So, here is Chapter 2! This one is a lot shorter than the other one, sorry for that. And this one is more backstory, but I have to build it up.

Also, another small note, this story takes place in an alternate world that sort of mirrors our own. Like it basically is our world, but there are witches and all that. Just in case anyone was wondering.

I also put in more of Eames' characteristics in here as well, see the note at the end for more detail of that.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this one and once again, I do not own anything, except for Gabriella, she is my evil creation

Chapter 2: Aftermath

Eames walked towards his office Monday morning feeling like he owned the world. He was in such a great mood that he knew it would take a lot to bring him down from this. This was quite different than how he felt when he left the office Friday night. He had been so stressed out Friday night over his recent project and things were just not going his way. He had been mad and upset to the point where he wanted to cry.

But the party on Saturday had completely erased those feelings, mainly because he got to see him.

Eames had no idea who this man was, but he was too beautiful to not notice. He was tall and lean, but Eames could tell that there was some hidden muscle under there. He had beautiful brown eyes and dark brown almost black hair that was always slicked back to give off the professional look this man always had. And his clothes, don't even get him started on that. This man's clothes were flawless. They were always tailored just right and looked to be the most expensive clothes Eames had ever seen.

Eames knew that this man worked for Saito because that was where he had first seen him. And every time Eames did see the man, he was always here at the company. Eames had wanted to go up and talk to him but he was always working and work was not the place to flirt with the handsome man in amazing tailored clothing.

As Eames walked through the hallway, he saw all the female employees smiling at him. He smiled back out of habit. He knew that most of the women here had small crushes on him, but he didn't take it very seriously. He was British and he knew the effect his voice had on people. He was prepared for it. He didn't expect anyone to go into crazy fan-girl mode over him.

That is, until Gabriella came along. She worked in Eames' department. Eames really wasn't quite sure what she did, but she obviously did something because she hasn't been fired yet. But Gabriella was head over heels in love with Eames, but he couldn't stand her at all. She was quite vain and made sure that everyone knew it too. She wanted everyone to be in love with her and thrived off of any kind of attention, even if it was bad. She wanted to be in the spotlight and sadly, he dramatic efforts always put her in the spotlight.

Eames humored her most of the time but he really found her quite annoying and couldn't wait for her to get over him and to just leave him alone. He knew quite a few guys in the office that were in love with her but all their efforts were futile because she only had eyes for Eames.

Eames walked into his office and smiled at Meredith, his secretary. Meredith was a wonderful woman. She had been working at this company for almost 30 years now and was the first person Eames met from the company. Eames loved her like a mother and she treated Eames like a son. In fact, most holidays, she would bake something special just for him because she knew that he was always alone on the holidays. She was just fantastic.

"Hello Mr. Eames." Meredith said with her usual sunshine smile.

"Hello Meredith, any messages for me today?" He asked as he unlocked the door to his private office. Eames was in charge of the Advertising Department for Saito Industries so he got a pretty good sized office, not that he boasted about it. It was actually more troublesome than anything else.

"Yes." Meredith said as she followed Eames into his office. "You received your budget from Mr. Callahan this morning. Well, it was actually sent Friday night, just like Arthur always does." Eames laughed. Yes, Arthur was always very punctual about his email replies. Eames had sent his budget right before he left Friday night.

"Is it bad?" He asked, setting his things down on his desk.

"He cut it more than last year." Eames sighed. Of course he did.

"Asshole." Eames murmured. "Anything else of great importance?"

"Gabriella wants to see you."

"Of course she does." Meredith let out a small chuckle.

"Also, word around the office says to avoid Mr. Saito today." That caught Eames' attention. That seemed rather odd.

"What? Why? I have to present my project today. I sort of have to see him today."

"I know. Apparently, Saito is quite angry this morning. He has already fired 10 people, meaning he is in a bad mood and that you should avoid him at all costs."

"Right, well, what happened? Do you know?"

"Um, well, I don't know the exact truth, but the rumors are that Arthur Callahan didn't show up for work this morning." Eames laughed as he sat down at his desk.

"Wow. I bet Saito is losing his shit." Meredith just nodded. "Well, I shall avoid him this morning and send him my project this afternoon."

"Alright. And what shall I do about Gabriella?"

"Avoid her too." Meredith just smiled.

"Okay Mr. Eames. Have a good morning." Eames just smiled at her as she left his office.

Eames opened his email and decided it would be best to get this whole budget deal out of the way first. He saw the one from Arthur and took a deep breath before opening it.

Mr. Eames,

Attached is your budget for the upcoming year. Sorry about the cuts but it was deemed necessary.

-A. Callahan.

Eames let out a small sigh as he leaned back in his chair. It seemed that Arthur's emails got shorter and shorter each year. He had never met Arthur. Eames had only communicated with him through email, but just from that Eames could tell that Arthur was a cold-hearted asshole.

