Chapter Text
She was tired, so very tired. She was tired of waking up in the mornings only to have to try to tame her unruly curls with a plastic brush. She was tired of going to work at five in the morning only to get yelled at by her boss for not getting her author's work passed in by the deadline. She was tired of getting home well after dusk to an empty apartment with no children or husband waiting for her. At this point, all she wanted was to quit her job and open up a small cafe, one with books and tea, but she couldn’t. She needed her job. Her mother had a rare kind of brain cancer, and it took all she could make just to pay the hospital bills. Her father was no help; he had died years ago in a terrible car accident. Greedy relatives had swooped in taking all of his life insurance and her family’s money for themselves.
Today, as she pondered life strolling lazily through the train station on her way to work, she wondered why. She wondered why she was still in this dratted city instead of moving to a rural town like she had wanted to her whole life? Why she was still coming home to an empty house at night? Why she could no longer cook like she had so enjoyed her entire life? She also knew the answer to all these things. She knew that she had to be the responsible one, the one to keep the family standing, even though its supports had been torn down long ago.
Suddenly her cell phone rang. It was a small tune, played on a flute, one that she had written herself for her mother and father to play together when she was young. It was one of the only lasting memories she had of them all together. When she answered it, she had to stop walking and put a hand over her ear to block out the din surrounding her.
“Hello? May I ask who’s calling?” She inquired, already knowing full well who it was.
“Is this the daughter of Mrs. Bella Underhill?” Her heart dropped at the short clipped tone of the speaker’s voice.
“Yes. My mother is Mrs. Underhill. Is something the matter? Is this about the hospital bills? Have they gone up again?” Her voice was frantic now, trying to delay the inevitable.
“I’m sorry, I’m afraid your mother passed away a few hours ago. Please come by the hospital to-” The voice was cut off, Bella was no longer listening.
She was ashamed, to think that only moments before she had been blaming all her troubles on her hospitalized mother, and now her mother was dead. How could she have been so thoughtless and uncaring? So inconsiderate? The woman fell to her knees and buried her face in her hands. If only she could take it back. If only she could go back in time and treasure her time with her mother instead of spending all her time trying to pay the bills.
“Excuse me ma’am. Are ye alrigh’?” She looked up and saw a stocky, young man looking down at her, a concerned frown on his face.
“I-I, sh-she’s, she’s gone..” Her voice trailed off, overwhelmed by oncoming tears. She tried to hide her face again, but the stranger was having none of it.
“I’m terribly sorry for yer loss.” She looked up once more, meeting his eyes. Instead of the pity she expected to find, she saw understanding. Before she could stop herself, she found herself huddled in his warm arms. He rested his chin on top of her head and stroked her back soothingly.
As he did, she asked “why?” in her head once more. This man was a stranger, why was she letting him comfort her like this? Why was he doing it in the first place? He must have had work or something to do instead. As if to answer her unasked questions, the man abruptly stood up. “Come on, my shop’s just over there. I’ll get ye some tea and ye can explain everythin’ then.”
She stood up, not letting go of the man for a moment, clinging to his hand as if it were a lifeline.
They walked slowly through the train station, wading through the tides of people to a small shop by the last stop. Once they got there, he opened the door and pushed his way inside. A small ding of bells announced their presence, and he grinned and spun around to face her once more.
“I s’pose it’s ‘bout time I introduce meself. I’m Bobby, the one and only toymaker on this ‘ere side of the city.” Bobby bowed with a flourish gesturing to the painted wooden toys around them as he spoke. She looked around in astonishment. The small shop was filled with toys of all shapes and sizes. There was a small red and gold painted dragon that flapped its wings when she turned a small handle on its back. Beside it was a small doll house. Only it wasn’t a doll house. More like a doll village in fact. The houses were made in the victorian style, and when she looked closely she could see tiny painted vines crawling up the sides of them. Inside of each and every house was a family, with their own personalities. One family even had two twins pulling on an older man’s hair while a woman laughed from the doorway. The shop was in short, absolutely incredible.
Bobby cleared his throat expectantly, and she looked over. “Sorry, I wasn’t listening.” She flushed pink. How embarrassing, to be invited to a shop by a stranger who comforted you on the streets and then not listen to them when they talk to you. She wished the ground would just swallow her up. So she wouldn’t have to look into this man’s eyes ever again. And, oh what eyes they were.
