OUT OF THE ASHES
Chapter 37
Tangerines, Earl Grey, Mushrooms and Falafel
Belle woke up before Gold. She raised her bed and looked around the room, orienting herself. This room was much nicer than the dark, grey ICU room, much nicer. She barely remembered that place and, upon retrospect, she realized that was probably a good thing.
Right now, she was in considerable discomfort – discomfort, who was she kidding? She was in some real pain.
She rang for a nurse.
"Yes, Miss French," a voice from the front desk came back to her.
"I seem to be in some pain," she said.
"I'll send in your nurse."
Gold had heard the voices and roused from his place on the couch. "Belle, can I get you anything?" he was instantly standing by her bedside.
"I've already rang for the nurse," she told him.
Gold nodded and stood quietly next to the bed, not wanting to hover, not wanting to interfere, but definitely wanting to be helpful if he could be so.
The nurse came in. It was a pleasant faced older woman, short, round, dressed in pale green scrubs. "Hello Miss French, Mr. Spinner. I'm Angela Potts, your nurse on this next shift. Now, dear, you said you were in some pain?"
Belle instantly liked the older woman. She projected a kindly, gentle, competent air. She reminded Gold of Nurse Lucas – kind, but no nonsense.
"Yes," Belle answered. "The pain woke me up and I stay a bit confused about time. I don't know if I'm due anything. Can you help me out?"
"Yes, I can, darling." Nurse Potts looked over the computer screen with Belle's information on it. "Yes, yes. Well, it looks like they changed you and put you on oral medication and, oh dear, you are definitely due for some. I'll get something for you right away and then I'll check out everything else."
After the woman had left, Belle said to Gold, "She seems nice."
"Yes, she does," he had remained standing by the bed and was still there, when Nurse Potts reappeared with a small white paper cup with a single dark yellow pill and a glass of water. Gold glanced at the pill and raised his eyebrows. Nurse Potts continued, "I suggest you try to eat a few crackers with this." She handed Belle a couple of saltines still in their plastic wrappers.
Belle made a face when presented with the crackers, but she dutifully took the medication and began to nibble on the crackers. She cooperated with the blood pressure check and temperature check. Nurse Potts checked the levels in her IV fluids.
"Now dear, breakfast will be coming up in about two hours. Do you think you'll want anything before then? We have yogurt and applesauce. There might be a nice banana still around. I didn't see any dietary restrictions."
"How about some tea?" Gold offered.
"I can wait, thank you."
"All right then, dear. If you change your mind, just ring for me," Nurse Potts gave her a smile and left.
"I'm so sorry you're in pain, Belle. I wish I could trade places with you," Gold told her honestly.
"I'm sure darling. But I'm getting better every day."
Forty milligrams of oxycodone. You should be feeling pretty fly!
000000
The night before, Bae had taken Emma back to his hotel room. Truth be told it was far plusher than her apartment, which was sparsely and simply furnished. They had spent the night together and he had awakened with her kissing him. He was lying on his back and she was lying mostly on top of him.
"Tangerine," he said without preamble.
She stopped what she was doing, "What?!"
"Tangerine," he repeated. "If I do something and you want me to stop, you are to say 'tangerine.' Do you understand?"
"What are you going to do to me?" Emma asked puzzled and slightly alarmed.
"Nothing to cause you any pain. I just want to put you under me," and he grabbed her arms, pining them to her sides, and rolled her under him.
Emma immediately began to try to dislodge him trying to push him away once he released her arms. "No, I want to be on top," she told him.
Bae ignored her pleas and pressed himself against her, letting her push against him, thrash under him and try to dodge his kisses by turning her head. He used his weight against her. He managed to slip his knees between hers and began to pressure her legs apart, affording him entrance into her heat.
"No, stop," she began to plead with him, her movements increasing almost to a panicked level as she realized he was going to have her whether she was willing or not. But here she was willing, very willing. And she had an out. He had given her an out. She could stop him any time.
Emma liked to be the one on top, the one in charge, the one directing the action, controlling the pace, leading the activities. Bae wasn't allowing this. He had her beneath him and she couldn't free herself from his weight, from his grasp, from his power. For the first time in a very long, Emma felt that someone else was in control.
"Look at me," he commanded her and she managed to lift her eyes to his. "You are so beautiful," he told her. "You are so remarkable. I know you like to be on top, but so do I. And," he began kissing her hard, "right now, I'm in the mood to be on top."
He entered her and felt her come apart for him. She clung to him, gasping for air, shaking with the force of her unexpected release.
