romance by chance

[Belle J'aime Binoche]

B joining the mystery picnic basket event was belle's way of finding out if the fates were voting in her favor this month. she had met a tall dark and handsome man at the bonfire a few weeks back. in her opinion they really connected on a level that she had yet to do with anyone around the small town of walten city. belle so longed for adventure in her life and al had that certain quality about him. miss belle binoche was looking for a sign from the divine if you will. instead of just making a date with him, she decided to enter the contest and see if he would take a chance upon her french flared picnic promise. of course, there could be a chance that all her efforts would be in vain as another man could big on her basket. that was where her optimism and pure belief in beautiful romance wavered her doubt. and so, belle waited anxiously backstage with the other women. they all seemed fairly calm with the idea of having a blind picnic date. the way they talked amongst each other suggested that they all hoped it would be someone handsome with a hot body. soribelle squeezed a piece of her bottom lip between her left canines and tried to listen with all her might for the voices. she thought that perhaps she could recognize anyone's voice, but this was also wishful thinking for belle barely spoke more then two words to anyone really. no one really sought her out for engaging conversation.

with the description of each basket being called out her heart raced a beat or two faster. her fingers moved over each individual pearl on her necklace, moving right under her finger nail and onto the next pearl. when they announced the bidding would begin, she immediately heard the voices of men call out their price. each basket was in order and when her basket came around, belle took in a breath. a mantra kept repeating in her head over and over. to be strong, optimistic and no matter who it is that wins the bid she will have a good time with them. belle straightened out her back and stared into the back of the curtain, then over to the expression on the faces of the ladies beside her. some of them looked rather disappointed with the amount of money their baskets were settled at. one especially cool collected woman to her right looked down right affronted by the price, as she if she believed she was worth 10 times what her basket made. belle could care less if the payed 10 dollars, as long as the person was right. finally, the bidding was over and what felt like an eternity back stage had ended as well. the host announced the baskets one by one and each woman walked through the middle of the curtain to which she was presented her highest bidder.

when it was belles turn, she made sure to show a dazzling smile as she made her way towards the middle of the curtain. the weight on her shoulders dissolved just as quickly when she saw that it was actually al that was her highest bidder. there was even a small blush trying to break free through the apples of her cheeks, one that illuminated her face in the night. there were cheers from all around the crowd, and instead of a plastered smile she had one that was truly genuine. al came onto the stage beside her as all the others were made to do and they both intertwined arms. making their way over to the line of contestants and winners, belle leaned over to say. i 'oped it was you

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t a g s----* al
o u t f i t----* le outfit
n o t e s------* complete[/size][/blockquote][/blockquote][/font]

[Andrew Carter Langsten]

Social gatherings weren't exactly Al's thing. He was not hte type that would like to be in the middle of town with everyone else that was in the city and enjoy himself with everyone else. Most of the time it was because people would walk right past him like he wasn't even there or if they did look at him, they would look at his disheveled appearance and shake their heads at him. Either that or they would end up recognizing him as the now good Andrew Langsten who was pretty much the disappointment of his adoptive parents lives. He just didn't fit into plans. He wasn't book smart enough to satisfy their goal of having him go to law school or whatever the hell they had wanted him to do. He couldn't remember anymore that was almost ten years ago. Now Andrew was twenty six and he was pretty much in the same place as he was back then. It wasn't as if he had a degree, a job, or any source of income unless you counted his roommates. Al was basically just your basic average bum getting by in life by living off the fruits of his roommates labors.

So the fact that Andrew was out and about during this event in town, really meant something. He already knew that it meant something of course, but the fact that he was really here really meant that he was accepting that meaning. He had met Belle a few weeks ago at the bonfire. She was interesting and sweet and obviously beautiful and he couldn't get those big brown eyes out of his head. All he could think about was her and it was driving him a little mad. It had gotten to the point where he had actually had a dream about the girl and it wasn't just once. It had happened several times. He was starting to get a little bit of a tough time from his friends for it too. They all knew that somethign was up and then somehow they all got him to spill about the whole thing at the bonfire. The stupid gossip blog hadn't done much to help. What the hell those boys were doing on the gossip site in the first place was kind of a mystery to Andrew in the first place.

