Lengths For Love (4 page)

Vincent gave Alexis a French kiss and shook my hand again. “Now we can formally introduce ourselves. I’m Vincent Augustin, though everyone calls me Vince. I run this place and I will make sure that you are comfortable during your whole stay. You’ll be with us until September, am I right?”

“That’s what it sounds like to me,” I nodded. “We don’t need very much. Just a place to stay during this time.”

“And you will get that. I do hope you take time to check out the scenery, though. It’s amazing and I’d hate for you to be here so long, but not get to do anything.” He picked up some of the bags. “Come on inside. I’ll show you to your room.”

“Whoa, are you a bellboy too?” I joked.

Somehow, he didn’t find it as funny. “Absolutely not. I’m trying to do a good deed here. Unless you want to carry your own bags?”

“No, it’s okay.” Alexis nudged me. “It’s very thoughtful of you, Vince.”

“Before you go to your room, I have a few things to tell you,” he said. “Come with me to my office.”

“Office?” I echoed. The guy had an office? Now I had heard everything.

“I have to check you in and all that good stuff,” he smiled at us. “The usual protocol, you know. Come on. I know the journey was long so I will try to make the end to the questions come as quickly as possible.”

“That would be great,” Alexis agreed as he pushed open the door to his office and turned on the lights. It was just as I had expected it to be—bigger than the man who owned it. There was a giant window behind the desk and it overlooked the grounds below. There were also many chairs and couches, as well as a fireplace. I wasn’t sure anymore if this was an office or a lounge.

“Sit down,” he insisted, pointing to the velvet chairs in front of his desk. “I swear it won’t take long.”

Alexis looked at me curiously, but all I could was shrug. A fancy office like this was not one of the pictures in the brochure. I never expected a twenty-something-year-old to work at what looked like a CEO’s desk. All the same, we couldn’t turn back. This was her decision. She was the one who wanted to be here and I had promised to do anything for her. We sat down while he clasped his hands and stared at us.

“Now I have to ask, before we do anything, what do you know about vampires?”

Interesting question. I racked my brains, trying to think of everything Alexis had told me. “Well, I know the usual. They drink blood, sleep in coffins, don’t go out in the sun, turn into bats, sparkle...”

“Sparkle?” Vincent raised a brow at me.

Alex reached over and squeezed my thigh. “He is taking about the Twilight series, of course. I made him read a lot about vampires. Anything about vampires. It’s me that has more of an interest in them.”

“I see.” He didn’t seem amused by me reading Twilight, and I understood why. Hell, I wasn’t amused by me reading them. All the vampire stuff was for Alexis and to have a conversation with her about anything besides the usual—TV shows, movies, music, school, and, of course, sex. While I would never be obsessed, I got her love for them. I just held my sarcastic remarks back when we were being serious.

“Well, rest assured that no one here sparkles.” Vincent gave us a smile and I felt relieved. It was the first smile anyone gave that didn’t make me want to run out screaming. “But this isn’t like what you read in the books, either. We don’t just hand out vampires who are willing to change others. It’s a long process. Which leads me to question number two: Why would you want to turn?”

“Oh, that’s easy. I’m... well, I’m... I...” Alexis had spoken up but her words were lost. I knew she was having a difficult talking about what had happened. She still believed that she would be cured.

I jumped in. “My girlfriend has stage 4 leukemia. I told you on the train, remember? That’s why we’re in this town, for her treatment. She’s going to start her chemotherapy Monday, but the doctors can only keep the cancer from spreading further. Even still, it’s a small shot.”

“That’s right. You did tell me,” Vincent nodded. “And you want to be spared the pain, so you think that turning will help you with that?”

“Basically.” I turned to Alexis who was giving me all kinds of looks. For someone who had been gung-ho about vampires and this place, she seemed a lot less enthusiastic now that we were here. I assumed that she was tired because she was now slumping in here chair. “You okay, babe?”

“Fine. Just a little exhausted from the trip.” She turned to Vincent who was watching us and scribbling stuff down. “Can you do it?”

“Me?” He looked up. “I’m not a vampire myself, despite what I might look like. However, you can stay here for a few days and see if you like everything. I cannot promise things will go as you planned, though. Vampires aren’t cuddly creatures. Some of them aren’t even romantic. They’re not like the fictional ones at all. They’re more tortured and twisted than sexy and mysterious.”

