Almost Lovers (13 page)

Sebastian looked around and then finished
taking the bite out of the apple that he had started before. I
watched as he moved the piece of apple to the side of his cheek and
talked with his cheek full of apple.

"When is he supposed to be here?" asked
Sebastian.

"I'm not sure," I said, trying not to make
eye contact.

"Well, what time does he normally get in?"
Sebastian asked, "I mean…do you have plans or something?"

"No," I said, trying to choose my words
carefully, "No plans. But I told you I'm still trying to work
things out with Robert and I can't exactly do that if I'm off with
you,"

I looked at him then, hopeful that he
wouldn't bring up the whole 'you did this to both of us' fact. He
didn't look angry though. He looked thoughtful and puzzled.

"Well, has he agreed to work on things?" he
asked, his words seemed chosen with the same care as mine had
been.

"Not exactly," I said.

"Prussia, I'm not trying to be pushy, I'm
not," he said, "But I don’t understand..."

"I don't see him," I said, "He never comes
home. And when I do see him, he's usually already in bed sleeping
and we don't talk...we leave notes instead of talking," I wanted to
cry as I said the last part.

"I see," he said.

I waited for him to say more but he just sat
there chewing on that stupid apple. My eyebrows went up and my eyes
got big, expecting him to say more. He must have taken my hint
because he spoke up again.

"I just mean," he said, pausing and thinking
for a moment again, "absence makes the heart grow fonder?"

I could tell that he was trying to suppress
his laughter. I couldn't blame him entirely. I knew he wanted
Robert out of the way. I'm sure he wasn't devastated to hear that
Robert was not at all upset about our accidental breakup.

"Thanks," I said, "Not helpful,"

I walked over to the sofa and plunked down,
wishing I could build another fort out of blankets and just
barricade inside of them forever. Sebastian walked over to the sofa
and I scooted over so he could sit next to me, which he did. He
placed a friendly arm around me and gave me a gentle hug.

"I'm not sad that he's ignoring you," he
said to which I rolled my eyes, "But maybe you need to start doing
to him what he's been doing to you. You're the only one waiting
around on him. I don't see him waiting around on you. If you get up
and go do stuff then maybe he'll start to notice you're not going
to wait around forever. I know I wouldn't ever keep you
waiting,"

I looked up at him and immediately realized
that had been a risky move. His face was close to mine and I looked
up right into those gorgeous eyes that had nothing but kindness and
care in them. I forgot what I had wanted to say and my mouth parted
ever so slightly.

His eyes had the smallest flecks in them
that were mesmerizing. The colors contrasted beautifully and made
his eyes look like something you would only see deep in the heart
of the ocean. His lips brushed mine gently and I could feel his
hand sweeping my hair away from my cheek and pulling me closer.

My heart melted and for just a moment I
forgot about Robert. I wished we were both barricaded onto the sofa
with mountains of blankets and pillows but for a whole lot more
than sulking. When he finally pulled away from me, my lips tried to
follow and then I remembered.

I remembered where we were, who I had been
waiting for and that I wasn’t supposed to be encouraging Sebastian.
Sebastian stood up from the sofa and offered a hand to help me
up.

"Are you ready, then?" he asked.

"Ready?" I asked.

"To go to dinner," said Sebastian, "Victoria
will be thrilled to hear that you will be her new consultant,"

My cheeks flushed with where my mind had
thought the conversation would go and I looked away from him to
gain some composure. I smoothed out my clothes and took his
outstretched hand briefly to help me up from the sofa.

"Of course," I said, "Yes, I'm ready when
you are,"

“Did you get a new car?” I asked, noticing
that the sleek luxury automobile was different this time.

The paint is what gave it away mostly. I
could tell it was a luxury car and that it was red whereas his
other had been black, but if you wanted anything more specific, you
were grasping at straws.

“Yes,” he said, visibly tensing as he opened
the car door for me.

We had a dinner date. But it was with his
grandmother so I tried to think of it as a work function since I
would be working for Victoria from now on. And I wasn’t exactly in
a position to decline considering Sebastian wanted to forever hold
my lies and mistakes over my head.

"What happened to your other car?" I
asked.

I didn’t get in the car. I just waited for
an answer since it looked like he wasn’t going to give one.
Eventually, he gave in and answered.

"It's in the shop," said Sebastian,
irritated now.

I couldn’t tell if the irritation was a
result of my questions or his car being in the shop. I didn’t care.
I wished I hadn’t even brought it up. It had been a casual
observation that had popped out of my mouth. I wasn’t all here. I
was wondering where Robert had been spending his nights…and days,
too.

"Well, I like this one more. It suits you,"
I said. I had no idea what kind of car suited a person. To me this
one looked exactly like the other. But perhaps it would smooth his
ruffled feathers.

I gave him a sideways look as I got into the
low sitting luxury car. Whatever had happened to his car must have
angered him. I didn’t pry, mostly because each question had him
angrier. I tried talking about the weather until we got to
Victoria’s for dinner. By the time we got to the house he was his
normal charming self. Now I just wondered how the charming and warm
Sebastian I was used to could be so upset over a car. Throwing fits
over toys was not at all sexy in my eyes. What had happened?

Victoria was all hugs and kisses when we
finally got to her mansion. She really was expecting me. She made
me feel like a favorite grandchild. She rushed me away from
Sebastian and into the dining room as soon as she had her hand
around my wrist. I couldn’t say I really minded. Sebastian seemed
distracted.

We were finally all seated at the table and
Victoria continued to chit-chat nonstop. For an old woman, I
thought she would have gotten at least a little winded by this
time. Turns out, she was just getting warmed up.

"Sebastian tells me that you're considering
the consultation position," said Victoria, "I am so pleased!"

