English is not my mother language so I take full responsibility of all my mistakes and I hope they won't bother you too much and you still will be able to enjoy this story.
I would like to thank my beta reader and very good friend (You know I'm talking about you).
Have fun and if I may ask, it would be nice to have some reviews from you. Thank you so much!
She immediately knew something was wrong even before she left the carriage that brought her home from her meeting. It was in the middle of the winter and even here in London, the weather was pretty tough. Helen couldn't remember when it was last snowing but it was here now. It looked nice even though the freeze, which came along and made her cold. She had to look where she put her feet when stepping out of the carriage.
She looked up at her home. Few lights were on, it seems her dad was already home. She supposed he would have come back later than her, but although it was odd enough, it wasn't this that made her feel that something is wrong. If someone would ask her why she had this feeling, she wouldn't be able to explain it. But she trusted her instincts and they told her that there is something wrong. It was up to her to discover what it was exactly.
Helen went carefully to the front door. She wanted to get away from the cold but had to walk carefully, not to slip on the pavement, which was covered by ice. Although she was dressed into fine coat and had her favourite gloves on, she still was cold.
When she finally reached the front door, it opened in front of her even before she could grab the door knocker. In the door way stood the maid, young lady, smiling at her. Helen, slipping past by her, smiled at the maid too. Helen let her to take her black coat and gloves, and then looked around. Everything seemed ordinary but the feeling was still there.
"Someone is waiting for you, ma'am," said the maid, suddenly.
Helen gave her sharp look. She didn't expect anyone and didn't like when someone appeared without any word. But it had to be someone from her closes friends, otherwise this maid wouldn't let them in. And if her dad was at home, as she suspected, he had to know about this unexpected visitor. That meant he had to be fine with this stranger visitor.
"Who is it?" Helen finally asked.
The maid silently shaked her head and without a word, let Helen to the living room. Helen frowned at this inappropriate behavior of the girl but, because she was curious, followed her without any word. They both silently walked the corridor to the living room. This, hinted Helen, that the visitor really must be someone close to her. Otherwise the stranger would have waited in library, where she met the visitors who weren't close to her.
When Helen reached the living room door, she waved the maid off and went in. There, standing in front of the fire place, was a familiar figure. Helen didn't expect him anytime soon, so it surprised her to see him here. But she finally knew why she had the feeling something was wrong. It was because of him.
"Hello Nikola," she said and although he didn't turn around to face her, she could see, or maybe just feel, his smile playing on his face.
"Hello, my dear," Nikola spun around. "You look beautiful as always."
"What are you doing here?" Helen asked rather sharply. She didn't mean to but it looked like the first few minutes of every meeting with him make her uneasy. She didn't know what caused it, or maybe she didn't want to know.
"What a lovely welcoming you gave me," Nikola chuckled. "Can't I simply come here to say hello to you?" He looked up and down at her and appreciated what he saw. He had weakness for her because she always looked lovely as she's looking exactly right now.
"I'm sorry, I just didn't expect anyone," explained Helen and made few little steps towards him. She liked him although she thought he could shave off this terrible moustache. It didn't look good on him and she already told him this at least thousand times. But of course, he didn't listen to her.
"Fair enough," he said. If it would have been appropriate, he would be looking up and down at her all the time, but that could spoil everything he had in mind for this late evening.
"I'd appreciate if you could go out with me." He immediately continued because he saw her face and knew she didn't like that idea. But he didn't expect that she would be out this afternoon, therefore he decided to pay visit to her this day. "I'd like to show you something and no, it can't wait till tomorrow. Will you be kind to go with me?"
Helen looked at Nikola more closely. He usually wasn't so polite and formal. He usually used that speech only when he was in some kind of trouble. But when she looked into his eyes, she didn't see anything that can indicate that Nikola was in trouble.
It really seemed that he dropped by to say hello and he probably wanted to show her something he was working on. In most times it was her, who had to see his inventions first. She usually didn't mind because Nikola had brilliant mind but today she really didn't want to go out again.
After looking into his eyes, which shone with sparks, she couldn't say no to him. Already when she sighed she could see that he knew he won. Helen appreciated that he didn't say anything about how easy was it for him to convince her. Instead Nikola gave her one of his rare sweet smiles which she really adored, although she never told him that.
