The Belle of Linley Cottage

Zach had never been much of a coffee drinker until he got his first major paper in college. 

After struggling with writing a single word for weeks, two days before the essay was due, Zach found himself camped out in the corner of the library cafe with nothing but three bottles of pre-made coffee, his laptop, charger, headphones, and the sheer will to write. It turned out that Zach did his best writing under pressure and fueled by caffeine, as he got an A on that paper.

He prayed that this method would help him find any sort of job.

The Monday after his father’s ultimatum, he had made camp at the table nobody wanted in Toe Beans. It was next to the bathroom, but for Zach, it was a necessity to keep any breaks he needed during that time to a minimum, and he kept his headphones on to filter out any distractions. He had already spent the entirety of Sunday barely keeping it together during his Book Haven shift and spent the night working on different versions of his resume so he could send them out with ease when he came to the cafe the next day. He had already finished four cups of the cafe’s cold brew, along with two orange scones, as he scoured any website that had ever offered a job. He went through a handful of freelance websites to see if anyone would pay him for reading, and he nearly took a book reviewer job, only to lie and say he already found something after realizing that he would be paid to give five-star reviews to books he wasn’t expected to read. He knew he couldn’t afford to be picky at that moment, but he refused to compromise his reader morals for a quick buck.

He was in the midst of writing a proposal for a beta reader position when Joon came over to his table with another cup. Zach glanced up and noticed that the liquid was decidedly not dark brown.

“What is that?” he asked, pulling his headphones onto his neck.

“Lemongrass tea.”

Zach pushed it back towards his friend. “No thanks. More coffee, please,” he said as he put his attention back on his keyboard, trying to figure out his next sentence. How do you say you’re the best reader to read somebody else’s book?

“Not a chance. I’m cutting you off.”

Zach sharply looked up at Joon, who nearly jumped back at the sight of his bloodshot eyes and gritted teeth. On any other day, Zach would have been delighted at the idea of poking fun at his friend, but today was not that day. “You can’t do that.”

“Oh, but I can,” Joon said, looking Zach up and down with concern in his eyes. “You need to chill.”

“No time to chill,” Zach said as he went back to typing. “I have to find a job before I end up being my dad’s coworker.”

“I can’t be that bad. I work with my parents.”

“Yeah, but your parents aren’t control freaks who want to be in charge of every bit of their kids’ lives. He already has my home life. He can’t take my work life too.”

Joon nodded and shrugged. “Fair enough, but I’m still cutting you off.”

Zach covered his mouth to muffle his screams as Kit walked into the cafe. She came over, brows raised and lips pursed. “Looks like I got here just in time.”

“What are you doing here?” Zach muttered as he looked at her through narrowed eyes.

“Joon texted me and said he was concerned about your well-being,” Kit explained as she took in his ragged appearance. “And I can see why.” She turned to Joon. “I’ll take it from here.”

Joon nodded as he picked up the empty mugs and plates from Zach’s table, and went back into the kitchen. Kit sat down in the other seat at the table, giving him a disappointed look once she saw how many cups Joon was taking away.

“Leave me alone. Not all of us can run on apple juice and fanfiction.”

“Don’t knock it till you try it,” she shrugged.

“Kit...” Zach buried his head in his hands. His sleep-deprived state was starting to catch up with him. “I’m serious. If you don’t have a job for me to apply to, I want to be left alone.”

“I have a job for you to apply to.”

Zach uncovered his face and looked up. “What?”

“Belle came into Town Hall today asking if she could post a job listing on the town website.”

Zach ignored the part about Belle and asked, “For what?”

“Some sort of assistant for her online shop. She said she was going to send me the full listing later, and as of right now—” She pulled out her phone and tapped on the screen. “—I do not have anything from her in my inbox.”

Zach looked back at the blinking cursor on his proposal. Next to it, an information box saying that over 50 people had applied for this position that had been posted two weeks ago and no one had been hired yet. If he was being realistic, he knew that this job was going to be another dead end, and he was running out of time. Another shop job was not going to add any publishing experience to his resume, but it would give him something to do in the meantime if he got it. His qualifications could potentially convince Belle to give him a chance. Besides, it would be temporary anyway.

He looked up at Kit. “Where does she live again?”

Zach drove up the hill towards Linley Cottage with a pit in his stomach. For the first time in a while, his mind went blank when it came to all of the interview prep he’d done. His brain was only buzzing about how he needed this to go well.

Once he reached the top of the hill, he stepped out to take in the view. Linley Cottage was isolated on its hill, looking down into the valley below where the rest of Lillet laid. A hint of the harbor could be seen, along with the tip of the Lillet Lighthouse peeking over one of the hills in the distance. It was only a sixteen minute drive from his house but it felt so foreign to him. He walked over to the front door of the chamomile brown brick house. The front door had one of those old knockers on it, and Zach’s inner child couldn’t help but use it.

As soon as he knocked twice, he heard barking start behind the door. 

He groaned.

He’d forgotten about her dog. 

A chain on the door rattled as it opened to reveal Belle, and she, once she saw who was there, glared at him. “What are you doing here?”

Zach shifted his stance as he tried to find the right words. “Kit said you were looking for a shop assistant?”

He saw a bit of her shoulder shrug through the crack in the door. “Yeah, she said she was sending over a potential… She was talking about you?”

“Yeah, I’d like to apply.”

He could see her raise a brow at him. “Really?”

