Beauty and Beast Inc

Chapter 10

We walked slowly back to the house, a soft cold wind blowing against us. I was wiggling my fingers in the cold, when I felt a drop of snow against my head. I stopped and looked up where I saw snow dripping off a branch. It fell again and I dodged it, and got a brilliant idea in my head as we came into view of the back porch. 

I leaned down and scooped up a decent amount of snow, forming it into a ball. Elias was walking in front of me, oblivious, so it was quiet amusing when I raised my hand and lobbed the ball straight at his head. 

"Hey!" he spun around and I giggled, hiding my face behind my hands. I quickly scooped up more snow and threw it before he could think, smacking him square in the chest. His enraged face only made me laugh harder to the point where I was bent over, laughing so hard. 

"Oh that's it," he growled, and reached deep into the snow to grab a massive snowball but I threw a smaller one right as he raised it above his head to throw, and it smacked him right in the chest, causing his snowball to land right on his head. I laughed, leaning against a tree and he raced forward with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. I yelped and ran around the tree, laughing all the while. He tried to reach me but I just assaulted him with more snowballs before, gasping, he leaned against the tree holding up his hand. 

"Okay, okay, I yield," he said with a slight smile on his face. 

Laughing, out of breath myself, I walked forward and held out my hand. He took it as he straightened up and I smiled; right before be threw a pile of snow right in my face.

Screaming, I pushed him away and wiped away the snow. "Hey!" I shouted, giggling and shaking from the cold. 

"Alright, alright, enough. Let's go inside and get some tea yeah?" The corner of his lips turned up in a smile and his eyes were soft as he stepped towards me, laying a hand lightly on the small of my back. I blushed at the contact and followed him up the steps.

That slight smile and uncold eyes was enough to make me nervous, but the hand on my back was really new and alarming. It was strange how in one day and one night things could change so quickly between us, not to mention the two weeks before of barely speaking. I mean, who'd ever thought he could actually show kindness, I thought with amusment as he waited for me to walk up the icy steps, walking behind me as I held the handrail in case I fell. 

We walked inside and Mrs. Potts was waiting there, with a smile on her face. "Tea?" she asked eagerly. 

"Yes, in my office please. Belle?" he gestured for me to follow him as I stepped towards the kitchen like I normally would to bring the tea into him, but instead I followed down the hall empty handed, my stomach churning as I thought nervously about what he wanted me in his office for so urgently. 

He opened the door and walked to his desk, slipping off his coat and hanging it on a coat rack, while I followed suit before sitting in one of the formal chairs in front of him. 

"I hope I haven't made you nervous but there's something I wanted to talk to you about," he started. 

I shrugged. "Sure." 

"I was thinking recently while I've been gone at work and-" his phone, sitting calmly on the desk erupted in noise, vibrating violently on the wood. Elias reached for it, an angry look on his face, and then a slightly panicked one when he saw the number. 

"Hello? I was in the middle of something," he growled. He listened for a moment before exploding on the person on the other side of the phone call and I winced. He may be nice to me, but he was no prince charming to other people. 

The door behind me opened with a click and Mrs. Potts walked in. I rose and quickly took the tray from her, setting it on the table. 

"How was the walk?" she asked me, ignoring the angry Elias behind us. 

I shrugged, trying to remain nonchalant. "Fine. You have a lovely green house by the way. You grow all that?" I asked her, pouring Elias's cup before pouring mine. 

Mrs. Potts smiled fondly. "Yes I do, it makes me happy. He gave it to me as a birthday present and I can't tell you how touched I was." She glanced at Elias who had his back turned to us, still yelling in the phone. "He's not a sentimental man, I'm sure you know this. Years without a father and running a business empire has turned him cold." She smiled at me, "but when he's with you I see light in his eyes again." She looked at Elias who was just ending his phone call and gave my shoulder a squeeze. "Don't give up on him dear."   

She walked out and I stared numbly at the steaming tea in front of me, a million thoughts and emotions running through my head. Did I.... Like... No. No I couldn't. I was an employee working off a debt. Still... I stole a look at him as I poured the cream into his drink. He was typing something in his computer, pissed off look on his face, but none the less he was incredibly attractive. Not just physically, lord help me every time I saw him in a suit, but mentally. He wasn't like those stupid fools in Hollywood or the hooligans on the street or the simpletons I used to live with n France, all looks and nothing else. Elias was smart and fiercely loyal to a lot of things, especially his company. I'd never seen anyone work so hard, well besides my father, than he did. And deep under that tough facade he cared about his people too, which seemed hard to find in a boss, much less a young one. But I knew that something was troubling him, from the long hours at the office, the sharp phone calls, and the looks Lumiere gave him whenever I actually saw them together. And I could tell Mrs. Potts and Codsworth were worried about something too, they just weren't saying what. 

"Here, maybe this'll help," I suggested as I set the tea in front of him. 

Elias rubbed his face and took the cup, taking a long sip. He didn't say anything so I grabbed mine and resumed sitting in my seat, patiently waiting for him to continue with the conversation we were having before the phone call had come in.  

"I want you to come work for me," he blurted. 

I gave a nervous chuckle. "I already work for you." 

He shook his head. "No. In the office. I want you to come work for me personally. My office has been such a mess for weeks that I could really use the extra help, and everyone I've had time to interview is a complete imbecile," he paused, rubbing his temples. "I'd like to have you, if you're interested."

I sat there for a minute, contemplating. More time with Elias? What would that mean for our relationship at work as well as, should I dare say, friendship? But I knew he needed the help and that I had proven myself useful the one time I had been there, so with a deep breath I said, "of course, whatever you need."