Day 6 part 2
The cab slowly pulled up to the curb and the cabbie turned to address the sad looking girl in the back seat. "I'm sorry miss, this is as close as I can get with the snow and all." He frowned.
Victoria turned her face towards the cabbie. He was and older man with a weathered face, someone who knew the city like the back of his hand. His mind was easy to read. He was a hard worker, an honest man who'd done this job most of his life and was content with it. She smiled at him and reached into her bag for a few bills.
"How close are we?" she asked.
"Two maybe three blocks," he replied as he tipped his hat and scratched at his balding head.
"Close enough." she slid across the worn leather seat and handed him the bills.
His eyes grew wide in disbelief. "Miss this is way too much!"
"Keep it." Victoria patted his hand.
"Thank you miss," he started fumbling for the door latch.
"That's allright, I'll get it myself, you stay here and keep warm." Victoria stepped out onto the sidewalk. The sky was dark and foreboding. The storm had ceased, but clouds were ready to burst at any moment.
Victoria closed the door of the cab, "Goodbye Eddie. Drive carefully, there are a lot of crazies out today." She smiled and walked away.
"Hey how'd ya' know my name!" he shouted after her.
Spinning around hands stuffed into her pockets to give the illusion of being cold, she called back, "You look like an Eddie!" and off she went. The snow was piled into deep drifts along the curbs. Judging by the size of the piles, it was going to be a cold winter. The two blocks passed quickly and soon Victoria found herself outside one of the ritziest salons in the city. Savage. Brushed steal, glass bocks and of all things bamboo fronted the location. It was costing Andre a fortune to replace the bamboo every morning. Victoria walked up to the steal door and swung it open, quickly stepping inside. Directly in front of the doors a few feet back sat a thin girl with beautiful hair and very trendy clothes, a phone glued to one ear. "No appointments open until next week," her voice sounded unfriendly.
Victoria looked around unsure if the girl was addressing her or the person on the other end of the line. Victoria walked up to the desk and began unbuttoning her coat. As she approached the girls raised a finger in Victoria's direction, in a 'be with you in a moment' gesture and continued to banter with the party on the line.
"Well I'm sorry if it's a hair emergency, but next week is the earliest appointment I have." The girl was clearly listening to the irate voice on the line and penciling in a name in her large black book. Setting down the telephone she turned her attentions to Victoria. "Do you have an appointment?" she questioned.
"Oh sorts," she paused. "I'm here to see Andre."
"Andre?" the girl questioned in a flippant tone.
"Yes, " Victoria smiled pleasantly. "Could you tell him I'm here, Victoria Dupree." Reading the girl's mind Victoria could tell she had no intention of assisting her.
"Take a seat please." the girl motioned to a set of overstuffed arm chairs.
Victoria just looked at the girl, but let her mind wander until she found Andre. Speaking silently she teased him. "Andre, I'm here."
"Victoria, I do have a receptionist, you know." he teased back.
"I know, but she has no intention of letting you know I'm here. Could you come down and rescue you sugar?"
"Well when you put it like that, how can I refuse. I'm on my way" Victoria turned and took a seat in one of the overstuffed armchairs and waited. The receptionist cast a few suspicious glances in her direction, which Victoria return with a nonchalant smile. Behind the girl was a plain pine door and several black and white photographs of very beautiful men and women. Victoria concentrated and could here the conversations of many humans emanating from behind them. Obviously this lead the way to the salon.
Victoria sighed and ran her finger along the pattern of damask covering the chair. Soon the door opened and there stood the handsome and always impeccably dressed Andre Encantador, hairdresser to the rich and famous. Victoria beamed when she saw his dark eyes and gentle smile. He wore a very expensive Armani suit, gray with a faint cream colored pin stripe running through the weave, with a matching v-necked cream colored sweater beneath the sport coat.
"Victoria!" he exclaimed as he outstretched his arms to greet her. Victoria stood and matched his embrace. He dramatically kissed her on both cheeks which she returned with equal enthusiasm.
"Have you been waiting long my dear?" he questioned. Victoria's eyes dropped into a sad expression, indicating that she had in fact been kept waiting. Andre turned his dark eyes to the receptionist.
"Marie! Why did you not inform me immediately that my good friend had arrived?" he frowned at her. The girl quickly began making plausible excuses. Andre waved dismissively. "Never keep this lady waiting again,"
Andre turned and began to help Victoria from her coat. "Always admit her." folding her coat over his arm and then offering her his other arm he took her behind the pine door. The lighting was bright and the music was a trifle loud. Andre leaned down and whispered in her ear. "That's how they like it." he indicated to the customers and stylists. "It's all for image." he shrugged. "Let's retire to my office." Andre ushered her through the main floor which was a buzz with activity.
"Is it always so busy?" Victoria asked.
"When you're the best," he replied, obviously proud of his establishment.
Reaching the rear of the establishment, Andre lead Victoria up a flight of modern stairs with a cable railing, to a second floor cat walk that appeared as if it wrapped around the entire interior.