Every year Arthur cuts Eames' budget. And every year the cuts increase. It is enough to send Eames up the wall. It seems that of all the departments in the company, the Advertising Department gets the most cuts. It was really getting ridiculous. Eames had done absolutely nothing to Arthur so he really had no idea what he did to deserve all this.

If Eames were to ever meet Arthur in person it would take a lot of will-power to make sure Eames did not kill him. All Eames wanted to do was his job, but he couldn't if he kept getting his budget cut.

Eames pushed all of that aside to actually get some work done. He needed to prove that the Advertising Department was important.

And Eames was able to get some work done for most of the morning. He went through his project again just to make sure that there were no mistakes so he could send it off to Saito this afternoon.

He was in the process of going through Arthur's new budget for the department when Gabriella showed up.

"Hello Eames." Eames glanced up from his desk and saw that she was attempting to be seductive for him. She had her hair down in curls and was wearing a short pencil skirt and a red cardigan that was unbuttoned a little bit too low. She just screamed purpose. Her attempts were futile though because it had absolutely no effect on Eames.

"Hello Gabriella." She slowly made her way over to him.

"You didn't return my calls."

"Oh, right, sorry, been terribly busy you know, actually working."

"Oh," She said as she sat down. "For some reason, I don't quite believe that. I think that you are ignoring me." Eames wanted to laugh. She finally caught on.

"Well, that is your problem, but I really am trying to get things done." Eames said as he looked up at her.

"Oh Belden." Eames cringed. He actually cringed. How in the hell did she know his first name. No one knew his first name. Not even Saito.

"Please, do not call me that."

"Why ever not?" Gabriella replied with a smirk.

"Because no one on Earth calls me that, not even my own mother and she was the one who named me that."

"Oh, how terribly rude of me." Eames rolled his eyes. He really hoped that she would just leave. He really did have work he needed to do and he did not have time to put up with her bullshit today.

"Is there a particular reason why you are here interrupting me from my work?"

"Yes. I take it you heard the rumors about Arthur Callahan not showing up today."

"I did. How is that relevant to anything?"

"Saito is absolutely furious." Eames nodded. He knew this already. "There is no doubt that he will fire Arthur." Eames let out a small chuckle.

"Ah." He got it now. "You want to take Arthur's place, is that right?" It was no secret that Gabriella was after Arthur's job. Everyone in the department knew.

"There is no way that Saito will keep him. He gives no one second chances and that includes Arthur. I am more than qualified to take over. Saito knows it as does everyone else." Eames just let out a small sigh. Saito loved Arthur; he would not get rid of him after one day of no showing up.

Then again, if Saito did fire Arthur and did hire Gabriella, he wouldn't have to deal with her anymore. Wow, he really liked that idea.

"Can you please leave me alone? I have a lot of work to do at the moment and I do not need you to tell me about your aspirations that will most likely never happen." Gabriella glared daggers at him.

"Fine." She hissed out before standing up and stalking out of his office. Eames just chuckled to himself as he went back to work.

When it was time for Eames' lunch break, he made his way towards Yusuf's office like he did every day. Yusuf was his best friend, well, at least as close as a best friend that Eames could have.

Eames was sort of a loner. He didn't really have many friends regardless of the fact that many people find him attractive. It was probably his clothes. Eames had a unique sense of fashion. He was told that he gave off the impression of being sort of weird by some of his coworkers. But he didn't really care too much.

Or it could be his personality. Even though he tried to be nice to everyone, there were some times when he couldn't help but be an ass, which seemed to make people unsure about him.

Or it could be because of that one time when he gambled away his entire paycheck in one day. People tended to frown on that. Or there was that controversy where someone thought that Eames may have forged his degree. There were still some people who thought that (and what they don't know won't hurt them).

Yusuf was almost just as shady as Eames so they made a quick bond right off the bat.

"Yusuf!" Eames said as he walked into Yusuf's office with a big smile on his face. "You ready to go?"

"Oh." Yusuf said, standing up. And Eames could tell by the look on his face that something was up. "I can't today, I'm sorry."

"What? Why not?"

"I presume you have heard the rumors about Arthur Callahan?"

"Um yeah, who hasn't by now?"

"Well, Saito and I are going over there during lunch to meet up with Arthur and Dom Cobb to discuss the situation."

"Why?" Eames could see meeting with Arthur, but why Dom Cobb?

Eames had heard about Dom Cobb. He was once a very accomplished architect who had actually helped design the building they were in right now. But he made the news again when his wife killed herself then became one of the witches that tormented this city.

But why would they need Yusuf there? Saito is an obvious one, he is Arthur's boss. But a chemist? Why?

"Why you?"

"I don't know. No one is really saying anything. But I have to do as Saito tells me otherwise I will get fired." Eames nodded.

"Okay, well, um, I guess I will talk with you later then. Enjoy your lunch." Eames said with as he walked towards the door.

