Almost Lovers (4 page)

I always ached to see her leave, even when
she was causing my world to fall apart. She didn’t seem to
understand. She was the motivator of most of her pain. She was the
driving force. And this time she was putting us both in grave
danger.

After a second or two Charles closed the
door again and slid the deadbolt into place. I sent an eyebrow up
to Charles and our eyes met. It was unlike him to lock a door.

"No door slamming," said Charles, "Sir," he
bowed in a small way and took a few steps back to his post near the
door. I could understand. It was a rule of the Queen’s and the
entire reason that Charles was standing there. The Queen had no
tolerance for the slamming of doors. Charles would lose an ear if
Lydia managed it. And she would have if he hadn’t opened and closed
the door for her.

I pressed the bridge of my nose with my
forefinger and thumb. A crisis or two averted. If Lydia was bold
enough to set foot on forbidden ground with an entire party in full
swing, perhaps Lydia wasn't ready to come back to court. Perhaps
this entire thing was a mistake. But I was in it now and there was
no way to back out. I would reap what I had sown; the Queen would
make sure of that.

"Lover's spat?" asked a sweet, old
voice.

Charles bowed his head very low to the
Queen, Victoria, and the Queen nodded her head in his direction
allowing him to straighten his posture once more.

"I had no idea-," I started.

"Of course not," said the Queen, "It’s
astonishing that she didn't even think to lower her voice. It’s
almost like she was calling to me," the Queen smiled at me.

I knelt on the hard marble of the entry. My
fist bunched up as my knuckles touched the marble, kneeling in the
lowest form I could.

"My Queen, if you wish for me to bring her
back so that justice..." I couldn't even finish the sentence, "I
will do as you command me, my Queen,"

She paused, the beads on her gown swayed
almost silently.

"I'm tempted," said Victoria.

I tried to be as silent as I could. I knew
that even the slightest offense, the wrong expression or a hasty
word could lead in not only Lydia's eternity being ended but my own
just for allowing her to disrespect the Queen, and in her own
castle at that.

"But I believe Prussia would miss you," said
Victoria, "I think she's looking for you even now."

I looked up at the Queen and followed her
gaze, out into the main living space in the castle. There Prussia
was, her body perfectly poised and framed in the dress I had
selected on a whim for her. She embodied it perfectly, gave the
dress life, as she stepped into the archway leading into the
entry.

As discreetly as I could, I ripped a button
off of my shirt and pretended to pick it up as I stood from my
kneeling position. It was always lively when a human was at a
vampire gathering. Usually it meant a chase to follow but in this
case it meant hiding in our own court, or modern palace of
sorts.

"A button," I said, a smile spread across my
face as I held up the small white button to show her as evidence,
"they are always getting snagged on this or that,"

Victoria patted my arm as she walked by to
greet Prussia. We had to keep up appearances of course. I had done
well is what the Queen had meant with the little pat. I had done as
a good dog should.

"I'm so pleased you came to my birthday
after all," said Victoria, "such a delight,"

Prussia smiled and looked down toward the
marble floor, her cheeks flushing with pink.

"I'm so thrilled, really," said Prussia,
"What a shock when I realized that your grandson is the one that
saved me the other night. And it’s a wonderful party so far. It's
such a treat. I've never been to a party that qualifies as a social
event,"

"It is a small world, isn’t it? And just
wait until the holidays," said Victoria, "We always have the best
flowers, my favorite part, of course,"

"Of course," said Prussia.

Prussia was still smiling and the blood
hadn’t left her cheeks yet. She was just a simple human and yet
there was something that drew me toward her. There was something
about the way she smiled, the way she moved, that was magnetic. It
could have been the way the dress hugged her, her perfect form, but
I knew better. I had known my share of women and this was
different. It was subtle and I didn’t know what it was but I could
sense it...

"Sebastian?" asked Victoria.

Victoria and Prussia were both looking at me
now. I must have missed something. How awkward. I must have been
staring.

"So sorry, what's that? What did I miss?" I
asked.

"Prussia was just saying that she didn't
think she would be able to make the holiday party coming up and I
told her that you would certainly want her to attend." said
Victoria, amused that I was caught in a moment of being smitten,
I'm sure.

"Absolutely, I must insist," I said,
understanding fully that Victoria was using me to get Prussia to
commit to something, anything, before the night was over,

"Grand-mama throws the most spectacular
parties. I've heard it called a once in a lifetime experience
before," I smiled with every drop of charm I could muster.

I managed not to laugh as I had glazed over
the part where most humans that attended our holiday events really
did experience something once in a lifetime, meaning their death of
course.

"It always proves memorable," said Victoria,
giving me a sidelong look that said I was pushing it.

"Well I don't know how I could possibly say
no to something that’s once in a lifetime," said Prussia,
completely unaware of the danger holiday parties would really
present for her, "I would love to see what all the fuss is
about,"

Everyone smiled in polite smiles and for a
moment, I thought we were completely in the clear. And I was wrong
as soon as the thought crossed my mind.

"So, how do you know Lydia?" Prussia
asked.

She was still smiling but something told me
she wasn't exactly pleased.

"You, also, know Lydia?" asked Victoria, "I
swear, it is a small world."

It sounded like pure amusement coming from
Victoria only wrapped in an 'I told you so' and sealed with a 'that
girl is nothing but trouble'. I tried to keep my smile on as best I
could. The fact that Prussia recognized Lydia, even knowing her
name, made me think Lydia had been planning to hunt her. If I
hadn’t been there Lydia would have had opportunity to kill Prussia
in the park without a single person to help her.

