Beauty and A Beast

Part 6

Another week had passed on by and Chidori was getting used to the manor and its system. There was the Brinewelds on the daily who came and gone and the end of the week, the gardeners would come and make sure the yard and shrubbery were well kept. Though the manor was huge, there was the wing of where the fire had taken place that was cut off from the rest of the house and she wondered as to why Master never had the place fixed. The land was beautiful but the burnt part would always be a reminder of his life that once was.

She also came to realize that there were no portraits of the Manor's current occupants nor former. There was no paintings, no art, nothing to mark the walls as a home and though she wanted to ask Edna why, she didn't have the heart to hear the reasoning.

It was past supper time when she had finished cleaning and dusting and she had made her way to grab another book from the library.

Though the Master forbade her from going into his study, he did not forbid her from utilizing the library and she wanted to take advantage of his vast collection of intellectual books and those of pure fiction.

Quietly, she entered the library and looked through the section where she had eyed a novel earlier and reached for it, using the ladder. The ladder wasn't very helpful as the book was on the taller shelf and she had to stretch further to reach the old spine. She tried once and could not reach until she tried again and she felt the ladder creaking under her feet before an arm shot out to grab the spine of the novel she was reaching for and she felt her heart beat doubled as she moved backwards.

She didn't think because there wasn't anything holding her back and she lost her footing as she flailed her arms in a panic.

Master grabbed her before she fell backwards and she stared into his eyes as he had a hold of her lower back, her arms wrapped around his neck. They stayed, ascended from the ground and something shifted between them. His eyes were beautiful as if they glowed. She knew that before his accident he must have had quite the large amount of women flaunting themselves at him and wanting him to court them. But the fire apparently took everything from him and leaving the evidence of marred, melted flesh. Her fingers itched to touch his scar, her fingers coming up and just the lightest of touch, the pads of her fingers hovered just where his was.

Before she could touch him, he straightened up and placed her on the ground before moving back to fix himself and glaring at her. "I forbade you for coming in here." He said and her voice box had picked up his dark angry voice. She shivered at the sound and shook her head.

You forbade me from entering your study in the evening.

She wrote down on her pad and she could see the tic in his jaw as he shook his head, hiding half his face from view as his hair fell over his scar. "Are you not afraid of me letting you go?" He said as he gave her his back and she noticed he had a slight limp to his walk.

You would have already done so. Chidori signed to him when he had put distance between them and he sighed in response. They were quiet for a few moments before he said, "I apologize for the other week." He said and she could see something in his demeanor and she didn't know if he was ashamed or embarrassed. "It couldn't have been a wonderful sight. If you need a severance to help you forget. I take full responsibility." He said and Chidori had just stared at him in confusion at his words.

Do you solicit often?

She wrote down and she could see the shame in his face as he looked away from her. "Should you be asking your employer this?" Chidori shrugged her shoulders at him. I want to get to know you better.  She wrote down again and he shook his head.

"Why? I'm a beast who pays for company. No woman in her right mind would give me the time. Those who want me to court them, are disgusted of me and just want the wealth. With my paid company, I don't have to pretend." He told her and she understood to an extent.

We are more alike than you think.

She signed and he shook his head and she knew that he was doubting what she was saying. She took the time to write down what she wanted to tell him and he patiently waited before she turned her pad over to him. 

I may look healthy and normal but once people find out that I am mute, or hard of hearing, they either pity me or are disgusted. I have features that are of Reginalds, and if I'm not shunned enough from that, my disability has them turning their backs on me. I should be married now, but no one wants to marry someone like myself. 

Chidori could see him reading her passage and she waited for a response but he didn't give one. Instead he looked at her and she felt that he had really looked at her for once and she did him. I don't believe you are a monster or a beast. She signed to him as she grabbed her book. 

I think you are a man who has lost a lot in a tragedy. But you still have you. You are afraid of others and that it why you close yourself off from the world. She signed once more before turning her back to him and leaving him behind in his own thoughts. She never would have seen the hurt or the sadness that was in his demeanor as she left and continued on with the rest of her night. If he decided he wanted to fire her, she would be fine with that. Her life would not be hers if she never took chances or if she let outsiders decide what she could or could not do. 

Though her fingers shook not from anger but slightly from fear. It was always her mindset that set others off and it might have done just the same when she told her employer exactly what she thought. There would go another well paying job that she may have lost once again.