Belle's POV

"Hey Zach, how about ice cream? Let's go and have some ice cream, and you can also play in the playground on our way back" I asked Zach, this was my fourth try in the last 45 minutes to make him talk to me.  

"Look at him, now he is not even looking at me, this little man is a tough guy,  " I thought and released a sigh.

Suddenly my phone rang, after reading the name 'AGNES' my heart filled with happiness as I picked up the call.

"Hey, Agnes! Thank God!" My happiness was over the top.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! What happened? Is every alright?" she was worried. Meanwhile, I came out in the garden

"No! Nothing's alright here, Zach is not talking to me for the last 45 minutes!" I replied.

"What?... But why?" she asked.

"Well it's totally my fault, I accidentally told him the truth that you and Eric went on a date while he was sleeping, and now it has been 45 minutes and he is still not talking to me" I explained to her the whole story.

"What?..." she was shocked, "..Belle! You gave me a heart attack over here!...That was it?", she asked.

" What do you mean by 'that was it'? He is not talking to me for THE LAST 45 MINUTES, you think it's not a big deal? Huh?" I asked.

"Fine! Let me talk to him" she replied.

I went to his room and said as I gave him my phone "Mommy wants to talk to you Zach", he took the phone and I went out of his room as he needed some space with his mom.

Zach is the cutest 4-year old I have ever seen but the fact that I made him feel sad makes me feel like a devil. I was sitting on the sofa, waiting for him. He has this habit, if you make him upset, he would not talk to you till he tells his mommy the whole story about how you made him so upset. I knew that it would take him around 20 minutes to tell his mommy the whole story of me making him upset, so I was just sitting.

Finally, after 25 minutes, Zach came out, he returned my phone and said: "I want an Oreo ice cream" with the cutest facial expression "Sure, my little marshmallow" I said pinching his chubby cheeks and we went out.

I was so happy that he was talking to me again and that we had our dinner out. On our way back, Zach wanted to play so he went to the playground. He was playing as if he was never upset. I found this funny and I was curious to know what actually Agnes had told him that he forgot everything. After some time we went home.

I was helping him to take a bath when he said "I'm sorry, Belle, for not talking to you" his voice carried guilt.

"It's okay my little bunny, I really happy now that you are talking to me", I said patting his little head.

He was smiling, we played with bubbles, Zach was enjoying his bath. After playing for some time, I wrapped him in a towel and bought him to his room, and helped him dress up. Maybe, he was too tired, because as soon as I lied him down on his bed, he fell asleep, I kissed his forehead and went out of his room.

I went to the kitchen to drink some water. While drinking the water, I heard the doorbell ring, and went to open the door and found the love birds, Eric and Agnes.

" Where is he?" Eric asked entering the house. " He is sleeping in his room, maybe he was tired from all playing " I replied and asked, "By the way how was your date?"

"All thanks to you Belle, you were taking care of Zach so we were not worried about him, because to you we could spend some time together after a long time," Agnes said hugging me.

We did a little chit-chat while sitting in the living room. Then I came to know that Agnes had promised Zach that she will take him to his favorite restaurant leaving his father, Eric at home without the internet. After some time, I said "Guys I think I should leave now"

"What? No! You are sleeping over" Eric said.

" No, Eric, I think I should leave, I'll sleep over some other day," I said.

" Is something wrong, dear?" Agnes asked.

"No Agnes, I'm perfectly fine, I just wanted to take a walk," I said smiling.

"Fine then," said Agnes disappointed. I hugged them and left their house.

On my way back, I bought some sleeping pills for myself. It was a long walk home but it felt nice. The cold wind relaxed my mind and body. I was happy recalling all the memories of today.

I reached home, unlocked the door, and went inside. 

"What a long and wonderful day it was, " I thought entering the bedroom. I was happy and smiling as I sat at my study table to write about my day in my diary, it is a habit that I have got from my mother.

Suddenly my phone started ringing and my smile faded away. I picked up the call.

" It's been a while since you have called, I thought you forgot me, that's why I called," said the old man's voice from the other side.

I sighed.

" What is it, Mr. Robert?" I asked coldly.

"Come on dear, don't use your father's tone while talking to me" he was irritated now.

"Then, tell me what is it ?" I asked again.

" I called because I missed you. And..."

"And?" I asked.