"Well," I started, not sure where I was
going to go with this, "Actually, it's a funny story. Lydia
and-"

"Lydia has been a family employee for some
time now," said Victoria, "Really, Sebastian, there is nothing
funny about that,"

And just like that, the Queen smoothed over
ruffled feathers and left me catching up. I just stood there poised
to fabricate an incredible lie but with that simple explanation
Prussia seemed completely satisfied and Victoria began to give her
a tour of the house. Every boring detail wrapped in lies upon lies
upon lies all founded on truth but still wrapped in layers of
lies.

The drive back to my apartment was longer
than I had remembered on the way to the party. I wished I had a
watch so I knew what time it was. I looked over at Sebastian in the
leather driver's seat, his wrist was on his other arm and I
couldn't get a clear look at the watch face. It was black. Not as
if I could have read it in the dark of the car anyway.

I sat back into the luxurious seat and let
it cradle my tired body. I hadn't danced at all but I had spent
plenty of time standing and walking around as Victoria, or
Grand-mama as she liked to be called, gave me the longest house
tour of my life. Granted, it was all gorgeous. It was just a really
long time to be standing in heels.

I looked out the window and tried to see
where the moon was. Maybe there was something to the whole 'telling
time with the moon' idea.

"It's almost 3 in the morning," said
Sebastian.

Mind reader. I looked at him, surprised he
had known what I was thinking.

"You didn't move hardly at all as I've been
driving, saying even less, so I noticed when you tried to look at
my watch," he was calm, matter-of-fact, "and then I noticed you
looked for the moon. Nobody really looks for the moon when they
stare out a car after a date,"

His eyes met mine then and I remembered
again how we met. The dark of the park, the danger of it all, the
shadows he seemed to just appear out of.

"Except that you told me about the moon and
the whole telling time thing," I said.

"I was kidding," he said, shifting the car
into a different gear, the foreign sports car speeding a little
faster and hugging close to the road, "I have no idea if that's
really 'a thing' as you call it,"

His smile was big, genuine. I felt a little
foolish but I still smiled back at him. He turned his attention
back to the road and I turned my attention back to the car window
and what we were passing.

"Does this mean you didn't have a nice
time?" he asked.

I looked back at Sebastian and our eyes met
for a moment but he wouldn’t hold my gaze. I didn't blame him. He
suspected that I didn't enjoy myself. This was supposed to be a
date after all, as far as he knew.

Every minute seemed slower than the last. I
wanted to be home, wanted to see Robert's face, wanted to know if
my plan would work. I didn't want to just be the girl cheating on
her boyfriend. I felt guilty, guiltier than I realized I would. I
felt guilty because I had actually had a really good time.

"I had a good time," I said, looking over
his features.

Strong features, with something mysterious
about him and he had a touch of emotion. Just a touch of softness
around his serious set jaw and his strong, captivating eyes. He
looked at me and this time I was the one that had to look away.

"I wish you had had a great time," he said
quietly.

I watched as the trees went past even
slower. I looked at the speedometer then and realized we had slowed
considerably compared to how fast we had been going only ten
minutes ago.

"We're going so slowly" I said.

He caught my eyes this time and I thought I
caught a look of sadness for a brief moment. Whatever I thought I
had seen was quick to pass over his face, like a cloud in front of
the moon. There one second and then gone.

"Because we're here," he said.

I looked back out the window and he was
right. We were parked in front of my apartment building. Perhaps
the minutes hadn't passed slower, perhaps I was just too consumed
in what I was about to find out. I wasn't prepared. I was suddenly
nervous to find out how Robert would take my game. I wasn't one for
games. Maybe he would be angry. Would he throw himself at
Sebastian? I felt bad enough using Sebastian in this way, as nice
as he was, but if Sebastian got hurt on top of it I wouldn't ever
forgive myself.

I was genuinely worried now. Sebastian had
gotten out of the car and had come around to open my car door.
There he stood, tall, handsome, polite, and I was walking him
towards something he had no idea about and probably wanted no part
in.

"We could always go somewhere else," he
said, somewhat joking but a hint of seriousness, "If you think
we're back too early," his voice was very soft but serious now.

I got out of the car quickly and fussed with
my dress to smooth it out.

"Oh, just a little tired and slow to move is
all," I said. I smiled out of nervousness and he brushed a strand
of hair away from my face, tucking it behind my ear.

"Well," he said, "We should get you all
tucked in then,"

He said it just as any gentleman would but I
could see in his eyes that he wanted to help tuck me in himself, if
I would let him. I tried to think of something to say.

"Well, goodnight," I said, turning slightly
to begin walking, "And thank you so much for such a nice
evening,"

I was hopeful that I could go on ahead up to
my apartment without him following me in, still concerned about
what waited for me and how Robert would respond to actually seeing
a man bringing me back to our apartment after a date. But Sebastian
followed right in step next to me.

"One minute you're falling asleep tired and
the next you're running to get inside," he laughed.

I felt stupid. I was acting like an insane
person.

"Oh, you know," I said, waving my hand out
to the evening and empty streets, "No telling who is out here at
this time of night,"

Apparently he didn’t think my joke was
entirely funny. He stopped walking and placed a hand on my elbow. I
stopped walking and looked at him. He looked like he had something
to say. He didn’t look thrilled to be honest. I couldn't tell if he
was angry or what.