We're headed down a hallway on the first floor and soon approach a single mahogany door with a golden chipped-looking doorknob. Nick reaches for it, looking back at me with a boyish grin, "Have you ever seen a real castle atrium before?" Castle...atrium? Him asking me this...? I'm feeling uneasy now; this brings back that memory of sitting at a stone table with my dream guy.

"I believe I haven't... No." I say. He turns back and opens the door. I peer in past him as I delicately grab my arms. He steps aside, "Ladies first," I glance at him and cautiously walk through. Suddenly, an overwhelming feeling of Déjà vu strikes me as I look around at the tall, glass domed ceiling allowing bits of moonlight in. The trees with their fall leaves dropping from their limbs spread out everywhere and the big, white, illuminated fountain ahead is spitting water gracefully. But...what really gets my attention is a stone table and chairs–just like in that dream!

"Oh...my-" I bring my hands up to my mouth. He comes up behind me, "Beautiful, isn't it?" I quickly look at him, shocked. "I- I can't-" Shaking my head, I look from him to the room, back and forth. "What's wrong?" he asks with a concerned look on his face. "I can't believe it." I say. "What do you mean?"
"I had a dream of a place that looked just like this and-" I almost mention the rest of the dream. "And...?" He asks. I steady my gaze on his face for a minute. If I told him what happened, who knows what he'll say or do. He might think I'm crazy! I just look back toward the fountain again.

"It feels so strange..."
"Maybe you were just very excited about coming here."
"Yeah...maybe that's it." I would like to think so...

He takes my hand in his, "Come–let me show you off to Mr. Vladoiu's roses..."
"Oh?" Well, that's flattering...! I have to smile at that.

He guides me past the fountain and soon turns right to follow the path until we approach a long bed of rosebushes surrounding a white statue of an angelic woman holding a harp. At her base, there are small lights pointed up at her, illuminating her beauty just perfectly and also ricocheting off her to make the red roses seem to glow. The sight of all this has taken my mind straight to fantasy land; it's quite like stepping up to a part of a movie set. Come to think of it, this whole place does that to me.

He leans down and picks one of them, then slowly offers it to me as he gives that intense, yet amused glimmer in his eyes. "For you," It looks like the reddest one in the bunch! Is this where the other rose that I put in a vase came from? Carefully, I take it and smell it; the whole time, I'm watching him with a shy, gratified expression.

"You know..." he says as he puts his hands in his pockets and looks around, "I do like it better this way...at night. The moon..." he smiles and looks at me, "It makes everything more beautiful." Leisurely, I move the rose away, gaze still not leaving his face. He points up at the ceiling, "Look there Ivy," he walks up and gently moves me to where he just stood, then he points again, "The clouds are clearing... Look at how beautiful the sky is. A few stars are already out."

"Wow..." He's right... Though there are some trees in the way, I can still see how wonderful the view is. Night does seem better than day...

I feel his hand slide down to the middle of my back and stop. It sends a shiver up my spine. I turn around to him and look up into his eyes. How the light from the statue shines in his face makes me want to never lose eye contact with him. He has such beautiful eyes and such a handsome face. I'm so close to him, and for once, I feel more at ease.

He smiles and gently strokes my cheek, tilting his head a little, "Did you truly believe me when I said I am psychic?"
"Yes I did...I do believe you."
"Are you sure?"
I focus on his lips, "Yes...I'm sure."

He slides his hand down to my neck, giving me a more intense shudder. Why does he have such an affect on me like this? He looks up from it, back into my eyes, "If only you knew what I see from day to day."
"...What do you see?" I'm hardly audible. His lips twitch into an abrupt grimace that lasts only half a second, then he's serious again, "Many things. They are everywhere–Good and evil."
"How do you deal with this?" He pauses for a moment as if going into thought, looking past me in a preoccupied way. Soon though, an odd sort of smile adorns his features as he looks at me again, "I...have my ways..."
...What does that mean?

He sees my confusion and coughs lightly to get rid of the awkward moment. "Well then, you see...this wasn't always an atrium."
"Really?" I look up at the ceiling, "Yeah...that does seem fairly new."

"After Mr. Vladoiu's father died, this was built... in the late 90's." He says in a quiet voice while studying me. I look out of the corner of my eye at him, then I face him with a small smile, "How long have you worked for Mr. Vladoiu...the second?"
"For 8 years now." He smiles back.
"Long time...!" I say, astonished.
"Yes, well it doesn't feel like it has been that long. It's like a blink of an eye for me." He winks. "Wow," I say, then after a moment, I ask, "What about Walter?"

"He's been here for 5 years." That surprises me.
"He seems so experienced! I mean, I know he's old but..."
"Hahaha!" He's now thrilled. "Ivy, he has been a butler for most of his life."

