A/N: I have been getting quite a lot of love for this story, and I know you have been clamoring for this update. Thank you especially to juju0268 who has been pushing me for this update, and for all the support and love she has been giving me since I started writing Once Upon A Time fan fiction on this site. You are the best dearie! Readers, oh my fabulous readers, I hope you enjoy this, and I hope you are all well. Love, Joanne.
"I-It's kind of late," I gasped as the clock by the bed glowed 10:55pm. "I-I have work tomorrow really early."
Mr. Gold sighed, and shook his head in understanding. "I'm sure we shall meet again, Miss French." He took my hand in his, and raised it to his lips. I chuckled demurely, and walked with him towards the front door of his house.
"It's been a pleasure," said Mr. Gold, emphasizing the last word with a slight roll on the r. "Don't forget to look over the contract backwards and forwards. Here's my card if you would like to give me a call."
"Thank you," I said with a small smile. I walked back home, and wondered to myself what in the world I had gotten myself into.
The next two days followed uneventfully. I hadn't seen or heard from Mr. Gold, and I wasn't going to contact him. I stocked tissue boxes in a display pyramid for Mr. Clark, a mindless, boring task that gave me something to do while we didn't have any customers. I wondered what it would be like to give in to Mr. Gold, and have him control every aspect of my life.
I didn't exactly hate being a cashier at the Save Mart, but it wasn't the greatest job in the world. It would be nice not having to work and bust my ass trying to make money. Maybe I could get used to being pampered and catered to.
I thought of Mr. Gold, and his seductive kisses from two nights ago. I shivered with delight at the memory, and a soft moan escaped from my lips. To have a man, especially a man with experience on how to please women… I could DEFINITELY get used to that.
"I'm a grown woman," I said to the cardboard cut out of a man blowing his nose into a tissue. "I'm a woman with needs, and by golly, I can do what I want!"
"So I take that as an acceptance to my proposal?"
I shouted, and threw several boxes of tissues into the air, knocking over the display I had so tediously been creating. "Damn it!" I cursed. "You made me wreck the display! You scared me! Why on earth did you do that? It's like you came out of thin air!"
"I'm a mysterious, magical man," grinned Mr. Gold as he wriggled his fingers.
Breakfast the next day after Belle had given him the erotic memory/dream was quite normal despite the Dark One's nervousness about it. It seemed to him that the beauty before him who had just set his tea, biscuits, and eggs had no idea what she had given him.
Like the humorous little imp he was, he decided to slowly divulge his secret finding. "I quite enjoyed your little memory last night."
Belle smiled, looking up at him through thick, lustrous eyelashes. "I-I would have given you that memory as my favorite, but, seeing as that happened much later on…"
"And why would you mark that as a good and happy memory?" asked the Dark One curiously. "An evil Beast teaching a beautiful maiden how to spin? Not the most interesting or notable thing in the world."
"It meant something to me," said Belle softly with a small flush filling her cheeks. "I enjoyed learning how to spin. It made me happy how you were nice enough to teach me. Being closer to you, it's nice…"
Her face now turned crimson, and she lowered her head in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I've said too much."
Rumplestilzkin looked back at her as he chewed his biscuit covered in raspberry jam. "Do you remember doing anything else that day?" pursued Rumplestilzkin with a small, knowing smile.
"Nothing to my knowledge," said Belle as she smoothed her skirt. "Why do you ask?"
"Because," said the Dark One slowly. "Any memory you give me reveals everything you remember about that day. Dreams, fantasies, encounters. I see them all."
A pale pink blush bloomed about her beautiful cheeks as the princess looked down at her feet. Her hands shook as she reached for the tea kettle to pour herself a cup of tea. She focused on the amber liquid, noticing as it swirled and changed when she added milk, the small curls of steam as it rose from the hot tea. "What are you trying to say?" Belle asked quietly.
"What you gave me was partly a FALSE memory, dearie," said Rumplestilzkin. "Oh yes, I saw your little fantasy. You and I…" He chortled to himself. "The idea of us together, our bodies entwined in the passionate heat of lovemaking, you must be deluded, dearie!"
Belle bowed her head, hiding her reddening face behind curtains of curls. She stirred her tea slowly, concentrating on the intricate craftsmanship and detail of the spoon's handle.