“I know. I’ve read about those vampires, too.”

“No, you misunderstand. These aren’t the creatures you have read about. They are real. They have feelings. They may not agree with everything you say and do,” he pointed out. “However, if any of them gives you trouble, all you have to do is tell me and I will take care of it, no questions asked. We have rules here and everyone has to follow them.”

“Um... okay,” I nodded. “Whatever you say, man. We just want a place to stay. We’re not going to cause much trouble.”

“I must say that I am sorry you are going through this,” he went on. Somehow, I did not get the feeling he was being honest. It sounded like something he said to everyone. But his eyes were telling another story, so I wasn’t sure about his sincerity. He gave Alexis a smile. “I can only hope that things get better from here on out.”

“So do I,” she sighed. “But thank you for this opportunity.”

“I think that’s it for now, so I guess you can go to your rooms. Thank you for believing in us.” He led us out the office and into the hallway. “Now, Miss Cloud, I do believe you asked for an assistant in the event things aren’t going as planned. Lucky for you, I have someone who can watch after you and report back immediately.” We stopped in front of one door and he knocked on it. “Jenny! Are you in there? I’ve got a job for you.”

We heard shuffling inside the room, which made him knock again. “Jennifer, I’m not going to ask twice. Open the door!”

“I’m coming!” I heard someone say from behind the door. It opened and I found myself facing the same raccoon-faced teenager I had met on the train. She still looked like a raccoon, but seemed less depressed this time around. Instead, she seemed mildly interested in both of us. I took this as a good sign.

“Miss Cloud and Mr. Choi will be staying with us for the next couple of months,” he explained to her. “Miss Cloud has cancer and is here for her treatments, and Mr. Choi is her boyfriend.” He looked at me. “He’s just here to support her.”

“Oh.” Jenny shifted her looks between me and Alexis. “So what’s my job?”

“You are to be Miss Cloud’s assistant. She is going to go through chemotherapy and will be needing help now and then. So when she calls, I want you to go immediately to check up on her.” He nodded at Alexis. “And if there is anything you need, just let Jenny know. In case Jenny isn’t around, I’ll make Kristine her back up.”

“Kristine?” I asked.

“My housekeeper. Also an alleged ‘vampire’.” He rolled his eyes. “But you don’t need to worry about any of them hunting you down and drinking your blood. We have strict rules here. I won’t let any of them near you.”

“Um, thanks.” However, I noticed that his eyes were on my girlfriend and not on me. Did that mean he didn’t extend the same warm feelings toward me? Did it mean it was okay for vampires to drink my blood? I shook the thoughts out. It had to be the fact that Alexis was beautiful and I wasn’t. Of course he’d set his eyes on her.

“Are you sure this place is secure?” Alexis asked.

“Absolutely. Your room will be cleaned in a timely fashion and I will make sure you have everything that you need.” He turned to Jenny and handed her a key. “Help take her bags to their room. It’ll be on the fifth floor and it’s number 501. And take the elevator as the stairs might be tiring.”

“I can walk up stairs.”

“I know, my dear. I just want to make things more comfortable for you.” He motioned Jenny to take things upstairs. “Now would you like anything specific for dinner?”

“Oh, thank you. We’ll manage,” I said.

“All right, then. If that’s it, I’d like to see you both downstairs for dinner tonight. We can talk about the next steps to take from here.”

“I would like that very much,” Alexis said. “You okay with that, Ian?”

“Sure. I had no dinner plans, anyway.”

“Good! I’ll see you around seven, then?”

“Fine by me.”

“Great.” He shook my hand once more. “Welcome aboard. I have a feeling we’re going to be good friends in the future.”

Hooray.

Dinner that night did not turn out to be so bad. He had taken us to a nearby restaurant and told us all kinds of stories. Alexis was laughing so hard she almost popped a gut, and even I had to chuckle at them. He was quite the storyteller. Evidently, “vampires” got into all kinds of shenanigans. In addition to that, he told us more about the house. There was a stable out back through the forest and we were free to ride horses if we wanted. Everything wasn’t as far away as it looked.

But I was dreading the following morning. It was the beginning of chemotherapy and I knew Alexis had not gotten any sleep. I could tell by her baggy eyes when I went to wake her up in the morning. She had also been crying a lot and looked nothing short of unenthusiastic of the day’s events.

