Modern Beauty and the Beast

My sixth grade sister had an assignment for school: take a classic fairytale and retell the story in modern times. She hasn't written the story yet, but this is something I came up with from our general idea.

Beauty and the Beast.

There is a man who is very into his job. He works for the FBI and is trained as a spy and hitman. He is so involved with his career that it becomes his life. He eats, sleeps and breathes the FBI, thinking that other people and other matters are unimportant. His neighbors think he is anti-social and he is often rude to his family. He introduces himself as simply Q. He has to change his appearance very often, but one of the most useful disguises he uses is a full beard and mustache and long shaggy hair. He is so hairy that his mother says he looks like a beast.

He lives in New York and pretends to be a broker. One day he meets a woman at the bus stop. On first glance, he thinks she is very beautiful, but he thinks that she would surely be ditsy and flighty and not worth his time. He is very rude to her and she does not like him at all. But there is something about her that intrigues him. Using the skills he learned in the FBI as a spy, he begins to keep tabs on her and learns that her name is Angelina. She starts to notice his strange behavior and when he calls her on the phone, she yells at him, calling him a stalker. He is very hurt by her dislike of him.

Eventually, Q backs off for a while, but he meets her again on the street. This time he tries to be nice, but he is awkward and acts strangely because he has not spoken with anyone like this in a long time. Angelina takes pity on him and invites him to have coffee with her. They have a good time. They start to hang out more often, and Angelina shows him how to be himself instead of feeling awkward. They start to talk about their personal lives. Angelina learns that a long time ago, Q broke off relations with his father. Now his father is dying, and Q does not want to speak to him before he dies. Angelina manages to convince Q that he should see his father.

When Q is able to visit his father, he breaks down in tears, and realizes that his career has turned him into a monster. He had not even been able to forgive his father on his deathbed. Q decides to quit his career as a spy and hitman, and shaves off his beard and cuts his hair. Then, realizing he loves Angelina, he marries her. He brings gifts to his neighbors, smiling and introducing himself now as Quinton.