impcssibledreamer:
If there was one good thing about her step-family taking her along with them on vacation, it was the free time she had as they wandered around new villages and markets. Of course, she was laden with their packages, but she was able to take her time, strolling along the unfamiliar paths, listen to the sounds of accented language, smell different flowers. It was grand.
The stranger took her off guard, and though she hated being called a little girl, she offered the man a grateful, small smile. “I can handle them on my own, thank you, sir. It’s certainly not the heaviest load I’ve ever had.”
“Nonsense,” Gaston replied almost immediately, taking four or five of the topmost packages in an impressive display of wrongheaded chauvinism. “There’s no need for someone as pretty as you to struggle alone with all this. Why, I’m surprised you even bought so much for yourself.” She was a teensy thing to buy up so many packages, wasn’t she? Surely she couldn’t wear it all at once....
Gaston hefted the packages easily under one arm, presuming to walk alongside her and match her meandering pace. “I haven’t seen you around before. Are you new to Villeneuve?”
