The Wedding Planner - Chapter 3
Fandom: OUAT
Pairing: Rumbelle, side of Swanfire
Rating: G for now
Summary: Wedding planner Alan Gold doesn't have much faith in romance, and little to none in marriage. A chance encounter with sweet librarian Belle French has him almost reconsidering his beliefs until he receives a nasty shock: she's the bride in the most important wedding of his career.
AO3
Chapter 3 - Gold has a pretty good time at the movies, and discovers there's a little more to the cheerful librarian than he'd expected.
“The Singleton marriage lasted one year and three months. You won the pool again.” Jefferson shook his finger under Gold’s nose. “You had inside information, didn’t you?”
“The bride had to take a Xanax before she walked down the aisle and the groom kept glancing at the caterer all night. To top it all off, their wedding song was ‘Unchained Melody,’ which put them squarely in the fourteen- to eighteen-month category.”
“I love that song.”
“Everyone does. That’s my point.” Gold looked nervously around them. If he had to listen to one more chorus of the Beer Barrel Polka he was going to take his cane to the carousel’s controls. It was ten minutes til eight and he could feel his nerves prickling under his skin. He’d already had a rather desperate conversation with Neal, practically begging him to come tonight and bring Emma and Henry, but Neal had cheerfully refused to rescue him.
“It’s not even a real date, Papa,” Neal had said. “Just don’t be a jerk.”
Well, that was easy for his handsome, charming son to say, but Gold hadn’t been one-on-one with a woman outside of bridal consulting in nearly twenty years. Even when he’d been young and relatively good-looking, he hadn’t exactly been Casanova.
“Any sign of your beautiful bookworm?” Jefferson asked, popping a french fry into his mouth.
“No. Perhaps she won’t come.” Gold heard the hope in his voice and cursed himself for a coward.
“Nonsense. My instincts are unerring. She definitely wanted - there she is!”
It was probably a good thing that Gold would never discover what Jefferson thought Belle wanted. He looked around; a sudden gap in the crowd revealed a familiar tumble of auburn curls. Jefferson waved an arm to get her attention, and Gold gripped his other arm. “Do not leave me here,” he hissed.
Jefferson shook him off easily. “This is for your own good, Rumple.”
“Hey!” Belle bounced up to them, holding a large paper bag of popcorn, and Gold gave her a small smile.
“Hey.”
“Fiddlesticks!” Jefferson said loudly, causing them both to jump and look at him. “I’ve just remembered that I promised Grace a tea party tonight. I’m the guest of honor! You two don’t mind if I ask for a raincheck, do you?”
“Of course not,” Belle smiled. “Grace is your daughter?”
“Daughter, princess, lady of my heart,” Jefferson said dramatically. “You’re very kind to excuse me, Belle. Rumple, see you Sunday.”
Belle waved him off and then turned back to Gold, her eyes shining. “Does he really have tea parties with his daughter?”
“He does. He’s rarely the guest of honor, though. That spot is usually reserved for the White Rabbit.”
She laughed and he allowed himself a slightly wider smile. She looked around them and then at him with a question in her eyes. “Should we find a seat? I don’t suppose you have a blanket with you?”
Gold scoffed. “A blanket on the ground? Please. I have reserved seating.”
“Oh? I thought seating here was first come, first served.”
“Not for me.” He offered her his left arm and she took it, looking intrigued. A short distance from the main clearing lay a fallen tree, a thick woolen blanket spread over the trunk. A very tall man in a black suit watched their approach, met Gold’s eyes, nodded once, and then walked away.
“Okay, who was that?” Belle asked, her voice thick with amusement.
“No idea.”
“Oh, come on, he nodded at you before he walked away. What, is he your bodyguard?”
Gold rolled his eyes and smothered a smile as he helped her sit on the blanket.
“Seriously, you can’t leave me hanging,” Belle prodded. She narrowed her eyes at him as he settled next to her. “Are you secretly some Scottish nobleman or something?”
