryan strode through a dark, white-canvas tunnel. He heard other passengers behind him, chattering, most of them excited to have arrived, although Ryan wasn't much concerned with why.
An employee held open the door to the main airport and Ryan entered, taking in rows of chairs, other travelers rushing past, and screens showing when various flights were leaving or returning. A blue sign hung from the ceiling underneath an arch, pointing out which direction the luggage return was.
Ryan followed the signs and quickly found the spinning oddity that was supposed to help passengers find their bags. He knew from experience that this wasn't a very effective system and as he was already late his best hope was to be lucky and find his bag quickly.
Having nothing to do but wait, Ryan sat down on one of the many chairs near the return and studied the bags and passengers.
Five minutes passed and Ryan glanced at his watch anxiously. He needed to be in Darton in twenty minutes.
When several more minutes had passed without him spotting his bag, Ryan stood up and went to see the customer service. And they had better be helpful, Ryan thought darkly.
Music drifted softly through the Golds' Cadillac as Belle drove it from the train station to Darton. They had agreed Ryan would take a taxi or rental and Belle would meet him with their car for a few reasons. The first was that Ryan had left before Belle, so leaving the car at the train station would be for less time and money. The second of which was that Ryan was more likely to carry money with him to catch a cab.
Lights whirred by the car and Belle grew steadily more and more excited as she got closer to seeing Ryan.
Belle reached the exit for Darton and the car slowed as she entered the town limits.
"Turn Left onto Main Street." Belle's GPS informed her. She breathed a sigh of relief at having remember to turn it on because she had no idea how to get to their meeting place without it.
Following the GPS's instructions, Belle finally arrived at the pharmacy parking lot. She parked and got out.
Even though it was only six o'clock the parking lot was very cold and dark. The sky was clear; for once it seemed it wasn't going to snow on Christmas, a relatively rare occurrence for Belle, who had lived in Maine her whole life.
She tugged on her thick blue coat and looked around the parking lot, waiting for Ryan to meet her.
A very tired and fed-up looking woman stood behind the customer service counter. "Lost luggage?" She inquired without any real interest.
"Yes." Ryan stated, only a hint of exasperation in his voice. "Have problems with that often?"
"Three cases in the last hour." Came the tired reply. She sighed. "Try talking to the flight attendants from your trip. Several of them helped carry out the luggage and put it into the system, since your flight was delayed."
Ryan raised an eyebrow. "And how do you know which flight I was on?"
The woman sighed again. "I'm not being paid enough for this. Whatever. Zelena from your flight tried to bribe me into going along with her scheme. Gave me a description of you and said you'd been on the same flight as her. Told me she'd pay me back if I told you to go talk to her when you came over. I guess she stole your luggage."
Ryan let out a growl. "She's gonna pay for that."
The customer service woman still looked bored. "Next."
Angrily, Ryan stepped out of the line to go find Zelena, and hopefully, his luggage. If it came down to it, he was willing to abandon his suitcase to go meet Belle. There wasn't anything in it that couldn't be replaced.
But it had better not come to that, Ryan thought darkly. He'd had just about enough of Zelena's meddling today.
He arrived back near the door he'd first entered the airport from and not a moment too soon as Zelena stepped through the doorway and smiled.
"Ryan Gold. What a pleasure to see you again." She smirked with false confidence.
"Oh enough small talk, Zelena." He replied in cool annoyance. "I'm going to ask you plain and simple: where did you put my luggage?"
Zelena's smile disappeared again. "Straight to the point with you." She walked forward until she was standing right in Ryan's face. "Somewhere hidden. So we might as well talk."
Ryan held his ground, but pushed at Zelena's legs with his cane, forcing her to back up. "Hidden where?"
She pursed her lips. "Why do you care? Why are you so anxious to go back to wherever you call a home?" She stepped backwards and started pacing around the room.
"I can call airport security and tell them you stole my luggage. Pull a few strings, pay a few people to check, I don't know, the staff room?" Ryan smirked. "Shouldn't take too long to find and I'm sure that would add some credibility to my accusation. Or you could go get it for me."
Zelena seemed to realize she hadn't thought her plan out very well. She'd had the opportunity to talk to Ryan, but it hadn't occurred to her that he might want to go home so quickly.
"Fine." She spat at him. "I'll go get your luggage. But aren't you going to answer my question? Why are you so anxious to go home?"
Ryan met her gaze before saying, "Go get my suitcase first."
Zelena left.
Ryan sighed. This experience had taken way longer than it needed to and he had been ready to be home for hours. Soon, he reminded himself. Soon. Just as soon as Zelena returned with his bags.
It turned out Zelena had been keeping his bags close by and she soon returned. She strode up into Ryan's space again and angrily gave him his bag.
"There, now answer my question."
Ryan gripped his bags and turned to go. The sooner he was with Belle, the better.
"Answer me!"
Ryan paused for a moment. "Has it ever occurred to you that I might have someone I care about to go home to?"
Silence from behind him. Ryan smirked once more and headed off towards the exit of the airport.
It was 6:15 by Belle's watch and a taxi was pulling into the parking lot.
Hopefully, Belle peered over at it, trying to see its passenger.
A short well-dressed man with long brown hair stepped out of it. He was carrying several bags and appeared to be looking around for someone.
"Ryan!" Belle called out. She hurried along the sideway in front of the pharmacy towards him.
He turned towards her, set down his bags, and opened his arms for her. "Belle." He replied fondly, hugging her tight.
After a few seconds they released, smiling at being in each other's company once again. Ryan picked up his suitcase and Belle grabbed his duffel.
"I'm so glad to see you." Belle said, smiling. "What kept you?" She started back over towards their car, holding onto Ryan's arm.
"Well," He started, sounding happy and relaxed for the first time in weeks. "That's kind of a long story. How about I tell it to you in the car?"
"Deal." Belle replied as they set about packing up the car. Soon they had everything in order and they got themselves seated in the car.
Ryan took the driver's seat and turned the keys in the ignition. "Time for us to go home."