IMPORTANT: If you don't read this you won't get the story!! Hey everyone, this is my first story I hope you like it. It was an assignment fot Engligh. We read Chaucer's
Canterbury Tales and had to make our own tale and pilgrim.
Jacob's Mistress
"He's so handsome!"
"I wish I had waited to get married now."
"My mother was right; the sea does do a man good."
That is all I heard every time that sailor came into town, into my bar. His name, Jacob, made all my barmaids swoon. I could never get them to focus when he came in, and it was even
worse when he left. He would leave me with a bar full of depressed barmaids. He infuriated me to no end, for he knew what he did to women. He had long black hair with exotic tan skin
and big brown eyes. His clothes, or should I say the lack thereof, consisted of tattered black trousers, that was it. His chest was exposed, and I'm sure my barmaids didn't miss the
opportunity to ogle his rock hard body. The whole lot of sailors came in every now and again for a drink and a little carousing with my barmaids while not so much as one of them had
caught Jacob's attention. He was the most desirable man around but he had never, to my knowledge, ever had any interest in any of the girls in town. This dilemma did not stop my
girls from trying to attract his attention. They would practically throw themselves at him. It was disgusting. Although, no one knew, that I too, had spent many nights fantasizing about
him. He would never know that, for who would want to love the Mistress of the barmaids?
Now, I am not what people would call ugly, though, by no means am I beautiful. Thus is the reason for me being the Mistress, it's a more managerial job as opposed to what the
beautiful girls do. I'm just plain, ordinary, me. I have shoulder length brown hair with chocolate brown eyes and porcelain skin. I am wearing my favorite purple dress. It is tight on my
waist and pushes my bosoms upward. Lord knows I need all the help I can get. Now, many of the barmaids I oversee have started rumors about me, none of which are true. My best
friend Alice always says, "Don't listen to them, they're just jealous." Then I ask, "Why would they be jealous? I'm nothing special." Then Alice will proceed to tell me for the next hour, or so,
why I'm special, but I never agree with her.
Now, being the fantastic host that I am, I go over to the table of sailors to ask them what they want to drink, seeing that none of the other girls are available. Jacob is sitting with
his back towards me. I go up and say, "Excuse me fellows. Welcome to my little inn. Would you all like some ale to quench your thirst?" As I finish, Jacob turns with the biggest grin on
his face and looks at me. His grin turns to a look of pure shock. I'm standing there thinking that this, right here, is why I'm the manager and not a barmaid. I am fighting back tears that
want to spill over. One of the other sailors notices this, and slaps him on the back of the head. Then Jacob, while rubbing his head says, "Yeah. I'll have a pint of ale and a round for the
table." I respond with an okay and turn to leave when a large, warm hand engulfs my wrist to stop me. I look back and the hand belongs to Jacob. I look into his eyes and he asks,
"What's your name?" I reply, "Bella." He let go and I walk back to the counter all the while feeling his eyes on me. I go back with the ale and hand it out to the men while he still stares
at me. As I sat down his glass he reaches out again and touches my left hand, looking at my ring finger with a confused face and asks, "Why aren't you married?" "Well, because no one
ever asked me. Besides, I'm not the type men want to marry." I tell him. He says, "What do you mean you're not the type?" Walking off, I reply, "I'm not pretty."
Everyday after that he would come in, sit at the same table, and order a pint of ale. For two weeks he did this. Now, I don't mind because I will gladly take his money, but that's not
what's strange. What's strange is that he wouldn't let the others take his order. He would only let me take it. Which all the barmaids found very infuriating that he would take interest in
me and not them. Then to top it off every time I sat down his ale he would take my left hand and ask the same question everyday, "Did anyone ask?" To that I would reply the same
answer everyday, "Nobody asked." Then I would leave, he would drink his ale and leave till he came back the next day. For two weeks this continued on and everyday, after he left I
would get dirty looks from the barmaids. For the life of me I couldn't understand why, out of all the girls in town, he decided to talk to me.