"You must be addled with or just demented if you'd ever think that could possibly happen!" said Rumplestilzkin. "Me, a beast, making LOVE?! It's unheard of! And to top it all off-" He paused, waiting to drop the biggest bombshell on top of her. "You PLEASURED yourself with such thoughts of me!"
CRASH! The tea cup in Belle's hands fell to the floor. Tea spilled on her dress, which, thankfully, was made from a thick cloth so it did not burn her. She muttered curses under her breath as she picked up her cup, which looked like nothing had happened to it, thankfully, until she realized that there was a small fracture in the lip of the cup.
"I'm sorry for my clumsiness," Belle said, on the near verge of tears. "I've chipped your cup. Please, it's not completely broken."
"That's of little importance," said Rumplestilzkin as she set her cup down on the table gently. "It's just a cup. I have thousands. What I want to know is what is going on in that pretty little head of yours. What possessed you to choose that memory, and do such, ah, scandalous things?"
Belle continued to stand near the table, looking at her feet as her master got up from his chair, and circled around her. "What's wrong dearie? Cat got your tongue?" The imp chortled at his little joke, which only made her more uncomfortable.
"I was not addled," she said softly, almost inaudibly. "I don't know what that was, and I'm sorry it has caused such events."
"Oh, dearie, dearie me," tutted Rumplestilzkin. "What ever am I going to do with my little Belle?"
"How about I make you another deal," chirruped the beauty. Rumplestilzkin froze, then pivoted to look at her. Her eyes shone with tears. "In replace of my happy memories, how about I show you some of my darkest ones?"
"What does a princess like you know about darkness?" scoffed Rumplestilzkin.
"Is it a deal or not?" asked Belle sharply, finally regaining her courage.
Rumplestilzkin scratched his chin. "Deal."
"Magic?" I scoffed at his superfluousness. "There's no such thing."
"Really, Uncle Vernon?" smirked Mr. Gold. "You can deny it all you want, but magic exists. It's in our very blood and veins. It is the life force that pumps through our bodies and allows us to live."
"I am not Harry Potter's fat uncle thank you very much," I said with a roll of my eyes. "And I guess when you put it that way, maybe there is magic in the world."
Mr. Gold's eyes glimmered for a second. "So, are you going to accept my proposal, Miss French?"
"If I were to follow through, you would need to let me leave two weeks' notice to Mr. Clark," I said in a hushed voice. "It's not going to go over well if I just up and leave."
"Please," scoffed Mr. Gold. "You have no need of worrying about anything anymore."
"I can't just leave him with no one to cover for my shift," I said as I rubbed my forehead. A tension headache was beginning to throb right above my eyes. "I wouldn't want to screw him over."
"Your kindness to such a bumbling, snotball like him is unnecessary," said Mr. Gold. "If anything happens, you call me, and I will fix the situation."
"Please, let me just do things my way," I begged quietly. "Just let me do this, and then I will let you take control of everything."
Mr. Gold sighed, then threw his hands up in the air frustratedly. "Fine. Give him your two weeks soon. And while we await for those two weeks to pass, I suggest we continue our trial period. I would like to invite you to my dance class tomorrow night at seven. We are focusing on the salsa, meringue, and lambada, and I would love for you to accompany me and be my dance partner."
"I-I," my words would not form. "I can't. I have two left feet. I don't really dance, and I will just make a fool of myself."
"I won't let anyone laugh at you," said Mr. Gold as he gently touched my cheek. I jumped and turned away from his touch. "What is it?"
"I just can't, I'm sorry," I said, as I began to fix the display hurriedly. "Let's just drop it, okay?"
"What's wrong with a little dancing?" asked Mr. Gold.
"JUST STOP TALKING ABOUT IT, DAMN IT!" I shouted. My eyes widened at the look of shock on Mr. Gold's face. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have spoken to you like that. Please forgive me, but there are some things that I just can't talk about. Despite everything you think you know about me from my dad's stint as governor, you have no idea of the horrors I've been through."
"An angel face like you went through dark times?" asked Mr. Gold.
"You wouldn't believe half of the things I've been through," said Belle wearily.