If I Could

{43} - As It Began

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"You know what time of the year it is, right?", Mary asked, sitting in front of Belle as the pair had breakfast, taking a sip of coffee before putting the mug down again.

"Happy summer", Belle replied in an unfriendly tone. The atmosphere turned cold. She could sense where her mother was going with this talk.

"You know Royal Ascot is this Tuesday".

Her mother's proposal mention sounded almost insulting. Belle was set to reunite with her father that Tuesday, planning on attending an auction with her father for a charity that benefited children with cancer, AIDS, cystic fibrosis, heart problems or just any kind of disability. Even if she was legally unable to bid for anything, she wanted to be there, she wanted to support the charity by talking to the presidents and getting to know more about the work and getting to know more about ways she could help.

"No, Mom. There's an auction this weekend, you know it. I'm going with my father. Helping children is more important than watching a bunch of rich guys ride their horses".

"Your statement sounds reasonable but it's not. Number one, nothing will change if you don't attend the auction. It's not like you'll be bidding. Number two, Royal Ascot's tickets will be used as part of a raffle that will benefit charity too. Maybe it's time that you admit that you just don't want to spend any more time with me. You only want to be with your father. Are we going to pretend that you accompanied me to your aunt's birthday party last Thursday?", Mary lashed out, giving her a dirty look as she continued to eat her biscottis.

"Mom, the fact that I didn't go to my aunt's birthday party with you has nothing to do with whatever problem you think I may have with you. I was sick".

"Yeah, but you're never too sick to be with your father. It would be much easier for you to admit that you prefer your father over me. You've been so strange with me ever since I started having problems with your father".

"I don't know why my wish to spend time with my father bothers you so much but I'm not going to apologise", she answered, fixing her eyes on the floor so she wouldn't have any eye contact with Mary. Her mother annoyed her. "I'll go to my room", Belle hurried out of the dining room and went downstairs.

She laid on her upholstered bed and turned the TV on. A tabloid television program was being broadcasted. If she wasn't famous she would understand why people watched them, but Belle couldn't stand to watch random people criticise other people's life, not when she was a public figure whose life was constantly being gossiped about. She was about to change the channel, but something stopped her:

"Coming up next: Billionaire heir Roger Taylor is back in London after graduating from business school in Scotland, it has been confirmed. He will be participating at Royal Ascot this Tuesday. He is expected to take on more roles at his father's successful and international company, Taylor Enterprises. We'll talk about this after our commercial break."

Roger Taylor, at Royal Ascot. Belle felt guilty for even considering ditching the auction just to attend a lavish event but, Roger was somebody who had been weighing heavily on Belle's mind and she couldn't ignore her instincts. However, she still had to find a good excuse to apologise to her father for not attending the auction, so she called him.

"Hey, Dad. How are you?".

"I'm good. What about you?", Freddie picked up the phone immediately.

"I'm good. Uhm, I was calling you to tell you that I won't be able to attend the auction with you. A close friend of mine is back in England and he's going to be playing for Royal Ascot. I want to be supporting him. But I was trying to think on ways that I could actually raise funds for the charity and I thought about auctioning the dress I wore to the Bal des débutantes in Paris. Everyone talked about it and I thought it would be such a great idea".