Life, Death, and Strange Encounters

At the bar, our new friend ordered a vodka for himself and a martini for Lucy. As they had already established a lively conversation, I could see they were going to get along VERY well. The flirtatious looks and smiles did not go unnoticed for me. Since from what I had seen, Damien seemed to be a wonderful man and exactly Lucy’s taste, I hoped something would develop from the spark between them. Isaac and I decided not to disturb the new couple in the making and positioned ourselves a small distance away. Sending a small smile at the bartender, he ordered a coke for himself and a sprite for me.

"I know that you don’t like to drink, so I ordered you something non-alcoholic.” Isaac handed me the glass, his fingers grazing mine with a feather-light touch.

A small tingle went through my skin where his hand touched mine. "But you don't have to hold back because of me," I commented with a smile. I was thankful for his actions but didn’t think it was right for him to change his behaviour just because I was different.

He gently moved his hand to my shoulder. "I also recall telling you I didn't like to drink much either."

Looking into his eyes, I voiced my thanks and took his hand in mine. He squeezed it in a comforting manner.

At that moment, Damien stood up to make a toast in the name of Lucy and I. “To strange new acquaintances,” he said while lifting his glass, “and may these friendships last a long while.” He sent a wink to Lucy, who giggled and blushed in return.

After drinking to the toast, we decided to leave the VIP Lounge and make our way to the dance floor. The guys got lost in the crowd but luckily my grip on Lucy didn’t falter. My best friend pulled me towards her and yelled into my ear while grinning like a cheshire cat, “Damien is so charming! I like him already!”

Smiling happily at her enthusiasm, I yelled back "I know! The chemistry between you is so obvious! You like each other, there's no question in that!"

After nodding frantically at my response, she gave me a quick hug and danced her way to Damien who had reappeared in the crowd and was watching us from a small distance. The intense look on his face made me wonder, was it possible that he had heard our conversation? Of course, I instantly understood that it was impossible because of the loud music, but his expression puzzled me. When I saw them disappear into the mass of dancing bodies, I shrugged off my suspicions and turned around to look for Isaac.

After squinting my eyes in the dimly lit room and looking around for a while, I finally located him and started to push my way towards where he was dancing. When I was only a few metres away, I noticed that he was awkwardly dancing with a blonde woman who was throwing herself at him and grinding with absolutely no self-respect. Isaac sent me a silent request for help with his pleading eyes, but before I could say or do anything, a handsome blond man stepped in front of me and blocked my vision. Were the blond nuisances travelling in packs or something!?

Without wasting any time, he put his hands on my hips and yelled into my ear, "Can I dance with you?"

"One dance," I answered with a roll of my eyes, knowing that the current song was almost over.

As soon as he had my permission, he grabbed my waist and pulled me roughly against his chest. I was startled at first, but then I relaxed, knowing that I was going to be free any minute. What could this idiot possibly do to hurt me? Not much. Deciding to just enjoy dancing for a moment, I let myself go free and forgot all about the fact that the man I was dancing with was not Isaac.

Just as I had expected, the song ended soon and I pulled away from my partner. He opened his mouth to say something but I ignored him, pinning my gaze on Isaac who was quickly moving towards us. I excused myself, leaving the blond man behind with a dumbfounded expression. When I reached Isaac, I hugged him close in relief. After returning my hug, he took my hand and started pulling me towards the less noisy bar, away from the crowd of dancing bodies.

"I'm glad you managed to release yourself from the death grip that man had on you," he commented sourly when we had reached the bar area. Did I really hear jealousy in his voice?

"It was just a dance. I wouldn't have let him try anything, you know. And I’m glad you ditched the blonde bombshell."

Sighing, he took my hand. "I'd like to keep you to myself for the rest of the night. I don't want anything bad happening to you."

My heart fluttered at his words. "I don't mind. I feel safe with you."

Gently, he pulled me towards him, our bodies just barely touching. This was way more exciting than the forced closeness I had experienced with the other man. Isaac and I were flirting with our bodies, almost teasing each other. Once again, I clearly felt the butterflies that had permanently taken residence in my stomach. I wanted to kiss him so badly, to pull him against me... The tension between us was almost electric. Still, I didn’t act on my feelings, fearing what it might bring along to our friendship.

As if he had read my mind, I was suddenly pulled against his chest, his hands gripping my hips. Where his hands reached bare skin, I felt as if it was on fire. I hugged him close, wishing that the moment would never end, although I knew that he was probably just glad that I was safe and was hugging me because he felt relieved, not because he had any deep feelings for me. But a girl could dream, right? Then... what was that? I could have sworn I felt his lips on my neck... No, I probably just imagined it because I wanted him so badly. It was just a gentle brush over my neck and then it was gone. Luckily, I didn't have time to question my sanity any further, because I saw Damien and Lucy making their way towards us.