One slow afternoon I was busying myself with washing the dirty glasses when I heard a chair scrape the floor in front of me. I looked up and there he was, sitting in front of me. I
said, "Hello Jacob, would you like the usual?" He replied, "No, I don't want a drink today. I actually had a question to ask you if you have a spare minute." I dried my hands and leaned on
the counter and said, "Ask your question." He asked, "I have been in here for two straight weeks, and not once have you said that you were engaged. I feel that it is safe to assume that
you do not have some fellow courting you. Correct?" I said a simple, "Yes?", but I didn't know where he was going with this so I just played along. He continued, "Well, in that case, I
would be honored if you would accompany me to dinner tonight." He looked like he meant what he said but I had never been asked out before and I thought "what the heck" with
replying, "Sure I'll go to dinner with you tonight. What time will you be here?" When he heard that his face lit up like he was the happiest man on earth simply because I said yes. He told
me when to be ready and that he was going to come pick me up.
Later that night I was in my finest purple dress, my favorite color. Waiting for him, fiddling with my thumbs, when I heard the door open. I gasped at what I saw. His usually unruly
hair was tied back and he had on a beautiful maroon colored tunic and black pants, he looked amazing. While I was ogling him I looked at his face and saw that he must have liked what
he saw by his crooked grin that he gave me. He walked forward, took my hand and kissed my knuckles then handed me an orange rose. I took it from him and smelled it smiling to myself.
I looked back at him and said, "Thank you." He said, "You're welcome. Did you know that that rose means desire?" I nodded and he continued, "Well then, shall we go?" I said okay and
we went and walked down the road to the local restaurant. The food was exquisite and we got to know each other as we talked. He then asked if I would like to go dance. I was hesitant
but eventually gave in and we danced for a couple of hours then he took me home. We said our goodbyes outside my door then he leaned in and gave me my first kiss. His lips moved with
mine and I wound my fingers in his hair as he did mine. We finally broke apart panting and leaned our foreheads on each other's while smiling at each other. He asked if he could see me
tomorrow and to that I replied, "Yes."
That's how it went on for nearly six months. He would take me out, kiss me good night, and then ask if he could see me the next day. Of course I would say yes, then we would do it
all again then next day. I, of course, told Alice everything and about him and she pleaded with me to let them meet officially. I gave in and that next Friday we had dinner at my place
and I was so happy to find that the man I loved and my best friend got along so well. It seemed as if my life was finally falling into place. Yeah right, like my life could ever work out.
Rosalie, with a name that meant beauty, there was no way that you couldn't be beautiful. Rosalie wasn't just beautiful, she was stunning. She had long blonde hair, piercing blue eyes,
and ruby red lips. She's the one girl that when she walked into the room every girl took a hit on their self-esteem. She had a knack for stealing husbands and courters from other women. I
tolerated the turmoil she made because she brought in the customers, particularly men. She wore the tightest of the tight corsets, the shortest of the shortest dresses, and she wore the
lowest cut tops she could find. I mean what man wouldn't come in to have a pint of ale and stare at her. She wouldn't be offended when she caught you staring because she loved the
attention.
After a week long sailing expedition, Jacob came back and I was so happy to see him. We made plans for the following day to go out because he said he needed to ask me
something. I didn't think anything of it. The next day couldn't come fast enough. He came to pick me up and we went to the most romantic meadow. We had a picnic and danced under the
stars. He then proceeded to get down on one knee holding my hand in his left and a ring in his right. I gasped as I realized what was happening as he started to say, "Bella, I love you
with all of my being. I promise to love you everyday until my heart stops beating, for it only beats for you now. You're like a shooting star blazing across my universe. You are the light in
my world, without you there's only darkness. Will you keep me in the light and do me the honor of becoming my bride?" He looked at me and with tears running down my face I jumped
into his arms and peppered his face with kisses. He started laughing and asked, "Does that mean yes?" I said, "Yes, a thousand times yes!" He took me home and told me he'd see me at
the bar the next day and kissed me goodnight. I couldn't stop smiling as I told Alice about this. She squealed with happiness when I showed her the ring and told her I wanted her to be
my maid of honor. We finally went to bed exhausted and me with a smile on my face.