That did startle a laugh out of him. “Couldnae be further frae the truth, dearie,” he said, deliberately allowing his brogue to thicken. “I’m the son of a Glasgow shipmaker, me.”
“Well, then tell me who he was, unless his identity is top secret.”
Gold sighed. “He’s my driver.”
“Your…” He could feel the moment her eyes latched onto his right foot. Well, spectacular. He’d managed to last an entire three minutes before reminding her that he was a broken-down old man who couldn’t even drive himself to a date.
Not that this was a date.
“So you’re from Glasgow. Why did you come to the States?” she asked after a moment of uncomfortable silence.
“Espionage.”
She narrowed her eyes at him and popped a kernel of popcorn in her mouth. He smirked. “Yeah, I’ll bet. Probably more like running from an irate suit salesman.”
“Sheep rustling.”
“Mob activities.”
“Hush.”
Belle stared, her eyes widening. “Wait, really?”
“No, the movie’s starting.”
She blinked and looked back at the wall of the museum on which the movie was being projected. “Oh! Right.”
He’d seen The Good, the Bad and the Ugly roughly two dozen times, and while the movie usually drew him in, tonight he found it hard to take his eyes off his companion. Belle was rapt, her eyes shining and her lips parted, and if he’d thought her beautiful before, the moonlight and the faint glow from the movie rendered her ethereal. He found it slightly unbelievable that a woman like her would spend her Friday night watching a spaghetti western in the park with a crippled, middle-aged man, but he was now willing to stop questioning it. She certainly didn’t act like a wilting violet; if she hadn’t wanted to come, she wouldn’t have.
At the conclusion of the film, Belle turned her glowing eyes and breathtaking smile on him. “That was by far the most amazing thing I’ve ever done in this city.”
Families and couples were standing, folding their blankets, and crumpling popcorn bags, and Belle noticed. Disappointment flashed across her face and Gold made an impulsive decision. “Would you care to take a walk with me?” he asked.
“Oh...I, um…” She bit her bottom lip and glanced down. “Wouldn’t that...hurt your ankle?”
He shook his head. “It hasn’t hurt all evening, and some exercise always does it good.”
She looked conflicted for a moment more, so he rose and extended one hand. “Well, okay,” she said slowly, taking his hand and rising. “But you have to promise to tell me the moment it starts to hurt.”
Dropping his hand, she fell into step beside him as he led her to a walking path on the grounds of the museum, a flat earth trail that wound between trees and amongst flowering shrubs. Belle breathed deeply and looked up at the dark sky.
“I love living in the city, but I do miss the stars,” she said quietly.
“Where are you from, then?” he asked.
“Australia.”
“Believe it or not, I’d deduced that much. I meant where in Australia?”
“Kilmore. I know,” she smiled, “everyone assumes Sydney or Melbourne, but there are other towns in Australia.”
“And why did you come to the States?”
“We moved here when I was young. My mother’s family is American and...I guess they wanted a fresh start. We’re happy here. Dad’s got his florist business and Mother has her charities, and I’m...I’ve got the library.”
“Did you always want to be a librarian? You said it was your dream job.”
“It is, and I really can’t imagine doing anything else, but...it wasn’t always my dream.”
“What was your dream?”
She sighed and crossed her arms. “I love books, but I didn’t want them to be the scope of my experience with the world. What I wanted - what I really wanted, at least when I was younger - was to be an overseas correspondent.”
He nearly stumbled in his surprise. “Really?”
“I know,” she smiled self-deprecatingly. “I don’t look the type.”
“You look the type who could do anything she wanted to do,” he said earnestly, and she blushed.
“I wanted to see the world, to shed light on the problems of people our society has forgotten about, to be…” she cut herself off and laughed self-consciously.
“To be what?”
“It’s silly, but...a hero. I wanted to be a hero. Not because I wanted to be famous or rich, but because I wanted to help people. I know,” she said ruefully. “It sounds ridiculous when I say it out loud like that.”
“I don’t think so. I think it’s a noble goal.”