The biggest mystery of all though, was how he knew which basket was Belle's. Of course he hadn't been a hundred percent sure but when he had found out that the basket belonged to her, he was ecstatic. He couldn't show the extent of his enthusiasm but he was happy non the less a little grin smirk was on his face as he picked up the basket and walked with Belle on the stage feeling like he was in high school and he had just won Prom King or something like that. Not that Andrew had even gone to prom. He crashed the after party of course but he was not the guy you took to prom. "I hoped that it was you too," Andrew said smiling down at her. Belle probably had no idea what kind of effect her words had on him. He felt invincible at the moment. Nothing was going to bring him down though he didn't like being on display for all of the town to see. He slid away from Belle slightly and discretely stepped off the back of the stage. The two of them were on the end anyway and they weren't as interesting to the town as say their favorite lawyer or even the Australian import Roxanne Grimaldi. Al held out his hand to Belle "Do you trust me?" He asked.

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[Belle J'aime Binoche]

B elle felt the sting of impatience as she waited on stage arm in arm with andrew. all she needed was to get the basket and walk off with him to enjoy its contents. what al did not notice or could possibly feel was the surge of excitement that electrified her spirit as he said he hoped it was her as well. so much that it had rendered her speechless for the moment. for what was only a few minutes felt like an eternity on stage. his smile made her face flush with warmth that spread all the way down to her toes. being the romantic writer that belle was, she could feel her muse flow within her thoughts and at this moment she would usually scurry to find a pen with parchment. alas, her instant happiness from looking up into al's warm brown eyes and dazzling smile had frozen her in place. belle felt all this energy that she had been missing for much too long. an energy that only bursted within her when she was in lust or the development of any feelings, even the promise of a good time would do it. belle took andrew's lead as they both made their baby steps towards the end of the stage. it was like he knew exactly what she was thinking about at that moment. a need for excitement with the element of surprise, for she had no clue as to what was on andrew's mind. belle felt her lips turn upward into a beautiful smile as she thought to herself my thoughts flow willingly so in that case he would also have to trust me belle thought to herself as she looked down at al's hand expectantly waiting for hers. she gave one small tilt of her head as a gestured yes to his question. taking in a short yet deep breath through her nose, she flitted off the stage with her hand in his with unlimited possibilities buzzing in her mind. she was taking a chance on al, entrusting him with taking the lead. she wondered if he felt the same jolt in his heart when their hands finally met one another. it was undeniable for belle, but she would not voice that to andrew unless he would ask her of it. no point in spoiling the mystery behind her feelings and or thoughts for that matter.

the night had just begun and belle was already thinking about how she would feel once she was back home, in the privacy of her bedroom. that was where she did all of her thinking. often times belle would close her eyes and relive whatever delicious moments happened through her days. sadly, she had been coming up dry and her mind was collecting cob webs over the weeks that soon melted into months that stretched out towards years. it had been a year and three months since her last encounter with anyone that touched her emotionally on a personal level. her dear father was starting to worry that she was letting those mister rights pass right by her. belle glanced up at andrew as they continued to walk quickly together, her eyes looking down at their hands once more. she did not feel as though she was letting mister rights pass her by, belle felt that she just should not waste her time with those that did not spark something within her. at times she felt it made her a hypocrite since in some semi-rare cases, the person you might fall in love with is a person you cannot stand in the beginning. like mr. darcy and elizabeth bennet of jane austen's pride and prejudice. they both could not stand to be in the presence of one another, solely because they did not know one another well enough. belle fancied the idea that she could not meet some one and just base them off of appearance alone. that way, she would never have to go through what miss bennet had to go through with mr. darcy. belle let slip a smooth giggle of excitement as they moved further away from the towns crowd. she was relieved not to be behind that curtain with all those women and the prying eyes of all the men that were shouting out their bids, even out bursts of displeased grunts when the women were shown. some one them felt that slap across their face when they saw that not taking the risk in bidding on a basket meant that a beautiful woman did not end up with them.

