She nodded when he called the City the 'comet'... It wasn't quite right, but they both knew what the other was talking about. It didn't seem needed to correct him. And besides, there were other things to explain now, like why it was so odd her cottage had tripled.
"Well," she said, heading up the walkway and inviting him with a vague gesture to come with her, "This is my home, and this is where I left this morning.... but it's grown in size considerably. Sometimes the City does this sort of thing, but I've never.... Well, this has never happened before."
She unlocked her door and stepped inside. Everything that greeted her looked familiar -- the sitting area by the door, the kitchen nook, the doorway to her bedroom, to the washing room.... ah.... but that hall was different, wasn't it?
"Here we go," she said cheerily, pointing toward the hall. "Let's see what's down here."
The hall led to a very modern bathroom and two additional bedrooms. The first one was undecorated. No clothing hung in the closet. The linens were plain white. But the second bedroom..... now, that was a different story. As soon as Beauty saw the sturdy-looking outfit laid on the bed, she knew:
"I believe this is your room, if you would care for it. Maybe just until you get your bearings..." Although she didn't mind sharing her home with people who needed it, she was very aware that some might frown on her for doing it. An unmarried young lady typically didn't live with other men. And the truth was that she wanted to help this very scruffy man. She knew just how terrible it was to be separated from people you love.
Perhaps the second room was for that very person. Beauty didn't want to pry, but she couldn't help but wonder who it was.