"We will spend some time outside so if you want to change into something warmer, I'll wait for you," said Nikola politely.
Helen simply waved him off. She spent the whole day in this dress so there wasn't point in changing into something else. Besides, she wouldn't find any dress that would be much warmer than the one she already had on. And if Nikola wanted to show her some new invention, as she expected, it would be useless to wear clean dress. It was always a bit messy in Nikola's room where he worked on all his inventions.
"If it is so important that it can't wait till tomorrow, we should be going," she said to him and watched the gleam in his eyes.
Helen made one quick visit in her father's study to tell him where she would be and that it wouldn't be wise to wait with dinner for her. Whenever it came to Nikola's inventions, they both easily lost track of the time. Her father knew that very well but Helen just wanted to remind him for all sakes.
Then both, Helen and Nikola, went into the foyer for they coats, gloves and, in Nikola's case, scarf. When they were ready, Nikola opened the door and let Helen to step out first although he followed her immediately and offered her his arm for support on those icy steps, which led from the front door.
Helen was a strong woman but she sometimes enjoyed to act like normal woman in these days so she accepted Nikola's arm and followed him where he led her. She tried to ask him questions about the thing he wanted to show her but Nikola could be stubborn when he wanted so Helen didn't have any chance to get answers from him. She didn't mind, though. Helen simply enjoyed his presence.
"Nikola, where are we going?" asked Helen after while when she recognized that he didn't lead her to the place where he kept all his inventions.
"It's not far away from here, I promise," said Nikola and Helen had to accept this, although it didn't answer her question. But she was sure he won't say more even when she would press at it.
They indeed didn't walk too long when Nikola suddenly stopped and faced Helen. "I'd be grateful if you would do what I ask you to" He said and when he saw little nod from Helen, Nikola continued: "It is a surprise for you but we have to walk for few more yards. Could you, please, close your eyes? I promise I'll lead you safely."
Helen didn't like the idea very much. It was getting dark and starting to snow again. Walking in this weather with her eyes closed wasn't anything she would choose. Besides, the pavement was covered with ice and that wasn't good either. But she didn't want to spoil the surprise Nikola prepared for her. So she decided to trust him and closed her eyes.
Nikola watched Helen closing her eyes with delight. He was so sure she would refuse to do it but she surprised him. Nikola just shook his head, wrapped his arm gently around her waist, of which he really enjoyed, and led her safely along the pavement.
Nikola could feel her hip brushing against his when he had to take her close to him to avoid some slippery parts on the pavement. He tried not to think about it which wasn't easy. There she was, woman, he liked so much, absolutely dependent on him. One could lose his mind but he couldn't. Not now and maybe not ever. For this moment he just tried to enjoy her close presence and shut down all his inappropriate thoughts.
He led her safely all the way. They didn't talk much, only when Nikola warned Helen about some tricky parts on the pavement. But he could see her smile and hear her little giggles. He was sure Helen wasn't happy first, when he asked her to close her eyes. But when she found out that Nikola could lead her safely, she started to enjoy it and that made him happy.
"Here we are," declared Nikola at last.
They both stopped and Nikola let Helen to open her eyes. When she looked around she was little confused. What she could see was little pond covered with ice. Around it, there were a few willow trees with bare branches covered with snow. The sun was setting down and little sunshine went through the trees. The dancing sunshine over the snow was really nice and the snow was shining like little diamonds. Helen couldn't deny that this was beautiful, although she still wasn't sure why they were here.
Nikola saw that Helen wanted to say something but he spoke first: "Wait a moment, I'll show you why we are here."
After that, he disappeared for a minute. When he reappeared, he was holding something in his hands. Although Helen tried, she couldn't identify those things in his hands. Only when he came nearer she recognized it. Ice-skates. She looked at Nikola and saw an unsure little smile on his face.
"You really don't think you can put me on this, do you?" Helen asked him.
"I do," answered Nikola solemnly. "Don't worry, Helen, it is safe. I promise."