“Well, my parents hated the idea. Years away, sometimes unable to talk to them. Too dangerous for their little girl. Dad completely refused to help me get my journalism degree. I could have taken out loans or something, but Mother was so torn up about it. So,” she waved a hand, “library science it was. Safe. Quiet. All of the words, none of the adventure, surrounded by my best friends. My parents were right; it’s better this way, and I do love the library. I wasn’t meant for heroism, I don’t think. I’m better off where I am.”
“Hmm.”
“That’s why I like to learn about things like this,” she said, gesturing back at the park. “Since I’m not cut out for grand adventures, I’ll have small ones: watching a movie in a park on a moonlit night with a possible criminal.”
“I never admitted to any criminal activities.”
“You never denied them either.”
He rolled his eyes and smiled. “So you’ve made me one of your adventures, hm?”
“You sound like you think that’s ridiculous.”
He stopped walking and turned to face her. “Doesn’t it seem ridiculous to you? An adventure with a skinny old man who can’t even walk properly?”
“Is that how you see yourself?” Belle raised her eyebrows.
“It’s what I am.”
“I don’t see that at all.” She shook her head and stepped closer. “I see someone who’s charming and interesting and…”
“And?”
She blushed and bit her lip, and her eyes flickered over him. “Um. Nice.”
He grinned. “Nice?”
“Yes.” She lifted her chin. “Nice.”
The corners of her mouth twitched and he suddenly wanted very, very much to discover if those lips were as soft as they looked. He took a step toward her and noticed that her eyes widened, her breath quickening. Cautiously he bent his head, his field of vision narrowing to the plush pink of her mouth.
Light flashed above them, and the next instant the roar of the thunder chased the lightning as rain pounded down on their heads. Belle gasped, stumbling back and clutching her arms around her.
“Go on,” Gold sighed. “I can’t run for it, but there’s no reason for you to get soaked.”
“You’ve got to be joking,” Belle snapped. “I’m not leaving you out here alone.” She grabbed his arm and walked beside him; he could set a faster pace with her help, and they trudged through the rain, Gold wishing he’d been just a mite braver, just a second faster. Her hands were warm and strong around his arm, and he was almost sorry when they reached the street. Dove was waiting nearby with his car, so Gold helped Belle flag down a cab and handed her in.
“I had a great time,” she said quickly before slamming the door shut - the driver glared at her for keeping it open even that short amount of time - and she smiled widely and waved at him through the glass as the cab drove away.
He stood there in the rain for a few minutes, smiling what he knew must be a foolish smile, before he realized that his hair was plastered to his head and his shoes were probably completely ruined. With a sigh he slogged to his car and shook his head at Dove, whose face was carefully blank.
“A good night, Mr. Gold?” the man asked as he opened the rear passenger side door.
“Not bad,” he grumbled, sliding into the seat. He thought about her smile and her wide blue eyes, the hitch in her breath when he stood near and her insistence that he was an adventure. He decided that he would get a library card on Monday, first thing, and ask her out for a proper dinner. “Not bad at all,” he said more softly.
Gold gripped the arm of his chair hard in an effort to resist drumming his fingers. Gaston Lefleur was scrutinizing the contract as if he expected to find a clause signing away his first-born, and while Gold appreciated attention to detail, he thought the groom-to-be might be taking it too far. Glancing at the clock, he held back a sigh; he was due at the synagogue in an hour, but he couldn’t risk jeopardizing this final deal. At long, long last, Gaston looked up.
“Where do I sign?”
“The lines marked with page flags.” He watched as Gaston flipped through the pages, signing whenever he came across a little yellow arrow, and wondered for the twentieth time where the bride was in all of this. Perhaps she genuinely didn’t care about the details of the wedding, as long as they were married at the end of the day. She wouldn’t be the first. Still, this amount of disinterest was unusual, and he found himself curious to meet her. He didn’t meet unusual people every day.
That thought led directly to thoughts of Belle and what he was now quite ready to call their date. Another unusual person, there. Unusual and entertaining and fascinating and…
“Whoa, what’s with you?”
