#nickelle

@thecursedspinner

“Belle?”

Belle!?”

“Earth to Belle! Is anyone in there?”

The light shove to her shoulder brought Belle out of her deep thinking state - something she didn’t realize had happened until, well, until they brought her out of it. 

“Yeah, I’m here! Sorry, what happened?” She asked her friends, clearly oblivious to whatever the three of them had been talking about moments ago.

"We were talking about that stripper from your party.” One of her friends, Janice, informed her with a wide grin, a flirtatious glimmer in her eyes. “You know, the sexy one you were lucky enough to get a personal dance from. What I wouldn’t do for one of those.” She chuckled and the other two joined in on the laughter. 

Those words, and the way she said them, irked Belle a bit. She could feel a strange, not very positive, sensation pooling within her gut. 

“From him, you mean.” One of her other friends, Anna, joined in with a coy smirk. 

“Duh. Who fucking else? With his ass and that cock?” Janice laughed out loud even though she made sure to keep the last of her sentence in a slight whisper since they were in public after all.

Belle rolled her eyes and let out an almost disgusted sounding scoff at her words - not because she disagreed, but because of how they were talking about him. Like he was a piece of meat and nothing more, while also acting like they’d jump at the chance to see him again. But next time, to do more than just watch.

“Oh, please, Belle. Don’t give us that crap,” Janice said to her when she heard that scoff, the grin still on her lips. “You enjoyed it as much as we did. Probably even more since you got the best part of it. And he sure as hell was enjoying it, too. He couldn’t take his eyes off of you!” She exclaimed, giving her friend a gentle shove.

Belle nearly blushed at that. “It was just part of his job, Janice. He had to act interested.” She lied, but they didn’t have to know it was a lie. Because it actually wasn’t. Belle knew it wasn’t because Nick had to act interested, it wasn’t because it was his job to do what he did; no, it was because he actually enjoyed it, because he actually wanted to. His own words. She remembered everything he had told her. About how no one made him feel as aroused as Belle did -he even had to take pills with others -, about how no one else made him feel as good or as wanted as she did, and how with all of his other clients, it was just a job, but with Belle? It was so much more. And her heart skipped a beat just remembering those things he said to her. 

“Yeah, well, he acted pretty damn interested. He was practically begging you to touch his cock!” Janice laughed that slightly annoying laugh which pulled Belle from her thoughts. 

“And hey, didn’t you two know each other or something? Because you two acted like you saw ghosts and then he leaves and you go after him.” The third friend, Ruby, added and Belle’s cheeks turned red again.

“Yeah, what was all that about, anyway?” 

Did they really have to bring that up? Talking about Nick was tough enough as it is, but to bring up the past? She wanted to avoid that. The memories and all the pain that came with them. Sure he apologized and somewhat explained his reasoning for leaving, but...still. It hurt like hell. And it still did to this day and that’s why she had to say goodbye to him. That’s why she changed her mind the next morning about continuing to see him. 

During the night they shared, which was beyond incredible - far more than any night she had with Gaston - Belle began to rethink her engagement and even though about seeing Nick again. She thought that perhaps if they could talk about what happened and put the past behind them, then maybe...maybe they could fix things. Because she still loved him. Deeply and she probably always would, but...but then she began to think about what he did, what happened between them and how he left her without word. An event that broke her, that devastated her and...well, things happened. And thinking about those things made her doubt being with Nick again, it made her terrified, even, so she couldn’t chance it. Their night was spectacular, but that’s all it had to be. One night.

“Nothing. He was just some guy I shacked up with before Gaston, that’s all.” Belle shrugged, hating to lie like that. Not because she hated lying to her friends, but because Nick wasn’t just some guy. He was so much more than that and she hated talking about him in that way, despite everything, but she didn’t want her friends to know the truth and she didn’t want to get into that pain.

“Oh, well, lucky you.” Janice said, almost sounding jealous about it which made Belle roll her eyes. “By the way, when you kicked us out...he was still there, wasn’t he?” Janice asked with a quirked brow. “Did you two...?” 

Belle shot her a look. “Are you actually asking me if I cheated on Gaston?” She asked a little harshly. They didn’t need to know what happened between her and Nick that night because the answer to that question was yes, but she didn’t want them to know. So, what better way to avoid it than answering it with a question? One that would make Janice feel stupid for even asking it.

“No! I...No. Sorry, Belle.” She quickly retracted which is what Belle had hoped for.