“It’s alright lass, I’m flattered ye think me toys are that spectacular.” Bobby grinned and took a hat that had been laying on a shelf and put it on his head, tugging it a few times to get it to lie just right. “I asked what yer name was lassy. Or am I to just keep callin’ ye lassie foreva’?”
“Oh, it’s Bella, I was named for my mother you see.” Her eyes were drawn to his hat while she talked. It looked as though someone had hair sprayed it to be so stiff, and tilt up around the brim. She could tell though that if she were to reach out and touch it, the hat would be softer than the softest silk in her hands. She didn’t reach out to grab the hat, and instead opted to stick her hands in her pockets.
“Was she the one who, passed?” All Bella could do was nod in response to Bobby’s question. And the kind man clucked his tongue in sympathy. “Well, I’ll just go get ye some tea then. That’ll calm ye down right quick it will. I spect ye can call yer work and tell them yer takin’ a day off on yer own.” With that, Bobby padded off towards another door connecting to what Bella thought was where he must have kept all his working tools.
Bella sighed as she looked down at her phone, thinking about whether or not to call her work. Her boss would be furious, but now that her mother was gone, wasn’t she free to start over with her life, quit her job and move out to the country? In that moment, she knew exactly what she was going to do.
“Hello, this is-”
“Hey Devin, this is Bella.”
“Oh hey, where have you been Bells? The boss has been going crazy, keeps yelling for you and screaming at us to bring him coffee. Then when we do he tells us our coffee making skills are inferior to yours. You have to teach me how to make coffee like the way you do some time, I swear it’s like you're the coffee goddess or something.” Bella laughed lightly at her best friends rant.
“Sorry Dev, it’s nice to know I’m good at something though.”
“That’s not true and you know it. You are the only editor in the history of editors to make Balt pass in his work on time, not to mention Phille or Charles. Now tell me what’s wrong.” The light mood over the phone passed and Bella was serious once more.
“My mother passed away this morning.” Bella found herself crying as she relayed her news and her friend gasped over the phone.
“Oh God, I’m so sorry Bella. I, oh God.” Bella could hear Devin crying over the phone now. “She was like another mother to me after mine left and, oh God. I just can’t believe...” Devin hiccuped loudly and stopped talking. “So what are you going to do now then? Quit? Move out to the country like you’ve always wanted?”
“I-” Bella stopped and thought about it a little bit, she had been planning to move out to the countryside, but now, now she just couldn’t. Not when it meant leaving behind some of her best friends behind. Certainly not when it meant leaving this small toy shop without even offering to have the owner over for tea some time to say thanks. “I don’t think so. I think I’ll stay. I just found this cute little toy shop I really like, and well...” Bella and Devin laughed lightly at Bella’s comment. “I don’t think I can leave this city just yet. Besides, what would you all do if I really left for good, our poor boss would kill you all from lack of decent coffee.” Bella teased Devin, trying to ease the mood, and dull the fresh pain from her mother's passing.
“Well, thank you I guess. I suppose I’ll let you go, have to tell the boss why you’re gone and all. See you soon. Love you.”
“Love you too.” Devin hung up and Bella smiled as she tucked her cell phone back into her pocket. She turned around to see Bobby sipping at a small mug of tea, a faint smile on his lips. He wordlessly passed one to her and patted her shoulder after.
Bella sipped nervously at her tea. Chamomile, she noticed, it would help soothe her nerves, and she felt a rush of gratitude for her host. “I was wondering,” Bella took another sip of her tea, trying to figure out how to phrase her next sentence. “If you would be willing to, go out to lunch with me, one of these days.” She anxiously looked up from her cup, worried about the nice man’s reaction to her spontaneous outburst. “Only to say thank you of course, I wouldn't want to assume any-” Bella trailed off awkwardly, no sure she was capable of finishing her sentence.
“I think I’d quite enjoy that.” Bobby took a deep drink of his tea and smiled at Bella. “Actually, if ye don’t mind, it’s lunch time right now.” His eyes glinted playfully and Bella found herself grinning back. Bobby held out an arm and Bella grabbed onto it, feeling a rush of joy when they touched.
“I’m afraid it had quite slipped my mind,” she teased. The couple walked out of the store with a small laugh, hand in hand. And Bella found herself not so tired anymore.