PRESENT:
SLAM
Belle jumped at the force the entrance to the shop was shut. After two months working here, she hadn't encountered anything of the sorts.
"BELLE?!" She heard a thick Australian accent.
"Papa?"
Her father came marching in the shop in his work clothes, his hands still dirty from working with his flowers.
"We're leaving. Now."
Before Belle could reply to his forceful tone, the door opened again.
"Oh no she's not."
In walked Gold with his cane and all, looking serenely calm yet extremely menacing.
"There is no way in hell my daughter will stay under the employment of you Gold!"
"She's not a child, Maurice, let her make her own decisions."
"Thank you, Mr. Gold." Belle finally got in a word.
"Oh please Belle, don't thank this devil!" Her father walked towards her and softened his voice. "Sweetheart, he took my truck."
"What?" Belle looked past him to get confirmation from Gold, whom didn't meet her gaze.
"I parked it this morning and this afternoon, it was gone." He rushed and with an accusatory finger, he pointed to Gold. "And he took it!"
"Excuse me," The shop owner hissed. "But there was a sign clearly stating that parking was not permitted."
"I've been parking there for 20 years!"
"Well then I suggest you go to Mayor Mills with the matter."
"I know you put that sign there! I know you did!"
"No, Maurice-"
"Mr. Gold," Belle interrupted. She looked him dead in the eye and after two months, she rather found she did it often. "Please tell me the truth."
Gold glanced into her blue eyes and realized he didn't really have a choice. "It was a deal I made with the butcher, a minor thing really."
Belle gasped. She heard of him taking land, being cruel, and shutting down businesses, but never had these things directly considered her well being. Maurice relied on that truck for half the customers he took in!
"That damned butcher!" Belle's father declared. "But it was still your doing Gold, wasn't it?"
"He had something of value for the trade..."
"Well congratulations, because with that trade you lost your employee." Her Papa grabbed her hand and marched to the door with his daughter in tow.
Belle was speechless. It was a ridiculous matter really, and to put her in the middle of it! Yet her father was right in his reaction, much money was lost with the abandonment of the truck.
"Belle, wait!" She heard her boss all but rasp. Belle whipped her head around, though still couldn't get a word out. "Please, take something from my shop Maurice, but not her."
Her father turned red, seeming to take the remark in a different way. He tightened his grip painfully on Belle's arm. "I'm sorry, but are you implying of unpure intentions with my daughter?"
Belle again gasped, but Maurice's face was nothing compared to Mr. Gold's at the remark.
"Never." He all but shouted. "Never would I do anything to her."
Silence.
Time seemed to stand still. The beauty had never seen such a fire in the man's eyes, a truthfulness he never usually carried in his words, his stance in a way you'd never guess he used a cane in his life. It was as if he was so proud he could stand up for her. Belle's stomach tied in knots, and an undiscovered feeling pitted in her stomach.
Gold cleared his throat, and the moment seemed to scatter like leaves before him. "I have a wife."
And in a mystery Belle still couldn't understand, the shop door opened, and in walked Cora. Her hair was a fiery red and her dress of a deep blue made her look like a menacing soul. She looked at the three, and her eyes widened.
But she didn't address her husband.
"Maurice?"
She could hear her father's breath catch behind her. "Cora?"
Gold frowned. "Cora?"
Belle turned. "Papa?"
And silence returned.
"Well what a..." Cora brought in. "Pleasant surprise."
"You two know each other?" Gold's voice was heavily questioning.
"Uh, yes, well um..." Maurice turned toward his daughter with color rising in his cheeks. He gave her a meaningful look.
Then Belle realized.
And without another word, she ripped herself from her father's grip and stormed out the door.
She ran.
And ran.
And ran.
Blocks. Streets. Miles.
Her feet felt like bricks in her small flats and every step felt like thorns in her heels.
But she kept running.
Her mind flashed back to letters she got in Australia.
'Woman.'
'Beautiful.'
'Red hair.'
'Deep brown eyes.'
'I'm taking her out to dinner.'
'I'm seeing her regularly.'
'I would say we're in a relationship.'
'I think I might love her.'
Belle stopped at the edge of the woods surrounding Storybrooke. Her breaths came out in harsh rasps.
Cora cheated on Mr. Gold.
With her father.
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