Bae had not expected her yielding, certainly not so quickly, not so intensely. He slipped his hands under her shoulders to hold onto her and began to stimulate them both.
She fell apart again. He quickly followed her to his own fall.
Emma was trembling. She was shaken, her response to the man had been unexpected, disorienting. Everything about this relationship was disorienting.
"That was pretty intense. Are you all right?" Bae was asking her. He was gasping also, his response to her far beyond anything that he had ever experienced. This relationship was perplexing, more complex than anything he's ever been involved with.
She managed to nod.
He kissed her and rolled off of her, continuing to hold and comfort her.
Emma lay quietly beside him for a moment. "What is going on between us? Bae, I have never felt about any one like I'm feeling about you. Anybody else had pulled that dominant shit and I would have 'tangerined' his ass and been outta here and gone, but with you . . . I just . . . let you."
Bae breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm so glad to hear you say that. It's different for me, too. It's like I've known you forever, for a long time. I'm so comfortable with you. I want to spend time with you. I want to hear what you have to say. You're funny. You're sweet. You're passionate."
"Never been called sweet before," she told him. "Well, I think you're brilliant and kind. . . and exciting," she smiled at him.
"Are we. . . are we. . . "Bae hesitated, "Emma, are we starting to fall in love with each other?"
"Are you feeling it too? I don't know. I just don't know. I don't know that I've ever been in love. I mean, I've had people I've cared about, but love, well, I don't know," Emma was just as hesitant.
They were quiet for awhile.
"What do you think we should do?" Emma asked.
"I think we should keep seeing each other and see if what we have is just passion that will flame out or if it's something more."
"All right," Emma agreed. "I guess we can do that. Not like we're making a commitment to each other. We're just hanging out with each other to see what happens, right?"
"Yeah, yeah," Bae replied. "That sounds like what we should do."
Emma eased herself out of the bed and re-dressed. "I've got work to get to."
"Lunch?" Bae asked.
"Probably not. Sorry," she told him regretfully. "How about dinner and maybe we stay at my apartment tonight?"
"Love to," Bae told her. "I'll pick you up from your place at six." Bae got up himself and got ready.
As they rode in his car back to her work, Bae asked her, "Emma, do you have a really nice dress, something you could wear to a wedding, a posh day-time wedding?"
"No, do I need one?"
"I should've asked you before but I guess I was expecting it would all crash and burn before it got to this point. I'd like you to go with me to my mother's wedding."
"Milah's wedding! That circus!"
"Yeah, it's going to be a circus, all right. Do you think you might have time this afternoon to look for something. I'd. . . uh. . . oh, Emma this is awkward." He took a deep breath, "I know you're a federal employee and you don't make a lot of money, so it would make me more comfortable if you would let me pay for the dress."
Emma considered, "What price range are we looking at here?"
"Well, there will likely be people there whose dresses cost more than my mom's shoes and that's saying a lot. I'd be happy to advance you four figures."
"A thousand dollars for one dress?! I should be able to buy a couple of dresses for that money. There's a bridal shop on Lexington Avenue that might help me out. I should be able to duck out for a little while this morning. You have a favorite color?"
"For you," Bae considered, "Red. I'd like to see you in red. If not red, then black."
Emma nodded and sat with Bae while he drove her back to the police station, kissed her soundly and dropped her off.
Then he went on to the hospital where he found his father and Belle in the room.
Belle had finished picking over her breakfast. Gold was sitting back at his table-desk rearranging his stacks of papers. "Oh good, Bae, I was hoping you might be able to hang with Belle this morning. I need to connect with Dr. Hopper, make a couple of calls and meet Ms. Schentz for a business lunch. Are you available?"
"Sure dad, if Miss French won't mind me . . . uh. . . hanging."
"Not at all. We can get to know each other. We can watch the shopping channels together," Belle told him, smiling vacantly at him. Bae could tell she was still on some kind of happiness cocktail.
Gold rose from the desk and gave her a quick kiss. "I've got the list of things you want from the apartment. You know how to get in touch if you think of anything else or if you need me for anything else."
She nodded, "I do, darling. I'll be fine."
Bae was left alone with his father's slightly doped up girlfriend.
"How would you feel about some of the cooking channels?" he asked her.
"Sure. You cook?" Belle asked him.
"I do, a little," he told her and sat in a chair next to her.
Belle changed the channel on television and found a show with someone doing something about neat food that could be found at diners.
Bae quickly engaged in the show and it was a moment before he realized that Belle was watching him.
