| The cable car bumped to a stop and Brian turned to get out as quickly as possible, leaving Belle standing in the same spot, contemplating what had just happened. Her fingers stilled on her lips and she wondered if she had imagined the kiss he had given her. It had been so quick and unexpected she could easily have imagined it. But the tingling of her lips told her she hadn’t dreamt it nor could she deny the desire that had slowly curled through her body, settling in the pit of her stomach. A hint of a smile played on her lips as she slowly walked out of the car, her eyes searching for Brian as she stepped out. Brian stood by the exit leaning against the wall with his arms crossed watching her as she stepped out, the grin still on his face. Belle felt suddenly shy and attempted a smile though she was sure it barely looked like one. The smile on Brian’s face broadened as he realised the effect his brief kiss had on Belle. He turned when someone called him, giving her a moment to take a deep calming breath. He was stirring things up inside her body that Kane had never done and it felt good. The guys were called together as someone led them away from the main building leaving Brian no chance to talk to Belle before he left. He turned and waved to her, his face looking anxious so she smiled at him hoping to put his mind at ease. Did he think she would disappear on him again? Maybe she would have to tell him how she really felt about him. Smiling to herself, she moved away with the other girls in the video shoot who were being beckoned into the chalet by the producer, the director having gone with the guys. The part that Belle had to play indoors by the fire was filmed quickly and soon they were all allowed to leave. Three of the girls left on the next cable car, each of them saying they were leaving the resort this afternoon. Another girl named Kristin decided to stay, so she and Belle walked over to where they had seen the guys go together. It seemed Kristin had a thing for Kevin and she wanted to see what he was up to seeing her plans had her staying till the next day. Belle had no plans to leave till the next day either having no desire to rush home, and Kristin hinted that she knew why Belle was staying. Belle laughed at Kristin, blushing softly, but it was the truth to a certain extent. She hadn’t planned on leaving till the next day, but now even more so she wanted to stay. And that reason was Brian and everyone could see it. The thought of leaving the next day saddened Belle more than she thought it would. Hopefully dinner tonight with Brian would lead to a little more than goodbye the next day, maybe she could keep on seeing him. That’s what she wanted for now. She smiled to herself as she walked along with Kristin, ignoring the crisp cold mountain air that brushed against her face bringing a glow to her cheeks. When she arrived here two days ago she no more thought she would end up on a date than she would have thought she would fly to the moon. She wasn’t looking for anybody to go out with, in fact she was looking to avoid it, having just felt the heartbreak if the break-up with Kane. That now seemed a lifetime away and helped her to realise what she had with Kane had obviously hadn’t been as important to her as she had thought. And now here she was looking forward to a date. They arrived at the set the guys were working on just as Brian was zooming past on his snow mobile, throwing up a pile of snow out the back. He saw Belle as he past and instantly a smile lit his face. His boyish charm made Belle smile back at him and he zoomed down the hill before turning to come back into place for another pass by the camera, watching her as he drove. One by one the guys passed the camera, enjoying their time on the snowmobiles immensely. Belle guessed they would have continued on these for hours judging by the looks on their faces. Each smile and whoop for joy as they manoeuvred themselves around the snow spoke volumes and Belle found herself laughing at all of them along with Kristin. Finally the director called for a break and the snowmobiles were gathered up by the staff and taken away, much to the guy’s disappointment. But Belle was pleased that she would finally get to talk to Brian again. “That looked like a lot of fun,” Belle said to Brian as he walked beside her back to the chalet where lunch was to be served. It would help to thaw their bodies out from being in the cold mountain air all morning. Stamping their boots of snow, and pulling jackets off prevented Brian from answering right away. “It was a lot of fun,” he said hanging up his coat and taking hers from her to hang it up next to his. “I could do that part of the shoot all day. It’s a shame we have finished that.” Belle studied Brian. “You strike me as a sport loving guy. Am I right?” Brian smiled brightly again. “You better believe it. Basketball is my passion, but I will try my hand at any sport. I love to get out and be active.” He pretended to dribble a basketball along the entrance to the restaurant ducking and weaving with his imaginary ball almost knocking into a waiter with a full tray of drinks. “And making people laugh too,” she continued on, holding her sides with laughter. “Well, yeah, that too,” he chuckled. He stopped laughing and looked at her with warm affection. “Come on, lets get