Gold blinked and looked up at Gaston, who was grinning. “Hm?”
“I know that look on your face.” Leaning forward, Gaston waggled his eyebrows. “You got laid, didn’t you?”
Shock held him silent, but he was not as outraged as he’d normally be by such impertinence. He was still feeling a bit too pleased to muster up real ire.
“Must be pretty new if you’ve still got that look,” Gaston continued. “First or second date, right? After a few years the whole ‘Aawww yeah I just got lucky’ feeling goes away. I mean it’s still fun...it’s just not exciting anymore, y’know?”
No, he didn’t know. He had no bloody clue what it was like to be with a woman so regularly that it was no longer exciting. He wasn’t sure he wanted to. Besides, he was fairly sure that wouldn’t happen with Belle - he couldn’t imagine ever being blase about a relationship with…
“Wow, you’ve got it bad,” Gaston laughed. He leaned back and crossed his arms. “So who is she?”
“You’re making an awful lot of assumptions, dearie,” Gold said, horrified to discover that his voice was nowhere near as stern as he wanted it, and that the corners of his mouth were actually lifting.
“Assumptions my ass. You’re totally gone on her, whoever she is.”
“Beg pardon for the interruption, Monsieur,” Jefferson drawled, poking his head around the edge of the door, “but we need to leave soon if we’re going to…” His voice trailed away and he pointed at Gold, his eyes wide. “You got laid!”
“That’s what I said,” Gaston chuckled.
“While I am most definitely not the sort to kiss and tell,” Gold sighed, “I feel compelled to correct you. It was...a date.”
Lefleur rolled his eyes, but Jefferson nearly hyperventilated. “You called it a date! So what...how...did you…”
“We watched a movie under the stars, walked about the grounds, and trudged through the rain.”
Groaning, Gaston let his head fall against the back of his chair. “So you somehow became a real-life chick-flick character. Might as well change your name to Ryan Gosling.”
“And did all that culminate in a passionate make-out session in the back of your car?”
The back of his car. Why the hell hadn’t he thought of that? Not the kissing part, exactly, but offering her a ride home? He was an imbecile. “No, I, uh...helped her get a cab.”
Both men stared as dolefully at him as if they’d just discovered that Christmas had been cancelled.
“You...got her a cab?” Jefferson said faintly.
“She’s there, she’s wet, she’s cold, and you get her a cab.” Gaston huffed. “Dude, your game needs work.”
“You’re fixing this, right, Rumple?” Jefferson said. “A dozen roses? A hand-written poem?”
“I was going to see her tomorrow,” he said slowly. “I suppose I should pick up some flowers…”
“Tomorrow?” Gaston frowned. “I hate to be that guy, but...one thing Izzy asked me to do today was set up a consult for her dress, and since tomorrow’s her day off…”
“Ah.” Gold rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Well, that is slightly more urgent if I’m to have the gown ready in time for a June wedding. Of course I’ll see her. Have her come by the office tomorrow at nine.”
“And then maybe you can go see your chickadee in the afternoon, right?” Gaston said knowingly.
Gold didn’t answer, but Jefferson and Gaston wore identical looks of smug satisfaction. “We should go, Bucket,” he said, standing slowly. “Mr. Lefleur, a pleasure. Do contact me if you have any questions.”
“Will do, Goldie. Thanks for everything.”
“Goldie,” Jefferson murmured when Gaston had left and he and Gold were in the elevator. “I’m not sure I like that. Makes you sound like a fish.”
“Because ‘Rumple’ makes me out to be the height of sophistication” Gold grumbled.
“At least mine’s original. His is just lazy.”
“For God’s sake,” Gold groaned.
“I gave you a hard time in there, but...you did have a good time on Friday, right?”
Gold glanced at him, relaxed at the sincere concern in his associate’s face, and smiled a little. “I did. Your ham-fisted matchmaking attempts notwithstanding.”
Jefferson snorted. “You’re welcome.”
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