"Here's my home away from home," he indicated a door a few steps in front of the pair. Victoria smiled, Andre always seemed to be in a good mood. Just being around him lifted her spirits.
Opening the door to the office, Victoria entered a very modern environment. The furniture was clearly all high end, Herman Miller, Charles Eames, a Noghchi table. The lighting was soft and the room was pleasant.
"May I take your coat?" His velvet soft voice asked, as his hands lightly rested on her shoulders?
"Andre," she nodded. "I bet you picked this all out yourself." She shrugged out of the heavy coat. "It's very nice."
"I'm glad you like it. One must fine pleasure in the material world, too."
"Too?" She turned, a brow raised.
"My emotional world is very full. My mental world," he waved a hand, "brims overfull. My love life... Well, that fluctuates. But the material world will always be with us, constantly changing. People growing old around us. Buildings going up and falling down."
Andre motioned for her to sit in front of the glass table where coffee was already waiting. Victoria nodded, "Yes, now that I am more or less unattached I have a project along those lines I intended on working on."
"Unattached?" Andre echoed. He reached for the coffee pot and began to pour her a cup. "I think Sands may have a little something to say about that. Did he contact you?"
"No, just the note." Victoria reached into her handbag and withdrew the small slip of paper. She exchanged it for the cup of coffee.
Andre looked at the note. "He wrote in haste," he noted. "I know his regular style. He still retains some of the flash of ages past, the R's and such." He pursed his lips. "Something important has come up. I find it interesting that he and Abberline have disappeared at about the same time." His dark brown gaze met hers. "Don't you?"
Victoria's eyes shifted quickly as she sipped the hot liquid. "Yes, those two are up to something." She set the cup down. "And I am angry with him for going. " She crossed her arms. "He could have told me where he was off to. I can keep secrets."
Carefully, Andre poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down across from Victoria. He used small silver tongs to add two cubes of sugar to his cup. "Perhaps he was ordered to say nothing." His eyes stayed focused upon his coffee. "Or perhaps he felt it was too dangerous." Coffee-brown eyes now met her surprised glance. "He is like that, not willing to get others involved in his problems."
"Well, I've only known him a short while, but I can tell that he would not let either one of us get away with that as an excuse." Unfolding her arms she reached for her coffee and took a long slow sip, thinking. "If I don't hear from him in two days then I'll be very concerned."
"He can take care of himself, Victoria." Andre smiled. "You wouldn't believe half of what he's done."
That was not the answer she wanted to hear. She wanted him to be as concerned as she truly was. Perhaps she would go to see Lilith. Victoria straightened up and changed the subject: "Andre," she paused, "how would someone make an appointment to see Abberline or Lilith?"
He shrugged, looking a little surprised. "Just go. Or call. I don' t know about appointments. They are willing to see all clan members. Well, it's only Lilith at the moment." He grinned. "Apparently."
The wheels were beginning to spin in her mind, her eyes widened. "And the library you were telling me about, what kinds of books are there?"
"The sort you can't find most places. There are books about the history of our kind. Medical theories about how we function. How we heal. How we are hurt." He big the inside of his lip. "What are you looking for? Certainly not William Blake."
Are there records?" she asked carefully fishing for answers
"If there are records, I haven't looked for them, so I cannot tell you." He picked up his cup. "What sort of records? What's going on in that pretty head of yours?"
She tilted her head to one side and smiled. "Does anyone keep track of our kind? You know what one would be up to." She leaned forward quickly putting her hand up. "And don't tell me about that awful tabloid. I mean a serious accounting."
"Our history?" Andre's eyes narrowed. "I am not sure what you mean."
"Well, Abberline and Lilith were aware of what Jacob had been up to, all the nasty things he'd been doing. Of course they didn't do anything about it, but they knew. So wouldn't it be safe to assume that somewhere there has to be a record of deeds?"
"Oh." Andre settled back into his chair. "As his creator, Lilith always had a thread of connection with him. Have you ever created?"
"No," she said quietly and dropped her eyes. "So there would be no books." Victoria was crestfallen. "Sands said there were books not out in the open, only for serious study."
"You would need to go search for yourself," Andre told her. "I am not the person who would know. The books I have found there were the kind I have named. You would have to search to find out if there is more. If it is something classified, as it were, then maybe the Guardians can help. I wouldn't think that sensitive information would be just sitting on shelves." He flashed a quick smile. "Drink your coffee. It's getting cold."
She smiled back and then took another sip. She would go to clan house and do some searching. Perhaps she could learn a little more about Sheldon Jeffery Sands, or more about her gift. Perhaps Lilith would know where Sands had gone. Her thoughts drifted again. "Andre, do you know a good lawyer?" she asked changing the subject once more.
"Business or personal? Financial? Trust? Medical?"
"Now that I am no longer required to hide in the shadows, I want my house back."
He nodded slowly, thoughtfully. "Where is it, what country? What proof do you have that it's yours?"
"It's here in the United States, Louisiana Territory. I have papers, deeds and such."
"And how long ago did you lose this house?"