The next day I slept in and took a stroll to the bar. What I saw when I walked in made me realize that no matter how much I wanted to change it I was still the Mistress. Jacob
was kissing Rosalie! Even after what happened last night he was kissing her. I walked up to them, wrenched them apart and slapped him in the face. He looked stunned and Rosalie
smiled a devious grin and said, "Oh! Look Jacob I can't believe she actually thought you were going to marry her, isn't that funny." She then proceeded to laugh as I said, "You never
meant any of it did you? You were just playing me for a fool." By now tears were running down my face and Jacob tried to speak and explain but I cut him off and said, "Here I don't think I
need this anymore." I then proceeded to throw his ring at him. I was about to storm off when he grabbed my wrist and said, with pleading eyes, "Honey wait. I can explain." I shook him
loose then stormed home where I threw my self on the bed and cried my eyes out. Soon after I got in, Alice came in and comforted me by stroking my head and letting me cry and I
eventually fell asleep with my head in her lap.
For the next few weeks I didn't go out, I didn't sleep, I didn't eat. I just laid on my bed staring at the wall. I just wallowed in my sorrows. Jacob tried to contact me but either the
door was locked or I would rip up his letters without reading them. What was the point? I knew what he did. There was no denying what I saw that day. Alice took over the bar for me
while I was on my "leave of absence". At night she would come home and try to get me to come out of my comatose state but it was no use. This all changed on mine and Jacob's one
year anniversary.
Alice had enough of my wallowing in self-pity and told me to get up and take a hot bath. I did and I felt better afterwards. I put on some fresh clothes, washed my face, and brushed
my teeth. I went back into the bedroom and Alice was there sitting on my bed. She patted the space next to her and I sat down. She started to speak, "Bella, I know what you think
you saw. You think Jacob was cheating on you that day, at the bar, don't you?" I looked down at my lap and said, "No, I don't think he was cheating on me, I know he was. Didn't you
see what happened?" I looked at her and she replied, "Yes honey I saw the whole thing. Jacob wasn't cheating on you. That harlot Rosalie saw you coming down the street and planted
a kiss on him right as you walked in the door. Don't you see? He didn't kiss her. She kissed him, and from the looks of it he seemed pretty disgusted by it." "What!" I screamed. "Why that
no good rotten whore! How dare she!" Alice looked at me and said, "Honey, now that I told you there's something else that I need to tell you. Jacob is a wreck. I've never seen
someone look so bad. You need to go down to the bar and tell him that you know what happened." I said with urgency, "Oh! He must be worried sick. Come we need to get down there
now!"
Alice and I rushed to the bar and I was shocked at what I saw through the window. Alice was right; Jacob looked just as bad as I did earlier this morning. I opened the door and
ran inside. Jacob looked up and we both ran towards each other and embraced in a huge bear hug. We stayed like that for a long time then Jacob looked down at me and started,
"Honey, I'm so sorry. That wasn't …" I shushed him with my lips. We kissed with passion and then we broke apart with tears in our eyes. I said, "Jacob, I was stupid and I shouldn't
have believed that you would cheat on me like that. I'm the one that should be sorry." Jacob shook his head and said, "No honey, if I wasn't so handsome none of this would have
happened." I laughed and said, "Well, aren't you just a bit cocky." He replied, grinning, "Yes, but you love me for it." I said, "I do." He responded, "I like the sound of that. Do you still want
to marry me, cockiness and all?" I smiled and pondered for a second before I kissed him and said, "Yes." He spun me around and the crowd, at the bar, clapped as we laughed at each
other. Right then I knew what I had to do.
I called all the barmaids for a meeting and proceeded to tell them my plans. The first item of business was that Alice was going to take over the bar. The second item of business was
that Rosalie was fired. She didn't like that and she stormed off without another word. I told them that I would check in on them from time to time but I was going to get married and go
sailing with my fiancé. They couldn't have been happier for me. The following spring, Jacob and I got married. It was so beautiful. It was in the same meadow that he proposed to me in.
The only difference was all the wild flowers were in bloom, and the view of the ocean was spectacular. We danced and had a wonderful time. Later that night, we expressed our love for
one another on his boat that he named to remember me, La Bella Italia. The following year we had a bouncing baby girl. She had my porcelain skin but her father's big brown eyes.
She was so precious. We named her Faith. After all, what's a relationship without a little bit of faith?