a table and something to eat. All that fun, oops work,” he said and chuckled again, “has made me hungry.” He led her to a table already occupied by Kevin, Kristin and Nick. Nick was in his element teasing his two older friends but they took it all in their stride and in the end Nick gave up, huffing loudly that he was bored. He looked around for something else to do while the other four were too busy getting to know each other better and was delighted to find a games room and darted off to play some games leaving the others laughing at his hasty departure. “Kids,” Kevin laughed as he raced away. The rest of the day consisted of the guys doing a little more singing to the song, where the director had decided to get footage with a different backdrop to the first day. By the time they had finished, the sky was darkening and Belle knew it would be completely dark in a very short space of time. The ride down the mountain in the cable car was traumatic for Brian again, this time more so because he had no filming to concentrate on. Belle did her best to comfort him, talking to him about every day things as best as she could to get his mind off the heights they were travelling. Finally they reached the chair lifts. “Um, Brian. It’s way too late to be skiing down the hill now. It could be dangerous.” Belle told him when they got out of the car. “You aren’t suggesting I go on that chair lift again are you?” She grimaced. “Well, actually… Yeah.” She waited for his reaction. She saw the look of disgust along with fear cross his face. “But I don’t want to go down on that thing.” He looked around him, almost as if he was looking for somewhere else to stay for the night, but there was nothing here. “Can’t we ski down slowly?” That made Belle laugh. “No Brian, you can’t ski down slowly. It’s too dangerous now. Come on. I’ll be on there with you this time you won’t be alone. Just close your eyes when you get on and I’ll hold your hand.” He was shaking his head. “You make it sound like I am a kid. I’m sorry Belle. Let’s go then, get it over with.” He started walking towards the entrance. “Brian!” she called after him and he stopped, turning to look back at her. “I didn’t mean to make you feel like a kid. Lots of people are scared of heights, but we do have to get back, it’s cold out here,” she said blowing warm air onto her fingers as she said it. “We can do this together.” Brian came back to her and reached for her face, moving his gloved fingers down her cheek. “I didn’t mean that I was mad at you Belle. I was mad at myself. I should just get over it.” He looked over at the chair lifts again. “Come on. We have a special dinner to attend.” Belle smiled, wishing she could help him more. Maybe, if things went okay tonight, she would get the chance. ********** Brian was thoroughly looking forward to his dinner date with Belle. He buttoned up the blue dress shirt he had shrugged in to and tucked it into his grey pants before reaching for his tie. He turned up his collar flicking his tie around his neck when Nick came bursting into the room excitedly. “Brian, hey Brian, have you seen this?” he asked in an animated voice. “You gotta see this.” Nick was waving about a magazine that looked suspiciously like a teen magazine, the one that the group were all looking forward to gracing the pages of one day. Could they maybe have made it into the magazine? Nick flipped through the pages till he found the one he was looking for and then held it open for Brian to see. Brian paled as he looked upon a picture of Belle on the arm of another man. Not just any man. The dialogue under the picture announced this man to be her boyfriend of many years. He read the story that went along with the article and this guy, Kane, was quoted as saying they were very much in love and planned a future together, that he was proud of Belle for the work she had done on the new movie and how she was going to be a big star in the future. It was more an interview with him, about Belle, but the picture of the two of them arm in arm looking happy and content spoke volumes to Brian. He disliked the guy on sight with his classic Hollywood good looks and oozing sex appeal from every pore of his fake smiling face. Brian shook his head sadly. Kane was all wrong for Belle he knew it in his heart. He would hurt her. But was this the reason she was so hesitant to talk to him when they had first met, the reason she shunned his advances? “What are you going to do Rok? She’s seeing someone else.” Nick asked. Brian couldn’t tell if he was happy about the news or concerned for him. He hoped it was the latter. “I don’t know Nick. Look at him, he’s wrong for her, I can tell. Look how fake he is.” He snorted in disgust. “He’s going to hurt her.” “How can you tell?” He shrugged. “I just… I just can.” He stared at the pictures in the magazine a while longer before dropping it on the bed and finishing tying his tie. The jealousy he felt for this man in the picture surprised Brian. “You still going to take her out?” Brian looked surprised at Nick. “Yes. Of course I am.” “But Brian. She has a boyfriend. What if he finds out?” “I have to Nick.” He frowned. “I need to find out why she is playing with me. If that is what she is doing. I don’t believe she is.” “Sure looks like she is to me.” Nick said in a concerned voice. “Be careful Brian.” |