#storybrook

The birds sang merrily from the trees. The warm sun's rays gently stroked the doll skin of Rosaleen's bare shoulders and back. Bending down to pick up wildflowers and collecting them in the wicker basket she held in her hand, she gathered the petticoats of her loose-fitting and flowy chestnut-colored dress with her free hand and her thin blond hair fell in a cascade of golden curls over her chest. It was a spring day as she loved them. She straightened up when her basket was nearly full, deciding to go home and took a breath enjoying the sun warming her cheeks. When a voice rose behind her as she thought she was alone in this clearing, the young woman turned with a start, bringing a hand to her chest.

“What is such a beautiful creature doing alone in the forest? Picking flowers, huh ? That’s kinda cliché, isn’t it ?”

“I already told you not to come like that behind my back without warning, Jefferson.”

He laughed as he stood up from the tree he had leaned against for God only knows how long. It wasn’t the first time Rosaleen asked him that, but it seemed like he was taking a genuine pleasure in seeing her first being caught off guard, and then happy to see him. He loved to see that bewitching smile take shape on that angelic face of hers as soon as she saw him. Each time it happened that way, in that specific order.

“Come on, Rose. Don’t tell me you don’t like that kind of suprise.” Theatrically, he pointed to himself, making large, exaggerated gestures with his hands. If she was being honest, yes, she liked that kind of surprise. He jumped off the prominent root he was standing on as if it were on some stage showcasing him for all the inhabitants of the forest and approached Rosaleen with this seductive smile of his. “You don’t like that kind of surprise ?”

She put her basket at her feet. He knew very well that she would never answer yes to such a question. He took her doll face in his hands and stroked her soft skin, drawing small circles on her cheek with his thumb. His blue eyes quickly got lost into her priceless emerald irises. Her whole being was priceless and precious to him. She was the creature that kept him on his feet, head on shoulders. The Mad Hatter with his hint of sanity personified into this cottage core princess. He still had a hard time admitting to himself that this treasure of a woman loved him. He had a hard time to understand how so much perfection could fit into one single person as well but, she was the proof that everything was possible.

“What is it ?” She giggled. He had been caressing her face, silently admiring the deep beauty of her eyes for a long minute already.

“Nothing. You’re just beautiful.” She opened her mouth to answer, but he stopped her by putting his lips onto hers. He loved the sweet taste of her rosy lips. She got up lightly on her tiptoes and put her arms around his neck as he kept one hand to her face, and slid the other one down her lower back, pulling her closer to him tenderly. It was always how their kisses were. Like their embrace, their kiss was romantic and tender, full of love. Pure love, as the people in their land liked to put it. They both looked forward to the next time before they even hugged each other. Slowly and a little reluctantly, he pulled his lips away from hers and interrupted the hug.

“I want to take you somewhere.” He breathed out.

“Where ?”

He had got her suddenly quite curious. He smiled mischieviously and took off his so peculiar top hat from one hand, putting it on the groung in front of them before spinning it. He held out his hand for her to take and she grabbed it, interweaving her thin fingers with his. He motioned to her to do like him even though he knew she was aware of what she was supposed to do right now, and jumped into the spinning hat, dragging her along with him. When they landed, Rosaleen felt Jefferson's hands covering her eyes.

“What are you doing ? Where are we ?” She laughed. “Come on let me see. Take off your hands.”

He slipped his hands around her waist, holding her close against him, no longer obstructing her view. She let out an amazed gasp as she looked around. She didn't really know where they were, but it didn't matter. They were standing in the middle of an endless field of colorful and shimmering flowers. It was a landscape that highly delighted the young woman and Jefferson was more than glad that this was the effect this place had on her.

“Happy birthday, Rosie.” He smiled at her even though she had her back to him. She turned to face him, without him having to remove his hands from her waist and placed another soft kiss on his lips.

“You remembered.” She said quietly.

“Of course. How could I not remember.” His smile grew bigger. “It’s my favorite day of the year.”