"Damien and I want to get out of here! Let’s go back to your place and just watch a movie or something. We are drunk enough and sick of other people!" Lucy exclaimed, addressing Isaac with her request.

I couldn’t help but to laugh. This was so Lucy-like! I didn’t know any other person who would just exclaim suddenly that she was sick of other people and wanted to get out. Crazy girl.

Damien walked closer to us and said something quietly in Isaac’s ear. Isaac answered with a nod. Before I could ask him what they had decided, Isaac took my hand and Damien grabbed Lucy's. We pushed through the crowd and exited the building.

Damien led us to his car, which was a beautiful dark red Mercedes. Lucy and I stared at it in awe. The car was just... wow! The guys chuckled at our reaction, but Lucy only huffed and I lifted one eyebrow at them. Well, WE weren't rich enough to drive a red Mercedes every day, what reaction were they expecting? "Girls, are you coming or not?" Isaac called, after which we broke out of our daydream and climbed into the car. Since Isaac and I were the only ones sober, he took the wheel and I sat beside him on the front passenger seat.

One thing was made certain pretty fast: he drove like a maniac! We made it back in ten minutes. Lucy and I were both a bit out of breath when we climbed out of the car. "I'd like people to tell me first if they are going to kill me, thank you very much," Lucy mumbled under her breath. I chuckled at her grumpiness. It wasn't THAT bad... In a way, it was rather exciting, if I left out the fact that we had constantly broken the speed limit.

Up in Isaac's flat, Lucy and I told the guys to pick a movie they wanted to watch and make some tea. We then went to change into our pajamas, since we had been in the same clothes for the whole day and were getting really tired of them. I rummaged through my suitcase to find my night clothes. Finally, my hands touched the fabric of my best pair of pajamas. They were made of black silk and consisted of a sleeveless top and trousers that reached just below my knees. I pulled the clothes on and went back to the living room. Lucy was already there, seated on one of the sofas with Damien. She had a cup in her hands. Tea was ready!

I wandered towards the kitchen area to pour myself a cup, but when I bumped into Isaac on the way there, I saw that he had managed to do that for me already. He handed me the steaming cup of tea and led me to the other couch. When we were all comfortably seated, Damien grabbed the remote and started the movie. The title came up and a smile crept to my face when I read it. We were watching "Interview with the Vampire," one of my favourite films of all time!

Soon, I was so into the movie I didn't notice anything that was going on around me. My cup was empty already and resting on the glass table in front of us. I was jolted awake from my trance when I felt Isaac's hand on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I just wanted to ask if you wanted another cup."

"No thank you, I'm fine..." I then lifted my eyes from the screen for a moment and looked around. "Um, where are Lucy and Damien?"

Isaac chuckled. "They disappeared about a half an hour ago into Lucy's bedroom. I really don't want to inspect any further..."

I blushed. "Lucy has always been a bit wild. I'm sorry."

Isaac smiled. "Why are you apologizing? I think they are great for each other."

"Yeah, me too, but isn't it a bit... too soon?"

"Whatever floats their boat, don't you think?"

Sighing, I answered "I suppose," and went back to watching the movie.

In a few minutes, Isaac came back from the kitchen where he had been fetching another cup of tea. I was feeling rather sleepy by then. Isaac noticed that and said, "You can lean on me if you want."

I gave him a thankful smile and leaned onto him. He wrapped his arms around me. My mind didn’t register much after that, only the feeling of him gently brushing his hand through my hair...
***

The next morning I woke up to the feeling of someone's hand on my arm. I opened my eyes and saw that I was in my bed, although I didn’t remember coming back to my bedroom the night before. I had fallen asleep on Isaac’s shoulder in the living room. Speaking of him, he was sitting beside me, his hand tightly gripping mine. Obviously, he had been trying to wake me up and finally succeeded.

I chuckled and said, "Next time, if I don't wake up instantly, just poke me or pour cold water on me. It works better."

"Okay,” he answered with a grin, “I'll remember that. But since you are up now, I thought you might want to know that breakfast is ready."

I sat up quickly at the mention of food. "I'll be there in a minute. I'll just take a quick shower and get dressed."

He stood up, nodding approvingly at my plan. "Good. Now I must go wake the two lovebirds. I REALLY hope they have clothes on."

I burst out laughing at his pained face when he mentioned Lucy and Damien. Alone again, I went to the bathroom to begin the day with refreshing myself. There was a clean set of towels placed on a cabinet next to the sink and all other necessities on a shelf next to the shower. I stripped out of my pajamas, took what I needed from the shelf and stepped into the shower cabin, turning the water on hot.