He looked at her, and she ducked her head, "I'm sorry. It's just that we really haven't had a chance to talk together, have we?"
"No, we haven't. I got a little distracted," he admitted.
"By Emma?"
"By Emma," he agreed. "Have you known her long?"
"I guess awhile. She's been around, in and out . . . and then more than a year ago, she moved in below me and began working at the co-op bakery."
"She's a friend, though, right?"
"A good friend," Belle told him.
"I really like her. Really," Bae confessed. "I think we may have something. We've opted to just keep company and see where things take us."
"Very sensible," Belle observed. "Your father is not someone who is willing to just see were things go, is he?"
"No, he's not. He likes to take charge and move things forward. I understand that you turned down his proposal." Bae was curious to hear her side.
"Proposal? He didn't actually propose. He just told me that he'd decided that we should go ahead and get married because everyone thought we were engaged."
Bae sighed. "Ouch. My father is a brilliant man, but sometimes. . . "
"He can be stupid," Belle told Bae. Then she realized what she had said, and put her hand to her mouth, "I probably shouldn't use that word, but I am kinda doped up, so I'll be sorry about it later."
Bae couldn't help but smile, "Maybe, but you're right. He can be stupid about some things. He doesn't make, well maybe I should say, he hasn't made good choices about women. You've met his exes."
"Oh, have I ever," Belle had to agree. "Quite the collection of harpies. . . oh, I'm sorry. I really shouldn't being saying stuff like that," she caught herself again.
"No, harpies is a pretty accurate description," Bae had to agree with her. "You know my dad stuck me with walking my mother down the aisle?"
Belle giggled. "I guess my being shot did have an upside for him, didn't it?"
"Maybe, but I'm sure he would have rather walked my mother down the aisle twenty times over than have you shot once."
Belle became very serious. "Yeah, you're right. He's been pretty shaken up about this. I've been very worried about him."
Bae had to shake his head, "You two, both of you, worry more about the other person than yourself. I don't think my father has ever felt that way about anyone."
"He does about you,' Belle told him.
"Sometimes I think that, but other times. . . "
"Your father is a rather difficult man to love, isn't he?"
"Got that right," Bae agreed.
"He's really very sweet, you know," Belle told him. "There's so much goodness in him. . . and he so wants to do the right thing. He wants to help people and make their lives better."
"Miss French, you are the only one who sees those things in him, you know that?"
"Please call me Belle. I see it. I don't know why no one else seems to. He doesn't see it himself. He still thinks that he is this monster. I love him so much Bae," Belle's voice cracked and she started to tear up.
Bae was surprised and immediately went over to her to hold her hand.
"I was so stupid trying to get away from Facilier. I thought I was being clever, but I got myself shot. I'm sorry I'm crying," she wiped her nose on the sheet, but the tears continued to fall. "I haven't cried in front of your father or my friends or the nurses or anyone else, but I'm so ashamed and guilty feeling. I've put everyone to so much trouble. And everyone is being so nice." Tears flowed out. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be doing this with you. I don't really even know you."
"Oh Belle, it's quite all right. You almost died. And it wasn't your fault. Nobody, nobody sees it as your fault. Everyone thinks that you were incredibly brave and clever."
"I don't feel clever or brave. I felt like I was doing a brave thing, but I never felt brave. I felt scared."
"Of course, but you did the brave thing, no matter how you were feeling. My father is incredibly impressed with you and proud of you."
"I had thought if I did the brave thing, then the brave feelings would follow, but it didn't work like that." Belle had stopped crying but her eyes were red-rimmed.
"There are a lot of people out there who think you are a hero."
"Oh no. Not me. I think what Daniel did was brave and Emma's brave, but not me." She blew her nose on the tissue that Bae had given her. "Uh, Bae, you won't tell anyone. . . "
"Belle promise me that you'll talk with Dr. Hopper, dad's psychiatrist. He's very good and I think he'll make you feel better."
"Oh, I don't know," Belle protested.
"If you promise to talk with Hopper, I will promise not to tell anyone about this."
Belle scrunched up her face. "You can be a bit like your father, you know?"
"Yes, so I've been told," he smiled at her and added, "Somehow I don't think you meant that as a compliment."
0o0
Gold had several things on his to-do list. There were several overseas phone calls to make that Belle didn't really need to hear. He was going to have to call in some favors, maybe even sweeten the pot on these little deals, he knew. Facilier had a number of off-shore bank accounts but the man hadn't been clever enough to spread his money around widely, nor had he chosen what might be considered 'secure' banks. The money had been put into borderline third world countries, many unstable, that had banks that welcomed foreign funds, no taxes, no questions, but, these were also countries without consistently stable government.