"...and I have heard that you haven't shifted to some other in a while, so can I--"

I cut him off and said, "No! Don't even think about it!"

"Fine! Sweetheart, but at least tell me where you live? I promise I will not come over", he said.

" It's far from where you live, nobody knows my real identity here, which helps me live peacefully" I replied.

" Why are you doing this to yourself?" he asked with the pain in his voice.

I sighed and said, "You know it very well, Mr. Robert, and please don't call me again."

I was about to end the call when he said "It's not your fault"

"I know" I replied.

"I miss you, child," he said emotionally.

"Time to say goodbye Mr.Robert," I said coldly and end the call.

I sighed. My mood was ruined. I wanted to sleep but I couldn't, even after having the sleeping pills. I walked towards the window and started looking outside. Everything was peaceful outside.

"Look, I am living in this neighborhood for the last 4 years but nobody knows my true self. For them, I am Belle Ray, a 24-year-old girl, who is currently unemployed and babysits her best friends Eric and Agnes Scotts' 4-year son, Zach. They can't even imagine who this Belle Ray really is. Is she a simple unemployed girl or something else? " I mused and went to bed for another sleepless night.

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***Thanks For Reading*. ☺💜**

Belle's POV

"This is all your fault!! Because of you, I've lost Lisa, and now, look what you did!"

"Believe me... it's not my-

"SHUT UP!!"

"Please...let me explain-

"Leave!"

"But...Da-

"LEAVE!!!"

I jolted up. I was out of breath, my face and body were covered in sweat.

"T-This... nightmare.. won't let me sleep," I mumbled to myself catching my breath.

While rubbing my face, I noticed the clock placed on the nightstand, it reads 5:00 am.

"I hardly slept for an hour or two."

Then, I got up and went to the bathroom to wash up. It was useless to lie on the bed like an alligator, as I knew, I won't be falling asleep again. These days, even these sleeping pills don't make me sleepy. I should tell Agnes about this, as apart from being a best friend, she is also my doctor.

It took me around 15 mins to wash up. After washing up, I came out of the bathroom, wiping my face with a towel. I noticed the time, it was 5:20.

"Come on, it so early, what do I do now?" I asked myself, throwing the towel on the bed. I went towards the window, stretching my arms and neck.

It was a beautiful morning and the weather was also nice.

"Ahh...my muscles are stiff from the lack of sleep, maybe some exercise and fresh air would help me relax my body, " I thought and walked towards the wardrobe to put on some sportswear.

I don't have many fancy clothes. My wardrobe is mostly filled with comfy clothes like oversized t-shirts, shorts, pajamas, and some knee-length frocks. To be precise 50% of my wardrobe is filled with comfy clothes other 35% is filled with sportswear and the last 15% is filled with some fancy clothes. I choose to wear a pink half sleeves t-shirt with gray leggings and pink sports shoes. And then I was ready with my water bottle and earphones for a run.

As soon as I stepped out of my house, I could feel the cold morning wind touching my face and relaxing my nerves. I love to exercise 'cause this the only way I feel my mind and body relax. After a little warm-up, I started jogging which eventually turned into running.

After running in the neighborhood for an hour or so I came back home covered in sweat.

As soon as I entered the house, I went straight to the bathroom to take a nice cold shower. The feeling of cold water touching your skin after a nice workout was amazing. And, the feeling, after a nice refreshing shower, when you wear a loose top with a pair of loose shorts is even more amazing.

I checked myself in the mirror one last time before going to the kitchen to have breakfast, I was wearing a solid white half sleeves loose top with blue shorts, my long brown hair was tied in a messy braid. This look was good enough for a lazy person like me.

I went to the kitchen. There pretended to happily search for something delicious in the fridge. And like always, in the end, I ended up having cereal for breakfast. I was eating when I got I call from Agnes, asking me to join them for lunch as Mrs. Smith was coming over to their place.

As an answer, I said yes. Why? Because, Mrs. Smith, is a close friend of Mr. Scott and is a very important person to the Scott family, I don't know why. But this is not the point, the main point is, there are going to be many delicious things to eat. And I am too lazy to cook for myself, today, which is why I can not miss out on this golden opportunity.

As Mrs. Claudia Smith is an important person to the Scott family, Agnes, like always had asked me to wear something which will make me look like an elegant girl. Truly speaking, to me, what I am wearing right now is elegant enough. But, for Agnes and her family, I have to wear something which they find is elegant.

