Sat on the stool in the corner with the sound system, Rumald observed the students in his class waltzing clockwise around the room. He was thankful it was nearly the end of their class and would finally be the end of his week. The week had held some ups and downs for Rumald and he would gladly take the downs on his chin, as long as he got to go home soon and enjoy a glass of whiskey on his own. He was tired and bed was sounding more and more inviting, the more he thought about it. At least in bed, Rumald could have her all to himself, possessing her and worshipping her all at the same time, all in the comfort of his own bed. He sighed to himself at the thought, glancing to the clock to see he was there for another twenty minutes.
Rumald crossed his arms, scrutinising Leroy and Astrid as they waltzed by him. He had drawn a line with them, deciding a small trace of imperfection would not hurt this once. There three count kept becoming four, or even two, with Leroy unable to keep the rhythm. Seeing how Astrid was smiling at Leroy, Rumald had let that be enough for them. As long as they were enjoying themselves that would be good enough for Rumald. It was not like aspired to compete professional.
The sound of heels clicking into the dance studio caught Rumald's attention, hearing her footsteps over the music, and looked to see Regina coming over to him. "You're early."
"I got bored." She told him flippantly and added. "Also, I seem to have some entrants for next week's competition needing some help."
"I'm sure Mal could handle it." Rumald remarked with his eyes drifting after Leroy and Astrid, unable to help himself from spotting the missteps.
"She probably could, but I want to make sure, everything is spot on before they go." Regina said standing beside him, crossing her arms over her chest, while her gaze inspected the couples waltzing.
Rumald leaned on the stool towards Regina, lowering his voice to say. "Don't pay attention to Leroy and Astrid then."
"I try not to." Regina joined Rumald in watching as the said couple passed in front of them.
Together, they watched over the class, leaving them to waltz the twenty minutes away. Sensing it was nearly seven o'clock, Rumald leaned over the sound system and ended the playlist. The couples drifted to a stop, while Regina clapped her hands at the group and smiled at all of them.
"Well done, everyone." Regina raised her voice to be heard by everyone. "Nice to see your time with Mr Gold has been worthwhile. You all looked to have progressed quite nicely."
"It's nice to see you're back, Regina." Mary-Margaret smiled at her step-sister, genuinely pleased to see her.
A slight smile pushed back the corners of Rumald's lips, knowing Regina's step-sister was not just pleased to see her step-sister, but was also glad to her teacher back. Rumald did not care. He would be glad to have his Monday's and Friday's evenings free again. It had sealed it for Rumald, teaching was not something he wanted to do ever again. Especially, if it meant teaching anyone present in the dance studio with him and Regina.
"Which means, I'll be taking the evening class from Monday onwards." Regina announced to them.
Rumald stood up from the stool as the class swamped around Regina, asking her questions about her holiday and the outcome of the dance competition. He collected his overcoat from floor behind his stool and shook it out before he put it on. As he tugged the sleeves of either arm, Rumald looked up to see Regina coming over to join him again, giving everyone a small wave whilst they left the room as group.
"Any trouble?" Regina asked him, resting a hand onto the edge of the sound system.
"Nothing, I couldn't handle." He replied to her.
"Good." Regina smiled at him. "Interested in teaching again?"
Rumald could not say it fast enough. "No!"
Regina pouted her lips at him as she moved closer to him to get hold of his arm, wrapping her arm around his arm, and led him from the room. "I know you miss it really. You were so good at it." She waved her free hand to indicate the room. "And the class look like they've come on really well."
"No." He told her, padding his hand on top of her hand on his arm.
"Sure?" She urged him, pressing herself into his side, giving him her sweetest smile.
"Very sure." Rumald said confidently, stepping to the side to let her through the door first.
Regina laughed and said over her shoulder, beginning down the stairs. "Okay, but let's go for a drink, so I can thank you."
"Oh, no." He shook his head at her, though she could not see him. "I'm tired, Regina. Maybe another night."
She waited for him on the landing before the next set of stairs and retook possession of his arm, urging him. "Please, Rumald, just one drink."
Rumald angled his head to see her beside him as they descended the stairs together and gave into her, rolling his eyes with a shake of his head. He did not have to tell her she had won, she knew instantly, tightening her hold around his arm. They walked by Mal together, heading to the entrance of the dance studio.