Rosaleen stayed in his arms for a long moment, enjoying the embrace, enjoying this peaceful moment for as long as it could last. Jefferson couldn't see how precious he was to her too. For him, she deserved the world, but he, well he wasn't even worthy of her love. After a while cuddling in the middle of all these beautiful flowers, under the warm sun, they returned to the enchanted forest. Rosaleen didn't want her poor old father to worry about her being away for so long. She knew that if she didn’t come home, he would start to worry. He was really proctecting of her, but he had never told her why, despite how much she would ask him. It was as if he just didn’t want to give an answer at all, and just managed to change of subject every single time she asked, so after a few years, she stopped asking. She kept her questions in the back of her head, waiting for the right moment to finally formulate them all out loud. Jefferson’s opinion on that was that her father owed her answers but, Rosaleen on the other hand, didn’t want to rush her father. She didn't want to risk starting an argument. She hated people arguing and didn't want to be into an argument herself. She avoided conflicts like the plague.

Her only flaw was perhaps her passivity. She lived her quiet life with her father in their cottage house, deep in the enchanted forest, picking flowers, selling them at the market, seeing Jefferson and spending time with him. She had her habits and liked to stay in her comfort zone, in this little world of her own. She didn't like changes. Jefferson was part of her world now, and she still had to make him understand how much she loved him and cared for him. It seemed to her as if she had always been with him, by his side, but when she thought about it, she had met him, the guy who made her feel butterflies in the pit of her stomach everytime she looked at him, when they were both only 16-year-old, and they were now almost 18-year-old. On one hand, it hadn't been that long since the two of them were a thing, but on the other hand, she felt the opposite and knew deep down that she wanted to spend her whole life with him, marry him, have a little house of their own, have children together and grow old by his side.

Rosaleen gaily swung the basket in her hand, humming distractedly, lost in her thoughts. She opened the door to her house and went to put the basket on the kitchen table. She looked for something to tie the flowers she had picked earlier into a bouquet and, holding it in her hand, looked around. She was starting to wonder why there was no noise and why she was still alone inside the house. Usually, as soon as she would set one foot on the path in front of the house, her father would appear at the door.

“Papa ?” She walked around the house, keeping the bouquet in her hand, but not seeing her father inside, she suddenly realized where he must be. She went outside and walked towards the greenhouse behind the house. She slowly opened the door and smiled softly when she saw her father, crouching down next to the rose her late mother loved so much. He was silent the whole time and didn't even look at her when she put a hand on his shoulder.

“18 years ago, you appeared, right there.” He pointed out the red rose standing proud in front of him. “It was both the best and the worst day of my life.”

“I know, you told me the story a hundred times, dad.” She said, quietly.

“Let’s go back to the house. You didn’t come home to see your poor old man cry.” He stood up and turned to the door, getting ready to exit, but Rosaleen stood in front of him with a small smile on her face and held up the bouquet of wildflowers to him. He took the bouquet and kissed his daughter's forehead. “It’s your birthday, and you’re the one offering me something ? It isn’t right sweetheart.”

“I don’t need a present, papa. Spending my birthday with you is all I need, and all I want.” They returned to the house and her father placed the flowers in a small vase.

“Where were you all afternoon ?” He looked at her. “You went out this morning, and you only come back now.”

“I just lost track of time, that’s all.” She shrugged, looking away. Since the death of her mother, her father had always been very protective and didn't want to lose his little princess at any cost, so obviously she had never mentioned Jefferson. Ever. She had always thought that he would be unhappy about it and the more the time passed the more it became a real secret that she kept from him and the more she feared his reaction once he would find out. Jefferson made her happy, truly and deeply, but she didn’t want to hurt her father.

“Tell me the truth, Rose.”

“I was only picking flowers.” She insisted, and her father finally gave up. One day she would tell him about this man she loved so much and wanted to spend her life with, but she still didn't feel ready to talk about something so serious to her father.

Lucy put on her coat and walked out of the store. Like every Saturday afternoon, she was going to the river that flowed in the forest surrounding the town of Storybrook to spend some time reading and enjoying the peaceful nature. She got into her car, put her purse on the passenger seat next to her and drove off. Once she got there, she crashed on the gravels, sitting crosed-legs. She relaxed for several hours by the body of water before her phone vibrated and snapped her out of her reverie. The book she was holding in her hands slipped from her and almost landed in the river. Luckily she caught up to it and managed to avoid the worst. She sighed and pulled her cell phone out of her coat pocket. It was Mary Margaret that was calling her.

“Yes, Mary Margaret ?”

