If I Could

{4} - Breakthru

Three weeks later

"Belle, I cooked you dinner!", Freddie said to his daughter as they were going down the stairs.

"Really, dad? Thank you", Belle stopped in front of the dining table. "Where is it?"

Freddie laughed and pointed out at the cereal bowl in front of her.

Belle rolled her eyes and chuckled. "Are you serious, dad? Cereal?"

"Oh, I definitely made you dinner. You can't state otherwise, because the milk and cereal definitely didn't get there by themselves".

Belle laughed and started to eat her cereal. "It's alright Dad, thank you".

"So you're leaving for Paris in a few hours, right?", Freddie asked his daughter while sitting in front of her.

"Yes, John invited me to watch his concert in Paris", Belle replied. "Brian will go with us, too. It's going to be exciting".

"Oh, Belle, I never thought you'd become so close with Brian", Freddie stated. "Because you both met in such an unusual way".

Freddie was right. Belle and Brian met on a rainy Saturday, when Belle saw Brian crying alone in a charity gala. She asked him what was wrong and then he told Belle he had seen his girlfriend kissing another man. She invited him to her table so he wouldn't be alone, and the rest was history.

"I know, Dad. But he's like the brother I never had, and I'm like the sister he never had. I'm glad that I met him".

Freddie nodded. "True friendship is a very nice thing to find".

After a few minutes, Belle noticed her father wasn't eating anything for dinner.

"Dad, why aren't you eating anything?", Belle frowned.

"I... I'm just really not hungry at all", Freddie replied. That seemed suspicious to Belle, especially when Freddie was always so hungry.

"No, Dad, there must be something going on", Belle said in a lower voice. "Tell me".

Freddie sighed. "Well, it's just that I think Joe doesn't want to see me anymore. Which is sad, because I honestly thought I could have something serious and honest with him".

Belle took a deep breath, she knew it would be something related to him. Joe was the guy Freddie was seeing, but she always thought he was too immature, despite being a year older than Freddie.

"Dad, there are lots of boys and girls who would kill to be with you", Belle crooned. "If he isn't acting the way you want, screw him. You're too good to be suffering over anyone".

"Belle, thank you for your words. I do think you have a point and I'm grateful that you think that way but, another big problem that I have is trying to identify whether people are in love with me, as a person, or my fame. It's stressful, really. The only person I know that loves me for who I am is you - and that's obvious because I gave you life and we are flesh and blood and you don't care whether I'm a singer or not. But the rest of the world... I don't know. It just really messes with my mind".

"Dad, I get what you mean. I really do. But you cannot let that rule you, you have to enjoy life and find somebody to love. You will probably never know what people are really feeling, and that sucks, but you only have one life. You always told me that, remember?"

Freddie scratched his head, somehow his daughter's words made him feel a little better. "It's really embarassing to see you're the one giving me life advice now".

"Oh, dad, don't be embarassed at all. I just want you to feel better", Belle said as she placed the cereal bowl in the dishwasher. "Now, I'll go upstairs and try to find my passport".