"Well how old is he exactly?" I ask. He lightly crosses his arms, "He's 64."
Oh man...

"He's in good shape..." I say in a sort of amazement. His arms fall and he frowns slightly, placing his hand over his chest, "Yes...but his heart is not so good." My brow creases. He waves a hand at that, "No worries though... He's fine." he suddenly halfway grins, "He lives here." I look down my nose at him, humored, "So you're saying this is heaven?" "Mmm...I'm not sure how to answer that. I will say that Mr. Vladoiu understands luxury, but the man would never stay through the day. He hasn't been here in four years actually."

"Four years?" Whoa! That's quite a while for someone to stay away from a place they own! "Four years..." He confirms, then adds, "He has other homes. This is not his favorite..." he stops talking for a moment. "Is there something wrong with this place? It's beautiful to me." I say. He looks at me again and faintly smiles with a small shrug, "It must hold too many memories for him. After all, I believe he grew up here."

"Ahh...I see." I slowly say. Then I look around and up again, "Well...this is a very intriguing atrium...I love it. Thank you for showing me." I smile at him. He lowers his head, "It was my pleasure." He slowly grins up at me through his lashes. I blush. How evil and secretive he looks...

He straightens his posture and asks, "Ivy...are you hungry?"
"I am." I nod. "Here," he waves his hand toward the path we followed, "let us go to the grand room. By now, the fireplace will be lit and Walter will be along. We will find out if our dinner is ready then." He gives me his arm, I daintily take it and we head out through the door we came in.

The walk is for a little ways, though it doesn't seem long as he tells me about the paintings that Mr. Vladoiu had hung on the walls of this large corridor. Some have been hanging here since the castle was finished. The ones near the entrance are the newest. I must say the old paintings are easy to lose yourself in.

I ask him, "You think people aren't as creative as they used to be?"
He makes the sliest smile, "People don't change, Ivy–Dates do. However, when it comes to art, people are more likely to paint pictures of whatever is happening during the era they live in. A good example is the Victorian era, if you understand my meaning."
"Yes..." I say, "I understand...perfectly."

When we get to the grand room, we see Walter standing by the fireplace deep in thought. There is a nice fire going.

"Walter!" Nick brightly says. Walter straightens himself and tips his head to him. "Sir." We approach him and Nick asks him about dinner. "Yes sir, the maids are nearly finished preparing the table."
"Perfect." Nick says, then he looks at the rose in my hand, "You know...just for now...Walter, will you put this in a vase for Miss Summers?"
"Of course," Walter bows at him, politely takes the rose and walks away to the right corridor. Then Nick leads me over to the sofa and joins me.

"So, Ivy...did you enjoy that little tour I gave you?"
"Oh it was lovely, thank you." Beyond lovely, actually. He grins toothily.
That...makes my cheeks turn pink. I really have never blushed so much in my life!

"I'm glad you had a wonderful time." He says.
"Me too. I really enjoyed it."
His expression darkens, "After dinner, I could show you a much better time-" he clears his throat, "I mean I could give you more of a tour." I almost choke, "What?" He laughs and shakes his head, "I was joking. You don't like jokes?"
I stare at him and then finally say, "Yeah I do... Sorry, I didn't get that one." Actually, I did.
And I can feel how hot my cheeks are getting. "It's okay."
He winks at me. I gulp slowly.

"...Do you like magic?" He asks.
"Magic?"
He nods at me.
"It's interesting..." I say.

"How about hypnotism?"
"I...don't know. I've never thought about it." He pauses at my response, a smile suddenly spreading across his face for a brief moment, "Well, I know a few tricks." I give him a smug expression, "No way... Hypnotizing isn't real."
He leans in close, "Is that doubt I sense? I can hypnotize you. No, I suppose I would have to show you to make you believe me." "Then show me." I say as I uncomfortably try to move a few inches away from him. "Hmm..." he starts to form a devilish face toward my behavior, "you're tempting me Ivy." Am I?

"I am." I questionably admit. He leans back, throwing an arm on the back of the sofa, "Well, I will have to show you tomorrow." Tomorrow?

"Oh! Well...how convenient for you." That gets his attention.
"What?" He says, then suddenly moves closer. I back away, getting anxious. He keeps moving. "Nick, what are you-" He crawls up over me, causing me to practically lie down underneath him. "Nick!" I quietly panic and then turn my head as he inches closer to my face. "Look at me." he says. I slowly look at him. He's very, very close! And his eyes are glowing! Or so, it sure looks like they are! "Get off me!"