“Hi, Lucy. Hope I’m not bothering you, I can call back later-”

“No, it’s fine. Really.” Lucy smiled even though her friend couldn't see her through the phone. “Did you have an order to pick up at the store? I'm sorry, it's my day off.”

“No.” She could almost picture Mary Margaret shaking her head on the other end of the line. “ Well, I went to the store but I didn’t find you there. I forgot it was your day off so, I was just calling to hear from you.”

“Hear from me ?” Lucy was a bit surprised. She could just go to the school if Mary Margaret wanted to see, to her place or even to Granny’s to chat over a drink or a coffee. There was no need to call for that, the town wasn’t small but they weren't that far apart from each other. Lucy took a second before speaking again. “You could have just texted me, you know. Not that I mind having you on the phone. Not at all. Don’t take it the wrong way. Just… you know.”

“Why don't we join at Granny's then?” Mary Margaret asked.

“Yeah, sure. Let’s join there in thirty minutes. Does that work for you ?”

“Sure, see you, Lucy.”

“Bye, Mary Margaret.” She hung up.

The young woman stood up. She needed to bring her book back home before joining her friend at the dinner, she didn't want to carry it around any longer. She walked back to where she had parked her car, by the only road allowing people to get in or out of Storybrook. She put away her purse and sat down in the driver's seat. She closed the door and drove away. After barely two minutes, the car stopped for no reason. Lucy tried over and over to restart it but the engine just sputtered each time, and nothing happened. The car didn't move an inch. Lucy kept trying desperatly, before realizing the reason for this was obvious. She was out of gasoline.

“Shoot.” She cursed as she let her head fall back onto the headrest in her seat.

All she could do for now was call the tow truck and wait for her car to be picked up back to town. The annoying thing was that her car was in the middle of the road, and it bothered her to have to leave it there. Luckily, this road was very lightly traveled, and no traffic was likely to be disturbed by her car. She tried to push it to the side, but obviously didn't have the strength and gave up before finally calling the tow truck. Shit. Her phone was almost out of battery and she didn't know how long this whole damn thing was going to take her, and Mary Margaret was probably going to have to wait for her at Granny's a little longer. Fortunately, for now, there was still time. She had a little less than thirty minutes to get there. Everything was going to be fine. She called the town garage and was told that a tow truck should arrive to her location shortly. She sighed and leaned against the body of her car for a second. The tow truck was going to arrive shortly, she had understood it well, but she didn't know what they really meant by shortly.

Last thing she knew, she was walking down the road back to town on her own. She stopped and looked behind her, but she couldn't see her car from where she was, which made her realize that she had walked quite a distance in she didn't know how much time. She wasn't too concerned about why she was walking instead of continuing to wait for the tow truck, she had probably zoned out again and must have gone lost in her own thoughts. She was a bit of a daydreamer, so it wasn't too unusual for that kind of thing to happen to her. She started walking again and felt drops fall on her head. She raised her head. The sun was no longer high in the sky as before in the afternoon. The latter was hidden by a large and gray cloudy veil and the temperature had cooled down. She didn't understand why she hadn't paid attention to it before. She picked up the pace and even started to run, covering her head with her coat, when it started to rain.

She quickly found herself in front of a large manor and without thinking, took refuge on the porch. Strands of her blonde hair were glued to her face, on which drops were streaming. She grumbled and wiped her cheeks before turning to the door. It was as imposing as the rest of the house. She thought, biting her lip, hesitating to knock on the door and disturb anyone who lived there, but her situation was somewhat desperate. It was raining too much for her to walk back to town on her own, and she didn't even have an umbrella, so she could just forget it completely. It would be pure madness to run under such a downpour with barely a cloak over her head. If she didn't catch a cold, she would for sure arrive soaked at Granny's, and she didn't like not being presentable if she was walking around town. After a second of torturing her mind and deciding whether to knock or not, she ended up knocking anyway. Asking for a little help was her only option for now. She waited. There was nothing happening for long seconds, and she let her gaze wander until the sound of a key in the front door lock made her turn instantly back towards the door. Her gaze met that of a man with blue eyes who seemed to freeze when he saw her.

“Hi, I’m sorry. My car broke down further up the road and I found myself having to walk in the rain, and uh,” She reached for her phone and sighed. “and my phone just died. Ugh. Great.”

