Remus Gold was a solitary man. He did not care for the company of others, save his son, and he was downright mean when challenged. The man cared greatly for certain things, however, namely tea. This man was a tea addict; or perhaps it was the woman who served his tea that caused the addiction.
Remus was also a man of schedule. Every morning, at six am, he'd wake and prepare himself his first cup of tea for the day. It was always a white blend, with rose petals mixed in. He was a sentimental man, behind the mask of indifference, and so he used the same chipped cup every morning.
After his morning cup of tea, Remus would go to his son's room and wake him. He would shake him gently, whisper his name, Baedan, and smile at him until he opened his eyes. He was the only one to see his father smile this early in the morning.
At seven sharp, Remus and Baedan would leave for their respective day jobs, Bae going to school, and Remus to his pawn shop. The day was spent idly, with Remus making deals with the odd townsfolk who'd dare to come into his shop. It was always the needy, always the desperate.
Then, at noon every day, Remus' day would begin to look up. At noon was when he would close his shop for lunch hour, and he would go to the tea shoppe. Chipped Leaves was the name of it, and there was no one more chipper than it's owner, Miss Belle French.
Belle French was an invaluable part of his day. They would eat together, and they would talk about little things. She was beautiful, nay, she was stunning. Even he would admit it. With her long ballet legs, brown hair, sparkling blue eyes.. And her accent, God. Her accent would be the one which he hoped to hear on his deathbed. It would rather be the cause of it too, perhaps.
Their routine tea was served at 12:15 every week day. However, the blends would change every day. Belle would never let him get the same tea twice, unless he asked nicely. And that didn't exactly come easily to him, so he was silent for the most part.
Their conversation was light, always about the tea or how the weather was. It didn't matter to Remus, exactly, what they talked about, as long as she kept on in that lilting accent of hers. Sometimes Belle would think he'd been quite ignoring her, so she'd spout off some nonsense, but he always caught her on it.
Belle would just smile at him, and then the lunch would be over. She'd kiss his cheek, thank him for the meal, and then he would leave. This was his routine, and he liked it well enough, though he could not say how greatly he wished to turn his face and have their lips meet.
And so they continued this way, ever since the first day he'd stopped by to try a pot of her tea. She had sat with him, and bugged him about admitting that the tea was rather good, wasn't it, and wasn't his son just adorable.
Remus Gold had tried not to fall for this woman; with her soft voice and her passion for books and tea that rivaled his own. He truly tried, but that had only lasted until she started playing about with Baedan, teaching him about the tea leaves she brewed. And it was then that Remus knew he was lost, forever.
Then one day it changed. Remus had locked up his shop for lunch, and he was just walking into Chipped Leaves when he recognised Belle's shape, talking to another man. She seemed comfortable, happy even, and so Remus turned on his heel, the lunch bag tight in his hand.
Remus did not know how long he stood there, just leaning against the back of his shop's door, breathing heavily. Remus also couldn't say what the emotion he was feeling was. He knew, yes, that he harbored feelings for the tea-giver, but what right did he have to her? None.
And yet, jealousy pricked his heart until he was quite green with it. He went on with his day robotically, thankful for the small blessing of no one coming to see him for a deal. He would never have admitted it, but the man would have been quite rude to whoever decided to break him out of his jealous haze.
Tomorrow, perhaps, he would be brave. Tomorrow, perhaps, he'd go to the shoppe, and it'd be empty besides Belle.