Good Morning, Miss Australia [Rumbelle]

Lost

                  "Just sit down and make yourself comfortable. You know where the living room is."

The front door was barely open and a wineglass was being pressed into Belle's hands before she'd even stepped inside. Belle reflexively grabbed the glass while Ariel quickly dashed back to her tiny kitchenette.

"Is everything alright?" Belle called after her friend. An arm waving at her with a spatula from behind the wall acknowledged her.

"Everything's under control," assured Ary and although Belle doubtfully lifted her eyebrows she decided to leave her friend to her cooking. Instead she put down the wineglass and shrugged out of her coat.

Tonight was what the two friends had dubbed 'girl's night', meaning that Belle traditionally came over to Ary's place on Saturday evening after she was done helping her father at the flower stand. On girl's night they ate, laughed, watched feel-good movies and drank cheap wine (or the ridiculously sweet cocktails Ary made).

Ariel lived in a small apartment over a distinguished men's fashion shop that her father had deemed suitable for a young lady living on her own. He was a wealthy man of Greek descent who had made his fortune in the shipowning business and he was very protective of his daughters.

It was a good place he'd picked though. Whenever Belle visited with Ary she always made sure to cast a look into the window display, enjoying the calm, classic elegance of the clothing and the store interior.

Tonight she'd spotted two wheat sheaves and a large, carved pumpkin among the well-tailored suits and it had brought a faint smile to her lips. Jack Skellington was coming to town.

Belle nestled on the creaky sofa, wineglass in hand, and stared at the flowers on the coffee table before her. They were past their glorious peak, wilting in their vase but still beautiful in a lush, 17th century still life kind of way. The librarian suspected they were a gift from Eric who had visited his Ariel last weekend. The bouquet looked like it had been bought at a filling station and Belle pictured the man rushing for Portland to meet his girlfriend only to realize that he'd forgotten to bring her a present, while passing the city borders.

Belle took a small sip from her glass and turned to lean over the back of the sofa with an enigmatic look on her face. It was time for a casual announcement. "I spoke with him again."

The message had the desired effect. Immediately, Ary's head appeared from around the corner, eyes wide. "You what?!"

The librarian hummed something indiscernible while Ary flopped into a rickety chair, dinner on the stove immediately forgotten. "Tell me everything there is to know!"

"What about dinner?" Belle inquired after the sound of pots boiling on the stove. Ary made an impatient hand gesture.

"Not important right now. I know you like your veggies burned. Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"I wanted to yesterday, but you were so busy that I thought..."

Ary violently shook her head. "No, no thinking next time, Bells. You just pull out that phone and let me know immediately, you hear?"

Belle pulled the face of a child caught with its hand in the cookie tin at Ary's mock sternness.

"Now," Ary leaned forward eagerly. "Was he glad to hear your voice again?"

After three weeks the archivist had come to anticipate Belle's mysterious Sleepless coming back around almost as much as Belle did.

With an unmistakably dreamy expression in her blue eyes, Belle thought back of her early morning talk with Mr. Scotsman the previous day and how his voice had nestled with renewed freshness in her memory.