Love’n’Lust

Larkson mansion.

“Aww, she has such a pretty face.” Mrs Larkson said after some silent minutes of admiration.Content bel0ngs to Nôvel(D)r/a/ma.Org.

Belle looked up from her dish and smiled at the woman sitting opposite to her on the dining table. Things were great since she came by unlike all she assumed. Mrs Larkson didn’t ask the many questions she assumed she had to prepare for so things were alright till she said:

“My grandchildren will be so cute, I can already imagine.” Belle almost choked on what she was about to swallow when Mrs Larkson blurted that out.

Ben stood and filled a glass of water, rubbing Belle’s back slowly while bending to speak to her as she had her head down.

“Water?” He proposed and she took the glass from him and took a big sip. While Belle was drinking water, Ben took the chance to give his mother a questioning look about what she just said.

Belle returned the glass to him and he kept it on the table and sat back down. Mrs Larkson didn’t say anything else; she didn’t mean to make Belle uncomfortable by saying that.

The doctors around did a full check on Ben and asserted him medically okay and healthy. Belle saw him full of smiles and rolled her eyes whenever he winked at her.

“But he still needs to avoid stress for the next few days.” A doctor added at the end of their statement of report and Belle was the one smiling now. She saw that Ben had stopped smiling and it made her want to laugh out loud.

They were about to leave the Larkson mansion when they met Ben’s father walking in. There was a moment of awful silence before Ben interlocked Belle’s fingers with his and took her to the car waiting for them.

Benard Larkson turned to look at Belle one more time before looking at his wife for a clue on who she was but he forgot that they weren’t on talking terms. Mrs Larkson turned around and headed back inside once Ben and Belle drove off.

****

“I’m sorry about what my mother said, it’s just that she’s had this obsession with having grandchildren for a while now.” Ben apologized when they were on the road.

“But you don’t like babies, or do you now?” Belle asked him.

“I mean, I have no issue in making one with you. Do you want to make a baby? Right now?” He winked at her and she laughed.

“Right now? Are you crazy?” She laughed some more.”Didn’t you hear the doctors? You are to stay away from stress for a few days.”

“Making a baby with you won’t be counted as stressful…” He smiled.

“Till then. We are doing not anything with each other for the next few days. Your health first.”

“You are joking right?” He stopped the car at a red light and turned to her. He saw that she wasn’t by the look on her face.”You are serious?”

“Yes,” she nodded.

“If you can resist my touch, good luck.” He laughed.

“I can.” She folded her hands and heard him laugh more.”What? You don’t think I can?”

“We’ll see if you can.”

“Yeah, we’ll see,” she said, taking it as a challenge from him.”How long till we get there?” She asked. He was driving them to his birth mother. He wanted to introduce Belle to her too.

****

The next day. Ben and Belle were on a flight to see Belle’s grandmother. Belle thought she would get the chance to see Ben tensed up just to meet her grandmother but it wasn’t like that with him.

“Are you tensed?” She asked him in the car parked just outside her grandmother’s residence.

“No, why?” His response made her pout her lips in disappointment.

“Nothing. Let’s just go.” Belle said and got out of the car before him, taking her purse along with her before shutting the door.

They got to the door and Belle realized that she was the one who was tensed. She inhaled briefly and exhaled almost as quickly in an attempt to calm herself.

“Ben, I’m worried.” She stopped him from ringing the doorbell.

“What are you worried about? You already made me practice all I would have to say when get here.”

“I don’t just know but I’m worried that she might not be happy with the man I chose.” She heard Ben chuckle after she said that.”It’s not funny, I’m being serious here, Ben.”

“Trust me, she won’t think like that, okay?”

“She wanted me to go on a date with this doctor once and I refused… she has been picky about the type of men she sees me around since then.”

“I can buy her with my looks, don’t worry.” He said and made her smile even if she was still worried.”I want you to relax your mind for me, will you?” Belle nodded and smiled to brighten up her face.

After that, she was the one to ring the bell while they waited for it to be answered. It didn’t take long before someone opened the door. It wasn’t Belle’s grandmother, it was the person hired to stay around and assist her.

