"He's a fine young man, isn't he?" Maurice insisted, nudging his daughter, as she sat beside him on their new sofa, curled up, practically inhaling the book that she was reading, "His father owns a popular fish market nearby, they're quite wealthy."
"That's nice," Belle said, not looking up from her novel.
Her father continued, "He's quite a charming man actually. Apparently the ladies here are all over him."
Belle stopped reading, frowned to herself and lay her book down on the coffee table in front of her.
"Father?"
Her father smiled merrily, "Yes dear?"
Belle's voice was concerned, "Are you trying to set me up with Kaden?"
Her father snorted, "Of course not!"
Belle narrowed her eyes at him sceptically before picking up her book once more, "Good."
Maurice began, "But what's wrong with Kaden? I should think that he's a good man. Perhaps a potential husband…"
"Father!" Belle exclaimed a little dramatically, even to her own ears, "He is a good man, and I am sure that he'd make a great husband…he's just not for me."
Her father heaved a sigh and rose from his perch, moving to a nearby window, "Oh Belle. I'm afraid to say time is running out. You're a beautiful young woman with a great life ahead of you! The amount of marriage proposals, bribes, and requests I get for you are unreal! I suggest settling down with a man such as Kaden. He seems to have his life set and the two of you have so much in common!"
At that, Belle raised on perfectly arched eyebrow at her father, "Like what?"
Maurice stammered, "Like…you're both young and you…both enjoy…walks…"
Belle sighed to herself, "Father, we're just not made for each other. I want the kind of love that people write books about. Something passionate, desirable-"
"Unrealistic," Her father added.
Belle slouched in her seat, and after a minute or so of silence, she concluded that she needed a walk to blow off the steam and stress. Without another word, she quickly grabbed her book and hurried out the front door, finding herself in the middle of the busy market.
"Hey! Watch it!" Men carrying large crates yelled as she walked by cautiously. She tried her best to keep out of people's ways until she finally found the crammed library her father had pointed out before. After finding a good book, she seated herself at an empty café table beside the library and opened her book to read.
"…Apparently she was quite a pig."
"Well what did he expect?"
"Countess of Marbella? As if."
"And he's hosting a ball!"
"When?"
"Next Thursday."
Belle groaned to herself and looked up from her novel to find herself eying three young women her own age. They wore luxurious gowns in rich colours, one blue, one red, one green. The lady in the red had long dark brown curls. Her long lashes hovered over her blue eyes daintily as her narrowed eyes scanned the market every few seconds in search of new prey to gossip of. The lady in the blue had light brown hair, her eyes were green, and she looked rather bothered as she fanned herself with her manicured hand. The last lady, in the green looked amused. Her red hair was worn up and she wore a menacing smile on her lips. Though Belle hated to admit it, each of the women were beautiful with remarkable features of their own.
"Are you going?" The light haired lady asked.
The girl in the red dress snorted, "Don't be ridiculous Tara, of course I'm going."
The lady in the green smiled wryly, "Brag all you want about your new frock, Rebecca, we both know that I'm the one that Eric is looking for."
This comment caused the lady in the red to frown, "Let's not get carried away here. We've succeeded, Prince Eric is finally getting a ball together. For us!"
The three women sighed to themselves.
Belle did as well as she got up from her seat and continued down one of the stone pathways, in search of a quite place to read. She followed a small winding stone path that branched off the main one to small dock where a couple of fisherman's boats were tied up.
All seemed quite, except for the soothing sound of the sea splashing up against the rocky shore and the boats.
Belle sighed to herself in accomplishment and sat herself down at the edge of the dock, letting her feet dangle over the water.
Just as she opened her book, she was interrupted by a melodic sound. Somewhere nearby, someone was playing a wind instrument. Belle furrowed her brows and quickly stood up, looking about to identify where the noise was coming from. It was then that she saw a glimpse of jet black hair on one of the nearby fisherman boats.
As Belle cocked her head to on side to catch a better sight of the man, she lost balance and went plummeting into the water.
She quietly hoped that this would not become a habit.
Belle kicked her feet and flailed her arms, but the water continued to infatuate her lungs. Suddenly, she felt a strong arm wrap around her waist, pulling her up from the water. She let her head relax against his chest as he carried her out of the water safely and onto his small fisherman's boat.
Belle coughed violently, water dripping from her mouth.
Eric sat her down in the boat and walked inside the small shelter on the boat, coming back out with an extra pair of beige pants and a white cotton shirt similar to the one he was wearing.
"Here," He said throwing the clothes to Belle, "Put these on. We don't want you catching a cold now, do we?"
Belle nodded obediently and took the clothes. She hesitated.
Eric blinked, "Oh, Uh…I'll turn around."
When he did, Belle quickly slipped out of her soaking wet blue dress and into the pants and shirt that Eric had fetched for her.
"Sorry if they smell like fish," Eric laughed, still turned around.
