Beast (23 page)

“Oh, well, I do not have any space to be invaded. Honestly, I would have been more than happy to play for you,” I explained.

“Well, I am glad to know that.” She smiled. “So will you play for me sometime soon? I mean, with me actually being in the same room as you and you knowing I am there.” She giggled.

Her eyes lit up when she asked me this. She sat up straighter in her chair, and a tint of pink filled her cheeks.

“Yes, I would love to do that, Mirabelle. Anything for you.” I smiled back at her. “But I do not want to play for you in the music room. There is somewhere else that I would like to play for you.”

“And where is that?”

“In our ballroom,” I told her.

“You have a ballroom? Did your family have a lot of balls and parties?”

“Yes, sometimes, though I was too young to understand why we had them. I still danced at them with one of our neighbors’ daughters. Those parties were the reason why I began to learn how to play. I just loved the way the music sounded, all the notes together.”

“I think the last time I was at a party like that was before Papa’s shipping company went under.”

She looked down at her plate as she pushed the food around. There was not much left on her plate.

“How does this sound, Mirabelle? Tomorrow after dinner, I will take you into the ballroom and play the piano for you and only you,” I suggested.

“Oh, that would be ever so sweet of you, but I know something that would make it even better,” she explained.

“What is that, my dear?”

“If you would share dinner with me beforehand,” she told me.

“But we always have dinner together, Mirabelle,” I said, confused.

“No, what I mean is that you actually eat when I eat.”

“Oh, I do not know, Mirabelle. I cannot eat normally; I create such a mess. That is the reason why I do not eat around you.” I shook my head.

“Please, Beast! It would make the night perfect!” she pleaded.

Our eyes made contact yet again. All I could see was excitement, passion, and hope, along with innocence. Her eyes moved from side to side, looking at each of my eyes for only a moment at a time.

“Okay, Mirabelle. If that is what pleases you, I will eat dinner with you before I take you into the ballroom,” I said, giving in.

“Oh, good! Then it is a date!” she said excitedly.

A date? Did I hear her correctly? A date!
I could not believe what my ears had heard.

After our conversation, I was almost convinced that she had feelings for me. At least, I hoped and prayed she did.

She suddenly looked so much more beautiful than I had ever seen her, though I was not sure why.

“Would you like to sit on the couch by the fire for a while before you turn in for the night, my beauty?” I asked.

“Of course.”

We made our way over to the couch. Once seated, she proceeded to grab my arm and place it around her as she laid her head on my shoulder.

“Mirabelle, will you marry me?” I asked her a few seconds later.

“I am sorry, Beast,” she replied.

What is going on? What is going through her mind?
My irritation grew along with my confusion. I felt the need to run to the roof to let out a scream or roar. But what would that solve? Absolutely nothing! I needed to calm myself down.

We sat in front of the fire for a few hours till Mirabelle became tired. At her door, we said our good nights, and she hugged me, but this hug felt different from the ones she had given me before. This hug was meaningful; it was not a loose hug but a tight one—one that I never wanted to end.

Mirabelle let her arms slide down mine until our hands met. The moment they touched, she jumped back and withdrew her hands from mine. She ran into her room, and as she turned to shut her door, I saw that her cheeks were bright pink.

As I sat on the roof that night, I tried not to think about it too much. What Mirabelle had said—referring to our ballroom plans as a date—kept running through my mind.
Was she serious when she said it? Or was she joking around?

We had decided the night before that we would have breakfast together and then hang out until lunch, but then we would not see each other until dinnertime. Suddenly I became worried about eating in front of her. It was hard enough to eat alone, but it was going to be worse than that. My heart started to race.

Finally, I made my way down off the roof of the castle to Mirabelle’s room. Once at her door, I let her know that I was there. She opened the door and greeted me with a smile.

“Good morning, Mirabelle,” I said.

“Morning, Beast,” she replied as she grabbed on to my arm.

Once at the table, we both sat in our chairs.

“I am really looking forward to tonight,” she told me as she tore a piece of bread.

My heart began to pound loudly; again I could hear it in my ears.

“I-I am too,” I somehow stuttered.

I was not sure how I was able to even speak around her because of how nervous I always was.

After she finished eating, we walked up to the library, as usual. Once there, Mirabelle walked around before settling down with a book. I had never thought about it till that day, but I was surprised that she had not yet seen the painting of the Rose House, which was a painting of her house.

Instead of reading a book, I just sat in my chair. There was no way that I was going to be able to focus on anything, even a book. Every once in a while, I glanced over at Mirabelle, who seemed enthralled in the book she held in her hands.

Here I was, feeling as if I were going to jump out of my own skin, while she was so controlled and calm. But then again, I did not know what she was feeling inside.

“Well, I will meet you in a few hours!” she said at lunchtime.

My heart was pounding so loudly that I almost could not hear what she said.

“Until then.” I bowed.

After the doors closed, I quickly walked away.

Once I arrived in the music room, my lungs burned; I was out of breath and panting. I felt as if I could not receive enough air in my lungs. I set my hand on the doorframe, attempting to slow my breathing.

I wanted to practice a little prior to playing for Mirabelle. But I could not stay there for too long. I was antsy and fidgety, and I needed to leave to clean myself up before I dressed myself.

After I finished practicing, I hurried into my bedroom. After cleaning myself, I walked over to my closet to search for the best outfit to wear that evening. As I searched and tried to decide what to wear, I thought about our conversations, along with what I had learned about her from the Rose House.