“Grandma!” The girl yelled excitedly after seeing them because she knew the old woman had been expecting them.

“Are they here?” Belle smiled with tears in her eyes when her grandmother sat up from where she sat in the living room. She didn’t let her walk all the way, rather, she went to her and hugged her tight.

“Grandma, I’ve missed youuu,” she expressed her heart when her grandmother hugged her back.

“Is it him?” Her grandmother whispered to her. Belle separated their hug and replied with a nod.

“Why is he standing there then,” she left Belle and went to him.

“Good evening, Grandma.” Ben greeted with a bow like Belle asked him to. It made the old woman laugh.

“Did she ask you to do that?”

“No,” both Ben and Belle lied with a chorused answer.

It was night time and Belle’s grandmother’s caretaker had left after dinner.

“Belle dear,” she called Belle sweetly.

“Yes Grandma,” Belle stood from where she sat beside Ben and went to join her on the couch where she sat alone.

“Can you help me go fetch my glasses in my room?”

“Oh okay.” Belle smiled and started towards her grandmother’s room.

“It’s on top of the drawer, just check for it.” She added and waited till Belle left before turning back to Ben with a mean look.

“It’s you from that day,” she remembered.

“Sorry?” Ben was confused by her statement.

“It was you staring at my Belle from your car that day, I remember.” She said and Ben swallowed. He had no idea that Belle’s grandmother had seen him that day.

“Staring at… staring at Belle? Are you sure of what you’re saying?” He laughed but she didn’t. He now knew she was serious.

“I might be quite old but trust me when I say I have a good memory. She was in a yellow dress and was just back from the grocery store. She opened the door and was answering a phone call while standing right there,” she pointed towards the door.”And that was when I saw you. You were shamelessly staring at her. Do you think I’m sure of what I’m saying now?”

“…” Ben felt the once cold atmosphere become warm and started to sweat.’Belle was right, I should have been worried about today.’ he told himself but didn’t utter another word to the old woman’s hearing.

“Grandma, I got your glasses,” Belle returned.

“Let’s forget about that because I already asked Brie if she knew about you and she thinks you’re ‘not so bad’. She says you make Belle happy so let’s forget that.” Belle heard her grandmother say with her eyes on Ben.

She then saw Ben nod slowly.

“What did you ask Brie, grandma?”

“Does he make you happy?” Belle’s grandmother turned to her and Ben saw her mean fave become soft with a smile again.

“He does grandma.” Belle smiled back and bit her lips a little shyly.

“You have my blessings then. Be happy.” Belle hugged her happily after hearing that.

It was time to go to sleep so Belle took Ben’s hand excitedly ready to take him to her room before she left for city S.

“Come, I’ll show you my room.” She smiled at him but her smile froze when her grandmother stopped going towards her own room.

“You don’t plan to stay in the same room as him, do you?” Her grandmother’s question reminded her that she was still supposed to be a virgin.

“Uhm, no, of course not. I was just going to show him the room and…” Belle trailed off, scratching the back of her neck and hoping her face wasn’t red with embarrassment.

“Okay, I’ll be waiting for you in my room.” Her grandmother said and continued towards her room.

The moment she turned around, Belle sighed and stopped holding her breath. She dragged Ben into her room and closed the door after.

“I forgot to tell you about this earlier… my grandma still thinks I haven’t slept with anyone yet. Please tell me she did not ask you about that. Is that why she sent me away to get her glasses? What was she saying about Brie and wha…” Ben kissed her amidst her words to calm her down. What he did helped because when their lips separated she was calmer.

“You were right, I should have been more prepared before we came.” He confessed and went ahead to kiss her again, but this time was to calm himself.

Their forehead still touching, he pecked on her lips lastly after their kiss and said to her:

“That was hard. Meeting your grandma was definitely hard.” He said and Belle laughed.”About your questions, she didn’t ask any of that.”

“She didn’t? Thank goodness.” Belle heaved with relief.

“I have to tell you something.” He thought to tell her about the time when he hadn’t met her in person yet but followed her from the grocery store back to where they were: her grandmother’s house.

“Yeah?”

“It was the first time I saw you…”