Chapter 16 To Have Someone Understand
Belle stood for several minutes in front of the flower shop before pulling enough courage to walk in. The phone conversations with her father had been awkward and tense to put it mildly. She had explained her feelings in regards to Tony, reminded him of how Tony had treated her in high school, and her father, while attempting to sound sympathetic, at the same time seemed to brush her reservations off as 'childishness'. Her father told her he washed his hands of it all (she doubted that, and knew it would be brought back up, eventually) and Belle was only too glad that at least he didn't seem to push the issue at the moment. That did not make coming back any less stressful and she sighed good and long before opening the door.
The door opened silently, allowing her to see her father bent over a vase, arranging freshly cut flowers to be something pleasing to the eye. It had always amazed Belle that a man so bumbling at times (her unfortunate clumsiness was one of the few things that she had inherited from her father), could put together something so beautiful and delicate. While her mother had helped put together and manage the business, her father was no stranger to all the details of floral arrangements. Seeing her father so focused, his glasses that he started wearing more and more frequently, were falling down his nose though he took no notice of it, his forehead showing how dedicated he was to the task.
'Hi, Daddy.' She spoke softly, as to not cause him to fumble with the vase and risk ruining his hard work. She was successful. He turned around gently and beamed.
'Bluebelle! I was worried you might not…nevermind, I'm glad you're back.' He had pulled off his gloves and pulled her into a hug. It was so familiar and warm that all the memories of the previous week melted away and she could almost imagine that she was ten again and her mother would be nearby to offer similar love and warmth. She was not ten, her mother was not there, and she was only there for the day, so she had best make the most of it.
'And what are you working on here, Daddy?'
'Mr. Perry passed away a few days ago and they put out the obituary yesterday. I've been getting calls all morning, and I don't know how I'm going to finish them all.' Her father sighed. It was always a bittersweet thing, funerals. They were just as lucrative as weddings, really, but it was for something so unfortunate. Ever since Belle was old enough to understand the cause of such flowers, she had always created the funeral arrangements with extra care and weaving her own prayers through the flowers as she tied the note declaring who the senders were. Mr. Perry had been a very old, but a very beloved member of the community, and the list of his family and friends was quite long-thus, with her father's shop being the only florist in town, there would be many, many arrangements to make that day.
'That's why I'm here, Daddy. Let me go put my purse upstairs and I'll be back down to help you.' She smiled and ran upstairs, sighing at the disarray that always met her on Saturday. There was no time for that and she flung her purse on her bed and ran back downstairs to help her father. The day was so much a flurry of arrangements and deliveries, phone calls and bookkeeping, that there was no opportunity to rehash any of what had happened before. It was just as well. Belle didn't want to think about it, and her father probably didn't want to cause any further arguments, so the day passed quickly. A few minutes before closing the door opened. Belle sighed. As much as she knew her father needed all the customers he could get, she was exhausted already from the busy day, and knew she had so much to do before she could go to bed that night. She chided herself, put on her pleasant 'greet the customer' smile and looked up from her bookkeeping and almost groaned. Tony stood there all muscles and dark hair and arrogance.
'Hey there, Beauty.' He was showing all his teeth, dazzling white, yet somehow so very unattractive at the same time.
'Tony!' Her father had come down from their apartment, having gone upstairs to go to the bathroom. He said Tony's name good naturedly before the air seemed to drain from the building as he realized that after such a peaceful day, the tension was back.
'Moe.' Tony grinned, thankfully this time with fewer teeth showing. His gaze went back to Belle. 'So Beauty, I know something came up last week, and you left without telling me-I've forgiven you, by the way.' It took every bit of self control not to roll her eyes at him. 'But I'm willing to give you a second chance. If you'll go up and get changed out of that .' Tony looked at her ensemble with some disgust-he would be even more disgusted if he knew how few things Belle had that was any better, she thought. 'And we can catch that dinner we missed.'
Everything was said in such a way as to make it appear that there was not a hint that she would want to do anything other than what he had suggested. He crossed his arms, leaned up against the wall, and the smug look was in all its glory. He was waiting for her to squeal like an idiot and happily go up and change to have dinner with him. Her father was smiling, but his look was not as certain as Tony's.
'I'm sorry Tony. I want to stay with Daddy tonight.'
'It's alright, Bluebelle.' it was an almost whisper and Belle looked at her father with a look that expressed her disappointment with him not backing her up.
'See, it's alright with your dad, C'mon-go get into something pretty.'
Belle was not one to be unkind, even knowing what she was about to say she felt guilty. However, she felt that only frank, honest words would dispel the assumption that she wanted to be anywhere near the idiotic hunk in front of her.
'I don't want to go with you, Tony. I don't want to go on a date with you tonight or any other time. Thank you for asking, I hope you have a pleasant evening.'
At first he was confused. It took a solid two minutes of tense silence for the words to travel from his ears to his brain, and then his eyes went dark.
'You mean you don't want to go out with me?' He looked as if the thought was incomprehensible.
'That is what I'm saying.'
'Do you realize how many girls in this town would love to be in your shoes? Would love to go out with me?' The smugness had been traded for white rage, and no matter how little her father could do, she was quite glad he was there. She glanced at him, he was just looking on with an unreadable expression.
'Then go ask one of them, please.'
His eyes went wide, his bulky boots stomped out the door and it was slammed so hard that both Belle and her father jumped.
She breathed out, steadying herself after such an exertion of bravado, though she was very happy she had made things clear.
'Was that necessary, Bluebelle? Is he really so bad? I've never seen you carry a grudge for so long, it isn't like you.'
Her father's words hurt her, but she had used all the brave blunt words and had no more to share with her father.