Helen looked at him distrustfully. She wasn't sure whether she doesn't trust his assurance about safety or those blades that should hold her weight. Of course she already saw some people ice-skating but she didn't want to try it. It didn't look like appropriate fun for a lady although she has done much more things which were more appropriate for men than for her. But this kind of fun wasn't anything she was looking forward to try.
"Have you ever done it before?" she asked him mistrustfully.
"Oh yes, many times," Nikola assured Helen with much more trust in his voice than he felt. Of course he tried it. In few last days he was here every evening when nobody was around and practice his skating skills. He had to admit to himself that it was because he wanted to show off in front of Helen, but firstly he wanted to be skillful at it. He hoped that this could convince Helen that it is safe and he would be able to take care of her and to lead her on ice-skates safely without falling down.
"It's easy, trust me. I'll show you," he said and without waiting for her answer he put his ice-skates on and carefully stepped on ice. It took him few seconds to find his balance but then he smiled at Helen and showed her how easy it really is.
He hoped he looked good at ice-skates although he felt like he was wobbling too much. But he didn't hear Helen laugh so maybe he didn't look too bad as he thought, after all. Nikola made one nice spin, or at leas he hoped it was nice one, than he went back to Helen, who was still standing on the bank of the pond.
"See? I told you it's easy. C'mon, try it with me. I promise you'll be safe," he smiled at her with his best smile, which he saved only for her.
Helen sighed slightly. Nikola looked so confident on ice-skates but she still wasn't sure if it was good idea. On the other hand, nobody was here so it would be only Nikola who would see her if she would fall down. That was comforting. With shaking her head, Helen finally decided to give it a try.
She put the skates on and let Nikola to help her. Then she clutched to Nikola's arm and carefully stepped onto ice. Small noise of surprise escaped from her lips when she saw that she was still standing relatively still. Helen looked up to see Nikola's encouraging smile. She answered him with her little unsure smile.
"Don't worry and trust me, alright?" said Nikola in a comforting voice. Helen was clutching his arm too tight but he didn't say anything about it. He was vampire after all so it didn't hurt him. But he knew Helen was afraid although she wouldn't admit it. He knew her well enough to know that she never would say it out loud but he could read it in her eyes.
"We'll take it slow and easy," Nikola assured her. He wrapped one arm around her waist and took one of her hands into his. Together, they made few first movements. The whole time, Nikola explained Helen how to hold her body and what to do with her legs. He saw Helen was listening carefully and did everything he told her.
After a while Helen was able ice-skate only with little help from Nikola. She didn't trust herself to do it all alone so she still held Nikola's hand. But finally she started to enjoy it and was smiling. It wasn't too difficult as she thought and she didn't even fall down. Some times it looked she would fall but Nikola was always ready and caught her in his arms. That always made Helen giggle and laugh with joy.
It was already dark and it started to freeze again but it didn't look that any of them wanted to go home. They both had fun although it was now more difficult because the only light was from the moon and stars. It made everything ghostly pale and only the snow was shining white. In the sky, there wasn't any cloud, what indicated it would be really cold soon. But ice-skating kept them warm.
Helen tried to spin around but she still wasn't so sure on ice and was wobbling too much that she usually ended in Nikola's arms. That made her giggle and Nikola had to smile at her. It's been a while since Nikola could see Helen so light-hearted and it pleased his heart.
In the time being Nikola knew Helen would forever have a place in his heart. It was so charming to see her so careless and depending only on him. Helen usually kept some distance between them but this evening, everything was simply perfect. He could hold her in his arms as many times as he pleased without any suspicion from her. He couldn't wish for anything more.
Finally, when Helen was tired, they decided to go home. "Oh Nikola, that was amazing. I've never known it could be such fun. I'm so grateful for this surprise", said Helen with big smile on her face.
Nikola, without word, smiled back. Nothing could make him happier than he already was. He wasn't expecting too much from this surprise but it turned out perfectly and he was pleased with himself.
"Can we go ice-skating again sometimes?" Helen asked him with pleading look.
Nikola had to smile. She looked like little girl now. "Of course, my dear, we can go whenever you want to."
"Thank you so much." Helen hugged him and kissed him on his cheek.
It took Nikola aback and one thing was sure: he knew for sure that this was the best evening ever.
The end