The warm water really soothed my body which was still a bit sore from all the dancing I did the night before. Closing my eyes, I just stood under the flow of the shower and replayed the events in my head. The way I had been feeling while dancing close to Isaac... The almost desperate urge to kiss him... I really was in love and there was no way of denying it. But would he want me? Only time would tell.

After awhile, I awoke from my dreamlike state and washed myself. Then I jumped out of the shower and grabbed a clean towel from the pile, quickly drying my body. When I had brushed my teeth, I ran back to the bedroom and pulled on the clothes I had picked out for the day. They consisted of dark red skinny jeans and a black lacy top, over which I added my striped hoodie. I did my make up the usual way. Finally ready, I made my way into the kitchen area where I could see Isaac already sitting with Lucy. She had made it to the kitchen earlier than me, but she was still in her pajamas and her hair was wet. Damien was nowhere to be seen.

Isaac turned around and sent me a dazzling smile when he heard me coming. He jumped up from behind the table and grabbed a plate for me. "Here, I made eggs and bacon. The real English breakfast!"

I returned the smile and eagerly grabbed the plate from him, helping myself to the food. Isaac also poured me a glass of orange juice which I gladly accepted. The food was delicious, really hitting the spot after being hungry for so long.

"Where's Damien?" I asked.

"He had to leave early to attend a meeting. Businessmen are always occupied with work." Isaac explained and gave a light chuckle. Then he added "But I invited him over for next week. He agreed to take a short break from work and help me amuse you girls."

Letting Isaac know that I liked the idea, I was silently only thinking about how pleased I was to hear that Lucy would see Damien again. I assumed they had got along really well. My charming new friend was surely a good guy for her. From what I’d seen, he was one of the few businessmen who actually knew how to have fun, not the killing-myself-with-work kind. Lucy needed a man who would be lively, spontaneous, but still gallant and Damien seemed to be all those things.

When I was done eating, I rinsed the glass and washed the dishes. Lucy went back to her room to put real clothes on. While she was busy changing, Isaac and I just sat on the sofa, waiting for her. We didn't talk much, it was just comfortable being in each other's company. Finally, Lucy came back. This meant that our day had officially started.

As if on que, Isaac stood up from the sofa. "I'm going to call my driver, he's coming to pick us up. Go pack up your things."

Lucy and I looked at each other, in complete awe once again. He had a personal driver!? Not pondering on that for long, we quickly raced back to our bedrooms and put all of our things back into our suitcases. I didn't have much to do, since I didn't bother to actually unpack upon arrival. Finished in a minute, I rummaged through my handbag for my red lip gloss. I applied it on and was ready to go. Deciding to head back to the living room, I grabbed my bags and walked out the door, gently closing it behind me. Lucy accompanied me on the way.

***

Guess what we saw when we exited the building? A Huge. White. Limousine.

Upon seeing our astonished reaction, Isaac burst out laughing and exclaimed that his choice of a car had been justified just by the look on our faces. Riding in the amazing car was unbelievably exhilarating, it made us feel like superstars and we played around for quite some time, acting as if we were famous people going to an important event.

Isaac actually owned the limousine; it was not a rental or anything. Seeing all this glory got me thinking that he really did earn an unbelievably huge amount of money from his artwork and his private club... Not to mention his grandfather seemed to be a billionaire. The grandiosity of his life made me feel small and unimportant. I didn’t know how to react. Seeing all that, I couldn’t help but to think that I was right: I WAS just a girl who had dreams too big for her... Why would he ever want me? But yet, the night before I had been sure that he had felt something too…

I was snapped out of my -quite depressing- thoughts when Isaac touched my arm and informed me that we had reached his home. When my feet touched the ground upon climbing out of the vehicle and I lifted my eyes, my heart skipped a beat. The medieval renovated building was truly a breathtaking sight.

Isaac asked Lucy and I to just leave our luggage, the servants would take them into our rooms. We waved to Isaac's driver Paul, an extremely funny old man. He waved back and winked. "Be good, young ladies!" he said.

"Oh, we'll try!" we answered, laughing.

Our friend led us through the front door and into the hall. There was a chandellier hanging from the ceiling that was probably three stories high and a wide staircase was directly in front of us at the end of the hall. A very plump but kind looking woman came down the stairs. When she reached us, she smiled and embraced Isaac.

When she let him go, she turned towards us. "Ah, you two must be the girls Isaac told me about! My-my, you are pretty!” She sent us a warm smile. “I personally cared for your rooms. I hope you'll be satisfied!"

