Belle found the letter in the book return when she came into work in the morning, and she just had to open it the second she sat down. The first thing she noticed was that he had impeccable penmanship – it wasn't overly frilly or messy, it was just a nice, masculine script. She loved the way he wrote almost as much as she loved the words themselves. It was like something out of an old novel, just beautiful and so romantic that she could cry. She should probably be a little weirded out by the intensity of the words, because they hadn't technically met yet and she'd really only thought this would be a quick fling but it was hard to care at this point. She just wanted to meet the man who could write like that for her.
She read through the note three times in a row and once during a late morning lull before she realized he hadn't given her his phone number, so she was going to either have to rely on him to show up or else she was going to have to start stalking him. Well, continue stalking him more than she already was. This was a lot of work to go through for a summer fling, but it had been too long since she'd had a first date and even longer since she'd had a really passionate love affair and she wanted one.
Since the library always had a little rush during the lunch hour, Belle didn't get to lock up for her own meal until after one. She'd only be gone a half hour, but the diner was close enough that she could to get something over there. It was actually a little bit of a surprise to see Cyril Gold sitting at the counter, but it was a really nice surprise to see a friendly face.
"Mind if I join you?" she asked, and he looked up quickly from what he'd been doing. He looked a little startled by her appearance, but he seemed happy, which was a relief.
"Hey," he replied before he shook his head a little and moved his things away from her so she could join him at the counter. "Please, be my guest."
Belle hopped up onto the stool and located Ruby, who was helping another customer. That meant there were a few minutes to get her thoughts together before she ordered, and that meant a few minutes to make small talk.
"I got a letter today," she said, watching Cyril out of the corner of her eye as she spoke. He was being annoyingly unreadable, though and just took a sip of his drink and watched his plate. "It was...wow."
"Really? That good?" Cyril asked, looking at her now with a little smirk on his face. "I didn't know he had it in him."
"It was amazing," she said. "I would never have expected anything like that, but...wow. That's all I can think to say. It was eloquent and romantic. I read it over and over again. It was just perfect, completely perfect."
Cyril had a weird smile on his face, and she was about to ask him why when Ruby suddenly appeared, notepad in hand.
"What was perfect?" she asked before her face lit up. "Oh did something happen with that guy?"
"He sent me a letter," Belle replied. "Oh my God, Ruby, you wouldn't believe how good it is!"
"Can I see it?" Ruby asked, and Belle nodded and pulled it out of her purse to hand to the waitress. Ruby tucked it into her apron and took Belle's order before retreating to the coffee pot to read.
"You seem rather smitten with our new fire chief," Cyril said once Ruby was gone, although he didn't really look at her this time. "Could it be love?"
"I wouldn't go that far," she said, hoping she wasn't blushing too badly. "I haven't even heard him speak yet."
"But you think you could?"
She had to think about that for a minute. It was a weird question, and maybe a little too personal, but at the same time it hadn't been something she'd thought about too hard yet.
"I don't know," she replied finally. "I'll admit, at first I was just hoping for a fling but after this letter...I don't know, maybe. He does sound like exactly the kind of guy I usually go for. So I think it has a lot of potential."
"That's good," he said a little too quickly. "I'm glad it's working out for you."
"He didn't give me his phone number, though," she said. "I was hoping you wouldn't mind giving him mine?"
"Oh. Of course."
"Thank you," she said. "You've been such a good friend for all of this, I can't thank you enough. Will you let me know if there's anything I can ever help you with?"
"Don't worry about it," he replied. "It's been my pleasure."
"Are you crazy?" Chris exclaimed, turning around and walking a few steps back towards the fire department before turning back around. "I can't go out with her! I couldn't even write her a letter!"
Cyril pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. This was a disaster and he never should have let himself get involved in any of it.
"She already likes you," Cyril said. "All you have to do at this point is show up and not creep her out."
"Yeah, right," Chris replied, sounding like he was trying to convince himself of that fact. "She's just a person. Just a normal, regular person. Why should I be so worried about this? Just because there's an astigmatism about being bad at talking to girls doesn't mean there's anything wrong with me."
Cyril did a double take before he realized that Chris was absolutely not kidding.
"I think you meant a stigma," he said as kindly as he could. "An astigmatism is what makes you need really heavy prescription glasses."
Chris groaned and leaned heavily on a wall.
"Do you think she'd know that?"
"Well, she has a master's degree so...probably."
"I can't do this," Chris said. "I'm just going to screw it up."
Cyril wanted to reassure the other man, but he honestly couldn't. All Chris had to do was open his mouth and Belle would know he hadn't written the letter.
"We're going to have to think of something," Cyril replied. "I don't care if I have to fake your death, I'm not going to tell her I wrote that letter."
Chris couldn't stop sweating and he hadn't even seen Belle French yet. He was pretty sure that this was all a terrible idea, but standing outside the library waiting for her to meet him for a walking date was probably a little too late to back out.
"Stop fidgeting," he heard from the tiny Bluetooth earpiece he was wearing. He and Cyril had come up with the idea of the other man feeding him lines during the date, but it had seemed like a much better one when he wasn't standing there waiting for her to show up. "You look nervous."