"When I say I will do something–I mean it." He whispers. I nervously watch his every facial movement. "Well what are you going to do now?" My heart is beginning to race madly now. He smirks contemplatively. "That...should be left unsaid."
"What?!" I squeak, granting a soft chuckle from him. He leans down and suddenly licks and kisses my neck, making me gasp. He moves away from it just after. "Calm down Ivy–I won't do anything to you." he laughs quietly and then backs off. As I'm breathing anxiously and my heart flutters, I touch the place he licked, wide eyes watching him intently.

He stands up tall, fixing his shirt and looking around in an authoritative way as if scanning the room for anyone. He looks back down at me with a dark grin, "You shouldn't think twice about this." His eyes are still glowing. I can't help but to focus on them. After a moment, the last thing I remember is us talking about magic. I sit up slowly and then see Walter coming back in.

"Sir–dinner is served." Nick looks over and smiles with a dip of the head, "Very good." He turns to me, "Let's eat, shall we?" I nod at him and carefully stand, grab a hold of his arm and let him guide me to the right corridor after Walter.

As we walk, I glance at him in a questioned way. He may look out the corner of his eye at me and smirk here and there but that's about it. I can tell there's something going on in his mind though; something seems to be bothering him, yet he's masking it very well. The silence lasts until we near a door, then he tells me as Walter opens it and goes inside, "Any questions you may have, can be answered at the table, during our meal." He points toward the dining room with his chin. Hesitantly, I look away from him to see what's in there. Oh my goodness! It's the grand dining room! Wait–Of course it is! The small one I sat in before is upstairs.

In this dimly lit one, the table is long, the tall windows ahead of it are dressed with dark red curtains; there are about 4 of these windows and just like that other dining room, the chairs have the same setup with the most important-looking one at the very end. Not too mention, the table is romantically decorated... It's very romantic, indeed. There are white candles on it and some are on the walls as well.

"Let's sit down." He leads me inside. As I walk behind him, I notice a fairly young male chef is in here standing beside Walter near the door on the right wall. Neither of them are talking; they're just standing there in a professional way. The chef has a cart with two hotel-styled stainless steel plates, a bottle of expensive-looking champagne and two fancy glasses. As soon as we get close to the table, Walter comes up and tries to pull Nick's chair out. Nick waves at him, "No, I've got this. Thank you Walter." Walter steps back with a bow of the head, "Yes sir."
Nick smiles lightly at him, then pulls my chair out and motions me to sit down. I look at him and slowly take a seat, quietly saying, "Thank you."

After joining me at the table, he looks at the chef accordingly. "Mr. Fitzgerald." He says this like it's a greeting. Fitzgerald approaches us with the cart and sets our plates on the table, removing the covers at the same time. "Filet Mignon with mushrooms and sauce pinot noir." He announces. The sides are fresh steamed asparagus and mashed potatoes sprinkled with parsley and pepper. My mouth is watering now. I watch closely as he also pours the champagne into our glasses and places them by our plates. "Dom Perignon." He says as he smiles at us both. "Thank you good sir." Nick smiles up at him. Fitzgerald nods and backs away, leaving the room with the cart. Then Walter says, "Sir, if you will excuse me, I have duties to attend to."
Nick waves at him again, "Of course."
"Enjoy your meal." He tells us as he gives a final bow and heads for the door we came in.

Now that the room has found some silence, I feel more comfortable. I'm able to admire the style of this place better. And man, I can't wait to eat! The smell of this food is making my hunger become almost unbearable.

"So..." Nick says. I look at him. He picks up his drink, "I see you like this room."
I give the room another quick study and smile, "I do. It's quite beautiful."
He lifts his glass, "Mr. Vladoiu has good taste in champagne, does he not?"

I do the same in agreement. "Yes he does," He takes a drink and savors it for a few seconds. He swallows and hums like it's from heaven. That look he does tempts me to hurry with my first sip. And just like I imagined, it tastes pretty damn good. I bet this stuff is really expensive! I would ask how much it cost, but it might be a bad idea right now.

As he sets his glass down, he asks, "You have not traveled outside of New York, have you?" I gently dab a corner of my mouth with a cloth napkin, "I haven't, no. It's my dream to travel and eventually go to other countries, but right now... I'm still beginning my life..." There is a little unsteadiness in my voice at the last sentence. He smiles, picking up his knife and fork, "You sound a little unsure of yourself." My lips part; he just put me on the spot. And this, he notices. "Forgive me..." he cuts into his meat, "Where would you like to go?" My eyes drop to my plate, my silverware, then I take my knife and fork and cut some of my filet Mignon. "The one place I want to go most is Romania."
"Why is that?"
"The mountains, the people, the villages..." I slowly look up at him, "The history."
He stares at me in a thoughtful way. What is going on in his mind? I wish I could read it... But it doesn't take him much longer to speak.

