From Laurence's PoV

As I was waking up from my deep sleep, I didn't know where I was anymore. For sure, I wasn't in my room, so I panicked. "Where am I now?" The furnitures and everything else weren't familiar to me at all. Simply wooden tables, and my wooden and uncomfortable bed, as well as old-fashioned lamps and vases and everything were just so unfamiliar to me. I screamed and the old man came to me again, saying :

"Belle, Belle, my child, why are you screaming?"

"Where am I?"

"Don't you remember what I told you? You're home and I am your Father or your Papa, Maurice."

"Papa Maurice?"

"Yes, the fall on the ground must have been hard on your head."

That was the only logical explanation for now for this poor old man who honestly thought he was my dad and I was Belle. Well, since I was in Belle's body, I should take advantage of that fully. As Belle, I remembered I was a beautiful girl wanted by many men, rich, handsome and everything.

"Yeah, maybe Papa. And for how I long did I sleep?"

"Some days already."

"Really, that long?"

"Yes Belle, you were tired from the fall I guess."

"Thanks Papa for letting me sleep that long."

"I am your Papa, Belle, I just wish the best for you."

Then I hugged him on an impulse. He wasn't really my dad, and I missed him already, but I could feel it in his voice he really cared for me. Thank God Belle had such a kind, loving man as a father, I thought to myself or I'd be in a much more difficult situation than this.

"Do you still need to sleep?" He asked me, concerned. Seeing how truly concerned he was about my well-being, I answered honestly :

"Yes Papa, I need to rest and my head's hurting a little."

"Then rest, Belle as much as you need it." As he said this, he was getting his coat ready and everything, so I asked him :

"Where are you going, Papa?"

"Oh, to the inventors' fair. I've invented something fabulous today. I'm going to make great money and we can move out of this little cottage soon."

"But papa, I like living in a cottage, there's no need to move in a big house."

"My good Belle, always thinking about Papa. But what I invented this some days before the fair and it's going to make us rich, I promise you Belle, my kind daughter, a life of luxury!"

"I think it's a fool's dream, papa. What's your invention anyway?" I called after him as he was going to the door.

"A hot tea maker. You can just press a button, and it'll make hot tea for you!"

"Sounds wonderful, papa. So you're going to the fair for that?"

"Yes, to make us rich, now you rest, my dear."

"And where is the fair, papa?"

"Through the forest, and I'll need to take the left road and some few houses and I'm going to be there."

"Don't get lost in the forest, Papa."

"Oh, trust me, I won't, my dear Belle, don't worry about me."

I silently thought his machine was ridiculous and he'd never be successful at the fair, though I kept that to myself, to avoid some argument with my old man. Now with him gone, I had time to think about Belle's story, if I remembered everything right, my old man was going to get lost in the forest and I was to go and rescue him. But I still didn't understand why I was in Belle's body in the first place, that was still a mystery to me. "How and why did I get into her body?"

Lost in my thoughts, I didn't hear someone coming in my cottage. Who was it? And I saw Gaston at the door. Of course, how could I forget about him, this dude thought he was the finest thing on two legs, and had supposedly asked me to marry him for quite some time now, but he was a flirt also, and played with other girls. I despised such playboys like him, so I decided to take advantage of my seeming memory loss and asked him :

"Well, hello, who are you?"

"What! Belle, I am your Gaston! What's wrong with you?"

"My Papa says I've all of a sudden fallen on the floor while my head was dizzy and all, so I got some memory loss problem now."

"Well, let me refresh your memory with a true love's kiss, then!"

That guy really got on my nerves and he's really got some self-inflated ego. Much like the rich, arrogant playboys in my time, which was why I instantly disliked him, perhaps even more so than Belle did in her story. In my mind, I asked myself : "how could Belle stand this insufferable guy?" But even though in her body, mentally, I was still Laurence Gagnon, myself, so I felt more hate for this guy than anything else. "But how I am to reject his advances without being too out of place in this era and time?" After a while of musing to myself, I told him :

"That won't be necessary, Sir. Would you like some tea instead?"

"Yes, sure, Belle."

The guy was uncomfortable as he sat down for tea and cookies, I could see, and I really didn't like his attitude very much in my home, thinking he owned me or something. Well, nobody owned me, not even him. He was now drinking the tea I made for him as ostentatiously as possible. "Must he really do this as a guest in someone else's home?" Then I remembered I was in the Dark Ages, when women basically served men. I lamented to myself and thought I really wanted to go back to my century, because I was used to be being equal to a man. But obviously it wasn't going to be this soon, as I had to, as Belle, live her story. The guy pulled me out of my thoughts rudely :

"Thank you Belle, for the tea it was excellent. Now I want you to think a bit about our marriage, I am rich, good-looking and desired by many women." I'd have liked this guy much more, if he didn't brag about himself so much. So I said :

"Well, Gaston, give me some time to think about it, all right?" At this, he seemed to think about it a bit more.

"All right, Belle, I'm giving you 10 days."

"What 10 days? That's too soon. Give me a month I !" I said, delaying this as much as I could, but I felt Gaston was quite a firm guy, what he wanted, he had to get it and fast.

"Half a month then, Belle."

"No, one month, I just fell on the ground and my head needs time to recover. I'm sure you don't want a dizzy bride embarrassing you on your wedding day, Gaston." He thought about it seriously and answered me :

"Fine then, you win, a month, Belle."

"Now if you're done with you tea…" I left that hanging. I hope he wasn't going to abuse of my hospitality any longer, because I really wanted him out of my home.

"Yes, but remember, Belle, you'll be mine in a month, after your recovery." He said, sure of himself and left my home. "Such a narcissistic guy! He obviously thinks very highly of himself, and me rejecting him just got his over self-confidence down by a notch."

When he left, I was smiling to myself and very proud of myself, because I was able to reject the obnoxious guy when every other women in this era of time fawned over him, and threw themselves at him, if I read the fairytale Beauty and the Beast correctly. I read it so long ago, when I was little, so I was remembering the finer details with much difficulty. And that Gaston was a pushingly annoying dude in the story, serving as a love rival to the Beast, so I had to think of a way to avoid him. After some moments, I exclaimed to myself :

"Eureka! I am going to try and find my papa Maurice and get lost in the forest too and meet my prince the Beast, so I can avoid his horrendous marriage proposals. "

In my excitement, I forgot my good Papa didn't tell me exactly where he went, but no matter, my goal was to get lost in the forest anyway and to escape Gaston, my pompous suitor, who was so sure he'd get my hand in a month. "Well, he can't get my hand in marriage if I were lost in the forest and all, but I still have to find Papa, it's almost nighttime now and he hasn't returned, it's starting to worry me a lot", I mused. This sounded like a good plan to me, so as soon as he got out of my cottage, I put it into execution. I grabbed a winter coat for women and left for my kind papa.

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