"By the way, how are things with Gabriella?" Eames turned and saw that Yusuf was smiling at him. He just had to bring that up.

"Fuck you Yusuf." Yusuf just laughed as Eames left to go to lunch alone.

The rest of Eames' day was pretty uneventful. Eames had sent off his project to Saito and Saito had responded that he was thrilled about it and couldn't wait to see more. So, Eames assumed that Saito was in a much better mood now. So the meeting with Arthur must have been a success. No one was saying anything about the matter so he didn't really know if Saito had fired Arthur or not.

Well, he got his answer soon enough.

Eames was almost done for the day when he received another email from Arthur.

Mr. Eames,

Mr. Saito has sent me an outline of your newest project and I must say that I am impressed. I wish I could up your budget, but sadly, I

cannot. Surely a man with your imagination can make so with what you have.

-A. Callahan

What a condescending asshole. Arthur was too sick to come to work but he could still do his part to make sure that Eames knew his place. Really? What was the point of that email? Arthur was just rubbing it in Eames' face that his budget was cut.

This was the last straw.

Eames was about to respond to the email and give Arthur a piece of his mind when Yusuf burst through his office door.

"Eames!"

"Yes." Eames said as he closed out of the email and shut down his computer. That fact that Yusuf just burst into his office meant that something important was about to be said.

"I have to tell you about the whole Arthur situation." Eames laughed. This was not what he wanted to hear right now but okay. It must be very important if Yusuf had to tell him right now.

"The Arthur situation? Didn't know it was a situation? He just sent me the most wonderful email." Yusuf sat down in front of him and caught his breath.

"Oh. Did he?" Eames nodded as Yusuf just stared at him, not saying anything. Well.

"So, what about Arthur?"

"Oh, right. Arthur got cursed by Mal." Eames eyes widened.

"What?"

"Yeah, he is all deformed now and covered in scars, which is really some punishment since he is just as vain as Gabriella."

"Why was he cursed?"

"I don't know. No one would say anything about it, especially Arthur. He was in a very foul mood. But I would be too if I looked like he did."

"So, why did they call you?" Yusuf didn't know Arthur on a personal level, nor did they work together. It seemed rather odd that Yusuf would be one of the people to go over there with Saito.

"I have to go over and administer medicine to him. Apparently he is in pain all the time or something like that."

"Why didn't he call a doctor? Or go to a doctor? No offense Yusuf, but your doctorate doesn't really give you the right to give someone medicine like that." Yusuf just shrugged.

"I don't know. It is relatively simple, and I am getting paid through Saito, not Arthur. It really is just a simple shot. But I guess no one is really supposed to know, but I trust you won't spread it around. Also, I have to give Arthur work and pick some up every time I go over there."

"Oh, so Saito couldn't find it in his heart to fire him then?"

"No. It is just so sad Eames. Even I feel sorry for him which is really saying something because I have met Arthur."

"Too bad being cursed didn't change his personality. He still seems like the asshole he was before."

"Yeah. I agree. His appearance may have changed but he is still the same old Arthur on the inside." Yusuf stood up. "Well, I have to get back to work. I was over there much longer that I anticipated. I will talk with you later." Eames just nodded as Yusuf left his office.

Eames spent the rest of his time at work thinking about Arthur. He just couldn't wrap his brain around the fact that Arthur had been cursed. From what he had heard, Arthur was perfect and had the world at his feet. No one had anything to really hate Arthur for.

Why would he be cursed by Mal? By someone who had once been his friend. It just didn't make sense.

Eames had never known someone who had been cursed. He would always read the names of the newly cursed in the paper, but none of them he knew or recognized.

Arthur was the first. And for some unknown reason that really bothered Eames.

Eames quickly packed up his things and headed home. He couldn't focus anymore. Even though Arthur was an asshole, he didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve to be cursed. No one deserved to be cursed, no matter how horrible they were.

Things were going to be different now. Everything was about to change.

Alright everyone, that was chapter two! Still kind of boring, but you got into Eames' relationship with Yusuf a bit and was introduced to Gabriella who becomes important later one.

The Eames Notes: I hope everyone is okay with the name Belden. I wanted it to be like Belle, but a male name, so I discovered that one. If you don't like it, sorry, and it won't really be included here anymore unless it does. Who knows? I also added in some more Eames characteristics like his gambling and there is even the small aspect that Eames may have forged his way to his job.

And Chapter 4 is when Arthur and Eames finally meet, which should be quite interesting. =) So stay tuned for that. Chapter 3 will be a little bit into the future and with Arthur dealing with his curse and all that.

Also, just in case anyone was wondering:

Eames=Belle

Arthur=The Beast

Dom=Cogsworth,

Ariadne=Lumiere

Gabriella=Gaston

Mal=The Witch

Saito, Yusuf, and Robert are just there. They don't get any certain character attributed. Sorry. If anyone wants to attribute them certain characters, go ahead.

Again, thanks for reading! I really appreciate it.