"I have not been there in some time now, but I do know some of its history from the late 1800's..." he pauses, then adds, "As I have read a few history books that Mr. Vladoiu keeps in his library." I'm quiet as I watch his eyes and mouth, but then I suddenly make an entertained face and take a bite from my fork, "Interesting... This steak is amazing! Oh my gosh!" He smiles wide and laughs at my words. "Well... I am pleased you like the steak." I blush as I chew.

"Seriously though," he says, "I think it is good to know about other places in the world."
"I agree." I say as I raise my glass, "But I'm wondering how you've managed to accomplish so many things in such a short amount of time."
"What do you mean?" he asks. I shrug a shoulder, "I never imagined how much a person can do in such small amounts of time. My days feel short when they are actually long." He puts his silverware down, now giving me a knowing look, "You would be surprised how extraordinary life can be; you just have to apply yourself first."
"That's true." I sadly think of my job.
He becomes a little puzzled at my behavior. "Is something wrong?"
"Excuse me?" I say. He sits there silently, observing me–Then he hums slowly.

"What?" I say.
"Nothing..."
I bite my lip at his thoughtful expression.

Something comes to my mind. Something I wanted to ask a moment ago.
"Where did you go to college?"
"Out of state. A private college in upper Connecticut" He says.
"Oh...how was that?"
"It was...interesting. Everyone I met; my friends from there, they are all spread about the country now. I haven't talked to them in quite a while."
I halfway frown, "That's how life is."
He nods slowly, "Indeed. That is how life is. Did you go to college?"
"Yes. Before becoming an EMT, I had a year of nursing school."
"Did you like it?" He asks, taking a bite of his asparagus.
"Oh yeah, it was fun for me."
"Fun..." He laughs.

"Yeah. But like you, all of my friends spread out. They were never more than acquaintances anyway."
"Oh well." He says with a smile, "People come and go; all living their busy lives." I nod definitely, "They are. What is your job like?"
"Well, it's very demanding. Very busy all the time."
"Phone ringing on your hip constantly?" I ask in amusement. Looking down at his plate with his eyebrows rising, he says, "Oh, you can't imagine. You haven't really seen it yet, but yes." He eats a bit of his mashed potatoes. I do the same with mine.

Momentarily, he lifts his chin at my drink, asking, "Are you drinking that?" I arch an eyebrow, "Yes...?" He reaches for it. Quickly, I stop his hand and we make eye contact. He grins, "I take large sips and mine is almost gone..." I look at his, and sure enough, that sip he took earlier lasted longer than I thought. I take my glass and slowly drink from it. Amused, he returns to his meal. The quietness fills the room.

"Tomorrow morning..." he looks at me, "come horseback riding with me." My eyes widen. I've never done that before! Where would we be doing that? And I'm also hoping to talk about his 'magic tricks'.

"What is it?" he asks.
"Well..." I slowly begin to speak but he stops me with a laugh and asks, "You've never rode a horse before, have you?" I shake my head at him, "No. No I haven't."
"Oh trust me Ivy, it is quite good fun." He says with wickedly excited eyes. Oh my!
I let out an, "Uh-hmm..."

He suddenly changes the subject, "There is something else on your mind, isn't there?"
"Well yes..." I say, "You promised you'd show me a few of your magic tricks."
That sounds so dirty.

"Ahh...you thought I had forgotten?"
"I didn't think you forgot; I assumed that you were hoping I forgot." Wait a minute...when did I get cocky all of a sudden?

"Ohh really?" he halfway smirks. "Um..." I blink at him, "Yeah...really."
"Ohh..." he lowers his head with a quiet chuckle, "Nu voi accepta acest comportament."
"I beg your pardon?" He looks up, eyes bright and aglow–fiery too. My jaw falls slightly open, letting out a gasp. He stands up, putting his napkin down on the table. I jump out of my seat and rush toward the door. When I get to it, I hear him start to laugh quietly in a deep voice.

Quickly, I turn back around and–Holy shit! There he is! Almost in my face! "Nick?!" I gasp. He hushes me with a finger to my lips, then he whispers close to my face, "I will show you now...yes?" I search his eyes quickly. He looks down at my neck and smirks, "Your heart is racing." he looks into my eyes, "Have I frightened you?" How can he see my heart beating so easily? "Hm," he snickers. Suddenly, he sweeps me up into his arms, making me gasp again and squeak. "No! No!" I struggle in his arms. He takes me to the other side of the room, goes through a door and shuts it with his heel. Now we're in a sitting room; a blue sitting room. He drops me on a small sofa and I quickly try to sit up but he straddles me and holds my hands down on both sides of my head. My eyes are huge and I'm on the edge of hyperventilating.

*Nu voi accepta acest comportament.

I will not accept this behavior.