Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT or the characters.
"In short, Miss French," Robert Gold, the owner and head editor of Music Lifestyle Monthly, said after fifteen minutes of scolding Belle for becoming involved with a subject. "I expect your desk and cubicle to be cleaned out by the end of the day. While your work here was exemplary, I am afraid we cannot allow someone who has engaged in an unethical relationship to remain in our employ. Do not ask us for recommendation letters to future employers. Do not expect a severance package," he leaned back in his chair, long fingers steepled in front of his face. "It's a shame you allowed yourself to be seduced by that slut. You had such potential."
Belle bit the inside of her cheek in an attempt to keep herself calm. "I assure you that I still have the same amount of potential as I ever have had."
He shook his head, eyes cold as he looked at her from behind his desk. "Unfortunately, dearie, that is not true. You have now been involved in a scandal, however minor. You may now be in tabloids, but it unlikely you will ever again be able to write for one."
Belle stood up, picking up her purse from the floor. "I look forward to proving you wrong, Mr. Gold. Thank you for the opportunities you have given me during my employment here. If you will excuse me, I will now go empty my desk," she turned and left his office without waiting for his reply.
It only took two small boxes to empty her cubicle. She did her best to ignore the whispers of her coworkers as she did so, although she heard the words "Ruby," "lesbian," and "fired" clearly multiple times. As she walked to the elevators with the boxes in her arms, Belle kept her head high and her expression calm. Only once the elevator doors slid closed behind her did she allow herself to lean against the wall and let out a jagged breath. She caught a taxi back to her apartment and walked up two flights of stairs, juggling the boxes in her arms as she tried to unlock the door.
Once inside, Belle kicked the door shut and placed the boxes on the floor of her small front closet. She flipped on the television in her main room as she passed it on her way to the kitchen. A rerun of Law and Order played in the background while she brewed a cup of tea. Belle settled down on her pastel floral couch with her tea mug and picked up the remote, flipping channels until her own name caught her attention.
"Journalist Belle French wasn't seen last night at Ruby Red's second Minneapolis concert," the redheaded entertainment reporter announced. "The pop princess rocked the Target Center for the second night in a row, although a few attendees commented that she was a little less exuberant than usual. Ruby is scheduled to perform in Michigan tonight and as far as our reporters have been able to find out, Ms. French is no longer with the tour. Have the two women already broken up?"
"That is none of your business," Belle muttered as she flipped off the television and opened her laptop on the coffee table in front of her. She cleaned out her email, deleting spam and messages from Music Lifestyle Monthly before opening a document she had begun the previous night of the email addresses of various magazine editors in New York City. One by one she wrote them emails asking if they had any openings and including her resume and a writing sample.
The chore only took about thirty minutes, leaving Belle with nothing to do once again. She refilled her tea mug and returned to the couch, opening an empty Word document and her iTunes folder. Scrolling through the music, she clicked on Ruby's first album. Flipping back to the empty document, she stared at the empty page for the length of a song before closing the entire laptop and walking into her bedroom. She sat down on the edge of her bed and rested with her head in her hands. Shaking her hair away from her face she stood and walked over to her dresser, pulling out a pair of sweatpants and trading them for her skirt. Grabbing an empty notebook from on top of the dresser she went back to her bed and crawled on top of it, a pen tucked behind her ear while she flipped open the notebook. Belle took a deep breath before beginning to write.
It would be easy to say that she was the reason that things changed- that it was her fault. It wouldn't be the truth, though. When we met something inside me woke up, finally dragging itself out of whatever hibernation I had tried to keep it in for my own safety. The potential for everything that happened was always inside me. She was just the person who made me want to experience the results of that potential. Maybe if things had stayed under control I wouldn't have ended up here, but I think this is where I need to be. Happiness doesn't come from staying the same- being comfortable isn't the same thing as being happy. Sometimes you need to meet someone who will shake up everything and cause an earthquake in your nicely ordered life. And that summer was filled with the elements necessary for an earthquake. The weather was right, the earthquake raced through, and I found out I like the resulting ruins.
Belle flipped to a new page, writing down names and drawing lines between them, creating a character chart. Once that was mostly filled in, she flipped to another page and began writing down bullet pointed notes for plot points. As she wrote the sunlight moved from one side of her room to the other. She set the pen down only when her phone buzzed with a text message.
Unlocking the phone, her heartbeat sounded louder in her ears as she looked at the message sent from Ruby. "Recorded this during today's rehearsal. Thought you might like it."
Belle pressed play on the audio file, closing her eyes and setting the phone down on the bed beside her. The chords of "Keep Warm" spread through the room, the quality of the audio surprisingly good for being recorded on a cell phone. She listened to half of it before turning it off, saving the file to her phone before deleting the message. Picking up her pen again, she wrote until the sun began to set and the sky darkened. While she made a quick dinner of pasta, she flipped on the television.
"Ruby's management has confirmed that Belle French is no longer on the tour, although they refuse to comment on Ruby's relationship with the journalist," the redhead's male co-anchor was saying. "Ariel, what do you think of this turn of events?"
"Well," Ariel replied. "I am sorry that the lovebirds have been separated. I wonder if they are trying to make it work long distance or if Belle's leaving the tour means that their relationship has already ended. If that is the case, my sympathies go out to both women. They were a very attractive couple, although I am sure quite a few of Ruby's fans will be thrilled to hear she is back on the dating market."
Belle switched the channel, scowling at the screen until she landed back on the Law and Order marathon. Settling down on the couch with her bowl of pasta, she watched as a court case began. Opening her laptop, she checked her email to see if there were any responses from the editors she had contacted. Those who had chosen to reply all regretfully informed her that their staffs were full.
After finishing dinner Belle went to the bedroom to get the notebook she'd been working in before opening a blank Word document once again. This time she began typing right away, the clicking of the computer keys mixing in with the sounds from the television to create a pleasant background of noise in the otherwise silent apartment.