We hadn’t been sitting down for very long. I
had only just poured a glass of wine. I was ready for an onslaught
of questions and gabbing but only because it came with salary and
benefits. I would still need wine if this was going to be my
profession. It could always be worse, I told myself. I could be
unemployed. I couldn’t imagine how I could possibly get fired from
gossip committee.

"I'm surprised that you have a position
open," I said, "And would consider me at all,"

"But of course!" said Victoria, "Sebastian
was right to choose you. I'm so scatter brained lately that it
didn't even occur to me. How obvious that we should spend more time
together. It will hardly feel like work at all!"

"Can you tell she's excited?" asked
Sebastian, he winked at me, "As she said, it was very obvious, I
can't take much credit,"

"Well, I will try my best. I have no idea
what consultation really is but I'll try," I said, my parched lips
encouraging me to have more wine, "Am I needed tonight, then?"

"Of course not," said Victoria, "We'll get
you settled in the morning,"

"But-" I started to point out Sebastian's
insistence that I was needed this evening.

"Grand-mama is right," said Sebastian,
"First thing in the morning," he smiled at me and I took another
sip of wine. I was starting to feel the effects of the wine.

It wasn’t long before we were talking about
the roaring 20’s or some other era with cheap booze and better
music. As nice as Victoria was, I couldn’t help feeling that this
was wrong. I sipped my wine and laughed at her jokes and stories
but I felt like an impostor. I wasn’t part of the family. And I
shouldn’t even be an employee. I didn’t belong.

Eventually the night wound down and Victoria
mentioned some late meetings she had scheduled. I thought it odd
but Sebastian seemed to think it was perfectly normal and we
finished up dinner with coffees and some sweets. It was a perfect
evening. Impostor or not, I could get used to this. It felt like
what a family should feel like, warm, intimate, cozy.

Sebastian went to get the car and had me
wait in the entry way. The mansion was very quiet at night. The
marble made an echo with my noisy clopping around in heels so I
tried to stay still. Every few moments I would make a noisy clop
just so the silence wouldn't creep in. I knew I had only been
waiting a handful of seconds but I found myself wondering what was
keeping him. It was a bit creepy how silent it really got when you
didn't move. I didn't notice anything at all until a light breeze
came through the entry way a few minutes later.

I turned to see if Sebastian had opened the
front door to collect me but what I saw was a person I had not
expected to see coming in. Lydia had on an evening gown that looked
nearly identical to the one that Sebastian had gotten me for our
first date.

It wasn't an exact copy. Mine had looked
better though her dress was a close second. It didn't have the hand
beading or beautiful crystal details. It looked like the beading
was cheap sequined material. But the dress was form fitting, of
course.

"What are you doing here?" asked Lydia with
her air of snobbery that attempted to emulate but didn't achieve
class or sophistication.

"I was invited to dinner. Which is over," I
said, "Party crashing?"

"I have business with Grand-mama," said
Lydia, she twirled a piece of her hair as she looked me up and
down.

I had nothing else to really say to her and
didn't want to be anywhere near her. Her presence reminded me that
Robert was her play toy and I hadn't been able to do much about it.
Mostly I thought about ripping chunks of her overly teased hair out
of her head and making her cry but I refrained.

"Do you still work for the family, then?" I
asked, trying to make small talk.

"Are you still pretending you belong, then?"
she asked, her eyes getting sharp.

I got the impression she didn't like me
prying.

"Lydia," said an even toned voice that
commanded attention. I jumped a little. It was Victoria.

"Grand-mama," said Lydia, bowing her head a
little and curtsying and then straightening up.

"Victoria," said Victoria, seeming to
correct Lydia. Lydia's face lit up in surprise at the
correction.

"My Lady, Victoria," said Lydia, curtsying
again.

"Wow," I said, "You’re all so formal,"

"It takes some getting used to," Victoria
said, walking over and placing a gentle hand on my arm, "But with a
little practice I think you'll find it can be a lot of fun,"

Lydia's face didn't say she thought it was
fun. But I guess that made it even more fun. I didn't get the
impression that Victoria really wanted to spend much time with
Lydia if she could help it.

Sebastian came in the door. It looked as
though he had raindrops on him. It must have started raining while
we were eating dinner. His face was neutral as he passed by Lydia
and offered an arm to me. Victoria gave me a big smile and patted
me on the arm, a gentle pat.

"You two kids drive safe," said Victoria,
looking at me and then Sebastian.

She gave Lydia a glance and I followed her
gaze to find that Lydia was giving me a very unhappy, downright
pissed off look.

"We will," said Sebastian.

"How's your car?" asked Lydia, with a so
much attitude she might as well have spit in his face.

Sebastian looked at her with the same look
of neutral indifference, not rushing his answer but taking his
time. It seemed to take a bit of steam out of Lydia's attitude as
he took more than a few moments to answer.

"Car?" asked Victoria.

"It's in the shop," I offered, not enjoying
the extra time with Lydia at all.

Sebastian just kept looking at Lydia who
continued to stare at him with a look that tried to match his
indifference but had a definite element of squirm factor.

"Oh," said Lydia, "How sad to hear. I know
how much you loved that car,"

"Sad, indeed," said Sebastian, "I never
thought I would fall out of love with it either. But Prussia points
out that my new car suits me and I happen to agree."

Lydia's face didn't hold a neutral look
anymore. She shot me a dirty look and her lip started to quiver in
what looked like the start of a snarl. It made me uncomfortable,
especially with Victoria near by. I wouldn’t want her to
accidentally get hurt by this lunatic all because Lydia's unstable
and hates me. I tried not to wince or look away but it was hard to
stare at a crazy person. It reminded me of looking into a light too
long. All I could see was crazy.