Paris 1831

"Votre Café avec la crème, madame," my servant, Cecile, said kindly as she put the china cup down in front of me.

"Merci Cecile. Vous êtes libre de vous rentrer maman si vous voulez. Je peux gérer la maison me." I replied with a smile.

"Merci Manque. Rose! Je vous verrai dans la matinée!," she squealed.

"Très bien!" I called after her.

I watched the fourteen-year-old girl run out of my house and to her mother. Cecile worked for me five days out of the week and I paid her generously. She had to help support her younger siblings and so she and her mother worked.

I went back to my book that was a fabulous tale written by Victor Hugo. The novel was just published earlier this year and it was riveting. I read through the afternoon and into the evening. At five, the clock chimed and I looked at the door out of habit. The doorway was empty. It didn't surprise me. It had been that way since the last time he came when I lived in London.

I went back to me book and the moment I did, a shadow, the shape of a well-built man filled my doorway. It was pushed open and Dimitri strode in.

He walked right up to me and kissed me hard and passionately. His arms wrapped around me and held me to him. When he pulled back, he was breathless.

"After all this time, I had to kiss you, touch you, be near you. My soul has been calling out for you since I saw you last," he proclaimed immediately.

"After all this time, I deserve an explanation as to where you've been!" I said a little hurt.

Dimitri looked down at me with sorrow in his eyes. "Gabriel is furious that we have been together since your rebirth. He says it's unnatural and that we should end it. I am not to be with a woman who never ages, yet seems perfectly human. He has been keeping me away on purpose."

I gripped his hands in mine. "I don't care about what Gabriel thinks! He has kept us apart for thirty-six years! I haven't heard from you or anything! What he's doing is wrong!" I was furious and I felt no reason to not calm down.

"Rose you need to understand that this is all new to us. No one has ever changed a Goddess to a Mortal before. We don't even know if you are a Mortal. Gabriel is doing some work on it." Dimitri reasoned.

"I am human, but not a Mortal. I haven't aged a day since I was killed in Tartarus, you said so yourself. I haven't felt the urge to cause chaos to humans since then either. There is nothing wrong with me! Gabriel just doesn't like me! He's still holding a grudge against me for my past transgressions!" I exclaimed.

Dimitri shook his head, his eyes hardening a bit. "You don't know that! I work with him all day and he says that he is looking for an explanation to your state. He wants to help us, not fight us."

"My state?" I was flabbergasted.

"You know what I mean to say," Dimitri said heatedly.

"Actually, I don't think I do. You make it sound like I am from another world. You act as if I am a mental patient that needs help! I need the man I love to be with me, not working for a boss that hates me!" I felt the urge to sob at the unfairness of the situation.

"I am with you, you just need to understand what I have to work with," Dimitri said. His tone had changed from a stony, emotionless one to a soothing whisper. He placed his hands on my face and forced me to look at him. "I'll prove it too you if you wish."

"Come here in three days time. We can be together for a night and I will be happy." It was a simple request, but something told me that I wasn't going to see it granted.

Dimitri kissed my forehead. "Done. I will be here at five o clock sharp in three days time."

He kissed my lips and then left.

Translations.

1) your coffee with cream ma'am

2)thank you cecile, you are free to go home to your mama if you want. I can manage the house myself.

3)Thank you miss. Rose! I will see you in the morning.

4)Very Well.