Once Belle was finished changing, Eric was able to turn back around to face her. The pants that he lent to her were alright around the waist area, though they were too long for her, she cuffed the bottoms. The shirt was oversized and looked bizarre over her small frame.
To Eric, she looked perfect.
"You're new here, right?" He asked taking a seat on the floor of the boat beside her.
Belle nodded.
"And you can't swim," Eric stated as a fact.
Belle squirmed uncomfortably.
He smirked, "Well, someone should probably teach you how."
He turned to face her, "Say, what are you doing tomorrow. I think you've had enough water for today."
Belle hesitated, " I don't know, I couldn't possibly get in the way of your previous plans and-"
Eric shook all her concern away, "It would be my pleasure teaching you how to swim. After all, you can't live on the coast and not know how to. Take today and yesterday for example."
Belle pursed her lips, "Alright then."
After an uncomfortable silence, Belle got up to leave, only to have Eric stand up as well, taking a hold of her elbow wrist and spinning her back to face him.
"And today?" He questioned, "What are your plans for today?"
Belle knew the answer to that. It included a prince, and a princess, and true love. Sadly, it was all fictional because she was planning on reading about it.
"I-"
"Has anyone given you a proper tour yet?" Eric wondered.
Belle's mind focused on Kaden. Yes, he did give her a proper tour…She just didn't really pay attention.
Eric smiled, "Come on, let me just give you a simple tour."
"Okay, fine," Belle sighed in defeat.
Eric beamed. He helped Belle out of the boat and double knotted it to the dock.
He guided her through the small streets, showing her little shops and markets that she would have missed otherwise. He taught her how to make her way through the busy markets and how to avoid being ran into.
He took off his newspaper boy hat and fit it onto her head, smiling.
After a couple hours of wandering through the town, Eric finally took her to a very specific location. The little pub was hidden behind two grand markets. The only way that Belle could tell that there was something in between was because of the large amount of noise coming from inside.
"Now," Eric said seriously, "This is a men-only pub. It's a sailors pub, but I'd really like you to meet some of the guys."
He looked Belle up and down and nodded in satisfaction. Almost everybody inside was drunk. It wouldn't be a problem bringing Belle inside.
He led her indoors and she gasped at the sight. Wooden tables were arranged in every corner of the room. Men of all sizes ran about singing, dancing, laughing…It was a whole other world. Rum was everywhere. Alcohol galore.
Belle moved closer to Eric, avoiding a group of obnoxious drunks that were moving towards them.
After finally finding an unoccupied booth at the back of the pub, Belle and Eric sat down.
"Eric, my man!" Both Belle and Eric turned their heads to see a shorter dark haired man with dark green eyes. He looked to be about their age.
Eric laughed and stood up to greet the guy with a pat on his shoulder, "Stefan! How much have you had to drink?"
Stefan gave a wry smile, "Not enough."
The men laughed.
Eric turned to Belle, "Stefan, I'd like you to meet a new friend of mine, Belle."
Eric removed the hat he had put on Belle's head before, revealing her long dark locks.
Stefan raised his eyebrows, "Bonjour Mademoiselle."
Belle blushed.
"Eric! Stefan!" Suddenly, the three of them were joined by a third man. He was slightly overweight, but Belle was unsure if that was because of the muscles or fat on his body. He had short black hair and beady black eyes.
"Myles!" Eric and Stefan shouted out in return, including him in their hug.
Belle chuckled at the two drunks.
"I haven't seen you around here in a while!" Eric said to the bigger man.
Myles shrugged, "I've been helping out my father. Someone's been stealing our fish."
Eric shook his head, "I'll be on the look-out for any crooks."
He turned to Belle, "Belle, this is my good friend Myles. He works with me on the ship."
Belle waved in greeting. Myles smiled back, showing off his unpleasant looking teeth.
Belle smiled to herself and continued to watch the three men until something-okay, someone-caught her eye from behind Eric.
Kaden stomped into the bar looking displeased. His light eyebrows were furrowed and his lips were formed into a straight line.
Belle's eyes widened. She got out of her seat and tugged on Eric's shirt sleeve, "Eric, I have to go."
Eric turned around and looked down at her, "Already?"
Belle watched Kaden unsurely, "Yes," She replied to Eric, her eyes still on the other man.
Eric nodded, though he looked unhappy, "Alright, I'll walk you home."
Belle eased her way by Kaden, being unrecognized in her boy-ish getup. And after finally exiting the pub, she hastily inhaled the fresh air.
"What'd you think?" Eric asked her.
Belle smiled shyly, "Thank you for everything."
He walked her home, the street markets all closed down and unoccupied with the usual towns people.
"I'll see you tomorrow then?" Eric confirmed, "Meet me by the main marina?"
Belle smiled, "I'd be happy to."
At that, the French girl entered her home, with a great feeling inside her, Did she make a new friend?