So now, I am standing in front of my wardrobe's 15% of fancy clothes section looking for something 'elegant'. It's hard to find something 'elegant' in the wardrobe of a person like me. But finally, after searching for 30 mins, I found an 'elegant' dress. It was a plain, peach sleeveless, knee-length dress.

"Ok...It's Time To Dress Up!!" I shouted to motivate myself and went to the bathroom with the dress.

Normally, I take hardly 5 mins to get ready. But to look elegant today, it took me 20 mins to get ready. Still faster than most of the girls, I guess. I looked at myself in the mirror, I was wearing this 'elegant' dress. I haven't done anything much to my hair, just made them fall loose, as I am too lazy to do anything to my hair now. I don't wear makeup, but a little mascara and a nude lipstick are fine.

Unfortunately, don't have footwear to match my 'elegant' look. But somehow, I was able to find a pair of flat beige sandals. I wore them with the thought that Mrs. Claudia is not coming over to Scott's place to look at my feet. And, finally, a beige sling bag to put my phone and money as this 'elegant' dress doesn't have pockets.

After doing some other last things, I came out of the house. Agnes and Eric, the Scott's, live close to my place. I took a short cut which was only a 5 mins walk and I reached Scott's place. I noticed a luxury car parked before their house, this was Mrs. Smith's car.

Mrs. Claudia Smith is a nice lady. I've met her a few months ago, she treats me like her daughter. She is a lovely lady.

I went inside the house and found everyone well dressed. Mr. Scott, Eric's father was also there.

"Hello everyone!" I greeted them.

"Oh, you're here!" Mr. Scott said happily.

" Long time no see, Mr.Scott, " I greeted him with a smile.

"Hello, Mrs. Smith" I greeted her, and she embraced me in her motherly hug.

"Child, I missed you so much," she said, and I smiled.

After the greetings were over, we were seated. We did a little chit chat. Asked about each other's well being and did all other things you do when you meet a person after a long time.

After talking for some time, Mrs. Smith, suddenly asked me "Belle, how old are you?" "I'm 24" I replied.

But my first thought after listening to her question was Why is she asking my age? Am I behaving like Zach again?" Agnes told me, that most of the time I behave like a child.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Mrs. Smith asked with a smile.

"Belle and boyfriend! Mrs. Smith, you are funny" Eric said laughing.

"No, Mrs. Smith, I don't have a boyfriend," I told her.

Inside my mind, I was begging her, "Now..please don't ask me why...please, Mrs. Smith."

I was a little annoyed because I was here to eat and not to answer all these weird questions.

"Do you have any plans?" she asked another question.

"Plans?" I was confused.

"I mean plans about marriage, do you have any?" she clarified.

"No, Mrs. Smith, why would I think about marriage? I mean, I am doing great on my own." I told her hurriedly.

I was surprised by what she was asking me. It was not like her, talking about marriage.

"Why not Belle, do you know you should've gotten married by now," Mr. Scott said with a concerned expression.

"Why is everyone talking about my marriage?"

the question was all over in my mind.

"It's not like that, actually I don't have anyone to marry, I mean, I don't know the right person to marry," I said to change the topic but regretted it the next moment.

After listening to my statement, Mrs. Smith happily said, "My son, Jason Smith, he is around your age. And, I think you two are the great match, so what do you think, Belle?" after listening to Mrs. Smith's words I cursed myself for being so lazy to cook myself a simple lunch.

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𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙎𝙤 𝙈𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜.😄💜

Belle's POV

"I am an idiot, I knew that I'm not good at changing topics, then why?... Why?!... I said that stupid thing. Belle, you're an IDIOT! How can you even say such a thing, ' I don't know the right person to marry' like seriously Belle, you can't even make up things properly, " I was mocking and cursing myself.

"Belle, why you're thinking so hard, Mrs. Smith is joking", Eric told me laughing. "It was a prank, Belle, but look at your face, so serious" he mocked.

"All of a sudden, everyone was talking about the marriage that caught me off guard," I told them and took a sigh of relief.

"But, Belle, what do you mean by you don't know the right person to marry?" Agnes asked with a funny facial expression.

"Oh! Don't overthink, I was too surprised, and that was the only thing that came out of my mouth. I also found it stupid" I replied embarrassment was filled in my voice.

