Bella walked down the staircase very slowly-partly from nerves but mainly because she hadn't worn heels for a long time and was struggling with the dynamics of walking elegantly in them. The dress fitted her perfectly, much to her surprise, complementing her figure and colouring. She had spent only a small amount of time on her make-up as she had always preferred a minimalist approach-just enough to accentuate her eyes and smile. Her hair was her finest achievement. She had never really had the opportunity to experiment with style and usually favoured a straight-forward pony-tail or just wore it loose. This time, however, she had carefully brushed and then pinned it so her chestnut waves cascaded down onto her shoulders, leaving wispy tendrils framing her face. For the first time in her life, she found herself praising the thick normally unruly tresses she had inherited from her mother--a genetic gift like her eyes.
Now those eyes darted back and forth nervously as her arm trailed along the banister behind her. No human was in sight but there was a soft light coming through an open doorway to her right. Bella still hadn't gotten used to the many doors, the long corridors and their destinations yet. She thought this one led to the dining room, which made sense, but in her tangled state of mind she wasn't sure of anything anymore except the strange feeling in her stomach--a fusion of hunger and anticipation.
She walked through the door, her nervousness growing with every step she took until she was the dining room where it leapt into her throat defiantly. She hardly recognised the place. Candles illuminated every corner, casting a subtle glow onto the table in the centre. The table was set for two with plates, wine glasses and more cutlery than was needed for one dinner surely. The scene was calm and tranquil except for a clatter of noises that came from the kitchen at the far end. Bella smiled as she imagined Mrs. Potter sweating and straining amidst pots and pans and she instinctively started to walk towards the kitchen to see if she could help out, admiring the marquetry panelling on the table as she went. It depicted magnificent beasts of all shapes and forms intertwined with intricately carved roses. She wondered how such a beautiful table could have been hidden and disused for so many years with no-one to care for it. As she neared the kitchen, she could smell all manner of wonderful aromas wafting through the gap beneath the door. She stood there a moment just allowing herself to inhale the rich scent of food. It soothed her and seemed to quell her anxiety just a little. She looked at the clock as it chimed the hour. As it finished, her eyes were drawn to the door as she if was expecting Bastian to have appeared on the stroke of eight, but he wasn't there.
Bella frowned. She hated waiting-it meant more time to get herself worked up. For no other reason than to engulf herself in comforting smells, she opened the door to the kitchen.
Heat hit her like a brick wall and she saw that every available surface was crammed with kitchen equipment or food in various states of preparation, and right in the middle of all the chaos was Audrey Potter stirring something on the stove.
"Audrey?" she asked tentatively.
The old lady whirled round.
"My goodness, child, you scared me! Weren't you ever taught not to sneak up on people?"
The hand that wasn't stirring was upon her heart.
"I'm sorry. I…just wanted to see what you were cooking. It smells so good."
Audrey gasped.
"Shame on you! Don't you know half the taste of food is in the smell? You're ruining the culinary surprise."
Seeing Bella's face, her scolding tone turned into soft laughter.
"Are you alright, my dear? You're as white as a sheet."
"I am?"
"Oh yes! Here…" She went to the cupboard and produced a bottle of red wine. "You may as well get started on this. It might help with the nerves."
Bella was stunned as she plonked the bottle in her hand.
"Now get out of here! First course-which is my homemade tomato and basil soup by the way-won't be done for another few minutes so shoo! Go on!"
And with that, a slightly flustered Bella was practically pushed out of the door, straight into Bastian who had also been led to the kitchen by his nose.
With a dual "oof!", the two collided, knocking the bottle of wine out of Bella's hands and onto the floor. Both cringed, waiting for the sound of breaking glass to echo around the room, but thankfully the floor was deeply carpeted and so no harm was done…not to the floor anyway. Bastian, who had unfortunately gotten Bella's elbow in his ribs, was not so lucky. Exasperated, Bella blurted out a mixture of incoherent mumbles that sounded like a cross between 'Oh my god!" and "I'm so sorry!" repeated over and over again to his back and his neatly-pony-tailed hair.
Bastian recovered and turned to face Bella whose face was now almost the same colour as the wine in her hand.
"Are you ok…" he started, but the last syllable died in his throat as he realised how beautiful she looked.
Bella was also rendered speechless when she finally saw Bastian's face clearly. He looked so different yet familiar at the same time. Without his beard, his eyes finally matched the rest of his features and the harmony meant that he had suddenly become very aesthetically pleasing. She couldn't tear her gaze from him as she followed the shape of his face.
He was the first to look away-his self-consciousness getting the better of him and realised that if he was going to survive the evening with his dignity intact then he needed a drink. He took the bottle of wine from Bella's hand with a shy smile and opened it before pouring them a glass each.
As he poured, Bella found herself wanting to say everything all at once but not being able to. All she could do was stare at him as he handed her a glass. Grateful for the distraction, Bella allowed the mellow yet spicy liquid to fill her senses. It allowed her enough time to get a hold of herself and when she placed the glass back onto the table, she was able to look at him without seizing up. Just as she was about to open her mouth, Mrs. Potter interrupted with a far-from-gracious yell of "SOUP'S READY!"
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The soup was followed by a delicious beef ragout and cheese soufflé and then by a gigantic Crème Brulee which they struggled to finish between them. After the initial awkwardness they had experienced at first glance of each other, Bella and Bastian started to relax in their own company again and were soon chatting away about everything that they hadn't talked about yet while Mrs. Potter bustled in and out constantly smiling and muttering to herself about either body language or the best way to blow-torch demerara sugar.
The meal was over far too quickly for Bella, even though she was certain she could not have eaten another bite. She looked across at Bastian who was carefully wiping his mouth with a napkin.
"So…what shall we do now?"
