Almost Lovers

by Cassidy Raindance

  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.

  "Well, Thank goodness," said Victoria, "You spent too much time in it. I always thought that car was a death trap,"

  I hadn't expected that. I looked at Victoria and my face must have only expressed surprise because she put her hands up as if I had accused her of something.

  "It's true!" said Victoria, laughing some, "He would go off gallivanting in that car and I just knew he would end up killing someone with all of that recklessness or worse, getting himself killed,"

  I looked at Sebastian then and he seemed as surprised by Victoria's statements.

  "Grand-mama, I really don't think that it was that dangerous-" Sebastian started, but Victoria hushed him.

  "Now, now, it's getting late," said Victoria, giving Sebastian and I a slight push toward the door, "No more talk about recklessness and death. Go do what young people dating do but you make sure to get this young lady home at a reasonable hour," she waved a very grandmotherly finger of warning at Sebastian.

  When Victoria opened the front door she must have realized it had been raining but her reaction was one of complete surprise.

  "Oh, dear," she said, turning to look at Sebastian, "Be a doll and go get an umbrella for Lady Prussia," And Sebastian looked to me and then gave his grandmother a kiss on the cheek before he ran to find an umbrella.

  I
gave a quiet giggle to the unearned and undeserved title but still enjoyed it.

  "Lady?" questioned Lydia with very little hidden disgust in the question.

  Victoria's gaze snapped to Lydia and Lydia instantly bit her lip. It looked like regret if I ever saw it.

  "Go wait in the Chancellor’s office." said Victoria coldly, "I will get to your business when I’m finished seeing off Sebastian and Prussia,"

  Victoria and I both stared at Lydia as she huffed a bit and then walked out of the entry down the long hall towards where I assumed the Chancellor's office was, whoever that had been.

  "Makes you wonder what he ever saw in her," whispered Victoria near my ear.

  I jumped, startled, as I hadn't realized that she had moved so close to me. We were both watching her saunter unashamed to some office in the quiet but large house.

  "Who?" I whispered back, no sure why we were whispering to begin with.

  "Certainly you know that they dated for many years," said Victoria, pulling her face away from mine as I turned to face her and she looked at me curiously, "No?"

  "Who?" I asked again, less of a whisper this time because I wanted to be perfectly clear on who exactly had been dating Lydia for many years.

  "Sebastian," said Victoria, realization setting in now that she had let a cat out of the bag, a nasty cat with claws and lots of unruly hair and boyfriend stealing attitude.

  She might as well have dumped a cold bucket of water on top of me.

  "Yes?" asked Sebastian, standing in the entry way with an umbrella. He must not have been standing there very long if he was wondering why his name was being said.

  "Just wondering if you had gotten lost, is all," said Victoria, that familiar smile returning to her face.

  Sebastian looked at me with a puzzled look and I didn't have time to process it all. Victoria had just told me that Lydia and Sebastian had dated for years. Not a summer fling or a weekend romance, they had been a couple for years and no hint as to when it had ended.

  Sebastian and I stepped out of the mansion and he held the umbrella for me like a gentleman. All the while, I was wondering how he could guilt me into anything when his boyfriend stealing ex-girlfriend was the entire reason I had tried to date him to begin with to get my own boyfriend back. Who the hell did he think he was? And did he have a motive of his own? Sebastian dropped me off and walked me in. I went straight into my apartment and shut the door right in his face. I didn’t want to talk to him. I didn’t know what to say. I just felt angry and hurt. The feeling plagued me until I curled up and fell asleep, alone as usual.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN – Sebastian

  Prussia, for whatever reason, had been distant and cold this evening. I thought dinner had gone well. I wanted to stay and continue tapping on her door and saying her name, trying to talk to her about what I had done, but I had a meeting with the Queen still. I couldn’t be in both places at once. I made sure a guard stayed, hidden, but I had to go. Whatever her problem was, I would have to deal with it later.

  I found the Queen in the Chancellor’s office. It seemed to be her favorite place to be lately. It looked as though she were clearing it out of important documents.

  "Let me get this straight," said Victoria, looking over a stack of legal texts and documents to see me, "You used her lie against her to blackmail her into dating you and then managed to get her to work here even though now she probably hates you?"

  I hated that Victoria found this all so amusing. It made me feel as if I were in a reality television drama. I sat in that dusty chair across from Victoria and tried to think of the best way I could describe the entire drama unfolding around the simple yet somewhat adorable Prussia.

  I swiped at the dirt that had settled on me and the chair I sat in. I tried to see it from that perspective for a moment, the perspective of Prussia surrounded by blackmail and dating drama. I had an eerie feeling that Victoria would think I wasn’t taking this job seriously if I agreed with her. But the day had been long and I was tired.

  "Yes, I think that sums it up," I said.

  I nodded to myself and rubbed my index finger and thumb together, feeling the texture and thickness of years of dirt from the chair crumble under my touch. I waited for Victoria to tell me I needed to take things more seriously, something I had heard her repeat numerous times over the decades.

  "Well done!" said Victoria, "I have to say that was a masterful handle on the situation! So long as you don't lose Prussia, of course. Groveling may be in order,"

  I was surprised that of all things she would choose to praise me over, it would be over petty drama and manipulation of her pet.

  "It had crossed my mind," I said, "I'm not looking forward to it,"

  Or it could just be the thought of me groveling to someone other than Lydia made her happy. To be honest, it would be a strange and welcome change. After what Lydia did to my car, I wasn’t just avoiding her anymore. I was thinking of the best way to extract revenge myself. Perhaps Prussia would team up with me if she hadn’t figured out how to best pour salt in Lydia’s wounds to get her away from Robert. I could always kill him in the end, if he became that much of a pest. But I would have to start with groveling to regain Prussia’s attention.

  "Ah, but you're used to it," said Victoria, waving her hand dismissively.

  “I can’t believe you told her about my past with Lydia,” I said, shaking my head, “It complicates things. I’ve lost my ace up the sleeve and now I have to find another way to steal her away from Robert, the man that doesn’t love her or even want her.”

  "She still wants this human back, this Robert?" asked Victoria, her eyes lighting up with the drama that unfolded.

  "Yes," I said, not wanting to actually dwell on it all and not thrilled that she was so resistant to my charms, "He's a real piece of work. I have no idea what she sees in him,"

  "How are you going to handle him?" asked Victoria, "Do you want me to take care of it?"

  "No," I said, "I had it contained until you started meddling. But I think he's still got enough rope to hang himself with at the moment,"

  "A suicide then?" asked Victoria.

  In my mind I judged her for a moment. She cared immensely that we didn’t keep humans as slaves but what was a little murder framed as suicide?

  "That's not what I mean at all," I said, "He's completely entangled with Lydia,"

  "I couldn't ask for a better situation," said Victoria, "This is so good I might even overlook all the body's you've left trailing behind you as you've gone on your illegal little hunts all through Lydia's banishment and plastered them all over the Twitter,"

  I couldn't think of anything to say. She knew. She knew about all of it.

  "It's just called Twitter," I mumbled, "Not 'the Twitter'...you knew?" I asked, correcting her without thinking. She waved another dismissive hand at me.

  "Did you honestly think I didn't?" she asked, "But this takes the cake, this makes it all worth it, well done!"

  I hadn't seen her so pleased in almost three hundred years, almost my entire life.

  "Even though she probably won't even talk to me now?" I asked, "It's hard to make up with a girl when she won't respond,"

  "Just keep up the blackmail," said Victoria.

  "I don't think that will work," I said, "I think that ship has sailed. Anything I could have gotten her to do before through that avenue wouldn’t work now,"