“Don't stay outside, come in.” The well-dressed man said, inviting her inside. She smiled at him and did so, welcoming the comforting warmth of his home happily. He took her jacket from her and put it on a coat rack near a radiator where it could dry a little. She turned suddenly to him, extending her hand lightly.

“I’m sorry, again.” She chuckled. “I didn’t even introduced myself.”

“It’s fine-” The man didn’t sound really comfortable but she didn’t pay much attention.

“I’m Lucy Reynolds, I run a flower shop with my father in town.” He took her hand and shook it.

“I’m Jefferson.” He mentally noted what she had just said to him. “Take a seat in the living room. Make yourself at home. I'll get my phone, so you can use it.”

“Thank you so much.”

He nodded and walked away. Lucy entered the living room. It was a large luxurious room but the element that caught her eye was the piano which sat proudly near the sofa and the fireplace. She let her eyes wander over the lustrous black wood of the instrument. It was a magnificent grand piano. She pulled out the bench and sat down, carefully pulling up the cover that covered the piano keys. She remembered taking piano lessons as a child, but was afraid she would be a little rusty, plus the piano was not hers, so she was even more hesitant to let her urge to play take over. Eventually, she bit the inside of her cheek and let her slender fingers run gracefully over the white and black piano keys. She closed her eyes and let herself be carried away by her own music. Soft and beautiful, that spread through the living room. When she heard a tray being put down on the coffee table, she stopped suddenly.

“I’m sorry. I think I took the make yourself at home part a little bit too seriously.” She chuckled awkwardly as she closed the cover of the piano keys. She tried to stand up, but inadvertently stuck her foot in the piano stand. Jefferson held out his arms and grabbed her immediately before she fell and hurt herself. She grabbed his arms to hold onto him and looked up at him, letting a laugh escape her lips. She had the impression that her cheeks were going to catch fire. “I really didn't expect to embarrass myself so much in such a short amount of time. I swear I'm not that clumsy usually.”

“I know.” She frowned slightly, not quite understanding why he was saying that as he let go off her. He cleared his throat. “I meant, I guess you aren’t, if you say so.”

He invited her to sit on the sofa and served her tea after handing her his phone. She couldn't remember Mary Margaret's personal number, so she tried to call Granny's landline, crossing her fingers that Mary Margaret was there. She was relieved when she heard Ruby's voice.

“Granny’s dinner-”

“Hey, Ruby, it’s Lucy. Is Mary Margaret there ?” A short silence let Lucy understand that the young woman was checking around into the diner.

“Yes, she just arrived. Why ? Is something wrong ?”

“No- I mean, yes. I had a problem with my car and I was supposed to join her there. Can you tell her that I might be late? Or if she doesn't want to wait, that we can meet at the diner tomorrow?”

“Sure, Lucy.” She heard the voice of the young waitress move away from the phone and address Mary Margaret. After about twenty seconds, she spoke to Lucy again. “She says you can take your time, she’ll wait for you here. She's in no hurry.”

“Okay, thank you, Ruby.” Ruby welcomed her and hung up. Lucy handed his phone back to Jefferson. “Thanks again.”

“It’s my peasure, really.” He smiled at her, insisting on the fact that there was no need to keep thanking him or apologising for bothering him. Simply because she wasn’t bothering him at all. When the downpour died down slightly, Jefferson escorted Lucy back to the front door. Her coat had dried out and was now very warm. He accompanied her to the porch, after grabbing an umbrella. When he opened it to not only shelter her from the rain but him too, she looked up at him.

“I don’t want to make you waste more of your time because of me. I can go back to town on my own now. It’s fine.”

“You are quite stubborn, aren't you?” He looked into her green eyes. “Let me give you a ride to Granny’s.”

He parked in front of the diner and after thanking him and apologising for thanking him an umpteenth time, she got out of the car and entered the restaurant. Mary Margaret waved at her and motioned for her to join her at her table. Lucy breathed out, putting her purse by her side as she sat down.

“Long day ?” Mary Margaret teased, taking a sip of her coffee.

“Unexpected long day.” Lucy confirmed, nodding to Ruby who looked at her, silently asking if she wanted to order something right now. The waitress approached, smiling.

“Let me guess... seeing your face, you really need a good coco.”

“Right guess, Ruby.” Lucy laughed as the young brunette walked away after mentally taking note of what she wanted.

[To be continued...]  

Chapter one / Chapter two / Chapter three / Chapter four