Chapter 24
Belle & Katherine's place….
"WHAT!...he invited you to dinner? Wait…did you say yes? Of course you did…you been crushing on him for a year now since they day you started working there…..OMG Belle this is so exciting…eeeeehheee" Belle didn't know why her friend had to be so dramatic all the time with her personal life.
"Will you clam down, Kat?" Belle rolled her eyes at her. "And NO! I didn't say yes" Belle cleared away the misunderstanding. She then noticed Katherine's excitement fade away.
"Whoa..wait why didn't you? This was your chance to get close to him Belle. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" Belle decided to ignore her outburst and diverted her attention to the movie on the tv. The next she knew the screen turned black and noticed the remote in Katherine's hand.
"We need to talk about this? Like right now! So no distractions" Katherine demanded and Belle just moved herself over to one corner of the sofa and tried to give her full attention to her friend. Belle noticed Katherine was staring at her, expecting her to explain her reasons.
"Well…are you waiting for something to happen or what? I know for sure your friend's flight isn't coming in about few hours so spill" Katherine spoke again. Belle just rolled her eyes again and hugged her legs and looked down on her feet on the sofa.
"First of all…I never imagined in my lifetime that he would ever ask me out like that. Besides I don't think it will work out in the long run" Belle finished, hoping her friend would let it go now. But when she looked up at her friend and was confused at seeing a angry face of her friend.
"REALLY….ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?" Katherine asked but received no answer. She just sighed and saw her friend hug her knees even more. She couldn't help but let her ager go at seeing Belle so sad.
"Belle" she said her name softly. "You shouldn't hold back because of your place in that company. I know he's your boss but you never know what will happen until you try it. So don't stop this from happening just because you are afraid of the outcomes…"
"No..Kat it's not as easy as you think. Imagine what people will think of me. They probably are going to start rumors of me being a slut and sleeping with Ruben just to move up in the company. I know Ruben wouldn't want to deal with that either…I can't do this..so its better if I just give it up" Belle explained. Katherine knew what Belle was saying was correct but she also knew her friend has been crushing on this guy for a year now so she wasn't about to let this slip away that easily.
"Belle…I understand that but I still believe you should give it a try and see things playout. Besides from the looks of it..he's into you too so its not about getting a promotion or a higher status. It's about two people feeling the same way and acting on their feelings" Katherine hoped that her friend would listen to her now.
"…sigh…I don't want to talk about it. I going to go to sleep I have to pick up Regina in the morning…..good night Kat" Belle said with a defeated voice. All Katherine could do was just let it be for now; there was no point in pushing her too much. 'I hope she comes to realize it soon before she misses her chance completely' Katherine shook her head as she saw her friend walk into her room.
"I guess I'll just finish up the movie by….myself then…hmm" she said to the empty room now.
Belle's room….
Belle couldn't sleep; she was replaying Katherine's words in her mind over and over again. She could hear the movie playing but the volume wasn't too high so she couldn't make out the words that were being said. Her friend was always so considered of her. 'Maybe Katherine does have a point, if Ruben hadn't felt the same way then why would he ask me out' Belle thought. 'I guess I should talk to him about it..'
Ting! The noise got Belle out of her thought and saw that her phone screen had lighten up. She moved to grab her phone from the table beside her bed. She held the phone above her face and saw that she received a text message from an unknown number. It said 'Hi' with a smiley face. For a second she thought it might a stalker or something. She decided to ignore it and went to put her phone back on table. But before she could she hear another 'ting' and saw another message from the same unknown number. She opened the message and it read 'Belle, its Ruben.' She didn't know if what she was reading was right. Why would Ruben text her right now and where did he get her number. Then she thought maybe from her file at the company.
Belle: Hi uh sir.
She didn't know what else to say. And waited until she got a reply back but not before saving his number in her phone.
Ruben: Belle like I said this morning you can call me Ruben…please.
She thought she might be dreaming or something how can this be why was Ruben even messaging her and for what.
Belle: Was there something you needed? Ruben.
She felt that the message sounded a little rube but it was too late she had already sent it.
Ruben: uh no…um actually yes. I couldn't help but wonder how you looked sad after you rejected me this morning.
Belle didn't know what to say to that she got too into her panic mode and forgot to think of a reply then she heard another notification on her phone and looked to see another text from Ruben.
Ruben: I am sorry Belle. I shouldn't have messaged you at all like this. Lets forget about this and I will see you the day after tomorrow. Good night.
Belle: Ruben..you don't have to apologize. I was just thinking and as for your question I would like to discuss that when we meet again that is if you would still want to.
Belle waited for about few minutes but didn't get a reply back she thought maybe he went to sleep. She put her phone back on the table and was about to close her eyes then again she heard another 'ting'. She quickly grabbed her phone and was pleased to see the message from Ruben.
Ruben: Yes! Of Course Belle. Thank you.
Belle: Good night! Ruben :)
Ruben: Good night Belle :)
'Try it huh' was Belle's last thought before she drifted off to sleep.
As for Ruben….
He was still looking at the messages him and Belle had exchanged few minutes ago. He was happy that Belle hadn't freaked out and called him a creeper or something similar. He had her number in his phone for about few months now but couldn't find any reason/ more like courage to message her. He decided to call his friend and share this new development or so he thought.
"Pick up, Em" Ruben said to no one. He was currently in his bed sitting up in his black wife beater and grey sweats. Emmett didn't pick up the firs time so Ruben decided to call him again, he waited again until four rings had passed and then his friend picked up his phone at the sixth ring.
"There better be a good reason for you to call me at fucking 12:30 am?" Ruben could detect the irritation in his friend voice but decided to ignore it.
"Would you calm the fuck down?...Stop being so grumpy all the time" Ruben said with a little anger in his own voice.
"You know I wouldn't be mad if you hadn't disturbed me from my damn sleep!" Emmett argued from the other side.
"Oh please…you can get your beauty sleep later. I have to tell you something important" Ruben knew if he had said that in front of his friend he would have been dead by now.
"And this couldn't wait until morning at the office, where we both work at, and MEET..because?!" Emmett was even more irritated now, Ruben could feel his anger through the phone now that scared him a little, and he didn't need an angry Em right now.
"Okay..maybe it was wrong to—call you at this hour..but-BUT…I had to tell you this like right away, so can you please give me few of your minutes even if its at middle of the night" Ruben pleaded.
"Alright…sigh…it better be good" was Emmett's reply.
"Thanks Em…so I asked Belle out to dinner this morning…" Ruben waited for his friend to say something but there was nothing but silence.
"Well….she said no…hah" Ruben said with a sad smile on his face.
"ah hahahaha hahahah…wow you finally had the courage to ask her out and….hahahah..and she rejected you flat out" Ruben could hear the amusement in his laughter. He was hoping for sympathy and encouraging speech from his friend but could hear none of that instead Emmett laughing at him.
"Yea yea laugh it up…you know you are really a cold person em…the hell did that girl did to you?" Ruben regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. This was not how he expected the conversation to go. It was quite now on the other side. Ruben knew he was screwed now.
"I—Emmett, I didn't….." before Ruben could finish his sentence he heard the line go dead on the other side. He looked at his phone and saw that Emmett had hang up.
'Fuck'
He knew sleep wouldn't come to him now. He was to busy with thinking about his screw up and he knew he had to make it right. With that he closed his and decided to get some sleep before seeing Emmett tomorrow morning.