belle thought it served them right and felt mildly disgusted to think that they would much rather just pick up the left over desperate bimbos during happy hour at local pubs. it was astonishing to her that anyone could live their lives by looking for someone that was half drunk at a bar filled with people that were filled with thoughts of sex. yes she knew this very well, because she had written about the very same people in her scripts, songs and even up coming half finished novels. a writer must always keep her mind open to seeing how the other side of the pond lives. it was not like belle was a saint. she saw the allure of a one night stand, but that was for commitment-a-phobes and the shallow beer goggle trusting individuals. belle was a sweep me off my feet and i'll show you what you are missing type of woman. it was how most french women like herself acted, except she never exercised the "say no, when you mean yes" act. she liked the mystery behind the cat and mouse affair, the chase. for belle, al was handsome, daring and had an air of mystique about him that drew her right in. the impulsive belle could be herself around a person like that and not have to worry about scaring them off.



t a g s----* al
o u t f i t----* le outfit
n o t e s------* complete

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[Andrew Carter Langsten]

Andrew couldn't believe that he had actually won Belle's basket. To be perfectly honest he was shocked that he had won a basket at all. He figured that he was going to get outbid by pretty much everyone. Being an expert do nothing didn't pay the bills. That was what friends were for. He certainly hadn't thought that he would win a basket that seemed was so expensive with the small amount of money that he brougth with him. The rough economy was probably hitting Walten as well. Either that or maybe the people were just stingy and didn't like charity. Funny for a town that did so much community awareness. The hypocracy in some places never ceased to amaze Al.

When Belle took his hand, he had to admit that he felt a certain bit of excitement. It wasn't anything like sparks or something femininly romantic like that. No Al didn't do the romantic thing, at least not normally. It would take the right sort of girl and the right sort of circumstances to bring him to that sort of happy place that would make him want to be romantic like every girl thought about romance in their silly little novels. Why would someone want to spend forever reading about adventure when they could be having it themselves? It never made much sense to Al. He wouldn't want to watch life pass him by when he could be out there doing all the things he was reading about. Life was much to short to watch it go by which was why he had gone to the picnic basket auction in the first place. A little adventure never killed anyone.

Walking hand in hand, Al picked a spot underneath a tree. It gave off a reasonable amount of shade but it didn't make things too cold. "Is this ok with you?" Al asked looking around. It seemed like they would be ok. No one would bother them. Hopefully they were out of the distance of any kids who liked to play frisbee or who were out playing with their dogs. It wasn't like Al was planning to make a move or anything like that, but he didn't want to have to deal with a kid putting his foot in their food when they were more preoccuppied with catching a ball or whatever it was that they were playing with. "So what have you been up to since the last itme that I saw you?" Al asked her no sure where to take the conversation. He had imagined seeing Belle again. He had imagined winning her picnic basket and having some picturesque picnic, what Al left out in all of those little scenes, was the dialogue to go along with them.

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[Belle J'aime Binoche]

B elle found al incredibly attractive and interesting. when she looked into his eyes, she often felt that he was holding secrets behind them. something about him was a mystery and part of that was the allure she felt for him. there conversations seemed to flow from one subject to another when she remembered talking to him last. it was a rare find when you came across a man that did not mind just talking to you. they were interested in what you had to say rather then interested in what cup size you were. she liked knowing that they could have a debate on something, for a person that agreed with everything you said was so dull to belle. she was sure that some things they would agree on and others they wouldn't. he would want to know why she would disagree with him, just as she would as well. she grinned at the spot that he had picked out for them to sit themselves at. the tree looked much like one that she often read by, by her home in the country side of france.