"The Rabbit Hole is closest." Regina commented as they exited the dance studio.
Rumald pulled a face at the idea of going to the Rabbit Hole. "Their choice in whiskey is questionable."
Regina placed her other hand on his chest, telling him. "I'll make sure you get the good stuff."
"If it's not, I'll leave." He promised, tucking his hands into his overcoat pockets, feeling the cold air nip at his hands.
She grinned at him, nudging her shoulder into his as they walked. Shaking his head at himself, Rumald tried again for the hundredth time, in the last three weeks, to figure out why did let her talk him into doing things. Rumald had tried to hate Regina after Cora had dumped him. He had not wanted anything to do with anything that was associated with Cora or dancing. Wanting to shut that part of his life away for good. Still, Regina had managed to weigh him down and got him to agree to teach her privately. Secretly, they had met, dancing together after hours at a dance studio or would meet at Rumald's house, keeping it a secret from her mother. All those years, Rumald had trained her and supported her by attending competitions, he had found himself caring for her as if she was the daughter he always wanted. The daughter he should have had with Cora.
"Come on, old man." Regina tugged on his arm and unhooked her arm to open the door to the Rabbit Hole.
"Less of the old." Rumald returned grabbing hold of the door to follow her into the bar.
The bar was loud as they entered, finding the bar was heaving with Storybrooke residents, ready to get their weekend started. Regina touched his arm to gain his attention and pointed to the far side of the bar. He nodded his head and followed close behind her, squeezing by people when Regina excused their way through. Rumald could not get over how busy the bar was, wandering his eyes over the sea of heads to see several people dancing on the dancefloor.
"Two whiskeys." Regina shouted at the barman, holding up two of her fingers to him.
Rumald propped himself onto the bar beside Regina with his elbow, looking by her to the dancefloor. "Busy."
"What did you expect?" She inquired inclining herself towards Rumald. "It's Friday night!"
It was an obvious reason for why it was so busy, though for Rumald, it still astounded him that so many people would be attending the Rabbit Hole. Granted, he thought with his gaze looking from face to face in the bar, most of the people in the bar looked young enough to be his child. He surmised it was his age and the fact, he never went out on a Friday night anymore, not since he was married to Milah. Responsibilities and building his business had taken his time, leaving any of his free time at the time for Neal and dancing. Which, sadly, was probably why Milah had left him and sought the arms of another man.
"Here you go." Regina handed him a glass of whiskey.
"Thanks." He responded angling his glass to look at the whiskey and then dipped his nose into the glass to smell it.
Taking a chance, Rumald sipped some of the liquor and was pleasantly surprised to find it was drinkable. Regina nodded her head in a direction and Rumald looked to see a free table. They headed over to the table together and when they were close enough, Rumald quickened his step to pull out a chair for Regina. He waited until she was seated and took the other seat at the table.
"How're the lovebirds getting on?" Regina asked him, tilting herself in Rumald's favour.
"Lovebirds?" Rumald was confused, scrunching his brow at Regina.
"The private sessions with the couple?" Regina smiled at his obvious confusion.
Rumald raised and lowered his head in a large nod, understanding her meaning. It was then it occurred to him. He had lost his main way of seeing Belle without needing a reason. If he went to the library, he would have to loan a book every time he went in or think of an excuse for being in the library. Trying to plan to bump into her at lunch would be tricky, seeing as she did not take her lunch at a set time and always met with Ruby at Grannies. A headache was starting to form as Rumald thought of any possible way he could see her frequently, without raising too many eyebrows.
"Rumald?" Regina touched his forearm on the table.
"Sorry," Rumald snapped his head to look at her. "What?"
Her brow creased at him. "I was asking you how the engaged couple were getting on."
"He's not interested. She's pretty good." He smiled thinking about Belle. "She's picks it up pretty quick. Very natural."
"Meaning, he needs the work and she'll pick it up. Got'cha." Regina said, taking note of what he had said.
Rumald drank some of his whiskey and said to her. "That's if he continues to come to class." He placed his glass down onto the table. "He's been reluctant to turn up."
"I'm sure, I can persuade him to come to class." Regina flashed her eyelashes at him, making him chuckle at her.
"You would think, his fiancée, would be enough to persuade him." Rumald commented to her, thinking Belle was more than enough reason for him to do anything she wanted. Walk across the Sahara Desert? Yes, ma'am. Without water? Yes, ma'am.
