Chapter 11: Belle, Before Him
1042 Words
"Before he ever saw me, I was already trying to survive without being seen."
Belle stood in her dim kitchen, arms wrapped around herself as if her own skin couldn't keep her warm.
The kettle had long since clicked off, the tea inside now cold and untouched. She wasn't thirsty anyway — not for tea. For peace, maybe. For answers. For a version of herself she could hold onto without falling apart.
Outside, the sky blushed with early blue. But inside, it still felt like midnight.
She turned toward the window where the photo sat — her and Xander, a perfect moment in time, frozen and unreachable.
She picked it up gently. Her thumb traced the curve of his jaw.
"You don't know this version of me," she whispered. "But I do. I lived her."
Flashback – Belle at Seventeen
There were no suitcases. Just a tattered backpack. Three shirts. Two notebooks. And the letter that promised her a full scholarship — her one-way ticket out of silence.
The night she left home, no one stopped her.
Her mother didn't even glance up from her ironing when Belle stood by the door, heart thudding like it was trying to claw its way out.
"I'll be leaving," Belle had said, voice steady despite the storm inside her.
Her mother didn't flinch. "Don't come crawling back when you fail."
That was it.
No goodbye. No I love you. No Be safe.
And yet Belle paused outside the door, hoping — pleading — for even the faintest echo of love to follow her.
It didn't.
The rain started as soon as she stepped onto the street.
She didn't have an umbrella. But she walked anyway.
Five Years Ago – Reyes Holdings Lobby
Belle had never felt more invisible than when she first walked into the towering glass doors of Reyes Holdings.
Women with polished shoes clicked past her. Men in suits that smelled like power and legacy filled the air with confidence she didn't possess.
Her blouse was a thrift store find. Her heels were half a size too big. But her resume — that was real. Her mind was real.
Still, it felt like she was shrinking. Folding into herself.
Until he looked at her.
Just a flicker. Just a moment.
But Xander Reyes saw her.
She didn't know his name yet. But something in his eyes paused — like she interrupted a rhythm he hadn't meant to break.
She never forgot it.
Present – Belle and Alana, Balcony Café
Alana leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand. "You talk like he was your rescue story."
Belle frowned. "He wasn't?"
Alana's voice was gentle, but piercing. "You were already saving yourself long before he came."
Silence passed like a long breath.
Belle looked away. "But I didn't know how to be... loved."
Alana smiled softly. "None of us do. Not at first. But you let him in. That was you, Belle. He didn't find you. You chose each other."
Belle blinked back a tear. "Then why does it feel like I'm the only one still choosing?"
Flashback – The First Elevator Ride
He smelled like cedar and early mornings — like something important.
Belle held her folder so tight it bent at the corner.
The elevator was quiet. He was staring at his phone.
And then, right before the doors opened, he spoke.
"You're in corporate strategy, right?"
She looked up, startled. "Y-yes, sir."
He glanced at her, and his voice softened — almost like he wasn't talking to an employee.
"I remember faces. And yours doesn't want to be forgotten."
Her knees nearly buckled.
Present – Belle's Apartment, Late Evening
She sat cross-legged on the floor with the box from under her bed open.
Photos. Letters. Fragments of a life no one else remembered.
At the bottom — the letter.
The one she wrote when the pain became too much to carry. When her husband looked at her like she was a stranger. Like her love was an invasion.
She unfolded the paper, and her own handwriting blinked back at her.
You used to breathe me in like I was oxygen. Now, you flinch when I say your name.
Tears blurred the ink.
Meanwhile – Xander's Office, Midnight
He sat at the long boardroom table, light low, the cityscape glowing behind him.
The letter — her letter — lay open in his lap again.
He'd read it a dozen times. And still, it hit differently each time.
One line in particular undid him.
Even if you forget me, I will remember us.
He rubbed his thumb over the page as if her pain could transfer through paper.
He didn't understand the memories, but he felt their ghosts. The shape of her sorrow fit inside his chest like a puzzle piece he couldn't place.
Flashback – Belle at Twelve
It was her first science project win.
She waited on the school steps under the dim flicker of a streetlamp.
All the other kids were picked up.
She waited until her hands went numb.
She waited until the school guard finally locked the gate and walked her to the sidewalk.
She walked home.
Alone.
Soaked through. Holding her laminated report like it was armor.
When she opened the door, her mother looked up, annoyed. "You're dripping on the carpet."
Belle stared at her, waiting for something — pride, relief, anything.
None came.
The Present – Final Scene
The photo frame was heavy in her hands.
Belle sat on her bed, legs curled beneath her, one hand clutching Xander's frozen smile like a lifeline.
"You knew me, once," she whispered, voice cracking. "You looked at me like I was made of stars, not scars."
She set the photo down gently.
Then reached for the bedside drawer.
Inside was a note she never gave him.
It read:
If you ever forget me, promise me this — don't forget who you were when you loved me.
Belle closed her eyes.
And for one fleeting second, she swore she could feel the warmth of his hand on her back... like he used to in his sleep. Like maybe, somewhere inside, he still remembered how to hold her.
END OF CHAPTER ELEVEN
- Writer
