The sixth time Gold saw Belle, it was a surprise. It was Christmas Eve, so naturally he was working late. The later he left the office, the less chance he'd have of running into someone spreading "holiday cheer", or worse asking for charity money. Christmas was, undoubtedly, his least favourite time of year. It was a time for family, joy and love, none of which he had in his life.

Gold's Christmas would be spent – as it was every year – sat in front of the fire in the library of his over-sized mansion. He would relax into his arm chair and read A Christmas Carol; as he did every year. He took comfort from the fact that Scrooge was the only person (real or fictional) that hated Christmas as much as Gold did. Though at least Scrooge wasn't in the business of Christmas. Gold, on the other hand, had been staring at tacky Christmas cards since late August, having them perfected and redesigned until they impeccably captured the sickly-sweet sentiment of this commercial holiday.

There was a gentle knock at his office door. He imagined it would be his secretary. She'd be desperate to get home to her family. She had a little one, who was probably excited about a fat man creeping into the house while she slept and rummaging about under the tree. Maybe her family wanted to go through the farce of leaving milk and cookies for the festive house-breaker and a carrot for his red-nosed steed.

He was fiddling about in a filing cabinet, when the door was pushed open.

'You can go, dearie,' he said. 'No point keeping the child waiting for….' His words stuck in his throat when he turned to see Belle smiling gently at him.

'Who did you think I was?' she asked.

'My secretary. She's waiting for my say so to leave.'

'She isn't,' Belle frowned.

'What?'

'There's no one here. I had to guess where your office was.'

'What!' he bellowed. That stupid wench. He'd fire her next time he saw her. Who did she think she was walking away on his time? He tried to storm out of the room. He wasn't sure where he was going, but he was going to get there angrily.

'What are you doing?' Belle asked, putting at hand out to stop him as he tried to push through the door. Her fingers caught him on the shoulder and the shock of her touch halted his march. He looked down at the contact and allowed his eyes to trace a path along her slender fingers, to delicate wrists, up gentle arms and a long neck until he met her eyes. She smiled.

'It's Christmas … let her off, just this once.'

'Fine,' he snarled, yanking himself away from her and moving back to his desk. He didn't like to be touched and ever since their last encounter in the coffee shop, Gold worried that Belle knew too much about him somehow. 'What are you doing here anyway? Don't tell me you came all this way just to convince me not to fire my worthless secretary.'

'I came to wish you a Merry Christmas,' she beamed, revealing a small, wrapped package from behind her back.

'Is that…' he pointed towards the gift, 'is that for me?'

'Yes.' She turned it over in her dainty hands. It was beautifully wrapped; the tape barely visible and the bow delicately tied. She'd clearly taken a lot of time over it. 'It's sort of a "Thank You", for saving the book for me. Gaston said you didn't really do Christmas, but I felt I should get you something. I was going to leave it at the coffee shop … but then I saw the light on up here. I thought it might be you.'

'And you decided you'd keep me company.' He sounded more callous than he'd intended, but he was confused by the situation. It had been many years since he'd received a gift and he'd forgotten how to react.

'No one should be alone at Christmas.'

'Don't you worry about me, dearie,' he sneered. 'I'll be fine … more than fine … fantastic even.'

'Well that's good to know,' she said through pursed lips. She looked like she was trying not to laugh. He didn't call her up on it, as a silent thanks for the fact she hadn't called him up on his obvious lie about being "fine".

'Here,' she thrust the gift in his direction. He took it in one hand. Sturdy, not too heavy, oblong in shape. It was book of some kind. That would make sense; a book for a book.

'You may as well open it,' she gabbled, fidgeting on the spot. 'I've kept the receipt. Gaston insisted. He said you'd throw it back in my face, but … well….'

Gold peeled back the paper gently. It was a deep red with golden reindeer etched upon it. He didn't want to tear at it; that seemed too thoughtless for such a carefully wrapped gift. Instead, he picked at the tape at one end until he was able to peel back a flap and slide the book out keeping the wrapping mostly intact.

The book was old. It smelt old, as though every page held its own story hidden in the dust. It was bound with dark leather and simple, elegant lettering spelled out the title: A Christmas Carol.

'How did you know?' he questioned, looking up at her in disbelief. It was a stupid question, because she couldn't possibly have known. It was just an incredible coincidence, though Jenni Jottings might have described it as fate.

'Do you like it?' There was a glimmer of hope in her eyes, but it died immediately and her self-doubt crashed over her like a tidal wave. 'You hate it. That's okay.'

She made to take it from him. He snatched it to his chest.

'I don't think so, dearie,' he waggled his finger meaningfully. 'You gave this to me, you don't get to just take it back.'

'So you do like it,' she realised aloud. She was beaming now. Fearing that she was getting a little too happy, or too close, or too … something, Gold heard himself say:

'It's okay.'

But it didn't seem to matter what he said, because Belle just seemed to hear: "I love it" … and that was probably what he'd meant.

'I'm so glad you like it. I knew you were a reader, and this is the book that defined Christmas as we know it. There isn't another that's nearly as iconic at this time of year.'

'Couldn't agree more,' he muttered, turning a few pages to better breathe it in. He couldn't have asked for a better gift.

'It's the 60s version,' she gabbled. 'Used, but I didn't think that would matter. A previous owner just adds character … or that's what I think. And I thought the cover was more … you.'

He just looked at her. She was remarkable, and that was despite the garbled sentences and uncertain trail-offs.

'What?' she whispered, a sure sign he'd been staring too long.

'Nothing, just … this is wonderful.' He gestured to the book, which was a lot better than what he'd almost said: you're wonderful.

'Well, I'm glad because it isn't just a Christmas Gift, or a Thank You Gift…. It's, it's sort of a "goodbye" too.'

'Oh?'

'I've left Gaston,' she held up her left hand. Her ring finger was bare, marked only by a band of fair skin just marginally paler than the rest. 'He didn't really love me, anyway. It's for the best.'

'Where are you spending Christmas?' he asked. He knew the sickening heartbreak of a Christmas alone. He wouldn't wish to inflict that pain on anyone, let alone someone who'd been so kind to him.

'I'm going to see my father. He's been so lonely since mum died and….' She fiddled at her hair a little. 'You don't want to hear about all that.'

Gold could feel a battle raging inside him. Part of him wanted to tell her that he damned well didn't want to hear about her boring little personal problems. The other wanted to caress her cheek and tell her that everything was okay. He wanted her to know that she could tell him anything. Neither side won; the result was to stand there looking gormless.

'Well,' she said eventually, 'I'd best get going or I'll never make it to my father's this evening. It was good seeing you, Mr Gold,' she said, leaning on to her tiptoes and pressing her soft lips to his cheek. 'Merry Christmas,' she whispered.

'Merry Christmas,' he replied numbly. He could only watch as she left his office. He noticed she had white tights on and a pale brown outfit. She looked younger than her years. It must be the optimism. Even on Christmas Eve with a broken engagement in her wake, she behaved like she had no scepticism about anything. She was the kind of person who believed the best in people, and made people want to prove her right.

Gold stared down at the book and sighed. Was his future just a little less lonely than he'd imagined?

Thanks for reading and for all the follows, faves and reviews. I'll respond to the reviews later (when I'm not in work ... shhhh!) x