Dreams of Stars (A Once Upon a Time/Jiminy Cricket fanfic)

Dreams of Stars Part 13

The first week was hard. The Sisters had given Bridget two-hundred dollars to spend on food, but she knew she would have to find a way to make money sooner or later, before it ran out. Somehow, Bridget seemed to have an instinctive knowledge of how to string out her savings as long as possible. She didn't spend a single cent on unnecessary luxuries: she had plain soap, plain toothpaste, and plain food, the cheapest of everything. Wherever she had to go, she walked. Storybrooke wasn't too big. The walk from her apartment to the school wasn't too far, and her walk from the school to Mr. Gold's mansion wasn't too far either. It was the thought of walking back to her apartment at night that frightened her.

Once she started it, the task of cleaning Mr. Gold's entire mansion in a week seemed to grow to immense proportions. All of his possessions needed to be dusted, all his carpets vacuumed, all his floors swept, and all his bathrooms scrubbed. Bridget began to feel annoyed that a single man would need such a huge house—and need it so meticulously clean all the time—particularly when he was never there. He stayed in his pawn shop all day and only used the mansion at night. The few times he was there while Bridget was cleaning, she did her best to stay out of his way. She sensed that he noticed, and it amused him.

If anyone asked her where she was going after school, Bridget's reply was that she had a job as a cleaning lady. That was perfectly true, but it also put the implication in people's minds that she was getting paid for it. Usually, they wouldn't ask too many questions after that, but if pressed, Bridget would tell them she cleaned Mr. Gold's mansion. She usually didn't like to get to that point, though.

On Sunday, the day after her appointment with Archie, Bridget spent a great portion of the day cleaning Mr. Gold's mansion. The more she could get done over the weekend, the less she would have to do on school days, though she didn't yet know exactly how long it would all take her. On Monday, she went to the grocery store right after school and happened to meet Archie there. Through persistent questioning, he discovered that she had walked home alone the night before, halfway across town.

"No. That's not acceptable," Archie said with finality, "It's too dangerous. When will you be done tonight?"

"I suppose I'll shoot for 7:00," Bridget replied, "I'm still not sure how long I'll need."

"I'll come pick you up then," Archie told her, "I'll drive you home."

"You don't have to do that..."

"I want to. Besides, it's no trouble for me, and I'd rather take a short drive every night with you than sit at home worrying about you."

For some reason, these words caused a certain warmth to rise in Bridget's cheeks, and she smiled. Something about this kind of protectiveness was endearing. Though there was an inkling of doubt in Bridget's mind about how he wouldn't be worrying at all if she wasn't doing this, maybe it was better this way. "Thank you," she said.

The next day, Bridget did as much homework as she could during study hall at school. She usually got good grades and didn't want them to drop, because the teachers might ask questions. Bridget had always been good at academics: it was the practical things that she believed gave her trouble. After school, she packed up her backpack and walked straight out to Mr. Gold's mansion. Leaving her backpack in the entrance hall, she went on upstairs to dust and vacuum some more bedrooms.

Dusting was really the most time-consuming task. As she worked, Bridget actually began to feel more encouraged. Each individual task didn't take too long. Once she got into the rhythm of things, she could probably finish in less than a week.

By 7:00, the sun was setting, so Bridget put away the cleaning supplies, picked up her backpack, and looked for Archie through the tall, narrow window by the door. A brownish-maroon car pulled up outside, but Bridget watched to make sure it was Archie and not Mr. Gold before she went out.