| “Hello Brian.” She looked divine and he wondered if he was dreaming. “Belle! What are you doing here? How? When?” Brian said with a mixture of excitement and confusion. Belle’s heart sunk. He had no idea she was coming. He hadn’t been the one to ask for her. “I am here to do your video with you,” she said almost sadly. Brian took her hand and pulled her in the room. Just touching her again sent his pulse racing and he pulled away suddenly when they got in, closing the door behind her. He needed space and walked to the window overlooking the city. She would be proud of the way he could handle heights a little better now. He turned and looked at her again. All he wanted to do was pull her into his arms and kiss her, but he needed to straighten things out first. “Yes, I know you are here to do the video. I asked them to find you to see if you would do it.” Belle’s smile returned on hearing that Brian was the one responsible for her being here. “But,” Brian continued, “They said you wouldn’t be here till tomorrow,” he said remembering the disappointment of being told she was delayed. “I was, but I finished my interview early and insisted I make my way here.” She looked up at Brian to see his reaction. “I wanted to see you.” Brian looked warily. “You did?” Belle nodded and Brian took heart. “Look, have you had something to eat? I am kind of hungry myself now,” he said thinking of how he really hadn’t eaten very much at lunch and had skipped dinner due to his disappointment. “Would you like to go out for dinner or something?” “Brian would it be okay if we stayed in? I don’t have my security now and you know how that can be I’m sure.” Brian nodded knowingly. “Yes, I know. That’s okay we can get room service. It will give us a chance to talk.” Belle bit her bottom lip as she nodded in agreement. They needed to talk and this was a perfect opportunity to do so uninterrupted by their busy schedule. Who knew what chance they would have tomorrow and right now it would be just the two of them without any interruptions. This had gone round and round in her mind as she had given the interview that had kept her from coming here earlier today and Maureen had been more than a little surprised when Belle said she wanted to come straight on over to the location for the video shoot. Belle had been adamant and Maureen had let her go. They both chose something out of the room service menu before sitting down by the huge windows overlooking the city. “I see you have overcome your fear of heights,” Belle said to him as she watched him looking down over the streets far below. The busy city life bustled below them oblivious to the drama that was playing out in this single room. “You noticed?” he said raising an eyebrow at her. “I still don’t like heights, but I am not as bad as I was that day in the mountains. That was bad.” He looked at her, getting her attention. “You helped me more than you know back then.” “And you helped me,” she murmured. “And then…” Brian tensed. “And then?” he asked her. He knew how he felt about the time they had together and how he felt when she left. He didn’t want to blame her for leaving him, he knew she had no choice in the matter, but it had hurt. Deep down he had blamed her, though he had never even voiced the notion to himself. He needed to know how she felt about it. She shrugged again. She didn’t want to bring her departure that fateful morning up yet. She hadn’t wanted to leave, knowing it could spell the end of their relationship. If she had been able to talk to Brian that day, it might have made a difference in the way things had played out since then. Many a day she blamed herself for things that had happened. She needed to talk about it with Brian, but she wasn’t ready. “Nothing. It doesn’t matter.” He reached out to take her hand in his then thought the better of it. “I think it does.” Just at that moment there was a knock at the door. Brian cursed under his breath as he walked to the door to open it. Their meal was brought in and set on the table. As Brian returned to the table he switched some music on, letting it stop at some quiet dinner music. He smiled to himself as the music set the mood. He sat opposite her and watched her as she played with her food for a moment. She was exactly as he remembered her and her beauty stunned him. A stabbing ache went through his heart and radiated out through his body making him sigh aloud. Belle looked up and saw his expression. “Brian, are you okay?” Sighing softly and smiling at Belle he reached out his hand to lay his fingers over hers. The instant he touched her he felt calm, the years of heartache rushing away. A warmth crept up his arm and back to his heart again and he felt like he was glowing. His thumb gently rubbed her hand and he captured it and held on loosely. “I was just thinking you are as beautiful as I remembered.” Now it was Belle’s turn to look at Brian as her face warmed with a blush. She almost had to pinch herself to prove he was really sitting opposite her, to believe he was holding her hand gently in his, his thumb still rubbing her palm. For so long she had dreamt of this happening again, but she never thought it would, believing their chance at love had past. It seemed surreal now. She looked into his eyes and felt the desire spreading through her body swiftly. His eyes did it to her every time, mesmerising her. “Thank you,” she managed to say to him before lifting her fork to her mouth with her free hand. This was going a little faster than she had imagined. Brian understood her need to take things slowly and let go of her hand so they could both eat. Talk turned to their respective careers and the many adventures they had both had in the time they had been apart and they found themselves laughing at their stories or sympathising with each other over experiences they had shared. They avoided the subject of their time together and the separation that followed even though they were both itching to discuss it. Brian wanted to pick his moment. He had no idea what he was going to say to her, but he was feeling mighty glad that he had asked for her to be a part of this video. Things seemed to be going well between them so far. Then an idea came to him. “Would you like to dance?” he asked her, his eyes burning into hers. She smiled, almost shyly. “I’d love to Brian.” |