You would have thought people would have learned after Noriega took over the banks in Nicaragua – don't put your money in a country where the leadership might just take away from you.
Several of these 'presidents' owed Gold big, for a wide variety of favors, starting back with the weapons trading more than thirty years ago, large 'contributions,' aka 'bribes' for favorable trading agreements, even generous special gifts to young, pretty, temperamental spouses. Gold was sure, if it were put to them the correct way, they would be' shocked and appalled' to find they were harboring drug money and would immediately 'take steps.' That would take care of an enormous chunk of Facilier's fortune.
He made several more calls on his way to connect with Hopper. He had promised Hopper that he'd show him around downtown Asheville. Hopper was curious as to just how the town had fostered Gold's recovery.
"How is Miss French?" Hopper asked as soon as he got in the car.
"Still doped up a bit, but seems to be recovering. I would have thought she would have some trauma after having a gun pointed at her and being shot, but I'm not seeing it."
"You think she's in love with you?" Hopper asked him, abruptly.
Gold bit his lip. "I know I'm in love with her and she tells me she loves me."
Hopper nodded. "Then she could be protecting you. She may be holding things in around you, putting on a brave face."
Gold considered, "That sounds actually reasonable. Very Belle-like. Not wanting to bother other people, wanting to deal with things herself. What do I need to do?"
"Nothing. If she wants to protect you, then you should let her. But be sure there are some people around her that she can talk with if she wants to. Don't keep praising her for being 'so brave,' praise her for having been smart enough to survive the incident and let her know if there is anything, anything she wants to talk to you about, you're prepared to listen."
"Pretty good advice. I guess that's why I pay you more than I would pay an attorney."
"Now,you are looking much better," Hopper told him. "I was very uncomfortable letting you go out by yourself after the. . . uh. . .incident."
"Well, I'd made a promise to Bae that I would hang on for six weeks and I do try to keep my promises."
They parked in the garage and Gold took him across the street to the apartment building. "Nothing special. I have the penthouse and there are four other apartments, two on each floor and the shops underneath. This is Belle's shop," he took Hopper in to the bookstore.
"Belle's Books and Candles?" Hopper asked. "What is this about supplies for the practitioner?" Hopper had read the small print under the name of the store.
"There's a large pagan community here in Asheville," Gold explained tersely. "Now, let me introduce you to Ruby, the best barista in ten city blocks." He made the introductions from the barista to the psychiatrist.
"Archie," he promptly told Ruby, "Call me Archie."
"How are things going Ruby?" he asked Belle's number two girl. She gave him a big thumbs up.
"Pretty good. Lotsa locals keep coming by to keep up with how Belle is doing. The shop is doing regular tourist trade business with that little extra. Let me fix you two some coffee." She prepped Gold's usual and then looked at Dr. Hopper. "Now I don't have Belle's gift, but you look like an Earl Grey Tea man. What can I get you?"
"Actually, tea sounds lovely."
Gold was a bit puzzled. He had known the good doctor for more than ten years and had never known him to drink tea.
The two men left the store with to-go cups and Gold took Hopper on a walking tour. "This is one of my usual walks. I thought I was going to die an agonizing death the first couple of days, my poor knee felt like it was on fire, from the walk and the three flights of stairs to the apartment. I managed to push through and things got better."
"I guess that's been true for a lot of things," Hopper observed.
"What?! Pushing through and getting better? I guess so." Gold thought about it. "I think you're right. That's pretty much how I handled those first few days."
Gold pointed out several of his favorite restaurants. Hopper picked up one of the free maps of the city which were scattered plentifully around the town. "I think I might like to spend some more time just wandering around, seeing what I can find," Hopper told him. "I know you have some other appointments. I should be fine on my own."
"Well, you'll find many of the street performers on Wall Street and some in front of Malaprops. Sometimes there will be some up near Pack Place. I do have one appointment and then this lunch commitment. I could pick you up later this afternoon."
"That would be fine. Should I meet you back at Belle's Books, say around four?"
"Four should be plenty of time. You have a phone and you have my number if anything comes up."
Gold glanced at his watch. 10:00. He had one appointment to get to before his lunch date with Mallie. He walked down Broadway to Hiawasee and connected with the realtor his company had worked with before, Cogsworth and Lumiere. It was Mr. Cogsworth himself, stuffy toff, waiting on him.
"Mr. Spinner, sir, David Cogsworth. I believe we have done business before."