I felt as if I stood in front of the closet for hours before I finally decided on an outfit. I wore a white dress shirt and a brown coat that had teal trim and buttons. Also, I wore dark brown pants.

As soon as I put the clothing on, I began to sweat. I tried my hardest to calm my heart rate down. I lay on my bed, shut my eyes, placed one hand on my chest and the other on my stomach, and took slow breaths in and out.

When that did not work, I sat up to gaze at the roses. The second my eyes rested on them, my nerves dissipated. With my eyes closed, I relaxed and breathed their lovely aroma.

When I opened my eyes, the sun was about to set. On the way out of my room, something on my nightstand caught my eye. I walked backward to see what it was.

It was my mother’s rose brooch. The second I saw it, I wanted to give it to Mirabelle as a gift. So I picked it up, placed it in my coat pocket, and then proceeded to walk out of my room.

I walked to her door, as I did every other night. As I walked, my palms began to sweat profusely. My heart was pounding in my ears, my stomach was in knots, and I again felt as if there were a frog trying to escape my body. My teeth began to chatter.

I was not sure where my heart was at this point, whether it was in my stomach or in my throat. The only thing that I knew for sure was that I loved Mirabelle, which was the reason for all this nervousness.

Once I was finally at her door, I stood and watched it for a moment. Finally I took a deep breath and knocked. After knocking, I took a step back before she opened the door.

My eyes were glued to the doorknob, waiting for it to turn. The moment that it did, I let out my breath.

The door opened, and Mirabelle stepped over the threshold. She looked more beautiful than I could have ever imagined!

She was wearing an incredible blue dress with a brown ribbon around her waist. The dress was tight at the top, with a full skirt. Her hair was down, except for the hair that framed her face, which was tied up with a brown ribbon to keep it from falling in front of her eyes.

I was speechless. I could not take my eyes off of her. Beads of sweat formed on my forehead, and I used my sleeve to wipe them.

The only thing I could do when I saw her was bow, which she responded to with a curtsy and a smile. When I bowed, I kept my eyes connected to hers the whole time.

“Mirabelle, you look so ravishing!” I finally was able to say. She blushed.

Then I put out my arm for her to grab on to.

We walked to the dining room, and the whole way there, I still could not speak. My breathing was rapid and shallow. I hoped that she did not notice my demeanor.

Once in the dining room, I was finally able to collect my thoughts and actually talk.

“When you opened your door tonight, my darling, I-I could not speak; you literally made me speechless!” I told her.

All she could do was blush and shyly turn her face from me for a moment.

“You look so beautiful every day, but tonight your loveliness has only increased. I am so captivated by you!”

“Thank you, Beast,” she said, looking down at the table.

I was not sure if she was unable to look into my eyes after I complimented her because she was nervous or because she honestly did not know how to react to such a remark.

There were two plates sitting on the table this evening, as it was the first time I was going to share a meal with Mirabelle. The food was already on our plates, so we bowed our heads to pray over our meal.

“Mirabelle, I want to apologize in advance for whatever mess I make attempting to eat. I have not eaten with a fork since my transformation,” I warned her.

“Do not apologize. I asked you to share a meal with me. Eat the way which is easiest for you.” She grabbed my arm and rubbed her thumb back and forth on it.

I smiled at her and then stared at the fork, contemplating how I was going to do this.

The meal we were having was the dinner that I’d had the last night I was human: rabbit, mutton with onions, mashed potatoes, and warm bread.

I had difficulty positioning the fork in my hand and struggled to figure out how to use it. Finally, I was able to eat by wrapping my whole paw around it. But no matter how hard I tried, food kept falling off of it and all over the table.

Mirabelle smiled at me, reassuring me that it was not bothering her. She was doing her best to make me feel comfortable.

“Did you have a good day today, my beauty?” I asked in between mouthfuls.

“Yes, I did,” she stated. “How about you?”

“Yes, I always do when I am around you.”

I put my hand into my pocket, which reminded me about the brooch.

“Oh, I have something for you,” I said.

“You do not have to give me anything,” she said timidly.

“But I want to give this to you. Close your eyes, and put out your hands.”

“Okay.”

She held out her hands, closed her eyes, and grinned; it had become so natural for her to close her eyes when I asked her to. I was glad that she trusted me.

I reached into my pocket and grabbed the rose brooch to place in her hand. When our hands touched, there was a spark of electricity—so much so that I moved my hand away quickly, almost jumping back, before bringing it back to her hand.

Again our hands touched and there was a spark, but I did not move my hand away. Instead, I placed the multicolored rose brooch into her petite hands.

“Okay, Mirabelle. You may look now,” I told her.

As her eyes opened, her face lit up with elation and delight. She carefully studied it before she said anything.

“Beast, this was your mother’s brooch, the one she was wearing the night of the party, is it not?”

“Yes, you are correct.”

I could not believe she remembered that much of what I had told her.

“I cannot take this from you!”

She began to hand it back to me. But I closed her hands around it and pushed them away.

“I want you to have it, Mirabelle. It is beautiful like you, but it cannot compare. Here, let me help you.”

I reached over to help her pin it on her dress. She was in awe that I would give her something that was so precious and meaningful to me.

“It belonged to the only woman in my life, my mother. It just seems right to give it to the most beautiful, breathtaking, stunning woman I have ever met,” I explained.