“As if she could ever do that. Who would even think about cheating on Gaston?” Anna scoffed and Belle, again, rolled her eyes. “Belle has the best looking guy in town.” Which Belle strongly disagreed with. Sure, he was good looking, but the best? She’s seen better. Last night, in fact. She didn’t know why her friends adored Gaston so much. He was just so...superficial. And a bit arrogant. If he was hearing this conversation about himself, he’d be soaking it up. 

“I don’t know about that. I mean, not anymore. Not after what we saw last night.” Janice quipped with a grin, obviously speaking about Nick. “And we saw a lot of him.” Belle could see Janice was no doubt thinking about Nick naked, she was practically fucking him in her mind right now and Belle was starting to seethe.

“True. Maybe we should have another party...” Anna suggested, shooting Janice a smirk. 

“Party? Please. I think I’m going to request a private showing. I think he does that. I’m going to find out!” She laughed and that did Belle in.

“He actually doesn’t do that.” Belle was quick to speak up, maybe a bit too loud.

Janice narrowed her eyes, almost glaring. “What? How do you know? The place I called -...” 

“He doesn’t do that. Some of them do private showings, but not all of them.” Belle didn’t know if that was true, but she had to think of something. Anything so Janice, or any of her friends for that matter, didn’t contact Nick. The thought of any of them, especially Janice, shacking up with Nick made her stomach churn painfully. An image she wanted to get rid of. And after her night with Nick, well...the thought of him with any other woman left Belle a bit bitter. Though she knew she didn’t have a right to feel that way. She was engaged and she basically ended things with Nick.

“How do you know?” Ruby questioned softly. She was the least calm out of the three. She didn’t seem interested in Nick, but the look on her face made Belle think Ruby suspected something between her and Nick. They were best friends and Ruby even knew about Belle’s hesitance and doubts about Gaston. Well, somewhat anyway.

“He told me.” She stated, knowing they would be confused as to how and when. “Okay, fine. Look, he did stay for a little while after you all left. He apologized for how he acted when he first saw me and wished me good luck in my marriage, nothing else happened.” She shot Janice and Anna a look in hopes to take away any suspicions they had. “But I did thank him for the show and uh, may have asked him about private showings.” 

Anna gasped.

“I was drunk, Anna.” She reminded. “But he told me he usually only does parties. He mentioned having a few friends that do private showings, he just prefers not to. And he doesn’t even do sex.” She shrugged and saw Janice frown and that almost made Belle smile. “I was kind of disappointed about. Again, drunk. Nothing would have happened. But yeah, no private showings and no sex. Said he knows some other guys who do.” She could see the look of disappointment on Janice’s face and Belle had to continue to hold back that smile.

“Whatever. No big deal. I really shouldn’t, anyway.” Janice sighed. “I just couldn’t help the thought.” She shrugged and Belle relaxed into her seat once again.

 It seemed Nick would be left alone, thankfully. But...at the same time, she felt a little concerned. She hoped her lie wouldn’t cause trouble for Nick, especially if they did happen to call his agency and ask. What if she cost him some clients? Some money? Money that he probably needed. Shit. 

“I gotta head out, girls. Lunch break is over.” Ruby said and the other two stood up, mentioning how they had to head back too and Belle stood up as well. 

She was glad their lunch date was over because now she had to call Nick. She had to let him know about her little white lie she told her friends...even though she basically told Nick they couldn’t talk or see each other after that night. But truth be told, she regretted doing that. She hadn’t stopped thinking about him since their night together and watching him walk out of her life, again, hurt immensely. He seemed heart broken and she wouldn’t forget the look in his eyes, yet he seemed understanding given her situation and even wished her the best of luck. She frowned and pulled out her phone, going to her contacts and immediately searching for Nick’s number. 

Ironically, she put in his number after they said goodbye. She said goodbye even though she wasn’t ready to. She said goodbye even though she didn’t want to and now...now she had a reason to contact him again. An excuse to talk to him again. To hear his voice, to see his face. She desperately wanted to see him again, even though she knew she shouldn’t. But being around him made Belle feel happy that night. Even for just those few hours, being with him made her feel good and loved and adored. Being with him took away any concerns, frustration or stress she’d been feeling lately. Being with him just made her feel...carefree and happy. Two things she hadn’t been feeling as of late, certainly not with her engagement, certainly not with Gaston. But Nick made her feel things she hadn’t felt in a while - love, adoration, joy, pleasure and desire. And beyond that, even. And if he made her feel all of that in one night, then it had to mean something. It did mean something. But it shouldn’t. She shouldn’t let it mean anything. Her mind screamed at her to put the phone away. It was the smart and logical thing to do.