Gold nodded. "I believe so. You got my message that I was interested in this building." He pointed to the dark grey three story building built into the hillside (the side road was so steep that up on Broadway you would enter in from the second story but down on Hiawasee you would come out on the ground floor.)
"Exactly. The building is in some disrepair but in an excellent location," Cogsworth was on board.
"Parking could be an issue. I'd have to buy my employees a monthly garage pass."
"You would, but I suspect you realize if you re-locate your headquarters to Asheville, the city might be willing to grant you some special rates."
Gold gave him a tight smile. "I would assume as much. I don't like dealing with city officials. You could help with that?"
"I could, indeed sir."
"There are already some tenants on the ground floor. What is their status?"
"Their lease is up in eight months."
"I would likely want them to vacate when the lease is up as I would anticipate needing the additional room. Go ahead and give them notice."
"You've seen the asking price?"
"Yes, it's priced fifty thousand over the actual value. I will give them twenty-five thousand less than their asking price which still makes it over-priced. This will be my one and only offer. They have two days to get back to me. I will pay cash for the building and, by next Monday, I will have an architect looking over the interior to recommend for some changes I will want to make. I will also be hiring some reputable contractors, including some painters. This building is drab and I'd like to see it a bit cheerier."
"Sir, that's very quick, if I may say so."
"You may. Have the paperwork brought to me at Room 418 at Mission Hospital. I would have drawn up a contract myself, but I'm not licensed here in North Carolina and real estate law is not my specialty. I will be at the hospital, I'm sure, until at least the end of this week. Otherwise I will be at the apartment on Broadway and Aston."
"Of course sir. No problem."
"Excellent."
0000000
Gold checked "buy new headquarters for Magicell" off his to-do list. He had walked by this building several times on his morning walks and had thoroughly checked it out. It was in easy walking distance from the apartment. He hadn't talked about this move with Belle.
Not that he was moving his mega-company to Asheville, just the battery subdivision. The rest could stay in Manhattan, with Bae watching over it. He had talked with several of the original Cricket Seven and at least three of them were willing to move south, including Leroy.
Walking back to the parking lot along Broadway, he saw Emma coming towards him.
"Miss Swan," he greeted her pleasantly.
"Mr. Spinner," she responded back.
"I thought you'd still be drowning in paperwork," he told her.
"Yeah, I am, but I needed to get this dress. . ." Emma stopped and looked hard at him, "Hey, come to think of it, this is your fault."
Gold did his best to look innocent and bewildered.
"You bailed on walking Milah down the aisle and corralled Bae into it. He wants me to go as his plus one."
"Now Emma, truth be told, he'd have gone to the wedding whether I went or not and he would have wanted you as his plus one."
"But now there's a chance I'll be on camera. My employers don't like me to be on camera."
Gold glanced at his watch. He still had time, it wasn't even quite eleven. His lunch with Mallie was not until one and he was planning on being just a bit late. "I'll help. Come on." He led a protesting Emma into the posh dress shop. They sold mostly wedding and bridesmaids' dresses, along with mother-of-the-bride and prom clothes, but Emma thought she'd have her best shot here.
She watched as the staff fell over themselves to greet Robert Spinner, not that they recognized him, she didn't think that. It was just that aura of money and power he projected – not an odd perception given his Armani suit and tailored shirt.
"This young woman needs a very nice dress for an outdoor, afternoon wedding. The event is being televised so she will want something very elegant."
The saleswoman looked Emma over. "Size six?" she asked.
Emma nodded.
"Any particular color?"
"Gold, red or black, I think," Gold spoke up. They had offered him a comfortable seat.
Emma was led off, huffing just a bit. Gold was enjoying himself. One of his minor talents was recognizing what looked good on a female. Milah had actually honed that talent by repeatedly asking him which outfit looked better on her. She tended towards a floozie-style and they had found, early on, that his opinion often veered toward the conservative and the more sophisticated — i.e. the classier. When Milah had started listening to him, she had begun to get noticed for her style and taste. He wanted Emma, as his son's date, to outshine the celebrities and near-celebrities that would be flaunted in this circus of an event. Too bad there wasn't time to get something designed for her.
Emma came out in the first pick, a simple square neck black sheath. It certainly showed off her figure but he felt it too plain for the event.
The second pick was a slinky gold lame halter top dress. He thought it looked too 1980's.
The third was a red chiffon. Too old.
The fourth was a clingy red dress that flared out into an asymmetrical hemline. It hugged her up top and then fell away. It was simple yet elegant.
