Breakfast went well, to say the least...
Besides me doing everything in my power to avoid Stefan the rest of the day. He had left shortly after breakfast in a bit of a rush, but I decided not to pry. Whatever illegal business he was involved in, I wanted no part of.
A girl was trying to live to see age 30 over here.
Plus, I was too busy putting my left foot forward with this whole dance thing... Both of them.
Literally, I was as graceful as a chicken with its head cut off.
Cooking was my forte, dancing, unfortunately, was something I stayed very very far away from. Stefan asking me to a banquette was quite possibly the sweetest kind of torture the devil could hit me with...
Lumiere and I were currently cleaning out the kitchen pantry and fridge. Stefan had called in to mention he would be gone for the rest of the day, but return in the evening to teach me how to dance, so I didn't have to prepare lunch.
"I heard you've been invited by Mr. DeGramont, to the banquette." Lumiere spoke, pulling me out of my thoughts, as a plate almost slipped through my fingers.
"Shush, I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for tonight." I hissed back, setting another dish into the dish washer.
"Is that supposed to help you be a better dancer?" Lumiere asked, as he pulled out the remaining contents from the fridge.
"How do you know I can't dance?" I asked, glancing back at him.
"You loose your balance some days... When you're just standing."
"Okay, you know what, some days my perception of gravity is a bit off okay?" I shot back, as I started to wash the fruit from the fridge again. Stefan required us to rewash all the produce about every 2-3 days... And then wash it again before cooking/serving it.
He was seriously weird like that.
"Perception of gravity? Elle... Gravity doesn't change. Like, ever." He laughed again.
"Alright alright alright, enough picking on this poor girl." Mrs. Potts interrupted, as she entered the kitchen with a few cleaning supplies on hand.
"I gotta ask, Mrs. Potts, how do you clean this place so quickly? Like, it takes you a shorter amount of time to make a bed, than it takes for Lumiere and I to decide on beef or chicken for dinner." I sighed, completely baffled by how fast this woman works.
"I've worked here for a very long time, love. You'll get the hang of it soon." She encouraged. "How much longer is Lumiere in debt to you for, by the way?"
"I think I have a few more days with him as my slave." I grinned.
"Well how about this. In exchange for a shortened sentence, Mrs. Potts and I will give you some basic knowledge of dance, so you don't break all of Mr. DeGramont's toes tonight." Lumiere offered.
"Don't bring me into your shenanigans." Mrs. Potts grumbled, as she collapsed in one of the kitchen chairs.
I glanced back between Lumiere and her. The offer actually sounded very tempting.
My nerves were already eating away at me from how inexperienced I was about to present myself as in front of Stefan tonight. "Please, Mrs. Potts?" I asked, giving her a little bottom lip pout for added effect. "I'll help you clean for a week."
"Oh absolutely not. You trying to make a bed is like a scene from the Three Stooges." Mrs. Potts shook her head. "I'll help free of charge, but I might ask for a certain dish, if I'm craving it."
"Deal!" I nodded.
"It also might interfere with the piano time you've been having with Stefan at night." Mrs. Potts added, sending me a wink.
"How did you-" I started, but Lumiere cut me off.
"Stefan has started playing the piano again?" He asked, "He hasn't touched it in years!"
"I knew because I caught Mr. DeGramont carrying you back to your room the other night., Elle. His music gives me something to stay awake for nowadays. And Lumiere, I too was quite surprised."
"Why did he stop playing?" I asked, my curiosity finally getting the best of me.
"It was something he used to love doing." Mrs. Potts explained. "He used to be... Different Elle. He laughed more. He lived more. He loved more..."
"Loved?" I asked.
"There was someone... Many many years ago. Her name was Irene. He fell in love with her, with who she was, but his perception of beauty was distorted. He saw what only his eyes would allow for him to see, not what his heart did. She wasn't who he thought she was, she knew more about his family... His company, then she lead him to believe. She wanted to be his partner, yet the plans she had for the company, was not what Stefan wanted... But he was in love. His eyes were blinded by the scales of adoration.
"Not a year after his company grew corrupt, he lost his parents. There was a... War. Things ended badly, but that was the last straw for him.
"He let her go immediately after, but not before she consumed every ounce of love he had in him, for anyone. He turned cold, and distant. He has created an empire, yes, but not out of compassion, Elle. He's created this company out of the hate he now holds for his first love. He refuses to let the company turn back into what she wanted it to be, but he refuses to do so for all the wrong reasons." Mrs. Potts explained.
I tried to wrap my head around what she was telling me. The way he spoke of his parents, made me feel like they had passed, but I never had the courage to ask why. His reason for not being able to love, broke me in more ways then I could handle.
I was never one to overstep boundaries. At times, I didn't think things through before I spoke, but for the most part, I could feel a persons limits. But this time, something more than Stefan's feelings were on the line.
My heart was too.
And I needed to know about Irene.
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