Mr. Gold sat in the back room of his pawnshop tinkering with an antique clock that he knew probably wouldn't sell. The only time someone dared to enter his shop was when they needed a loan extension. The pawnshop itself didn't make any actual money, it was just something he did to pass the time. Sitting in the shop, with a 20% chance of some sort of social interaction was better than sitting at home with a 0% chance. He knew he came across as some kind of monster to the townsfolk. That was one of the many reasons he didn't have any friends. The truth was, he was rather lonely. He wanted someone to care about him for the person he was, not the person people feared.

It was his own fault though. He never let anyone get close enough to care. He even cast out his own son so he wouldn't have to share his emotions. That was his biggest regret. So he sat in his shop, trying to fix an old necklace, waiting for something or someone to happen. Then he heard his little bell ring. He walked out from behind his desk and made his way into the front room. He didn't see anyone, and he knew no one in this town was stupid enough to try and steal from him.

He heard the click-clack of heels against the hardwood and prepared himself for the unpleasant conversation Regina was about to unleash on him. "You can come out dearie, it's just us" he called out to her. He was truly surprised when the pretty, blue-eyed, brunette stepped out from behind one of his towers of knick-knacks.

She smiled brilliantly at him and walked to him, hand extended. "You must be Mr. Gold" she said shaking his hand. "I'm Belle French. You probably know my father, Moe?"

Gold, nodded his head, dumbfounded. No one had ever acted quite so, kindly, towards him before. "I wasn't aware Moe had a daughter." That in itself was odd. He knew everyone's business, every tiny, useless, detail he could get his claws on. How had he overlooked this beauty?

"Well, I jumped a few grades in school. I went to college when I was sixteen, then after I got my doctorate, I spent a couple of years in Europe. I haven't been home in, gosh it's been ten years now." Gold was beyond stunned. She was twenty-six years old and she had her doctorate? What the bloody hell was she doing back in Storybrooke.

"That's all very impressive dearie, now what exactly are you doing in my shop?" He tried to have the same bite in his voice as he does with the rest of the town, but his words were neither sharp or sarcastic. Was this girl making him soft?

She smiled at him again. Why was she doing that? "Well, I've done quite a bit of traveling now and I'm ready to be home now, I'm looking for a job."

That one really through him for a loop. "A.. a job? Here? In my shop? Are you serious?"

She giggled at his surprise. "Of course I'm serious. Oh I didn't mention that I've spent the last ten years studying ancient artifacts and such. I can appraise antiques and I can tell when something is genuine or fake. Dad said you've never had an employee before, so I figured I'd try and be the first." She seemed determined, she seemed so sure of herself.

Gold turned on his cane walking behind the counter. "You're father encouraged this?" he asked curiously. He had never had a good relationship with Moe French and he couldn't imagine the man sending his daughter in here looking for work.

"Well, I asked and he did tell me to stay from you, but I can be rather persuasive when I want to be. You can add that to my list of redeemable qualities" she winked at him.

Gold cleared his throat and proceeded to pull out a few trinkets from behind the counter. He placed them in front of her and before he even gave her instructions she studied each one and told him everything he knew about them and more. "Well, you passed that test" she giggled at him again. He was beginning to like the sound. It tickled his ears and caused a warm tingle to run down his spine. "I'm afraid not many people come into my shop, however. I wouldn't really have any work for you to do, it'd be rather pointless to hire you" he regretfully admitted. He watched the light in her eyes fade slightly, and her mouth curve down. He decided then that she should never not be smiling. What was he getting himself into. "I suppose, since you are so eager... I guess I could find something for you to do. At the very least you could keep me company."

Her eyes widened with excitement and the smile returned to her face. "Oh thank you! Thank you so much Mr. Gold. I promise you won't be disappointed."

"I better not be" he teased. "If you're not doing anything I could show you around the shop, if you like" he suggested. Her smile brightened even more and shook her head yes.

He showed her his very unorganized system, which she seemed to follow ad approve of. He told her a few stories of how he acquired some of the items. Then he showed her the piece he had been working on. "Thats extraordinary!" she exclaimed. "What year is it? Mid.. late 1800s?" she guessed.

"1846. It's actually a rather interesting story if you want to hear it" he looked up from the necklace, waiting for the answer he knew was coming.

"Oh, yes please. I love a good story." Without thinking about it she hopped up on his desk, letting her legs dangle off the edge. Gold visibly gulped and loosened his tie a bit, something he never did, but it was suddenly getting hard to breathe in his office.

"Well, my family is from Scotland, as you might have guessed. My great great grandfather had a strong friendship with a man from Ireland. During the potato famine, the man lost everything he had in his possession, except this necklace. My great great grandfather, made his friend a deal. He promised the man that he would pay his way to America, if he got the necklace in return. The man refused at first, but as he grew poorer and poorer, my grandfather became more persistent. Eventually the man gave up the necklace and made his way over to America."

Belle could tell there was more to the story, and she leaned closer to him off the desk wanting to hear the rest. "The man worked hard here and when he had made enough money to buy his necklace back, my grandfather reused. It's been passed down from generation to generation and when my father died it became mine. We have a a very nasty rivalry with the man's family. Each new member to each of our families fights over the necklace. My competition is a Mr. Killian Jones. I'll probably end up leaving it to him in the end, since my family's dying out with me. I'm the last of the Golds." he didn't want to mention his son. He embarrassed to admit what had happened there.

"So your two families fight over the necklace, after all this time? But that's foolish. It's just a necklace." Belle was smart. Far too smart to be working in his pawn shop. She was wasting her time here. She could be doing so many amazing things out there, back in Europe.

"Why did you come back here? It's nothing but a small, annoying little town. It has nothing to offer you."

Belle shrugged her shoulders. "I was tired of being alone" she admitted. "I wanted to reunite with my father and my old friends. Maybe start a family. Any respectable bachelor's around these parts?"

Gold pretended to think about it, there were probably several. But for some weird reason, he didn't want Belle to know that. "Just me dearie." She laughed, knowing he was lying.

"Well, I guess I'll have to ask you out to dinner then? Does Friday work for you?" Gold choked. Was she serious? Was she honestly asking him on date? Him? The town monster? The man that everyone feared? "If you don't want to that's alright, we did just meet after all." He must have paused too long.

"What did you have in mind?" he asked, not wanting to think he wasn't interested.

"Well, nothing too extravagant. Just a simple dinner, maybe a movie? Are you up for that?" she was teasing him, he could tell. It was refreshing, to have someone joke with him. Most people don't dare to even laugh in his presence, never mind tease him.

"I think I'm up for the challenge" he told her.

"Good. So I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

He blinked as she hopped off his desk. "Tomorrow? I thought you said Friday."

"I did. But you did agree to hire me did you not? What time do you usually open?"

He had completely forgotten that the only real reason she was here was because of a job. She didn't want to go on a date with him. He was her boss now, she probably just wanted to get on his good side. "Right. I usually open at around 8, but I'm here by 7:30."

She smiled once more at him, as he walked her out of the shop. "See you at 7:30 then." He watched her walk down the street to her father's flower shop. What the hell just happened?