"Put that one aside."
Emma tried on four more dresses, including one emerald green two-piece dress with an pencil skirt. It was beaded and very elegant. It matched her eyes. "I like this one."
"But it's not suitable for an afternoon wedding," he told her.
"Do you have a favorite?" he asked her.
"I liked that first black one," she told him.
"Very well." He called over the saleswoman and talked quietly with her. The woman nodded and smiled at him.
"Emma, trust me on this. The red dress with the flared skirt is perfect for where you'll be. Do you have shoes?"
"Dr. Martin's," she told him.
He closed his eyes. "Did Bae advance you any money for the dress?"
"Yeah, although of couple of these were more than what he gave me."
"I'll take care of the dress. Take the money he gave you and go over to Tops to get a pair of nice shoes. Remember you've got a flight of stairs to walk down and you'll be walking on rocks. I'll have the dress delivered to the bookstore this afternoon."
As they left together Emma turned to him, "You know, this wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I'm not a shopper and dress shopping is one of my least favorite things to do."
"I thought as much. Now personally, I enjoy watching a beautiful woman make herself more beautiful and a dress certainly does accentuate the female form."
Emma blushed. "Sometimes, if you weren't involved with my best friend and if I weren't seeing your son, sometimes. . ." she shook her head, "but then I wake up and remember how much you aggravate me."
He stood a quiet moment looking into her eyes. "Come to work for me Emma. Your job is very dangerous and I worry about you and I worry about Bae becoming seriously involved with someone in a dangerous job. I pay very well, more than your current salary, I'm sure."
"Oh wow, no, thank you. If I were working for you, I wouldn't be able to call you an asshole, at least not to your face."
He had to smile at her, "We could put that into your contract if you like. 'Emma may call her boss an asshole to his face whenever she deems he is being such.'"
"Tempting, but I'm gonna stick with my true calling for now," she told him.
"The door's always open, Emma," he said as she walked away from him. He smiled, he had had an idea.
OooooO
Gold made another quick call to his concierge on the way to Rezazz's. There were a couple things he would need help with. He knew the wedding was bearing down on them and would be televised and then, well he'd had another idea for Thursday that he hoped Belle would enjoy. He needed something delivered to the hospital room.
He'd had major second thoughts about meeting Mallie at Rezaz's. In many ways it was their restaurant, the first really nice one he had taken Belle to on their first sorta date together. But it had been the only one near the hospital that he could think of when he made the appointment with Mallie.
He managed to be ten minutes late. Mallie was waiting for him, having already had a glass of wine and she was ecstatic.
"Bobby, I am so curious what you've got going now. You gave me that battery scoop. I was thinking this was an engagement story – the word is out all over that you and Miss French are engaged."
"We're not engaged," Gold told Mallie. "Miss French is recuperating and that is the most important thing right now. No, this is entirely unrelated to my personal life."
Mallie leaned in. She was a well-dressed, very attractive woman. She had become good friends with Regina during the trial and knew there had been a brief affair between the two. She also knew that Bobby had been the one to end things.
"I have a job offer for you," he began.
She sat up. "I'm under contract with the Entertainment Channel for at least another year."
"They'll release you. They owe me . . . um, a favor," he smiled. "And I'm their landlord. I understand you've always wanted to do a more serious news program."
"Oh god, yes. Talking about divorces and babies and extra-marital affairs. I do it and I do it well, but it's all fluff and I want something more substantive, something more important. I want to be able to earn a Pulitzer before I'm thirty-five and I'm not going to be able to do that by finding out who some celebrity-of-the-moment's baby daddy is."
"I'm thinking along the lines of something investigative. You would have a staff and you would report on different cases. Probably a half hour format but I'd be willing to do something longer. I'm thinking weekdays."
Mallie was touched. "My dream job. Of course I'd want to do this. But. . . " she hesitated, "you never do anything for anyone without expecting something in return. I'm still waiting for the hammer to fall from the Battery Scoop you gave me. What do you want?"
"I like how you handled the battery announcement and when this job came up, I thought that you'd be perfect. From time to time, I will be asking you to investigate specific matters."
"I want to be on the up and up. I don't want to be fabricating shit about people or companies."
"Of course not. But we both know you have a knack for presenting information in a clever manner, sometimes telling only parts of the truth or just one side of an issue. You're good at using the media to lead people in the direction you want them to go. I saw what you were doing with my reputation during my divorce. It pissed me off and infuriated me, but at the same time, I recognized a master at work. Are you interested?"