"I am nervous," Chris replied, wiping his sweaty hands on the front of his shirt. "I'm sorry I just feel so stupid doing this."
"It's too late," Cyril replied in his ear. "She's on her way."
Chris looked up to see the petite brunette he'd seen that day at the bar walking across the street from the library. He could see the flash of Cyril's binoculars from the window of the pawn shop, and he tried to focus more on the pretty girl than on how much all this felt like a spy movie. A really bad spy movie. She was all the way to his side of the street before he realized that this was real life, and he was going to have to make conversation with her.
He felt his stomach clench as she approached him and smiled and said his name. He had a brief moment of terror where he debated just running away but it was probably too late for that.
"Hi Chris," she said as soon as she was within arm's reach. "I'm Belle, but I guess you knew that."
She had a really pretty accent. How hadn't he known she would have an accent? Had Cyril told him about that part?
"Say hello," Chris heard Cyril's voice in the earpiece.
"Hello," Chris repeated.
"Shake her hand and kiss her on the cheek."
He offered his hand and when Belle took it he only faltered a little bit before leaning forward and gave her a little peck on the cheek. It was weirdly easy to do when he had Cyril whispering in his ear. He didn't have to actually think about anything, he just had to do what he was told and he was really good at that.
Belle had a huge smile on her face when he pulled back and Chris was so damn relieved he couldn't help but to smile back. He could do this. They might actually be able to pull this off.
"Tell her that she looks lovely," Cyril said. "She takes your breath away."
"You look lovely," Chris said. "Breathtaking."
"You're so sweet," Belle replied, but she was blushing and he was pretty sure that was a good thing.
"You're doing great," Cyril said. "Now, offer her your arm and start walking north."
Cyril hadn't been sure if they'd be able to get away with this, but Chris and Belle were already on their way back towards the library and so far it had all gone near perfectly. Chris had taken direction perfectly and Belle seemed charmed, and Cyril should probably charge for this service once the two of them were married and had beautiful, stupid children.
He was watching the pair of them through binoculars as they walked. Belle was laughing and she was so beautiful that Cyril got a little lost in thought. There was some static on the line and Cyril could see Chris looking around like he heard something. Cyril had a sinking feeling that this was the end of their good luck.
"Chris, touch your hair if you can hear me," Cyril said, and Chris reached up but instead of putting his hand in his hair he was fiddling with his ear. God dammit, the earpiece was dead.
Chris looked like he was on the verge of panic and Cyril felt the need to do something, but there was nothing he could do. This was a trainwreck and he was powerless to stop it. Chris said something, and Belle's face went from pleased to confused to irate. Cyril flinched as she turned and slapped Chris before storming off towards her apartment, leaving Chris confused in her wake.
Cyril had to wait until she had disappeared into the building before he left the pawn shop and hurried over to meet the fire chief where he still stood with his hand on his face.
"What did you do?" Cyril asked. It had all been going so well, how could Chris have messed it up so fast?
"I don't know," Chris whined. "I don't know...she was talking about this book she was reading and I wanted to compliment her and I said that she was really hot for being so smart…"
Cyril rolled his eyes and smacked Chris on the back of the head himself.
"Just a helpful tip," he said. "Never try to compliment a woman by saying she's anything for 'being so smart' because it will never end well."
"So what do we do?" Chris asked. "She's so mad!"
They should just let it go and pretend like none of this had ever happened. It had been a ridiculous idea, it was doomed to fail, and unless he planned to live in their closet and feed him lines through Morse code there was no end game here. And yet, he found himself pulling Chris towards the alley behind Belle's building. He counted the fire escapes from the corner to figure out where her apartment was and searched the ground frantically for a projectile of some sort.
"What are we doing?" Chris asked as Cyril picked up a loose piece of concrete and tossed it up towards her window.
"We're getting her attention," Cyril replied and Chris instantly grabbed a piece of gravel and threw it himself.
Cyril was about to throw another stone when suddenly Belle's window opened and her head poked out. Cyril ducked under the fire escape and pressed his back to the wall. She could probably see him if she looked straight down and watched, but it was late evening and the orientation of the alley put the entire side of the building in shadow.
"What do you want?" Belle called down angrily and Chris' eyes went wide as he looked over to Cyril.
"You just want to talk," Cyril whispered.
"I just want to talk!" Chris called up to Belle.
"Oh, you want to talk?" Belle replied sarcastically. "Did you want to tell me I have a nice ass again or would you rather talk about my 'awesome rack.'"
Chris looked flustered and glanced at Cyril. It was taking all of Cyril's strength not to throttle Chris for not telling him the whole story of why she was so angry, but that wouldn't solve this problem.
"You're sorry," Cyril said. "You were scared."
"I'm sorry, Belle!" Chris called up. "I was just scared!"
"Scared of what?"
"Scared of her," Cyril said. "Of her rejection."
"I was scared of your erection!"
"My what?" Belle shrieked.
Cyril reached out and grabbed Chris' jacket and yanked him into the shadows.
"What the hell was that?" he whispered.
"I don't know, I was just saying what you said!"
