Chapter Two

For the rest of that day, Mr. Gold had taken out his confusion self-directed anger on his poor renters, and anyone who dared approach him in the Pawnshop.

He threw the rag into the bucket from behind his counter, unable to concentrate on cleaning his shop. He just couldn't seem to get his mind off of Ms. Belle French, which only added to dampen his already sour mood. He didn't want to be the perverted old cripple lusting after the beautiful handy-woman, not that it was just lust he felt towards her.

Sighing, he looked at his watch and sighed again. It was still two hours from closing time. For once, he didn't want anyone to stumble into his shop, needing money; he just wanted to go home and take a shower, to wash all of his thoughts of Belle down the drain.

But with a little chime from the tiny belle stationed at his shop door, the bloody woman he'd been trying to stop thinking about had just waltzed into his shop.

"Hello Ms. French, what brings you to my shop?" he asked, trying his best to sound casual; though the fluttery feeling in his stomach had returned with her presence. Gold groaned inwardly at his own stupidity, it was like being a lovesick teenager again.

She smiled at him, and his stomach did a back flip in response. She walked over to his counter and set her tool bag down on the floor, then looked him in the eye.

"You forgot to give me a key to the building so I can lock and unlock it Mr. Gold," she said, obviously trying not to giggle at Gold's forgetfulness.

"Oh," he said, and reached into his pocket for the key, but upon doing so he remembered he had placed it in a box in the back of his shop. "You'll have to excuse for a moment Ms. French, it's in the back".

Mr. Gold with the help of his cane walked into the back and grabbed the key from its hiding place; he took a deep breath to collect himself and strolled back out into the front of his shop.

When he returned to the front, Belle was looking at jewelry in one of his glass cases. After he cleared his throat loudly to gain her attention, she walked back over to him, smiling again.

"Here you are Ms. French," Gold said, handing her the key. Belle politely took the key from him and examined it before placing it in her pocket.

"Is that your only copy or do you have another, we can share the key while I work on the building if you want," she suggested, her blue eyes sparkling.

Gold swallowed, "I have another key to the building". He readjusted his tie uncomfortable when Belle didn't leave right away. Instead she abandoned her tool bag on the floor, and walked around his shop, looking around curiously.

Belle stopped at his book shelf filled with old and new books alike; she leaned down so that her bottom stuck up in the air while she looked at a lower shelf.

Though he tried not to stare at her shapely figure, he couldn't resist the temptation to stare at her, but to his great relief, she stood up again, this time with a book in her hands.

"Found something you liked Ms. French?" Mr. Gold asked her, feeling his cheeks warm when she flashed him another one of her charming smiles.

"Yes, did actually. And by the way you can call me Belle if you like," she walked back over to his counter and set the book down, "After all we will be working together for a few days". She smiled at him again as he rang up her purchase, a novel called Zoo.

"I always call people by their proper name Ms. French," he replied, flashing her a smug, but mischeivious smile, trying not to let the woman worm her way into his heart, after all the last thing he needed was another Cora episode.

Belle felt herself go weak in the knees at his smile; not only because it was the first time she had seen him smile, but also because she knew it was directed at her.

"Well my proper name would be what I want you to call me by, so that would be Belle, Mr. Gold," Belle said.

Gold opened his mouth to say something in reply, but before he could say anything, Belle spoke up, "By the way, I love your shop, it's so fascinating. Dad never mentioned that you were a pawnbroker," she took the book from him and picked up her bag, still smiling sweetly at him.

"Well, I try to keep my work life away from hobbies Belle," he said, offering her a shy smile.

Belle's heart fluttered, Mr. Gold was so impossibly cute, especially when he seemed shy or uncertain about her flirting with him, she only hoped he realized that she was attracted to him, not his money.

"Don't worry I do too," Belle said, "Or at least I try to."

"Hey Gold," Gold's smile faded from his face the moment he heard the familiar voice as the man stepped into his shop, gait lazy.