"You bet, especially if you can get me out of my contract with EC." Mallie sat back, enjoying her second glass of the wine he'd gotten for her. "Who or what do you want me to go after first?" she asked him.
"Dr. Faciler, a drug dealer, gun runner, who knows what else he's into. I want you to dig up every bit of dirt you can on the man. I want you to follow his trial and make this a major news event. It shouldn't be hard to make him into a bad guy."
She thought about it a moment and then smiled back at him, "Bobby, after I finish with him, you'll think all I did to you was chase you around with fly swatter."
He pulled out a contract from his inside jacket pocket, "Take this with you, read it over and get back with me. I can get you set up within a short time. Be thinking of some theme music for your show."
Mallie had to laugh at this. She took the contract.
"Now, you will be covering Milah's wedding?" he asked.
"Of course, that's what has brought me to town. We think it will be bigger than William and Kate's wedding. Major rating's boost, even though her show is not on EC."
"There is someone I want to be sure you get on camera," he gave her a slow smile.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Gold went up to the apartment and got what he hoped were the items Belle had wanted, some moisturizing cream, some rose and lavender scented soap, her Nook with its charger and then had stayed a moment talking with Susie, the White Cat. He knew Darwin had taken to staying full time in the bookstore with Ashley for company now that Belle wasn't there to haul him back and forth. He figured Susie was bored.
She had watched him as he bustled around the room gathering up things on his list. He sat down in his chair, relaxing his back and double checking the list with the items. Susie hesitantly approached him, jumping up onto his chair and walking onto his lap. She purred.
He patted her, "I guess absence makes the heart grow fonder. Belle misses you too, girl. I'd take you to see her, but I don't think the hospital would approve. You want to know what I've been up to? Well, I have these three things I want to accomplish."
The cat made a purring sound mixed with a meow. She seemed interested in what he had to say.
"I've decided to put my Magicell headquarters here and I'm in the process of buying another building to put it all in. It's in easy walking distance, so I hope my plans with Belle all work out or this could be really awkward. My second thing is taking down Facilier and I'm well on my way of closing out his bank accounts, evicting him from his property, shutting off his suppliers and dealers and, what may be most important, letting everyone know what he is."
The cat purred and shifted in his lap. "Ah yes, the third thing is convincing Belle to marry me. That is proving to be difficult. I botched my first effort, but I'm pretty sure I know what I did wrong. I was too bossy, dictatorial, telling her what to do, not asking her. I will try again very soon. This time I will point out how advantageous our marriage will be. I plan to make a strong rational argument that she won't be able to resist."
The cat purred and looked up at him. "Oh no, that's not a major thing, no, it's just a little side project. Getting my son and Miss Swan together. Couple of things happening in that situation, for sure." He patted the cat, gave her some extra food and went on out downstairs to find Hopper.
Gold reconnected with Hopper who was in a heated discussion with Ruby, and then dropped him off at the Hotel before heading back to the Hospital. As he came into the room carrying two bags, he found Bae and Belle in their own discussion of how to cook mushrooms.
Bae was explaining, "The oil should be hot, otherwise you end of stewing them instead of frying them. And you never want to crowd them. If you do it right, you will get that perfect umami flavoring."
Belle was shaking her head. "We'll have to have you cook for us sometime."
"Oh, I don't know if I'm ready for that," he told her. They both looked up to see Gold.
"You look tired," Belle told him promptly.
"Been busy," he replied. "You look wonderful. I love you," he told, glad to say it first for a change.
"And I love you," she grinned back at him. "Your son has been wonderful and probably needs to get out of here and get ready for his date tonight with Emma."
"Belle, I had a wonderful time," Bae told her.
"Thank you, Bae. I think we can become good friends," Belle told him and from her bed, as she could, she gave him a hug before he ducked out.
"How'd it go?" Gold asked, not willing to talk about his day with her.
"Wonderful. I got up and sat in the chair for ten whole minutes and then got up a second time and walked out of the room and back. The nurses are very proud of me."
"I am too, and impressed."
"And I learned from Ms. Potts that her son is an EMS worker and she thinks he was one that was in the ambulance when they brought me here. His name is Chip."
Gold nodded, "I think that's right."
"The rest of the day your son and I watched cooking shows. He knows a lot about food prep, I'm telling you. And, oh yes, they think I might be ready to go home Sunday, if I have a full-time nurse." She was looking at him, her blue eyes wide and doleful. "I told them I didn't know what I would be ready to do. Sunday is your last day here, isn't it? I mean, your vacation is over then. I didn't know where you would be Monday."
