Opportunity (Micah Bell x OC)

Chapter 2

A few months have passed since Elizabeth met Micah and the van der Linde gang in Blackwater. After their little business, Elizabeth had to leaves The Great Plains with her father, as no one wanted to deal with him anymore after the robbery of the precious stones. Even if her father did not know it was Elizabeth's plan, he still held her for responsible, as she was at home and could not protect his valuable wares. They travelled around a few places, tried their luck in Strawberry. But this town being quite small and picturesque, Elizabeth's father did not manage to establish his business. This, or the fact that he had developed a new passion for liquors, and got them thrown out by mayor's order. They were now heading east, in direction of a small livestock town called Valentine. Mr Forcier now had new plans that consisted in getting her daughter to marry someone with some fortune who could provide them a roof and food. This was the only reason he kept his daughter with him.

During those months, she kept thinking about her encounter with a part of the van der Linde gang. She could not stop thinking about Dutch's proposition. What kind of life could she have if she had joined them? It was hard for her to imagine something worse than her current life. She could only imagine their life with a lot of freedom, and she envied them for that. She felt so stuck with her father, but she could not run away on her own, she would not survive long. So for now, she just dreamed about their freedom, and also sometimes about a certain blonde outlaw who kept appearing in her dreams.

***

When they arrived in Valentine, Elizabeth's father first rented a room, and went straight to the saloon to try to gather information about potential wealthy travelers passing through the town. And to drink, of course.

Elizabeth took this chance to wander across the town. She went to the stable and spent a moment there, looking at the horses and petting them. She also discovered a little tent in which they played movies. She decided to buy a ticket and ended up watching a weird story about bear cubs being turned into sausage in front of their mom. Really weird.

A few days passed before her father came to see her, a little sober than usual as she was reading on a bench in front of the hotel.

"I found one! I finally found a man with money looking for a woman! You're gonna meet him in the saloon this afternoon. Go make yourself a bit pretty, I wait for you here » her father said quickly.

"But.." Elizabeth tried to say

"But nothing! Hurry up now! » her father yelled.

Elizabeth did not try to argue any more, she just closed her book and stood up before entering the hotel and going to her room upstairs. She did not want to do any efforts, so she just quickly combed her hair and tied it in a loose braid. She also changed her dress, so that her father would notice she changed something. She looked at herself in the mirror before letting out a long sight and exiting the room to join her father outside. He seemed satisfied by her appearance and led her in front of the big saloon.

"Okay, so his name is Peter Blooming. His father works in the tobacco industry. Just be polite, smile and don't talk too much. You can do that right?" Her father asked, holding her tightly by her upper arm. Elizabeth simply nodded. She hated these arranged dates her father forced her to go, but she still had a slight hope that maybe she will meet a decent man, and finally be freed from her father's hand. This was why when she entered the saloon, she stood tall, with a subtle smile on her face. Her father quickly indicated a table to her near the window. He then headed toward the bar, already ordering a drink. Elizabeth walked toward the table before introducing herself to the young man sat there.

While she took place at the table, she did not notice the blonde man in the back of the saloon observing her from under his hat. He was sitting at a table, drinking a beer. His eyes landed on her as soon as she entered the place, and did not left her when she sat with the young man near the window. It has been a few months but Micah recognized her straight away. Her figure. Her long brown hair. And of course her beautiful green eyes, even if they were not as sparkly as he remembered them.

He was not expecting to see her again, even less in a little dirty town like Valentine. But here she was, with her father and obviously still looking for a husband.

The afternoon passed, and Elizabeth was beyond bored. The man in front of her was just "empty". He talked the entire time about himself, about how his family was rich thanks to their high quality tobacco plants, and, again, about himself. She kept a polite smile on her face, knowing that her father was somewhere, probably drunk, but still able to tell if she was looking too visibly annoyed. At some point, the man, Peter Blooming, got a bit closer to her, a confident smile on his face.

"You're really a lovely lady. Quiet, just as I like them" he said, getting his chair even closer to hers and putting his hand on her clothed knee.

"Excuse me? What do you think you are doing?" Elizabeth said, her eyes widening as she tensed at the contact.

"Shh, don't worry, no one would see" Peter whispered to her ear.

Micah noticed the gesture and the clear discomfort of the young lady. He did not have the time to put down his beer that Elizabeth had already thrown the content of her glass in Peter's face. She then tried to get out of the saloon, but her father, drunk and red of anger, had already grabbed her by the arm, and was now pulling her toward the door at the back of the saloon. When outside, Elizabeth's father let go of her arm and slapped her with such strength that the woman fell in the mud.

"How can you be so useless?!" he shouted at her "Why can't you just smile and shut up for once?!"

He then grabbed her by the hair, ready to hit her again. But the loud bang of the door opening interrupted him. Micah was pointing his revolver at the man's head.

"Don't touch her. Never again" Micah growled.

Elizabeth' father let go of his daughter to face the stranger.

"Who the fuck are you?" he said, staggering a little.

"Just get lost before I kill you" Micah menaced him with a low voice, while pulling back the hammer of his gun.

Elizabeth father was not dumb enough to play the brave in front of an angry man with a gun. He ran away, slipping in the mud.

Micah put his gun back in its holster before looking at Elizabeth. She was still in the mud, her eyes looking at the ground, empty. He approached carefully and kneeled in front of her.

"Seems like I've saved once again" he said with a small smirk.

"I can't. I can't do that no more" Elizabeth sighed.

"Can't do what" asked Micah, his face serious again and his brows furrowed.

"Live this life. I tried, but it's never enough..." A single tear falling on her cheek.

Micah looked at her for a moment. He raised his arm and wiped the tear with his thumb. She tensed and looked at him with wide eyes. Micah only looked at his hand, which he lowered to her lip, bleeding because of the slap she received.

"Start a new one then. I'm pretty sure Dutch's offer is still on the table" Micah said, finally meeting her eyes.

"But I don't know how to live like this" she said, looking at her lap.

Micah stood up and offered her his hand.

"That we can teach you" he said with a smirk.

She looked at his hand, and then at him.

"Alright then" she said while taking his hand, a small smile crept on her lips.