“I can’t believe I have to go through this,” she muttered. “I wish it was toward the end of treatment instead of beginning.”

“Hey, now. Don’t act like that.” I gave her a hug. “Everything will be fine. You’ve braved through all the other tests. You’ll get through this, too.”

“I wish I shared your optimism.” She gave me a grim smile. “But you’re right. I have to brave it, no matter what.”

As we were getting ready, I heard a sharp rap on our door. Opening it, I found Vincent looking like he had stepped out of a Ralph Lauren store. The brown suit he had on was probably worth more than my entire ensemble. I felt like I came out of a K-mart ad while he belonged on some runway in Milan. Go me and my sad choice of wardrobe.

“Oh good, you haven’t left,” he sighed. “I was worried that I would be here and you’d already be gone. I was wondering if you were free around lunch time.”

Alexis shook her head. “I have no idea how long the chemo will last, but I’m sure it won’t be over by noon. Though Ian can go.”

I looked at her, surprised she would let me off the hook easily. It was her first round of chemotherapy and I expected her to be terrified. I didn’t think she’d want me to leave her side even to go to the bathroom. Lunch was a whole other story.

“You... you sure?” I managed to get out. “I mean, you’re okay with me leaving you alone?”

“If she needs you, she can always call my phone number. I left it with her.” Vincent nodded at Alexis, who gave us both a smile. “Come on. She’s going to be in good hands. I need to talk to you in private, anyway, about all this.”

“Oh.” I still wasn’t certain about leaving Alexis alone. Chemotherapy was a huge deal. Just because she was confident now didn’t mean she wouldn’t feel bad later. At the same time, I had promised to do anything for her and I had to keep it.

“Okay,” I caved in. “But if anything goes wrong, you know who to call.”

“I’ll be with doctors and nurses. I doubt anything will go wrong.”

Wow, was she confident! I was this close to biting all my nails off and she was sitting there like she waiting for the bus to arrive. There was no fear, no regret, nothing of that sort written on her face. The only way I knew something was wrong was how tired she looked. Her eyelids drooped and I could see some lines on her face. In just a few days, she looked like she had aged twenty years. But she was still smiling and ready to take on anything. That had been the Alexis I had fallen for and I didn’t think that Alexis had left yet.

“If you say so,” I shrugged. Then I looked at Vincent and held out my hand. “We have a lunch date, pal.”

“Great! I’ll have the car ready around noon. Just wait outside around then.”

Whoop-de-doo, I could not wait for that. While I was pleased that he was thinking of my wellbeing, Alexis was all I could think about. She was the weak one, the one who needed to be cared for. I was hoping that he would invite her, too, but he seemed to not notice she was there until she spoke up. Even then, he would cast an eye at her and barely listened. I found it rude, but chose to stay quiet. He didn’t have to be nice to her. He probably thought he was doing us both a favor.

As we headed down the hallway, we ran into a vampire who stopped and tried to go the other way. She had short, dark hair with ice-blue tips, and tattoos up and down her arms. Before she had turned around, I caught sight of a bellybutton ring underneath her shirt. It didn’t have any effect on me but I could see Vincent’s face twist in disgust at it.

“Oh Rose!” He stopped her and she turned around. I noticed that she also had her eyebrow pierced and that made Vincent cringe. Rubbing his temple, he went on. “Do my eyes deceive me or did you just get your navel pierced for the thirteenth time?”

“Oh, this?” Rose rolled up her shirt to show the diamond stud in her bellybutton. It didn’t look like a thirteenth piercing to me, but what did I know? He turned his nose up at it. “Yeah, I did, sir. You said it was okay.”

“I did, but I said you could get one after the month was over,” he went on. “My father isn’t going to be happy when he sees this, Rosie. I hope you know that. When he arrives, you better have that covered up. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir.” She looked dejected, but went about her way. I looked at Vincent and wondered why he was against the navel piercing. Granted, I didn’t want one myself, but that didn’t mean others couldn’t get them.

“You know, she probably didn’t mean any harm by getting it.” I explained.

“I have an image in this place to keep up.” He buffed his nails against his suit jacket. “My father hates it when the vampires tried to get body modifications. They don’t feel pain as it is, so it leads to some suspicions. I don’t want vampire hunters to get her just because she’s stupid enough to do this. I assume she went to New York and got it done. That’s where she claims to get all those tattoos and the brow piercing from.”