'eet is good. for now

[/color] said belle giving him a seemingly sinister, as sinisiter as her face would allow with a small twinkle in her light brown almond shaped eyes. it left the allure that she had something planned beyond this, which she did. the sun was low and the sky had turned a brilliant pastel color. the days were getting shorter and soon it would be dark out. the weather was comfortable for belle though, she always enjoyed every aspect of each season. the warm sun and cool breeze of fall suited her perfectly. opening the picnic basket she took out the blanket she had folded and literally packed into it. as the wind swept up she flicked the blanket and allowed the wind to billow beneath it. the blanket smoothed over the grass neatly. for a moment she glanced up at al and smiled at him, before she placed the open basket right into the middle of the blanket. picking a corner to sit in for the moment, belle leaned with her back against the trunk of the tree. she stretched her legs out and crossed them at the calves. her smooth legs giving off a misty sheen as the sun moved over them.


well, i 'ave finished five chapters of a novel i am writing. 'zat is what i 'ave been doing for 'ze moment. my publisher 'arrietta 'as me on this no work, all writing, and impulsive fulfillment regime. she believes i work better when i do not 'ave 'ze distractions of work and i 'ave to get myzelf out 'zere with people. suppozedly i 'ave become far too closed off and 'ze character i write of is very spontaneous, a friend to everyone type. you know, you inspired one of my characters. i am still trying to figure him out though.[/color] said belle with her hands animating everything she said, waving along in the air. when she finished speaking, her hand moved over towards her lips, fingers curled beneath her lower lip, and sat on her chin in wondering.





t a g s----* al
o u t f i t----* le outfit
n o t e s------* complete[/size][/blockquote][/blockquote][/font]

[Andrew Carter Langsten]

Belle was a complete mystery to Al. Then again most people were because Al didn't care enough to want to get to know people. He wasn't the social type of person. He would much rather just go out of his way to avoid people. Strangers normally didn't catch his attention. He wasn't the type of person to be intrigued by others. He was too busy thinking about other things to really care. His friends said that he was just being ridiculous when he didn't want to be around people but he was tired of being viewed as the colassal screw up who had done nothing but disappoint the family that took him in and gave him so much. Thing was, Al didn't think that his family was his family most of the time. He loved his adoptive grandfather. He was awesome and he left Al with an entire house. So he had his friends that were always trying to get him to take on more responsibility then he cared for even though he kind of saw where they were coming from to a point. He had his friends though why did he have to grow up just yet. He had his friends to help him and he was getting by there was nothing else he needed to worry about. He was happy.

Or so Al thought he was happy anyway. Then he met Belle and it was a little different. He was smitten and he wasn't love sick. He was just interested which was saying something. He found it natural to flirt around her to want to show of and to be grand. He wanted to impress her and that wasn't going to happen if she knew everything about his home life she would probably stop this whole thing. He was a bum and no girl wanted a bum. They wanted a man that was going to be able to provide and take care of them. That wasn't really Al though. He had no job. Sure he had a place to live but his friends paid the bills for the electricity and stuff like that. Al sat down next to her on the blanket. "I could tell that it was your basket you know," Al said thinking bout what had drawn him to the basket in the first place. "It was very . . . French. It didn't sound like it could be anyone elses other then yours." Al wasn't sure if it was a compliment or not but it didn't sound like an insult at the very least.

It seemed like Belle lived quite the interesting life. She seemed so passionate about what she was doing. It was great to see someone with such an energy behind them. Al couldn't imagine sitting and writing all day. He would much rather go out and do all the things that he was writing about instead. Besides English was never his strongest subject in school. "Me? I inspired a character, now that's just silly," Al said not sure how to react to such a statement. "Hmm he must not be very me like if he's hard to figure out," Al said. No one had ever said that he inspired them before it was weird. "I'm not that hard to figure out, or at least I don't think so. Then again, I'm in my head. Maybe I could help you figure him out sometime. I have to warn you though, I'm not writer."