'I don't like him, Daddy, isn't that enough?'
'But you didn't even give him a chance!'
'Why is it so important I go out with him?' She wondered. What about the handsome moron that made her father want them to be together so badly?
'It's not just about Tony, Bluebelle. You work in that big house for that-that monster.' Belle looked disapprovingly at her father but he went on without noticing. 'You come here on the weekend, and you may text a friend, I'm sure but that is all. You need someone, Bluebelle. I'm not going to be here forever, and I just want you to be happy and-and have someone to be there for you.'
'And you think someone like Tony would be able to provide either of those things?' Her voice was calm as she sensed her father's underlying fears over his own health bleeding out of their conversation.
'Yes, no-maybe?' Belle chuckled nervously and wrapped her arms around her father.
'Don't worry about me, Daddy. I am happy. I quite like how things are right now.'
'You don't mean that.' He said with conviction. She could never tell her father about her recent discoveries as to her feelings towards Mr. Gold He would never understand her, so why make him feel any more stressed than he was already?
'I do.' She said emphatically. 'And I am completely certain that Tony would make me unhappy, so please, please understand Daddy.'
He pulled her in closer, planting a kiss on her forehead like he did when she was younger.
'Alright, Bluebelle, alright.'
Belle was embarrassed when Dove had to wake her once they arrived at the Victorian. She hadn't even made it to her bed that night. Her father told her that since she didn't want to go on a date with Tony they could go on one together. She had smiled at the idea and they had gone for pizza, pushing her normal attempts at getting the house back to manageable levels to do later that night.
'You don't have to do that, Bluebelle.' Her father chuckled as she tied her apron around her and prepared meals to go in the fridge for the week.
'Well, you won't eat healthy if I don't, will you?' She raised her eyebrow at him. She knew she was sort of allowing her father to be lazy, however, she knew that he was tired at the end of his work days and probably never felt like doing his own cooking. In addition, she had cared for him for so long, that she had no heart to stop now.
He groaned in response and she turned and went back to what she was working on, giving him a chore or two to do to help with what she knew was his guilt for not doing better during the week. She had found herself dozing on the recliner when her phone went off telling her that it was already time to get ready to go to Mr. Gold's, her head not even hitting the pillow of her own bed. She slowly pulled over a different shirt and left on the same jeans from the day before, hardly realizing what she was putting on. She imagined she looked a frightful sight, but had no energy to even put a brush through her hair, pulling it up in a messy bun before giving her father a hug and going out the door.
She had not been in the car a minute before falling asleep, the drive seeming to be only a second in duration before Dove was gently shaking her.
'Oh, sorry!' She rubbed her face.
Of course, Dove said not to worry about it, and hoped she was feeling alright. She said she was and then went in to try and think about what she ought to make Mr. Gold for breakfast. She was so tired-she hardly wanted to think about going back into another kitchen to cook after staying up all night cooking, but it needed to be done. She wondered if he would be terribly upset if she just got out the normal weekday breakfast fare…
The smell of bacon met her as she walked in and she then walked towards the kitchen as if she was in some sort of trance, the smells leading her on. The person responsible for the good smells looked very much like Mr. Gold, but much less formal than his normal look boasted. His jacket was hanging on a nearby chair, he wore no tie, and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. The entire scene made her smile, and she wished she could just stand and watch him for a minute more, but that was not to be.
'Belle' He smiled before his face dropped. A wave of self consciousness hit her, wondering what he saw that made his face frown so. Probably her unkempt morning look, and she shifted in embarrassment.
'You made breakfast?' She decided to ask, for she was very surprised to see the great landlord Mr. Gold in the kitchen cooking.
'I can cook the basics, but don't get too excited.' His smile was back and Belle was relieved, though his eyes weren't as happy as when he first turned to her.
'Thank you.' He had no idea just how grateful she was, this morning.
…
Gold shrugged at her thanks, setting down the bacon, eggs and toast he had made. Belle sat down heavily, the circles under her eyes dark, her whole body screamed exhaustion. He was glad he had decided to cook this morning. Waking up much too early, with so many things on his mind with the thoughts that Neal would be in his house in a few weeks, he decided that he could kill time before the comforting presence of Belle arrived, and do something for her at the same time. After giving her the garden and gardening tools, and seeing just how happy it made her, it only made him want to find more things to do to make her smile like that, and would make her want to wrap her arms around him like that again. Besides, she always arrived from her father's tired to the bone, and he wanted to take at least one of her burdens off of her. Her genuine but solemn thanks instead of the happy smiles he had hoped for before made his heart hurt. Why must her trips back to her infernal father cause her to always come back more tired than she left?
They said nothing as they ate, and Belle looked both nervous for some reason, and like she might drop right there and fall asleep. She picked at her food, and he was worried she was forcing herself to eat because he had made it.
'It's alright, Belle. I'll clean up down here, why don't you go rest upstairs? You look so tired.'
Belle looked almost confused for a second, but nodded her head in acceptance.
'Maybe for a few minutes, if that's alright, Mr. Gold. I'll get some chores done later today, I promise.'
He brushed off her words. 'Take the day and rest. Can't have you sleeping while you dust, now can I?' He tried to tease, but he doubted she even registered the words, she was so tired. She gave a weak smile.
'Thank you so much, Mr. Gold.' and she left.
Author's Note: While the title is a nod to BATB, I really wanted to use this chapter to convey the responses of three men in Belle's life. Tony is completly oblivious to Belle's thoughts and feelings, of course. Belle's father loves her and wants what's best in his own way, but he still doesn't exactly 'get it'. Mr. Gold, on the other hand, really wants to make life better for her!
Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I really appreciate the comments. :)