Timeless

I thought about recreating our first date, but that wouldn’t be possible without completely freaking her out, and I was also missing some very vital elements of which only existed on our home.

I settled on taking her out to dinner instead; her parents recommended an Italian restaurant the next town over.

“Don’t worry about getting her home at a certain time. You both need to spend time together, and she needs to begin to remember who she is. I have much faith in Adriana, but I know she would rather you and Alana return to your duties.” Celeste handed me a piece of paper with directions. “I also have a feeling Nien is going crazy not knowing where she is.”

This was true. Adriana tried not to show it, but I could tell she was worried when it came time for me to go search for her sister. Nien, on the other hand, had been moping around since the day she left. I would have brought him with me, but there would be no way to explain his existence here, and as for Adriana, somebody had to make sure the kingdom was well taken care of.

I had already given Celeste the very thick letter Adriana had sent me with the first night I came. “She should be down soon.” Roland said. “I know you would never do anything to hurt her and that she is your wife, keep in mind that she is more importantly my daughter, and if anything should happen to her…”

“Honestly Roland. You would think after 150 years with her you would completely trust him.”

“I do.”

Celeste rolled her eyes and patted my shoulder, “Just have fun tonight.” As if on cue I heard the sound of heels hitting marble. I excused myself and walked over to the staircase watching as Alana made her way down. She left her hair down, and wore a simple black dress, gold and black heels, and a golden bracelet. Breathe I reminded myself.

I held out my arm as she reached the bottom of the stairs. She looped her arm through mine. “You look stunning.” I whispered into her ear, her cheeks turned a dark shade of red.

“Thank you.”



“So why did you move here?” She asked just before popping another bite of food into her mouth.

“Where I was living I always felt something was missing and that I wouldn’t find it where I was.” It was the most honest answer I could give.

“Do you think you’ll find whatever it is your looking for here?”

“I believe I already have.” I smiled at her, hoping she would understand what I meant, and judging by the blush rapidly spreading across her cheeks I think she did.

“You never said what you did for work. My dad just said you were an entrepreneur, that’s a label. Not a job.”

“True.” I took a large sip of my water, “Right now I just invest in small businesses.” It was a lie, gold was an overly abundant resource at home so I brought some with me knowing I would need the money. It paid well. “Originally I was involved with a gold company.” The answer seemed to satisfy her.

“I heard your birthday is in a few days.” She shrugged and kept eating. “Am I wrong?” I knew I wasn’t.

“No, it’s just I don’t really make that big of a deal about my birthday.” We used to always celebrate birthdays with a huge ball. It was one of her favorite things.

“Why not?”

“The loner thing remember? I wasn’t kidding about that.” Her parents said she didn’t invite friends over, but that she went out a few times a week. If she wasn’t out with friends then what was she doing? “We usually just go out to dinner somewhere. You can come if you want.”

“You have friends.” I think I said this more to convince myself she wasn’t so lonely here, “Like the guy at the movies the other night.”

“I don’t think he actually counts as a friend.” She said shaking her head. “I talk to him in class and if I run into him. It’s more like he’s an acquaintance.” She shrugged again. “I don’t want you to think I’m some socially inept person who can’t make a friend. I’m pretty sure if I made the effort I could have friends.”

“Then why haven’t you?”

“I’ve always had this feeling like I was never meant to stay here for long, and I never met anyone worth the effort of forming a relationship with.” Her eyes widened a bit. “And now I probably sound like I’m a completely insane, friendless, freak.” She sighed and began pushing around the last bits of food on her plate. “Feel free to excuse yourself and not come back anytime now.”

“I can assure you that is not true and I have every intention of staying right where I am.”

The waiter, who had been directing most of his attention at Alana, came over to the table. “Are you finished?” He asked her, she nodded and handed him her plate. “Can I get you anything else?” From his tone it was obvious he meant more than just food.

“No thank you.” She glanced at him and looked back at me.

“Are you sure?” He kept looking at her and handed her an extra napkin.

“I’ll take the check now.” My voice coming out harder than I intended. Slowly he turned to face me and forced a smile on his face.

“I’ll be right back.” He took my empty plate and walked back towards the kitchen. Alana picked up the napkin and held it so I could see the number he had written on it.

Carefully bunching it up so the number was visible she stuffed it into her water glass just as the waiter came back with the check. He noticed the napkin and frowned.

“You seem to have quite the effect on men.” I said.

“Is that why you asked me out? Because of the same ‘effect’ I seem to have on most guys?” Her mouth set in a tight line.

“No, I asked you out because I like you Alana. A lot. I feel a connection with you.” Her face softened. “I promise you that was my only reason.” Technically I wasn’t lying, I did like her. I loved her. Obviously we had a connection. I pulled out my wallet and left a few bills giving the waiter a larger tip than he deserved.
“Are you ready to go?” She nodded as I stood up and walked over pulling out her chair. I placed my hand on the small of her back and walked her out, the waiter watched clearly unhappy.

“Thank you.” Alana smiled sliding into her seat as I held her door open for her. The first few minutes of the car ride back were silent. “I feel it to.” She finally said.

“I’m sorry?”

“The connection you were talking about. I feel like I’ve known you a lot longer than only a few days.” She sighed and leaned her head against the window looking at me. “Can I ask you something?” I nodded. “Are you sure my parents didn’t force you into this? I mean you are older than me, not that it bothers me, but clearly Mrs. Caruthers thought it would be better for you to find someone closer to your age. And other than my parents pushing this on you I don’t see why you would take an interest in me. It’s not like I lead some exciting life, as you now know I spend the majority of my time alone or with my parents. That’s not counting my bi-weekly pinochle games with Mrs. C.”

“Wow.” I breathed out. “How long have you been thinking about this?” She shrugged. “Like I said before, I like you. I knew from the moment I met you I wanted to get to know you and not anybody else. And even though you say you don’t leave a very exciting life I believe there is something special about you.” I smiled at her and then turned my attention back to the road. “As for your parents, while they certainly don’t have a problem with it, they in no way put me up to this.”

She shifted in her seat and leaned towards me. “I believe you.”

“I should hope so. Now why don’t you tell me more about this project your supposed to be working on?”