Bella racked her brains whilst pretending to concentrate on folding her napkin into the shape of a swan. She glanced at the clock. It was only twenty past nine. Surely far too early to call it a night?
As if in immediate answer to her question, music appeared as if from nowhere. If she had been looking anywhere other than at Bastian, she would surely have noticed their erstwhile chef playing around with the stereo system. The delicate music made her heart feel light and she thought of an activity she had not done properly in years and would now never think of doing it with anyone other than her present company. Smiling, she took Bastian's hand, relishing once again the sparks that danced where their skin touched, and led him to the conservatory. She'd been in there before while exploring. It was a huge empty space surrounded on three sides by views of the gardens. Now at night, it was transformed into a place of magic and enchantment. Stars twinkled through the windows, candles flickered, sending misty haze into the air and casting blue-black shadows onto the wall. The inexplicable yet unmistakable scent of rose petals drifted through the air.
"Erm…what are we doing," said Bastian, hesitantly and with his voice barely above a whisper, as if somehow the normal volume of his speech did not fit the situation.
"Something different," whispered Bella back. She giggled as she saw that Bastian still looked wary.
"I'm going to teach you how to dance."
"Wh…wh…what," he spluttered. "I don't know how to dance."
Bella rolled her eyes. "That's why I'm going to teach you!"
"But….why?"
"Are you afraid of trying something new? There's more to life than exercising and watching movies all the time you know."
Bella walked to the stereo system and adjusted it so music clouded into the conservatory.
"We were taught ballroom dancing as an extra-curricular activity at school. I loved it but after it ended, the only person I could practice with was my father and his limbs aren't really designed for dancing."
She walked towards Bastian.
"Will you dance with me…please?"
Hesitantly, but nonetheless willingly, Bastian nodded and took Bella's outstretched hand. He gulped as Bella then arranged his arms around hers, and they started to dance.
Bella was surprised at how quickly Bastian learnt the steps and how his athletic body became graceful under her tuition. At first, he was stiff. She could feel every muscle tensed underneath his clothes and this caused him to stumble a lot.
"I'm sorry," he gasped as he trod on her toe for the third time.
Ignoring the pain, Bella told him to look at her, not at his feet. Once he looked into her face he was able to relax and everything from then on came easy to him. Once Bella was sure that he had mastered the basics, she felt that she could also relax, and she found herself falling into his beautiful eyes. They looked clearer than ever before-so clear she felt that she could almost glimpse his soul. As they gently moved around the room, Bella could hardly feel the floor beneath her feet. She sighed in contentment and rested her head on Bastian's chest. This was where she stayed until the very last note of the music played and the starry sky beckoned them out into the night.
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A few moments later, they were strolling through the gardens and Bella finally got the answer to the question that had been plaguing her for so long. As Bastian relived the discovery of his parent's bodies in his mind, he walked slowly as if in a trance with the moonlight shining on his face. For the first time in ten years, he was no longer afraid of sharing that moment with another person.
"They looked so peaceful that I thought they were asleep. As I got closer, I noticed identical gunshot wounds in their forehead but I still didn't understand what had happened to them--not fully anyway…
The little boy crept closer to the figure of his mother on the ground. Despite the funny red dot that contrasted too well with the pallor of her skin, he thought she looked beautiful. His father was lying next to her, his arm draped protectively over hers. The boy was puzzled. Were they playing some sort of game? He reached out a trembling hand and brushed a curl away from his mothers face with his finger.
"Mummy?" he whispered, but no breath came from her lips in response. She lay still like a statue carved of alabaster. Not quite knowing what to do, the boy knelt beside the lifeless figures of his family and wept quietly.
Bastian paused and looked up at the moonlit sky as if he expected to see his parents' outlines written in the stars. He had lost count of how many nights he'd relived the scream, then the silence. Some nights he'd even dreamt that he had woken up and saved them from their fate, but somehow that dream was worse than the nightmares.
"Mrs. Potter found me there a few hours later. She took care of everything so I wouldn't have to. I'll never forget the fear in her eyes when she told me that we could never go to the police, it was too dangerous, and that there were powerful forces behind it that we should not mess with."
He paused.
"It was a hired hitman that pulled the trigger but when I try and picture him, he doesn't have a face. He's just a puppet."
"So…you never found out who did it?"
"No…probably never will, and even if I did know, what could I do about it?"
Bella felt she understood-not the horror of kneeling by your murdered parents (she would never understand that)-but she felt that she knew why Bastian shut himself off from the outside world the way he did. Who could want to live in a society where people can kill and get away with it? Bastian's world had come crashing down that day and he had been buried under the rubble ever since. She felt helpless. What could she do? What could she possibly say that would make everything better, short of crossing impossible boundaries to bring his parents back.
She did the only thing she could think of. She wanted to let him know that he needn't be alone anymore. She took him in her arms and held him. He nestled his head on her shoulder and she felt hot, silent tears on her neck. She closed her eyes and they simply stood there in the silvery moonlight, entwined in each others hopes and fears.
Hi everyone! First of all, a million and one apologies for taking sooooooo long to write this chapter. A lot of stuff got in the way (mainly leaving uni and moving house) so I have my reasons! We're getting towards the big climax now (sob! its all happened so fast!)
A big thank-you to Trudi cos I gave in and asked her to be my beta for this chapter :) And a big hello to Trudi, Faith, Klaske,Valerie, Nikki, Carrie and Catherine ( i think thats everyone!) who have kept me entertained with spirited chat over the last few days, mainly about SAG lol Oh and also big love and hugs to all my wonderful reviewers especially bellamegs for always being constant and Damien for finally getting round to reviewing my story (and writing a great one of your own!) lol why does this sound like I'm accepting an Oscar?
