Belle met Lumière and Plumette the day after she had met Adam. He had apparently gone to have lunch with some friends while Belle sorted through invitations to parties and threats about his father. Lumière had texted Adam that he was coming by to bring some files Cogsworth had found, and Adam had said to just leave them with his personal assistant. Belle doubted Adam would be looking at the files, whatever they were, anytime soon.

She had no idea who Lumière was, but she immediately recognized Cogsworth's name.

Cogsworth was a politician and Minister, just as Adam's father had been, and their rivalry was a common topic when it came to political drama. While Belle didn't agree with Cogsworth of every political issue, he was much better than Alfred Leprince. Even before he had been convicted, Leprince had always treated everyone else, minorities especially, like dirt.

Lumière didn't seem ecstatic that Adam would be missing the meeting, but he agreed nonetheless. It was only fifteen more minutes before the intercom buzzed and Lumière said he was at the door. Belle gave him some quick instructions to get to her office, and unlocked the entrance.

A tall and thin man, seemingly in his late twenties, came into the room with a dark-skinned woman with bouncy curls and a huge smile on her face. He held a large box with the files and smiled at Belle as he came in.

"Ah, hello!" he greeted. "You must be the new assistant!"

Belle stood up from her desk. "Um, yes. Belle, if you please,"

Lumiere came further into her office to set down the box on a large chair and shook her hand.

"Pleasure. I'm Lumière , and this is my fiancée Plumette." At this, Plumette did a small curtsy. "You've been working here a week, yes? How has it been so far?"

"Alright. I'm just going to have to get used to being in such a big house. I'm not accustomed to it."

"Yes, understandable. And have you, uh, met Adam yet?"

Belle winced, but tried to recover. She really didn't want to speak ill of her employer in front of someone he knew. Whether Lumiere and Plumette agreed with her or not didn't matter. "Yes, actually. Once just last night."Apparently Belle hadn't hidden her true emotions about Adam as she thought she had.

"Ah, I see. I know that Adam can be… difficult at times. You're in good company, I'm afraid. Don't worry about Adam firing you, either. If he had to hire someone who liked him the first time they met him he'd never have anyone to employ." Lumiere laughed, but all Belle could manage was a weak chuckle. If this was how his own friends spoke of him…

They were cut off when a ring came from Plumette's bag. She reached around in her purse to bring out her phone and checked the caller ID.

"Excuse me, I must take this," she apologized, giving Lumiere a quick kiss on the cheek before answering the phone and leaving the room.

"Probably the wedding planner," Lumiere said. "I shall see you around, though. Have a lovely day,"

With this he was out the door chasing his fiancée, and Belle was left alone in her office. She picked up the box of file folders and set it over in the corner of her office. It was so messy since no one had been in it for quite a while, and the box would easily blend in with the rest of the clutter.

Even though she was quite curious about what the files contained, she wasn't going to invade Adam's privacy in such a manner. Besides, if she got caught, she was dead for sure.

…

Belle managed to stay totally clear of Adam for the time being, even though they've had many more chances to bump into each other. Adam was extremely good at avoiding people at all costs. During the week, Mrs. Potts and Belle would eat at a separate table while Adam ate alone in the formal dining hall. The dining hall was strictly forbidden to everyone except Mrs. Potts (who was only allowed in to set the table and deliver Adam's meals).

Adam didn't seem to leave the house much, though Belle suspected it was more of an order than something he chose to do. It just meant less work for her.

On weekends, Belle was constantly checking in to see any of Adam's texting activity or him calling his chauffeur. But it was a weekend, and she finally had the time to go back to her home in the village to visit her father. As much as she felt different than she did in university, the visits felt the same. Belle and her father were always able to find a certain comfort in each other. She did the usual – bought groceries, fixed the squeaky closet door, and cooked one of the fancier meals she had learned to fix after a culinary class. She talked about the Leprince estate, promising that one day she would bring him to see it, and praised Lumière and Plumette. She talked about Adam too, but she tried to stay away from the topic as much as possible. Still, her father was curious; Adam was the son of Alfred Leprince after all. She just didn't want to make it seem like she hated her job. She didn't, really. She just hated who she worked for.

It wasn't until the Wednesday of her fifth week that she got such a fancy party invitation. Adam was always being invited to one thing or the other – teas, meetings, and the like, but this invitation was something very different. Belle had politely declined most of the invitations Adam received over the few weeks she had worked there; Adam wasn't to be bothered with such frivolity.

Mrs. Potts had given her a small list of names to be careful about. Most of the messages Belle went through weren't important. If Belle saw the message was from someone on the list, she was to ask Agathe about it. The particular invitation, however, had been from Cogsworth, asking Adam to come to a black tie dinner at his home in Villeneuve. She was able to see the other recipients of the message, and she couldn't believe how much power was distributed throughout them. It had to be at least three quarters of the higher government officials.

Belle sent Agathe an email with her questions and the invitation itself attached.

It had been only a half an hour when her personal email dinged with an email from Agathe:

Belle,

RSVP to the party as soon as possible. Mention that you will be going as Adam's plus one. The party is going to be filled with VIPs and free drinks. Keep Adam out of trouble as best you can. Don't be alarmed at his behavior around these people. Unless he is about to get into a physical fight, let him do what he wants. DO NOT LET HIM GET DRUNK! I would suggest investing in an evening gown for the party. I've included the address to both a boutique and tailor, highly recommended, should you need them. If you have any other questions text them to me. I have complete faith in you.

Regards,

Agathe Laflèche

It took Belle much too long for the information to register. Reserving Adam's spot was easy. It was what she had been doing for the past week. But she herself attending the party? Everyone attending would either be rich enough to run the country, or people who actually ran the country. It wasn't her scene at all, and she didn't want to leave a bad impression. Who knew how long she would be working for Adam? Then again, she wasn't sure if these people thought anyone good could be associated with him.

She wrote a quick and formal response to the original invitation, saying that Adam as well as herself would be attending. As she sent the email, she sighed. There was so much to do and in so little time. The party was only a few days away, and there was no way she was going to be prepared for then. So many things could go wrong.

While she worried about her own behavior and dress, Adam was what worried her the most. They had barely spent any time together, and the one time they had met it had gone terribly. Agathe was practically asking Belle to babysit him. How did someone attempt to control another person with more power and money than Belle could ever dream of? Try as she might, she couldn't force him to do anything. She was certain he was fine with manipulating, lying, or somehow using her to get what he wanted. He had the upper hand.

All she could do was deal with it.