Belle turned her headto watch Jefferson approach the counter, who as soon as he noticed her, did a little bow, his top hat almost falling off. "Hello Miss."

"Hello," Belle said politely, she turned back to Gold who felt an immediate twinge of jealousy towards Jefferson, "Anyway, I should be going Mr. Gold, thanks for the book, I'll see you tomorrow".

Gold watched her leave, ignoring Jefferson entirely until the other man bumped him with his arm. Mr. Gold sighed and turned his attention to the younger man who had placed a wad of cash onto the counter, and was now leaning lazily against it, a gleam in his eyes.

"What do you want Jefferson?" Gold asked. Out of everyone in town, nobody came to his shop and bothered him more than Jefferson.

"You know that building you bought at the auction; you put a sign in your shop window that says someone can rent it, well I want to rent it," Jefferson said, pushing the bundle of cash towards him.

Gold picked the bundle up and counted out the money, in the end, the bundle contained fifty-seven dollars, the exact amount he had painted on the sign that showed what the rent for the building would be.

Gold handed him back seven dollars, and Jefferson took it from him lazily and shoved it back into his pocket. After a while, since Jefferson, despite all of his annoyingness, had become Gold's favorite customer, he had been given discounts on many things such as rent and even items in the shop.

"What are you going to use it for?" Gold asked, he needed to know if Jefferson needed anything to be put in, so he could tell Mr. French, but this time, it would be Belle.

"You know, Storybrooke needs some excitement, so I was thinking about turning it into a nightclub, how's the "Enchanted Castle" sound to you Rum?" Jefferson said, using his hands to exaggerate his point.

"Sounds fine to me," Gold replied. The only person who had ever learned of his first name on accident was Jefferson, and the man refused to call him Mr. Gold when they were alone, a trait that had originally annoyed Rumford Gold to no end, but by now he was used to it.

"Speaking of which, who was that girl in here a few moments ago?" Jefferson asked, leaning a little too close for Gold's liking.

"Her name is Belle French; she's taking her father's place as my handy-man while her father is on vacation".

"Mm-hm," Jefferson smiled, a gleam of mischief in his pale blue eyes, "I'll see you later Rum, don't forget to call me when the building is finished being repaired".

Belle silently cursed her own fear that had forced her to leave Gold's shop before she had a chance to really engage in conversation with him.

She had gone in there not only to get the key but to try and get to know him, he was unlike anyone she had ever met before, and truth be told, he seemed like a mystery, and Belle loved figuring out mysterious.

But before she could truly get deep in conversation with the Pawnbroker, another man had come in to do business with her employer. She had panicked and left.

Now she was sulking in a booth at Granny's, waiting for her best friend Ruby to get off so that they could go see a new movie together, as they had planned several weeks before.

"Hey, why do you look so down. We're going to go see Pixels, aren't you excited?" Ruby all but danced over to Belle's booth. The burnette looked up at her red haired friend and nodded,

"I'm excited, just puzzled by my new job this morning," Belle explained.

"Spill it, I can't have my friend frowning," Ruby said, sliding into the booth beside her. Belle sighed and fiddled with the straw in her drink before answering.

"Well, my dad works for Mr. Gold, and his normal substitute backed out this morning so I had to take his place and work on this basement for Mr. Gold and well, he wasn't exactly what I was expecting," Belle said, "I mean, everyone that knows him says that he's this vicious monster of a man that tries to manipulate people. But, the man I met was none of those things. He's strict, but I understand that because I was a few minutes late, and he was such a gentle man, I don't know what to think of him Ruby".

Ruby smiled and placed her hand on Belle's shoulder, forcing Belle to look up at her friend, "You like him don't you?"

"What no! Ew! Well, maybe a little," Belle blushed and stared at her drink awkwardly. Ruby grinned, her eyes gleaming with excitement and mischief.

"Oh, we are so talking about this after the movie," she said.