"It was a prank, we planned it before you came," Eric said with a smile.

Then, we all went to have our lunch together.

Finally, the moment came when we were having our lunch. As I knew, there were many special dishes to eat, most of them were my favorite.

The second thing which I love wholeheartedly after exercising is eating. These two are my most favorite things to do. While having our lunch, I didn't notice what everyone else was doing, because, for me, when you eat, you should only focus on eating, so that you can enjoy the hidden flavors of the food.

After lunch, while talking, I got a phone call. It was impolite to pick up in the middle of people, talking, so I excused myself and went to the garden. I came back after 10 mins while entering the hall, where everyone was, I heard that they were talking about me, but I don't know what.

As I entered I heard Agnes saying "Please, don't talk about this in front of Belle, she hates when people-

"I hate what Agnes?" I asked, with a confused expression.

"No...nothing, I was telling Mrs. Smith that you hate lizards and hate to talk about them," she said with an awkward laugh.

"Yeah... I hate them" I said, but I was confused, from her being awkward.

"What took you so long?" Mr. Scott asked.

"Oh, right! I have to go now, so I'll take my leave." I told them

"Ahm... Okay," Agnes said, still awkward.

I came out of their house, thinking "What's up with everyone? Why they're behaving like this?"

Then, I went to the park to relax. What happened today was disturbing. Eric told me that it was a prank, but it didn't felt like one at all. Something was wrong with their behavior, today.

I stayed in the park for 45 mins or maybe an hour, sitting on the bench, looking at the beautiful surroundings. Then, I went home, I was tired of this 'elegant' dress. So, as soon as I entered the house, I dashed to the bedroom and got rid of that 'elegant' dress.

Then, I went to the bathroom, took a quick shower, and came out wearing my favorite pink 'LET'S SLEEP' oversized t-shirts with shorts. I wasn't feeling hungry. So, lied on the bed and turned on the TV to watch some cartoons, but to kill the fun, my doorbell ringed.

I opened the door and found Mrs. Smith there.

"Mrs. Smith?" I said, more like a question.

"Are you not going to invite me in?" she said. "Oh! I'm-I'm sorry, please come in" I was confused by her sudden arrival.

"Please make yourself comfortable Mrs. Smith, I'll bring some water for you," I said hurriedly.

"I'm fine, Belle, I am here to talk to you," she said with a warm smile.

"Talk to me?" I asked pointing my index finger towards my face with a confused expression. " I think we should sit and talk," she said sitting on the sofa.

I sat on the opposite sofa, facing her.

"Mrs. Smith, what is it that you want to talk about?" I was feeling a bit nervous now. "Belle, I don't know from where to start..." she said. I was looking at her, then she continued "...do you remember, today, I asked you many questions?", she asked.

"Yeah, I remember", I told her.

"So, what you think?" she asked.

I was confused about what she was asking me.

"About what?" I asked with a nervous smile. "About marrying my son, you said, you don't know a person to marry, so I asked you to think about marrying my son, Jason" she explained, "So, what do you think?" she asked again.

My smile faded. I was shocked by what she asked me.

"Mrs. Smith, I have already told everyone before, and now, I am telling you again. I was really surprised when everyone started talking about my marriage. So, I accidentally said that I don't know the right person to marry. The truth is, I don't want to marry. I'm happy single, " I told her seriously, then I asked, " But, why you're taking my words so seriously, Mrs. Smith? It was a prank."

"It wasn't a prank, Belle." she said, "You were thinking so hard at that time that Eric got worried and said it was a prank. But it wasn't, I seriously asked you to think of marrying my son".

"What?" I asked in disbelief.

" My main purpose to visit the Scott's, today, was to ask you about your marriage plans," she said.

Now, I was so annoyed.

"Mrs. Smith, you are like a mother to me and I respect you. I don't wanna be rude to you, but, my marriage is my personal matter and I don't want you to interfere." I said as calmly as I could.

"Child, I can understand how you're feeling right now. I know, you need some time to think, take your time, I am waiting," she said while getting up.

"But, why me?" I asked "Mrs. Smith, why you want to wait for my answer?" she was walking towards the door to leave, after listening to my words, she turned and said with a warm smile "You will come to know once you'll marry Jason," and then she left.

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𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜. 😄💜