“Yes.”

Belle’s eyes trailed his body before closing the door. Zach’s stomach nearly dropped to the ground until he heard the chain moving again. Belle opened the door wider, her leggings and oversized t-shirt coming into view, and gestured for him to come inside as she walked deeper into the house.

As soon as he stepped in, Zach felt his heart lift a little when he noticed the shoe-free home sign next to a shoe rack at the door. He quickly slid off his shoes before walking further into the front room. It wasn’t very spacious, which he’d expected from the small features outside, but it didn’t feel too cramped, either: a kitchen to his right and a living area to the left, all of it filled with frilly little items that one might see in vintage farmhouses, with a bunch of greens, pinks, and white spread throughout the space in blankets, baskets, and such.

When he heard Belle clear her throat, his attention was brought back to her. “So Kit told me that you run an online shop,” Zach said as he stepped further into the house.

Belle crossed her arms over her chest. “Yeah, I do.”

Zach shifted again under her piercing gaze and asked, “What exactly do you sell in your shop?”

“You didn’t ask about that before you came here?”

Zach sucked in his teeth. “Uh, no.” It was then that Zach realized that he had never done an interview before. Des had just given him the job at The Book Haven soon after he applied (benefits of having known him for so long). Sadly, he didn’t know Belle at all, except for the fact that she liked pictures, pulled a wagon around, and had a huge furry dog that was currently trying to sniff around his ankles. He tried to shuffle away from the shepherd, but he followed.

“Appa, go lie down,” Belle commanded. The multicolored dog immediately walked over to the living room, and lied down on the edge of the woven rug. “You’re not off to a great start here,” she said as she walked over to her coffee table and picked up a flower-covered notebook from it. “Have you ever heard of cottagecore?”

“Vaguely.”

She turned back to him. “Think daisies and baby’s breath. Woodland creatures having tea parties and growing gardens. My merchandise has that sort of thing going on,” she said handing over the book.

Zach turned over the notebook in his hand to see her logo at the bottom of the book: LB with a bunny sitting between the letters. “Cool.”

“Maybe not for you. It’s all pictures.”

Zach’s face sucked in like he licked a lemon. His sarcastic wit was definitely coming back to bite him in the ass now. “I know I’m most likely not your top candidate for this position.”

“Definitely not,” she said with a saccharine grin on her face, which made him feel a bit uneasy, but he persisted.

“But I really need a job right now.”

“I thought you worked at Book Haven?”

“Only part-time, and while I might not be as into pictures as you, I’m a hard worker, and I’ve got a ton of experience in shops. Ask Des if you don’t believe me. Not to mention, I’ve been told that I’m really good at customer service.” He could see a scoff building up in her body when he said that. “Shocking, I know.”

“Very,” Belle said with a nod. “Is this really what you want to be spending your time doing? Packing stickers and sweatshirts.”

“What I want to be doing is writing my book and finding a job in publishing, but that really hasn’t been working for me at this point.”

Belle snorted a laugh. “I appreciate the honesty.”

Zach let out what he hoped was a friendly smile at the statement, before taking a deep breath and saying, “Look. I just need a chance to prove to my dad that I can get a job without his help and that I don’t need him to try and have everything done for me.” He shrugged. “I just wanna live my own life.”

As Belle stood there processing his words, he was shocked at the fact that he actually bore all of that to her, yet also relieved. Maybe it was because she didn’t know him, or that he was desperate for the job, but for once, he didn’t feel like the ground was going to swallow him up for saying all of that out loud.

“I get it.”

Zach felt the tightness in his shoulders release a bit at her words. “You do?”

She nodded. “Yeah. That’s why I moved here. I wanted to live my own life for once.”

“You had an overbearing parent too?”

“Something like that.” Belle adjusted her glasses. “What are you doing tomorrow?”

Zach could feel the hope rising in his chest but he squashed it down for a moment. “If this doesn’t work out, heading to work at the library under my dad’s supervision.”

Belle took a deep breath before uncrossing her arms. “I’ll give you a shot.”

“Really?” Zach tried to keep relief out of his voice, but the soft smile on his face would give it away anyway.

“It’s only a trial run to see how well we could work together. Even though this might be temporary, I’m not gonna sit in a room all day with someone whose presence is gonna annoy me. If you can help get things done, I think we can come to an agreement.”

“Got it.” 

“One condition though.”

“Name it.”

Zach was immediately scared by the smirk that rose onto her face. “You have to apologize to Appa.”

Zach’s jaw almost dropped to the ground. “You can’t be serious!”

Belle looked over at Appa, who trotted over at the sound of his name. “He’s waiting.”

Zach looked between the two before groaning and getting down to the dog’s level. “I’m sorry.”

Appa decided to lick his face with such gusto that he knocked off Zach’s glasses as a response. “Oh, come on!”

“I think that’s an acceptance.” Belle giggled as she pulled Appa back, leaving Zach to try and wipe off the slobber from his glasses and face with his shirt. “Tomorrow then.”

Zach looked between her and her dog and prayed that he hadn’t made the biggest mistake of his life.

Belle’s To-Do List

1. Finalize The Barry, Carry, and Terry Summer Collections

2. Call Local Vet about setting up a check-up for Appa

3. Call Printer about Barry Stickers

4. Edit Current Vlog Clips

5. Hire Assistant (Checked for Now (Potential Hire Found, We’ll See How This Goes))