"I normally find, the ones that don't want to come class, are the ones going elsewhere or aren't that interested in their fiancée." Regina shared with him as she raised her glass to her lips.
Rumald raised an eyebrow at her, impressed with how astute Regina could be. "You think so?"
Regina nodded her head at him. "Oh, yeah. Happens all the time."
"You'll have to let me know, what the outcome is on that one." He told her before sipping from his whiskey.
Lowering his glass down onto the table, Rumald's gaze fell onto the dancefloor as he licked the remnants of his whiskey from his lips. Through the throng of dancers, he recognised her smile, beaming out to him like a lighthouse. His chest heaved with the unexpected breath he took, awestruck by her beauty. The sea of dancers parted for him, revealing more of Belle to him. He sat back into his chair to appreciate the view of her. She was dancing with her friend Ruby, both carefree as they moved to the beat together, laughing and smiling with everyone surrounding them. In his mind's eye, there was no one else apart from Belle on the dancefloor, dancing energetically to the beat.
"Rumald," Regina placed her hand on his forearm, breaking the spell over him. "Are you okay?"
"Yes. Quite." He smiled to reassure her, glimpsing to Belle on the dancefloor.
She began to turn her head to follow his gaze to the dancefloor, but Rumald stopped her by placing his hand on top of hers still on his forearm. "Where did you go on your little vacation?"
"Oh… Erm…" Regina stuttered, caught off guide and said. "The competition was in Germany, so I spent a few days there. Then I spent a few days in Paris, moving onto London from there. From London, I flew down to Spain."
She smiled remembering her few days in Spain, telling him the details, however Rumald had stopped listening after Germany. Out of the corner of his eye, Rumald was secretly watching Belle, tailing her across the room as Ruby and her left the dancefloor to get a drink from the bar. Flicking his eyes by Regina's head, Rumald spied on Belle, hungrily roaming his eyes over the black dress she was wearing and down to her high heels.
"And then, I ran naked through the streets, screaming at the top of lungs that I'm the Virgin Mary." Regina told him, an eyebrow raised with a small trace of a smile.
"Excuse me?" Rumald's eyebrows pressed heavily down over his eyes.
"Who are you looking at?" She twisted round in her seat, trying to spot whoever was distracting Rumald.
Rumald reached across the table and grabbed her hand to bring her back to him. "Nobody."
Regina shifted in her seat, asking. "Isn't that…?"
"It's nobody." Rumald insisted, tugging her arm.
"No, that's Miss French…?" Regina whipped her head round to him. "From the private class?"
"Is it…?" He tried to slip his mask into place, hiding his emotions from Regina, while he titled his head to look by her at Belle.
Regina pointed at him, waving her hand up and down through the air to indicate Rumald, as she questioned him. "What's that? What are you doing?"
"What?" He asked feigning his ignorance at her questions.
"You…" She shifted back round to face him, leaning over the table towards him. "Rumald, you're not…?"
"What?" Rumald repeated at her.
One side of Regina's lips pulled back into a wicked smile. "You like her, don't you?"
He squinted his eyes at her seeking answers in her face, not understanding how she could possibly know that. "How…?"
"I've known you a long time, Rumald." Her smile softened and she reached up to touch his confused face.
"Yes, well…" Rumald grabbed her hand touching his face and lowered it to the table, glancing round to see if anyone was looking at them.
"Why do you have to go after the ones, you can't have?" Regina asked him bluntly.
He shook his head. "I wish I knew."
"Good evening, Mr Gold." They both looked up to see Belle and Ruby walking by their table, carrying their drinks in their hands.
"Miss French." Rumald returned graciously, his gaze split between Belle and Regina.
Regina looked round to Belle and Ruby and smiled welcomingly at them, following them with her eyes as they walked by their table, heading to a table surrounded by more women. Turning his head to follow them, Rumald felt a small pain in his chest, yearning for her to come back and talk to him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Regina face the table and finish off rest of her whiskey, missing Belle glimpsing over her shoulder at him. It was a fleeting look, but it was enough to drive Rumald's heart wild.
"You're better off looking away now." Regina advised him. "Otherwise, people will be talking about you gawking at someone else's fiancée."
Rumald did as she advised, saying to her. "They'll just think she owes me money."
"Not by the way you're looking at her." Regina remarked.