He came and sat down next to her. He took her hand. "Sunday is the last day of my vacation, yes," he told her. Right now, I don't know what Monday will bring either. Certainly whether I'm still here or not, I will be happy to look into a full-time nurse for you."
Belle nodded. "What's in the bags?" she asked after a moment.
"The things you asked for from the apartment and, " he held up the second bag, "Razaz's falafel. I had the chef do us up some special for supper."
"You sweet man! My most favorite food. Thank you. Thank you," she told him.
"It's a little early for supper. I'm going to put them in the fridge here and then find a microwave closer to time to eat."
Belle watched him. "What did you do today?" she asked him.
"Mostly stuff about Magicell. Looking for a place for it to call home."
"Was that all?"
"Mostly. I ran into Emma and went with her while she shopped for a dress for the wedding. She's going with Bae. There were three really nice dresses."
Belle narrowed her eyes, "You got her all three, didn't you?" she asked.
"She doesn't know it yet but," he looked at his watch, "she's probably finding out about it about now."
As if on cue, his phone rang. "Emma," he told Belle.
"Yes dear. . . uh huh. . . uh huh. . . I did. . . well, I thought after you had stopped me from blowing Facilier away and then stood by me when I had a couple of moments there, it was the least I could do. . . no, I didn't think a simple 'thank you' would suffice. . .that's right. . . I thought you deserved something more. . . Did you find some shoes?. . . Actually I do want to know, you're going to be in a place with cameras tomorrow. I know Bae would want you to look nice. . . uh huh. . . uh huh. . . uh huh. . . Maybe not the best time to bring this up, but did you think any more about the job offer?. . . Emma? Emma?" Gold looked over at Belle, "She hung up." He shrugged.
"Did you offer Emma a job?" Belle asked him.
"Absolutely. Whenever I meet anyone with that much talent, I'm going to try to recruit them." He opened the other bag. "Here's the stuff you'd asked for. I think I got everything."
Belle looked it over. "You're a jewel." She was about to say more when her own cell phone rang (the one he'd replaced had been powered up and provided to her with her old number). "Sorry," she mouthed. "Yes. Oh, hello Milah. How are you holding together?. . . Oh really. . . You know, pre-wedding jitters are normal. . . Of course. . . .Of course. . . We talked about this, you remember. . . All those trappings, they're nice, but they are just things. . . That's right, the most important thing is that you are joining your life with the life of the man you love. . . We talked about that too. . . Remind yourself how much you love him and how much he loves you. . . I think that taking a Xanax might not be a bad idea, but don't overdose. . . No alcohol, you know what it does to the circles under your eyes. . . Of course dear. . . That's right, we'll both be watching. . . I'm so sorry we can't be there. . . Sounds wonderful. . . Now you just relax. You're going to be all right. . . Right. . . Bye now."
Belle cut the phone off and looked at it, then at Gold, "When did I become Milah's big sister?" she asked him.
"When you were nice to her. She's never been one to have female friends and I think you may actually be her first."
"Not Regina?"
"Regina's her attorney and, at best, a paid friend." Gold had begun brushing her hair as he had done the previous night. "You don't ask anything in return. You're just nice. What you said to her was nice too."
"Well, Milah strikes me as somebody who's thinking more about how good she looks in her dress while she walking down the aisle, rather than the seriousness of the step she's taking."
He sighed, "Got that right," he agreed. "Belle, speaking of this wedding, I did a small bad thing. I know you can't have any because of the medication you're on. But I am anticipating needing to get completely shit-faced tomorrow with Milah's wedding. It's going to be on, off and on, all tomorrow and then the ceremony will be live with a replay at eight o'clock complete with highlights."
"And?"
"I have smuggled in a small bottle of hooch to consume over the course of the day tomorrow. I plan to be completely smashed by the time of the replay."
Belle considered. "Normally I'd admonish you for over-indulgence, but in this instance. . . Don't think Hopper could come through with a couple of Quaaludes?"
"Maybe, but I think I'll handle this the old-fashioned way," he held up a small bottle of scotch.
He put the bottle away in a cabinet and went back to brushing her hair. They had a quiet evening sharing the falafel, some Iron Bru he'd brought from the apartment, and just holding hands. He'd checked her IV. She was still getting some antibiotics and saline. He knew she was getting pain medication by mouth and wondered if they were still feeding her Xanax. Judging by her mood, he thought it likely.
Thirty-seven days down and five to go.
(sorry, this chapter ran incredibly long)
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NEXT: What else? The Wedding