You lead Hope through the 'Private' door and down the hall to the dressing room and open the door.

He holds it open, letting you enter first, then closes the door behind him. "Okay, talk to me, love. What's wrong?"

You know he doesn't call you love as if you're his girlfriend any longer, but it's a term of endearment carried over from your brief teenage courtship and has stuck as close friends. It seems strange, but you feel like you have known him beyond forever like he was a kindred spirit.

You take a deep breath, trying to decide where to start. He pulls the chair from the small dressing table over to you, and you sit down. He draws a crate near and sits in front of you.

"Start from the beginning." He softly suggests to you.

"I . . . it started when I was looking for a place to renovate, and the realtor brought me here one day. I stood out front as he expounded on the merits of the architecture of the building, and I felt like I'd been here before." 

You look intently into Hope's eyes, "I have never been to this part of the city before that day."

"Go on, what happened next?" He asks with genuine interest.

"He showed me around inside and I fell in love with the place. It felt perfect. But weird stuff started happening to me. My mind started playing tricks on me."

He scoots the crate closer to you, taking your hands in his. "What do you mean by your mind playing tricks on you?"

"Just that." You pull your hands from his and stand, walking over to the board with the photos and news articles. He comes and stands beside you, waiting for you to continue.

"Look at these photos and newspaper clippings, and they are from the 1930s. It's been over 100 years, Hope—a hundred years. Being so old, they shouldn't be in this good condition. Well, the dust is old, and some of them are faded sepia, but still, just the same, they shouldn't be in such good condition."

He listens to you and then asks, "But how do you feel that is playing tricks on your mind? Many very ancient things, like the artifacts from Egypt, look new and are thousands of years old. Maybe these were just preserved well here. I don't see any evidence of structural rot or mold implying water leaks or dampness."

You point to the photo in the newspaper clipping. You won't touch it, not after what happened last time.

"When I was in here earlier today, I felt drawn to touch his face, and you won't believe me, but I felt his skin. I felt the warmth of his skin on my fingers as if I was really touching him. Then again later, I smelled whiskey and cigars." 

He looks around the room, and you turn to him, a sense of panic invading your body. "When Jungkook came in today and smiled that cute bunny smile he has, I felt I had seen it before, here but at another time." You start to wring your hands but catch that old habit and stop.

"Oh, and right before you showed up I, I found an old newspaper article about the criminal Two-Gun Crowley. In the shoot out that occured a bystander was killed in the crossfire, her name, her name . . . I recognized her name Hope. I knew her! I'm scared. I'm afraid I'm losing my mind." 

Tears start to well in your eyes, only being held back by your bottom lashes. He takes you in his arms and holds you against his chest as your tears fall.

"Sh, sh, Novi. It's alright. You're not losing your mind. Trust me." He holds you for several minutes as you try to pull yourself together.

When he can tell you have stopped crying, he steps away, releasing you from his hold. You stand there wondering what he thinks of you. Does he think you're crazy? Could it be all the years of mold exposure? You remember reading that some molds can affect your mind. Is that it? Is that what is happening to you?

"Novi, I don't know how to tel . . ." He is interrupted as Jimin opens the door.

With a confused glance at you with slightly puffy eyes, indicative of you crying he asks, "Novi, what's wrong?"

Not waiting for you to answer, he asks Hope, "Hope, what's wrong? Why has she been crying?"

Hope looks at you and you silently plead with your eyes. He turns back to Jimin, "It's all this damn dust. She got some in her eyes." He takes hold of your hand and gently squeezes.

You clear your throat before asking, "Jimin, did you need me?" 

He looks between you and Hope and doesn't ask what he wants but decides to tell you that the brick mason has arrived and the contractor and others were right behind him.

"They're waiting for you at the bar."

You muster up a smile for your brother. "All at the same time!?" You sigh in resignation. "Thank you, Jimin. Is Jungkook still here?"

"No, he helped me get the broken tables out and left his application for us. I told him we didn't need it but he left it anyway before heading home."

"He is such a sweetheart, always thorough. Okay, let's get some business taken care of." You smile, linking your arm with Jimin's as you walk out of the dressing room to meet the contractors.

Hope hadn't immediately followed but walked over to the board curious, wanting to look at the photos and newspaper articles again. He lifts a picture that is obscuring another beneath it and sees a picture of you. He removes the tack holding the two pictures in place and, takes the picture of you and puts it in his pocket, then tacks the other photo back to the board.

He returns to the bar area and observes you and Jimin in deep discussion with the city Inspector surrounded by the brick mason and other craftsmen.

He doesn't have to stay, everything you need he has already given you and he can sense a feeling of peace has come over you, doing what you love most. He picks up his backpack, and in doing so, you glance up at him, and he blows you a kiss goodbye. You smile and nod then the inspector draws you back into the conversation by asking you a question.

Jimin sees him and waves as Hope waves to let him know he is leaving. Suddenly, Jimin excuses himself from the brick mason who is trying to get his attention. He meets Hope at the door before he exits.

"Hope, should you be leaving? Don't you need to be here too?"

"She has all she needs from me. Once she is done with the city inspector and the others, then I will become more necessary," he laughs. "For now, I'm heading to a hotel for a hot shower and a good meal." He shows how much he wants that shower by brushing the dust off his clothes.

"Will you be back tomorrow then?" Jimin hates to see him leave so soon they have both missed him.

"I'll be back once she needs me." He thinks of the picture in his pocket and then pats Jimin on the shoulder. "Goodbye, Jimin. Hug your sister for me?"

"Yeah, sure thing. Goodbye, Hope." He holds the door open and watches Hope walk down the sidewalk to make sure he gets to his car safely. But he keeps walking and then turns a corner.

Hmm, strange. Why did he park so far away? Jimin closes the door as his sister calls him back to the meeting.