"Why would I say erection?"
"Just go away, Chris," Belle called down and Cyril made a decision. He didn't have time to come up with anything else. He shoved Chris back into view.
"Just react to what I say," Cyril whispered to him before he looked up to where Belle was and tried his best to mimic Chris' accent as he called up to her. "Wait, please don't go!"
"Why shouldn't I?" she replied. "I don't owe you anything."
"You don't," he said. "You owe me nothing, and if you close that window and go back inside I'll never bother you again. All I want is a chance to apologize."
She didn't say anything, but she also didn't close the window and that was a damn good sign.
"I'll never forgive myself for it," Cyril continued. "I panicked."
"Why?" she asked, and she didn't sound as angry anymore. "We were having such a good time."
"That's why," Cyril said. "Because everything about you is so amazing and I was just terrified that you were going to see through me. I was so stupid, and I'm sorry."
"Your voice sounds different," Belle said after a brief silence.
"That's because these words are spoken from my heart," he said. "The air isn't from my lungs, it's my soul speaking straight to you, Belle." There was a soft sound from the window that could have been a sigh, and he knew she was listening to him and he could say the things he'd always wanted. "Beautiful Belle," he continued. "Even the name doesn't do you justice. You're a melody, a song caught in my head all through the day. You're the music that sets the beat of my heart, it's every beat whispering Belle, Belle, Belle, Belle…"
"You barely know me," she said, but it was barely a protest. She was charmed by what he was saying, and he wanted to keep speaking because this was all he'd ever have with her. She didn't want him, she was kind and would be his friend but he couldn't delude himself into thinking she'd love him. She wanted Chris Gaston, tall and handsome and broad chested. Cyril knew he was ugly, the skin that was visible was scaled and thickened and the parts of him that his suit covered were even worse. A woman who would want Chris would never want Cyril, but that didn't stop him from wanting in spite of himself. If this was all he could ever have with Belle, then this would be what he would content himself with. He would bare his heart to her and let her be happy to know how much she was wanted.
"I want to know you," Cyril said. "I want to know your dreams and your mind, what makes you laugh and what makes you cry. I want to learn you inside and out. Let me have a chance and I'll create maps of your every mood and write encyclopedias on your mind."
"What kind of chance?" she asked, and for once Cyril was at a loss for words, he was too absorbed in his own fantasy of the situation. Chris, however, was not.
"Let me come up," Chris called out, breaking the spell.
"Shut up, Chris," Cyril exclaimed.
"What?" Belle replied, the edge back in her voice.
"Nothing," Cyril called back, hoping she hadn't recognized his voice from his outburst. "I was just yelling at myself for being too forward and offending you."
"I'm not offended," Belle replied timidly. "What did you mean by that?"
"Come on, Cyril," Chris whispered to Cyril. "She wants us. You heard her."
"She wants an illusion," Cyril shot back, but then who was he to judge?
"She wants a fantasy," Chris replied. "Someone who looks like me and talks like you. Come on, I can handle this part if you can get me in the door."
He shouldn't do this, but at the same time he couldn't give her anything else besides this fantasy. He could give her a Chris Gaston who was charming and eloquent and who wanted her more than anything else in the whole world.
"I want to see you, Belle," Cyril said at last. "You can tell me to leave, and I'll go. You'll never have to see me again, but know that I'll never forget you. I'll hold you in my heart until the stars fall out of the sky, and the sun consumes the Earth and the only thing of humanity that still remains is the spark of you that sustains me. Because you do sustain me, Belle. You're a light in an ocean of darkness, Belle, and I'll never stop wanting you."
Belle didn't speak right away, but Cyril could see a glimpse of her still leaning out of the window over his head and her lips were parted softly. Even backlit as she was, he thought he saw a flush on her cheeks.
"Come up," she said, pulling away from the window.
Cyril almost reached for the ladder of the fire escape, but Chris' hand clapped on his shoulder and held him back.
"You did it," Chris said. "Thank you so much!"
Cyril nodded as he watched Chris climb the ladder to the landing and climb through the window into Belle's apartment.
"I did it," Cyril said to himself, taking a deep breath as his heart settled back into a normal rhythm and his head cleared. "Oh, shit. What did I do?"
He looked up to the window again like he had any desire at all to see them doing whatever they were doing up there. He had a ridiculous crush on Belle French, but getting her laid was definitely not the way to get over it. The more he was thinking about her and stupid giant Chris having sex the worse he felt. She was so small and he was so large. What the hell had he been thinking letting Chris talk him into this? What had he been thinking letting Belle encourage him to get involved?
Cyril was starting to panic trying to think of what to do to stop what was going on upstairs and, unfortunately, only one idea came to him.
He dug out his keyring and found the masterkey for the building, letting himself in through the back door and into the hallway. There wasn't anyone in the entrance, thankfully, and it only took him a few moments to pull the fire alarm and escape back out through the back. The pawn shop was close enough that he was back inside in time to watch people beginning to spill out of the neighboring building. Chris and Belle were among them, and Cyril couldn't bring himself to watch to see what happened after that. It was much easier to live with himself if he could pretend like nothing else was going to happen.