Love Of A Rose

Chapter 4- Meeting Gaston

"Princess Blueberry taught you how to work a needle, right?" Uma asked me a couple of days later.

"Yeah. It was super dumb, but I learned how to sew the tears out of my clothes." I sighed.

"Can you work on the sails?" Uma asked.

I nodded, and Uma handed me a needle and thread. I pocketed the thread and poked the needle into the leather glove. I climbed a rope and swiftly put the thread through the eye of the needle. I held onto the post of the sail as I patched it up.

"How's it going up there?" Harry called.

"You wanna take a turn with this?" I questioned as I held up the needle.

"No," Harry said simply, going back over to Uma.

I smiled at Gil as he replaced a board on the deck. He looked up and smiled back, then continued to do his work. There was a bond between Gil and I. Recently, we would stay on the deck and talk until it was time for me to go home. Ever since the first night, Gil insisted on me keeping the gloves. He said it looked good with my outfit.

"Need anything?" Gil called.

"My sanity," I joked.

Gil chuckled as he went over to another crew member, seeing if they needed help. I looked at the sail after some time for any more rips and tears and slid down the rope with ease. Thanks to the gloves, I didn't get any blisters.

"Go get some lunch." Uma led me into the shop.

I nodded, and a waitress tossed me a tray of food. I picked at the fries, my thoughts occupying me while I ate.

"Not hungry?" Gil stole a rotten hard-boiled egg off my plate and ate it.

I smiled slightly. "Yeah. Have some." I pointed to the tray.

His smile faltered. "Your braid fell out," he noticed.

"Oh," I said, putting my hand to my hair and trying to fix the braid.

"Here." Gil lightly tugged at the strands of hair. I handed him an elastic band, and he secured the braid. I smiled slightly as he let go, nodding him a thank you. "You look pretty."

I froze at the comment, nodding cluelessly. "Thank you, I guess?" I said.

Gil smiled and continued to eat. He wiped his hands on his pants and looked toward the door. "Have you been to the tavern?"

I shook my head. "Only Mom has been there to get food and alcohol. But she makes it sound like fun when she explains how many people go there to bet on pool games," I said sarcastically.

Gil chuckled. "Come on. I'll teach you how to play."

He led me to the tavern, not harsh but also beckoning at the same time. He grabbed my hand as he led me through a dark alley, careful of the people that we crossed paths with. I blushed as he held my hand after that, even holding my hand as we walked through the cavern doors.

There was a bar filled with drunken men that we passed. Some of them eyed my body, and I glared at them, resulting in them to look away. We passed a couple of tattered booths, half of them filled with people. Finally, we reached an area of darts and a pool table. Gil got out two cues and handed me one. He set up the table and placed the white ball in the center.

"Start off," Gil said simply.

I started, and Gil taught me how to play throughout the game. The point is to be precise with your aim and to focus.

"Finally invited a girl over to play, huh Gil?" a boy strolled over to us.

I looked up at him just as I was about to aim. He looked almost like Gaston, and he was definitely older than Gil.

"Why do you ask?" I retorted.

"He's too dumb to get a girl is all I'm saying," he snorted.

"Do you have a problem with me?" I snapped.

"Fiesty one, aren't you?" he teased.

"Leave her alone, Gaston," Gil said warningly.

"Now, now, children. We don't want a fight in the middle of the tavern, do we?" a man walked over to us. He had thick, black hair tied into a low ponytail and light blue eyes. He looked at me, and then at Gil and Gaston Junior.

"No, Father," Gaston Junior said, glancing at at me.

"Now who is this beauty?" Gaston looked at me.

"Claire, sir," my actual name slipped out.

"And I assume Gil brought you here?" he continued, looking at Gil.

"Yes, sir. He was just teaching me how to play pool," I said.

"Very well. Gaston Junior, don't cause them any more trouble." Gaston looked at Gil's brother.

"Yes, Father." Gaston Jr. walked away, glaring at Gil.

"Gil, it's almost nine. I suggest you walk her home," Gaston advised.

Gil nodded, and Gaston looked at me. "Nice to meet you, Miss Claire."

"Nice to meet you too, sir," I said as he walked off.

"Let's get out of here," Gil said quietly in my ear.

I nodded and handed him my cue stick. "I couldn't agree more," I whispered.

"Sorry about my Dad, and my brother. My brother is a little..." Gil trailed off.

"Egotistical? Yeah, I noticed that." I smiled.

"What does that mean?" Gil looked at me.

I thought about it for a moment. "It means someone who's too absorbed in him or herself," I explained.

Gil nodded in understanding. We continued to walk, watching for others cautiously. One jumped out at me and Gil grabbed my hand protectively. He started toward the person, but I held him back, gripping his hand. He turned sharply toward me, but his eyes softened when he saw my begging eyes. We rushed away from the person and soon reached my castle.

I let go of his hand as I walked up to the front door. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

Gil nodded with a smile and I walked inside, closing the door softly behind me.

"Right on time, Blair. Who's the boy?" Mom said from the living area, the TV flickering softly with black-and-white images.

"Gil," I mumbled.

"Speak up, child. Confident tones," Mom reminded me.

"Gil, son of Gaston. He was walking me home to make sure I was safe," I said in a louder tone.

Mom smiled. "That's the tone I like to hear."

I nodded in understanding. "Bad night, Mom."

"Bad night, Blair," Mom called as I walked into my room.

I closed the door with a sigh and kicked off my shoes, changing into an oversized red t-shirt that was my pajamas. I plopped down on my bed and laid down on it, thinking about what had happened in the past twelve hours. Holding Gil's hand almost felt natural, and I didn't know why. Then again, I didn't know why I had the urge to hold his hand right now.