"Let them talk." He said dryly and downed the rest of his own whiskey, and then asked Regina. "Care for another?"
"What happened to having one drink?" She asked sliding her glass over the table to him.
"One drink always leads to two drinks." He quipped standing up to remove his overcoat and then picked up their empty glasses to take to the bar.
Whilst he strolled over to the bar, Rumald kept his gaze from roaming over to her, focusing on the bar and finding a space at the actual bar to get served. Having to wait, he waited behind a group of young girls, who Rumald decided needed to have their IDs checked again. They giggled and glanced back at him, whispering about him as he rolled his eyes at them. The group received their drinks and gave Rumald a look over their shoulders, while they wandered away from the bar, disappearing into the crowd. Rumald shook his head placing the whiskey glasses onto the bar.
"Same again." Rumald stated to the barman, who took the empty glasses from the bar.
Pulling his money clip out from his pocket, Rumald removed a twenty-dollar bill from his clip and shoved the large wad back into his pocket as someone said to him. "Strange to see you in here."
Inclining himself to see who was talking to him, he was confused for a moment when he saw nobody there and turned around, hearing a giggle on the other side of him. Rumald felt an ease wash over him, removing the tension that had weighed on him. He wanted to be so much more for her. Be worthy of her hand. If he had been more of that man, Rumald would not have let her walk away last night with Gaston. Would have told her the truth about Gaston. Instead, he was a man who had to resort to scheming and lying to get what he wanted.
"Regina insisted." He supplied his reason for being there.
"I didn't think she was back for another week." Belle said to him, shifting closer to him as someone else tried getting to the bar behind her.
"Here you go, Mr Gold." The bartender said, placing two whiskeys in front of him.
Rumald indicated the bar to Belle. "Would you like a drink?"
"No, no." She smiled and touched her hand to his forearm. "I've already got a drink. I came to order some food for our table."
"Order it." He instructed her, loving how brave she was to touch him in public.
"I couldn't. I'll order after you." Belle said to him, squeezing his forearm under her hand.
Rumald shifted to face her, bringing them closer than he had ever been to her before, brushing their hips together. "Order your food."
"I couldn't possibly. Pay for your drinks." She shook her head forcefully at him.
"Seriously, order your food." Rumald insisted.
Belle opened her mouth to refuse again, but the bartender said. "Belle, just order your food. If Mr Gold wants to pay, let him."
Letting his gaze move to the bartender, Rumald did not know whether to thank the bartender or not as Belle gave him her order. "Large seafood platter, BBQ platter, large fries and onion rings."
"Sounds… healthy." Rumald commented as he brought his money out again to take more money from it.
"It's girl's night." She told him with a smile. "Not meant to be."
He handed the money to the bartender and collected his drinks from the bar. "Keep the change."
There was a distant 'thank you' from the bartender as he moved away to the cash register, Rumald was not really listening or cared, as he said to Belle. "Are you in here often?"
"Most Fridays and Saturdays." She replied.
"Surprised you're not at home, curled up with a book." He remarked, picturing her sat in his own living room, reading a book in front of the fire.
"That would be nice." Belle's smile widened at the image. "I don't get chance to read much at home. Too noisy with Gaston."
Rumald tried to refrain from frowning, further hating Gaston from stopping her from doing something she loves, and said. "Wouldn't have that problem at my house."
She chuckled. "Also, the fact you live on your own helps."
"It does." He turned to make a start back to their table, but found he could not bring himself to leave her. "But I also have a library in my house, nice and private."
"You have your own library?" Her eyes brightened at the mention of his private library.
"I'd rather read than watch TV." Rumald shared with her.
He felt her hand clasp at his elbow as she placed her other hand on his forearm again. "I'd love to have my own library."
"Technically… I think you already do." Rumald said to her, enjoying the sight of her laughing.
"Very true." She said with her laughter dying off.
"Would you care to dance, Miss French?" He asked out of the blue, not only surprising her but himself as well.
Belle glanced over to where her friends were and then to Rumald, and said. "I'd love to, Mr Gold."
The smile on his face exploded wide across his face, pushing his cheeks back with his smile going the widest it had in a long time. His face hurt, however Rumald did not care, seeing Belle return his smile. Whispering an 'excuse me' to her, Rumald hastily walked over to the table Regina was occupying and placed their drinks onto the table. She was asking him where he had been for their drinks, questioning how long he had been, but Rumald hurried back to Belle.
