Belle... Dom's Obsession



Belle first encountered Dom when she was dating Ric and Dom was one of his workmates at the garage. Ric confided in her that Dom was giving him a hard time and tried to make friends with him by inviting him to have lunch with him and Belle. Any good will from the olive branch quickly disappeared and Belle was horrified when she found Ric collapsed from injuries Dom had inflicted, trying to persuade him to either quit his job or tell someone what Dom was doing. She made the brave but somewhat foolish decision to confront Dom herself in the Diner and have a go at him for his behaviour. Belle tried to help Ric out by contacting Wayne, a former employee of the garage who had previously been one of Dom's victims but he was too scared to report Dom, especially since he was the nephew of Ray, the garage manager.


Dom continued to cause trouble for the pair, threatening them both in the Diner for causing trouble for him. He later cornered Belle in the gym and came close to sexually assaulting her before she managed to knee him in the groin, resulting in a fight between Dom and Ric. Dom pulled a particularly dangerous stunt in retaliation, causing a car to fall on Ric, which resulted in him being fired. Dom later approached Ric and Belle to apologise but neither of them were interested and Ric told him he needed professional help.


Belle didn't cross paths with Dom again until a year later. Dom was working as a courier for a motor parts company by then and agreed to get hold of some parts for Drew, who had just bought a car to do up. Belle was shocked to find him working on Drew's car outside his house and couldn't believe that Drew and even Ric didn't seem to see the problem. She was even more flabbergasted when Jazz got her and Drew tickets to a concert only for Drew to give them to Dom in exchange for some parts. Jazz managed to get hold of some more tickets but Belle wasn't happy when she ran into Dom at the concert, until her bag was stolen while she was in the toilet. Dom stopped the thief and returned the bag to Belle. When he found her wallet and necklace, which had dropped out during the struggle, he waited until the next day before returning them...but kept a photo of Belle and Drew he found in the wallet, after ripping Drew out of the picture.


Belle had to meet with Dom again when Drew asked her to pick up a car part for him and was slightly unnerved when he asked her out. When Dom's friend Denni forced Drew into the drag racing scene, Dom managed to sidestep any blame. Unknown to Belle, he had kept the photo of her and told his mother she was his girlfriend. He then claimed to have seen Drew with his ex, Lisa, and talked Belle into coming back to his place and smoking a joint with him. With Belle somewhat the worse for wear, he insisted that she stay to listen to some music he'd selected for her and seemed ready to take advantage of her until Lisa arrived and insisted Belle left with her...again earning himself a punch from her boyfriend. The police later discovered Drew's car had been repaired with stolen parts and Jazz begged Dom to tell them the truth. He agreed if she could get Belle to meet with him and then told Belle he would make a statement if she kissed him. Anxious to stop her boyfriend going to jail, Belle did as he asked and, true to his word, Dom told the police that Drew hadn't known the parts were stolen.


Dom spent a few months in prison, being released around the time Belle went on a road trip with Drew. He followed the pair and after watching them argue, kidnapped Belle from a service station toilet. After keeping her tied up in a car boot, he drove her to a cabin that he had decorated for her using details gleaned from her Myspace page and presented her with a ring he'd bought. He claimed that as she'd briefly responded during their kiss she must have feelings for him and if they spent a romantic evening together she'd realise that. Belle was frustrated to find he'd left her no opportunity for escape and smashed her phone when she tried to call Drew.


Dom eventually agreed to release Belle if she kissed him again and felt nothing. After the pair had shared an intense kiss, Belle told him she hadn't felt anything. Before she could find out if Dom would keep his word, Drew arrived and overpowered him. Drew and Belle fled but in the process accidentally knocked Dom over. Belle was horrified when Drew kept driving and insisted they either go back or call an ambulance. They returned to the cabin to find Dom had left under his own steam but Belle was concerned to find blood stains.

The following night, Dom sneaked into Belle's room while she and Drew were asleep and sat watching the pair for a while before leaving. Belle realised he'd been there when she found the ring he'd bought her had been moved from the bin to her window sill. She saw Dom again a few weeks later when he turned up at the Diner as she was closing. He told her that he hadn't gone to a hospital because he didn't want to get her into trouble, just as she hadn't reported him for the kidnapping, before collapsing. Belle called an ambulance for him and went to the hospital with him, partly because she was worried he could get her and Drew into trouble. She told him that she cared for him but not in the way he wanted. Angry about what was happening, Drew went to the hospital to confront Dom and a minor physical altercation left Dom needing immediate surgery. As he was being taken away he called out to Belle to tell him that she loved him...and to Drew's horror, she did.


Belle claimed she had only said what she did so Dom would go into surgery in a positive frame of mind. She continued to visit Dom while he was recovering from surgery and when he regained consciousness he told her that he knew she didn't love him but was determined to win her over. He asked Roman for a job in the Diner and Belle vouched for him, thinking having something else in his life would stop him being obsessed with her. Irene wasn't too happy about the pair being in close proximity though and asked Roman to help her prove Dom had taken the job to keep an eye on Belle rather than because he had an interest in hospitality as he claimed. Roman persuaded Dom to apply for a job as a trainee manager at a restaurant in the city. In fact, Irene had arranged for him to have an interview with help from her daughter Fin, who ran the restaurant and videoed the interview.


When Belle watched the tape and saw that Dom had deliberately given a bad impression, she realised he had lied to her and angrily told him that she would never fall for him no matter how long he hung around for. Dom vowed to come back for Belle but in the end it was the last she saw of him.