Chapter 25
The next day was out of sort for Ruben and Emmett and as well for Belle. Who had taken the day off and was at the airport waiting for her Regina. It was 9 in the morning. Both Ruben and Emmett were at the office. They were both looking for some files with silence looming over them. Usually they would talk now and then and discuss about the deals but today was completely different from those other days.
Ruben closed the file and looked over to his friend who was sitting in his chair away from Ruben who was sitting on the sofa in the office. He stood up and walked over to Emmett's table and sat opposite of on the chair.
"Look…uh Em…well-I am sorry about last night..i didn't mean what I said. Can you please stop ignoring me?" Ruben asked as he saw his nest friend look away from the file and at him.
"You know Ruben…I know it was wrong of me to laugh at you..sigh…but I don't understand why you had to mention her..wh-when-when you know how I feel about that whenever anyone mentions her..!" Emmett said without looking away.
Ruben could do nothing but look away from Emmett's sad eyes and feel even more guilty than before. "I know Em..haah..i have no idea why I said what I said..it ju-just happened but I do regret it and…now even more.."
"Please! Em..forgive me I wasn't trying to hurt you..my anger got the best of me…I was already bummed out because of Belle and I guess I took it out on you…"
Emmett got up and walked up to his friend and put his hand on his shoulder. "Its alright Ruben…I was at fault too so lets forget this and get done with looking over these files"
"….I am glad we are back to ourselves..I guess…hahah…I hate when we fight!" Ruben finally felt at ease, the silence was over. He was always glad that their fights never last long. He had a content smile on his face and he noticed so did his best friend. They both went back to work now with their usual talks and jokes in between.
Bella & Katherine's Place…
"Well here we are..so what do you think?" Belle looked over to her childhood friend and tried to read her reaction. The airport was one hour away from Belle's place. When Regina's flight had come in, Belle was already there waiting for her friend. They hugged each other and chatter their way to the baggage claim area, which didn't take long, so they were ready to go in half an hour.
Belle noticed the tiredness on Regina's face but also something else which she decided not to question. "I think we can talk later..maybe tonight.. you make yourself at home, Katherine, my roommate, and me will be back from work —say about 7 or 8" Belle smiled at Regina.
Regina just walked up to her friend and hugged her again. "Thank you so much Belle, you don't know how much this means to me, and don't worry I will return the favor one day" Regina whispered softly to Belle while still embracing her in a tight but comfort hug. They soon let go of each other.
"You can sleep if you like, you can take my bed for now and we will get you your own soon" Belle said still smiling. She was really happy to have her childhood friend living with her. She knew that they need to discuss some serious issues but that could wait for now. Right now she was happy she was getting to spend time with Regina.
"Oh..no no Belle..thats your bed" she looked around and noticed the sofa she was sitting on "I'll sleep here on the sofa until we get a bed for myself..so you don't have to worry about me"
Belle grabbed Regina's hand, they were sitting face to face on the sofa, she held Regina's right hand in both of her hands and gently squeezed it. "Regina..its okay. I can manage on the sofa for few days, you're my guest, so you are taking the bed" Belle managed to explain.
"Belle you don't have to do that…I don't want to be a burden on you..besides you go to work every morning, its not good if you won't get any proper sleep..so its decided I'm taking the sofa.." Regina reasoned out "please Belle".
Belle let out a defeated sigh and replied. "Alright, you win…well I am gona go to my work place for a little bit, you rest I'll be back in an hour or so"
"Yeah yea sure go ahead I'll make myself at home then.." Regina assured Belle with a tired smile.
As Belle walked to the door she glanced back one more time to see Regina sitting on the said sofa, she smiled a small smile as she let herself out and locked the door behind her.
'Time to face the devil!' was her last thought as she headed toward her work place.
30 minutes later…..
'Oh come on! How long is this thing going to take?' Belle thought as she kept pressing the elevator button to go up.
She pressed it one more time and it finally opened, she noticed someone coming out and it was none other than the person she was looking forward to seeing.
"Belle!" Ruben said with a surprised tone. "What are you doing here? I thought you weren't coming in today?"
Belle didn't reply right away she noticed Ruben was holding few files in his hand.
"Um..well I actually came by to see you about what we talked about last night and I was hoping maybe we can discuss it today" she looked up to him and back to the files in his hands, "But it I think you are busy so we can wait until tomorrow" Belle said pointing towards the files in Ruben's hand.
"Oh" Ruben looked where Belle was looking "Uh..this can wait Belle, I am not in any rush" Ruben said as he looked towards Belle; hoping Belle to stay and talk.
"Are you sure?" she asked to make sure and saw Ruben nod.
"Well..then lets get going!"
At a Café…
Belle decided it was best for them talk somewhere else rather than discussing something like this at the office's lunch lounge.
Belle had order herself a tea and Ruben decided to get black coffee.
"So..um.." Belle could sense the discomfort aura around them. She saw Ruben was trying to avoid meeting her gaze as he took a sip of his coffee and looked at a different direction from her.
Belle closed her eyes and took a sip of her own tea right after she put the cup down, she decided to be the one break this awkwardness around them.
"I think its best I was straight word with my reason for rejecting you earlier. I don't believe it's a good idea for us to be involved in any other way than just being professional with each other. Your position is much higher than mine so that is why I think its best the way things are now. I don't want anyone to say horrible things about you or me. I hope you understand what I am trying to say." Belle waited for Ruben to say something but they were both stuck with silence.
After a little while Ruben decided to say something.
"Thank you Belle! That's the one thing I have always admired about you. You always put other people before you" Belle looked up to see Ruben staring at her with a kind smile on his face. She couldn't help but blush at the moment. "But Belle…I can't accept your reasoning" Ruben continued and he noticed the smile fall off of Belle's face.
"What I am trying to say here is…please….please…give us a chance, just one chance. And I promise you no one will say any negative things about our relationship" he grabbed one of Belle's hand, that wasn't occupied at the moment, with both his hands. Their joined hand displayed in the middle of the table and both of them staring into each other's eyes. "Please Belle…I want to know more about you…I want to have a chance to love you completely and freely with my heart" it was spoken so softly that Belle was doubting if she was hearing it right but then she couldn't help but notice the sincerity and adoration in Ruben's eyes for her.
"I don't know what to say" Belle managed to get out; she was still so mesmerized by his green eyes.
Ruben squeezed her hand and said, "Just say yes!"
Belle let out a sigh she didn't know she was holding. "I…huff…..okay fine, but we can't tell anyone in the office…we can't be open about our relationship.."
Belle noticed that Ruben was about to protest her idea so be fore he could say anything she spoke again. "I know it's not what you want but I don't feel ready to be out there with you like that in front of everyone"
It was taking everything for Belle to get these words out, she knew it was unfair to Ruben and her but she couldn't help but we afraid of how it would end if there were open about their relationship all of sudden and how people would react to her.
"Haha…I guess, I will fulfill that wish of yours, Belle. But I also hope you come see that there is nothing to be afraid of…I won't let us fall down that easily, especially not without a fight" Ruben gave her a sweet smile and winked at her. Belle just blushed all over again but there was a hint of smile on her face with some hope blooming inside her heart.
(Sorry guys, i haven't been consistent with my story regularly. I mostly have hard time putting the story into words so please be patient with me. And i am trying to find time to work on this but with other things it gets kind of forgotten or i am not able to work on this much as i want to. Thank you tho.)