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[Belle J'aime Binoche]

T he breeze picked up around them, twirling up towards the trees making the autumn leaves dance above them. belle wondered if this dark haired mysterious man could possibly be nervous in front of her. the words of her father echoed in her mind, they said "elle do not scare any possible man off with 'zat very intense stare. you 'ave to remember 'zey are not your projects". this was a fully developed human being that wanted to get to know her and for a moment she forgot how to act around those that found her interesting in a positive light. belle is so used to having everything around her moving at a fast pace, while she is slowly walking through it. how the people would take one glance at her in the cafes and look right away from her. so used to getting lost in the garden of her house and not being used to be found. the words flowed through her mind in poetic lighting, belle leaned forward into her basket and extracted a small note pad with a red rose across the cover. sitting back in her spot, she smiled softly towards andrew. for a quick second her hand moved across the small paper and she placed it back on the ground. 'zorry i just 'ad a- well i write down things in this that just come to my mind. said belle wondering if she explained that well enough. at times her english could be a bit off, which was why she had a publisher looking over everything she wrote. belle knew that there was a story behind al, one that was locked up within him. she had doubts if he opened up to anyone at all really, but as they say "never judge a book by its cover". there was however a simplicity to him of whim that belle responded very well to. those that are escapist often can spot other escapist. those that want to live off in their own world, rather than dealing with the one they are in.

al made the other men that forced themselves into belle's life look like pitiful fools. he wasn't fawning over her every move and he also wasn't completely invested in himself. she had met them all and some of "them" were still hanging around her like flies. the more she denied them, the stronger they came on to her. belle was tired of being bathed in presents and offered the world, how could they possibly offer her the world when they only thought the world on themselves. she could hardly have a conversation with men like that and there was no chance in them trying to make her a house wife. belle was born to be an independent free thinker, not some slave milk maid waiting on her husbands hand and foot. above all things belle believed in living the life you were given and to love as whole heartily as possible. that was how her mother was and with this thought, belle reached for the gold locket around her neck. yes i would say it does sound very french. i took most of 'ze things from my 'ouse. i 'ave been drinking wine since i was a little girl and i also love to bake. i probably 'ave the most cheese and chocolats in town. 'eef i 'ad it my way i would only live off of wine, chocolate and cheese. said belle with a soft long laugh, it was true about her and something that she noticed about herself. she hoped that in sharing things about herself, al would also feel the need to share something that he liked or did not like. any puzzle piece would be appreciated in belle's eyes.

belle grinned widely, it seemed foolish to al that he should be the inspiration towards one of her characters. she wondered he al knew himself well enough or saw what others saw in him. belle knew there must have been things about her that only others could see. everyone always see's the negatives in them, weighing the con's over the pro's is the way of the human being. belle could understand as to why it was that way, so many horrible things that happen in life and the hardships many must endure, it really is no wonder. as belle spoke, she leaned forward putting all her weight on her knees. she began taking the things out of the basket, the two rounded glasses and the first bottle of wine. there was no reason to let all of the things in the basket go to waste after all. she knew if they ate now, then the soufles would start to cool down into a warm perfect temperature. belle hoped al like the souffles, she made them usually when someone needed to cheer up or when she was distraught. usually things in belle's life did not go the way she wanted them to, and so she turned towards baking as an escape just as writing was. baking was predictable for her and she loved knowing she could make a masterpiece all on her own. pushing off the ground with her palms, belle stood up and circled around the blanket. with a match, she lit each candle and placed it around the blankets, leaving two in the middle. so you are saying that you are easy to 'ow you say, déchiffrer eh deciphaire or deciph- well read. said belle tripping over the word with a little difficulty. finally sitting down with a small huff that blew a stray hair off of her forehead, belle folded her legs to her side. every person and every character is complex. take for example wine. you can describe the taste of wine all you want, some are even better than 'ozzers. my father can taste lavender in some wines but 'e 'as a hard time tasting any sort of currant like i can. it is the same as some being able to write well while others are more about feeling, in the moment rather than creating a moment on paper. said belle softly, holding eye contact with al as she uncorked the wine bottle and poured it into two glasses.


t a g s----* al
o u t f i t----* le outfit
n o t e s------* complete

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