A blush had crept its way up her neck to her cheeks, giving her skin a rosy tint. He offered his hand to her and waited for her to place her hand inside of his. Once Belle had placed her hand inside of his, Rumald carefully closed his fingers around her hand, minding her delicate fingers, and escorted her to the dancefloor. With the hand he held, Rumald twirled her round as they stepped onto the dancefloor and captured her into his arms. The blush on her cheeks deepened as Rumald began to move them in time with the music. Her hand slid to its home on his shoulder with her fingers lightly digging into the material of his suit jacket. They looked into each other's faces, holding the other's gaze, while their bodies touched. Rumald swallowed nervously, tightening his hold around her, never wanting to let her go again.
"I have a confession." Belle said abruptly to him.
His eyebrows raised slightly up his forehead. "A confession?"
"I wasn't really coming to the bar to order food. I was, but I wasn't. I just wanted an excuse." She told him, guiltily looking away from him.
Squashing his brow down over his eyes, Rumald carried on swaying with her as he asked. "Excuse for what?"
Belle looked up to meet his gaze. "I wanted to come and talk to you."
"Oh…" Was all he could managed to utter to her confession.
"This is more than I could have imagined happening." She commented moving her hand on his shoulder to touch her fingertips to his neck, tickling the small hairs on the back of his neck.
Rumald took in a shuddering breath at her touch. "What did you want to talk about?"
"Did you make Gaston come to class yesterday?" Belle questioned him.
"Kind of…" He hated that realistically he was the reason Gaston had come to class, ruining his time alone with Belle.
"Thank you." She said with a small smile, though the smile did not reach her eyes.
Her smile was shameful attempt at mimicking her usual smile. There was no twinkle in her eyes. The smile hardly pushed back her cheeks to show the shallow dimples in her cheeks. Her normal dazzling smile would reveal her teeth, but this smile was just flat. There was no real emotion behind her smile.
"As long as it made you happy, dearie." Rumald said to her, though he suspected she felt the total opposite.
Belle titled her head to the side as she spoke. "Well, we'll see whether he turns up on Tuesday."
His hand on her back splayed and kept her close, refusing to say anything more on the subject. Rumald did not have the heart to tell her the truth, that he would not be there for her class on Tuesday. He feared it would break the spell over them, ruining this private moment between them. Promising himself, he told himself he would tell her after their dance, willing to deal with the repercussions then, instead of losing her now. At least as they swayed together, Rumald could pretend she was already his and she reciprocated his feelings, and they were going to live happily ever after.
The song began to end. Slowing their sway to stop, Rumald made himself smile, even though he was torn inside at the thought of losing her closeness. She took a gingerly step backwards from him. He held his hand to her, wanting to gain some contact with her again, and she accepted his hand, following behind him as he led her from the dancefloor back to the bar area, where they had met earlier.
"Thank you for the dance, Mr Gold." She smiled at him, giving him a full blown smile, when he turned to face her.
"No, thank you, Miss French." He inclined himself forward, giving her a small bow. "You've made my evening."
Belle gestured to somewhere behind him. "I better get back to the girls."
Getting the courage together to tell her, Rumald opened his mouth to tell her and watched helplessly as she swiftly zipped by him and went back to the table she had occupied earlier. He hated himself. He hated she was gone so quickly. He hated he had not told her. He hated he was too much of a coward to call her back and tell her he would not be teaching her anymore.
Although, Rumald mulled over whether it was such a bad thing he had not told her. If his suspicions were true, maybe she would seek him out after she found out he would not be teaching her anymore. If Belle was as interested in him as he was in her, she would feel the need to find him. Making up an excuse to see him, just like she had done tonight. Rumald smiled thinking it through, observing her with her friends as she squeezed into the bench seat to sit beside Ruby. He felt so certain he was right, as though he could see it in his future.
Rumald ambled to his seat at their table and sat down to see Regina smirking at him. "You're in such trouble."
He knew her words were true as he picked up glass to take a drink from it and placed his glass down, looking over his shoulder towards Belle. A ghost of a smile played over his features, while he watched her laugh with her friends and helped herself to the food on their table. She had turned his world upside down and Rumald could only find himself wanting more of it.
Song:
Martin Garrix & David Guetta – So Far Away