I nodded and said "Thank you, I'm sure the rooms are lovely. I'm still trying to get accustomed to all this glory."

She chuckled. "Oh yes, it needs a bit of time. So, which one of you is Johanna and which one is Lucy?"

“I’m Johanna,“ I answered.

“I’m Lucy,“ my best friend said and waved at the charming woman.

“My name is Lydia and I am the housekeeper,“ the lady responded with a beautiful smile.

Lucy grinned. “Yeah, we figured it out already.“

When the introductions were over, Isaac turned to us. “Let’s go, I’ll show you where your rooms are and give you a tour of the building.“

I clapped my hands in excitement and followed Isaac, waving good-bye to Lydia. Lucy walked beside me with a constant smile on her face. We looked around in awe. Everything was so breathtaking! First, we saw the second floor with a game room and a library. Isaac introduced it as the entertainment floor. Ironically, there was also Isaac's work room and office on the same floor, but he insisted that it didn’t disturb him. On the contrary, he welcomed the closeness of the library. We skipped the first floor because Isaac claimed that there were only bedrooms and he would show us our rooms when we had seen everything else. On the ground floor were the kitchen along with a big dining room and a lounge for holding parties. There was even a ballroom. When we asked him about it, he just shrugged and claimed that “every castle has a ballroom.”

One thing I noticed was that in addition to some uniformed maids and servants Isaac had employed to keep his home in tact, there were other people walking about. Strange, beautiful people who looked as if they lived there. They all greeted Isaac when we walked past them. I had just begun to think about the matter when we were walking through a back corridor on the ground floor. Isaac didn't tell us what was at the end of it, he said it was going to be a great surprise.

When I asked Isaac about the other people, he said “Those are my friends. My home is so big that I’d feel lonely living here only by myself. So, some of my friends live here with me.“

“They are all so handsome,“ Lucy muttered, staring at a guy who was walking towards us.

I was about to ask him where his parents lived when we heard a screeching noise. No, wait, it was a voice! Someone was shouting “ISAAC!“ from the top of their lungs. It was coming closer, because I could hear the sound of high heels on the wooden floor.

Then we saw it - a pink and blonde blur that attacked Isaac. When it had stopped moving and was clinging onto Isaac, Lucy and I could see that it was a girl, a damn beautiful girl. She had a body to die for, though her breasts seemed fake and were bulging out of her skimpy dress. She had long blonde hair and big blue eyes. The perfect Barbie doll image. She was hugging Isaac so tightly that it seemed almost as if he was being choked. “Isaac, baby, I missed you SO MUCH! Don’t ever leave me alone again!“

I felt a cold jolt run through me. Baby? Was that his... girlfriend?

Isaac caught my stare and his eyes went wide. Had he guessed what I was thinking? He pushed the girl off, saying “Helena, I am not yours. That means I don’t have to tell you if I go somewhere.“

Helena pouted. „Buuuut... Baby!“

Isaac rolled his eyes at the immature woman. “Helena, stop it. Don’t call me that.“

The girl was about to cry at his words. She looked around as if searching for help and her eyes landed on Lucy and I. She threw us a glare so intense I instantly remembered the saying “If looks could kill.“ If looks could kill, I would be six feet under!

“You!“ she screeched. “Who are you and what are you doing with my Isaac?“

Lucy rolled her eyes. I could see Helena was pissing her off. “WE are Isaac’s guests. We can do whatever we want with him, because HE INVITED US HERE.“

Helena had a sour look on her face as if she had been slapped. “Buuuut... Baby, what is this?“ She turned to Isaac, gesturing towards us.

Isaac rolled his eyes again. “Helena, I told you to stop calling me that. These are my guests and they are staying with me for the next three weeks, so behave and don’t get on our nerves. Go away!“

She sighed, defeated and mumbled “whatever“ under her breath. When she turned to walk away, she glared at us and smiled sweetly at Isaac. Then she skipped down the corridor.

Lucy let out a sigh and laughed nervously. „Psycho much?“

I looked at Isaac with questioning eyes. He understood what I was thinking and prepared to explain. Giving an angry groan, he spoke the most agitatedly I had ever heard him speak. “Helena is my father’s best friend’s daughter and is under the impression that we are together. I have no idea where she got that from, but now she won’t leave me alone! She is such a bitch, but I can’t actually tell her to go fuck herself, because my father would be angry at me.“

This caused me to smirk. Thank god, that girl didn’t mean anything to him! From what I could hear, he was seriously annoyed with her instead.

Isaac took my hand and smiled at me. “Now, where were we? Let’s get on with our tour, I want to show you something I know you’ll love.“