She closed her eyes for a moment remembering the arrangements Claude had made when they left for France. Without opening her eyes she responded, "Before I was turned, 1725 to be exacted." Her eyes slowly opened. "Claude, my brother, had made certain stipulations so that the house would always remain in the family."
Andre took a dramatic breath. "How would you claim it, my dear? You can't very well walk in and say you're a few hundred years old. Do you have some sort of proof you're a family descendant who was born in the 1970's? If not..." He shook his head.
She laughed," That's why I need a lawyer." She took another sip of coffee. "But really now, could I just enthrall someone or something like that?"
"It is not that easy. There would be a title search. That would go back to the first time the land was sold. You can't enthrall the entire country. I'm afraid if you want the house, you will have to buy it."
"Now that's just unfair having to buy back what someone already rightfully owns!" she sighed. "Well perhaps when Sands gets back I'll drag him down south to see what the state of things is." A twinkle appeared in her eye. "Well then again if he doesn't come back maybe I'll see if I can convince any other handsome men I know if they feel like going on holiday." She winked at him across the table.
"It would depend where down south," he told her, smiling. "And, if you haven't learned by now, dear Victoria, life is unfair. It's up to us to manipulate it to our advantage. Maybe you could enthrall the current owner to sell it to you for a dollar." He shrugged. "Now, what do you think of the latest fashions? I happen to love the spring line coming out of Milan."
A smile quickly spread across her face. Andre had caught her off guard with the change of topics. "Milan?" she questioned her eyebrow arching delicately. "You know I have always had a preference for the French designers myself."
"My mother was French," Andre said pleasantly. "Why do you prefer the French?"
"Because I'm a Creole and France is the mother country of all of us from the Bayou. Although my mother was an Englishwoman." Victoria set down her cup and settled back along the couch, swinging her long legs up beside her comfortably. "But really Andre what's so great about the Italians ?"
His hansom face lit up. Leaning forward, he spoke with enthusiasm. "The Italians dare things that are ridiculous, like some of the British experimenters, but simply divine. The colors. The textures. And there happens to be a young designer I have my eye on." He smiled suggestively.
Victoria tossed her head back and laughed. "If you like to experiment, then you should like the Japanese. Those are some daring designs."
He shrugged. "Not much to my taste." He looked at the gray sky outside the floor to ceiling window. "I do like a fine suit. Armani. I've been every type of artist except a fashion designer." He fingered the handle of his cup thoughtfully. "Victoria, I get the impression that you have not had much experience, despite your age." He looked quickly up. "I hope that didn't sound rude or too prying. I just have to wonder."
"What kind of experience are you inquiring about?" she questioned as she smoothed the hem of her skirt. She was making an attempt to not be alarmed.
"In the world. Your talk about the house." He shrugged. "I don't really know where you have been, what your life has been like, or even exactly when and where you were turned. We always seem to talk about me or...Sands."
Andre watched as her eyes narrowed. It was such a slight movement, the kind only a vampire would have been able to detect. "I've been living in a cave, or at least that's what Sands also says to me," a faint smile appeared.
"How charming." His expression was deadpan.
"Oh Andre," she teased, "You don't really think I've been living in a cave do you?"
"No, I mean what Sands said. He has a way with words. Where have you been living, darling?" He lifted his cup. "Certainly not here in Manhattan?"
Victoria looked into his eyes. She thought for a moment about the man before her and his relationship to Sands. If he trusted Andre then perhaps she could also. "This is not something I usually speak about. One does not live a long life by letting everyone in on ones secrets."
He sat patiently, allowing her time to tell her story, a very slight smile on his full lips.
"I have lived in cave," she paused again looking intently into his eyes before continuing. "I've also lived with gypsies, and with crime lords and counts. My last address was Paris, that was two months ago. I left quickly when Jacob's spies tracked me down again. You see Andre," Victoria leaned slightly forward," In 1825 I deiceded to kill my maker and I have been on the run from him ever since." Victoria waited to see how he would react to her statement.
He reached across to touch her hand. "No longer. He's dead now." He sat back. "So how is it that you became involved with such a, "he searched for the right word, "jerk?"
Victoria was stunned by Andre's response. He was so kind, she relaxed. "I've given the subject a lot of thought. Perhaps he used his skills as a vampire to enthrall me. Perhaps I was a young silly girl, perhaps . . .I loved him once," her voice shook a little.
"We were all young and silly once," he said kindly. "Believe it or not, even me." He grinned broadly. Lowering his voice and leaning towards her he added, "Rumor has it, even Sands was young and silly once. But don't tell him I told you so."
Victoria suddenly laughed and then covered her mouth in surprise. "Andre you're lovely." she stated and then giggle a little more.
He tossed his long hair back saying, "So I've been told."
"Andre?" Victoria cupped her hands in her lap. "I miss him."
He looked genuinely surprised. "Sands? After only a few hours?" He shook his head. "This sounds serious. Are you sure you're ready for serious?"
She looked at him without answering, she wasn't sure she knew the answer to that question. When Sands was with her there was no doubt in her mind. She closed her eyes for a moment and tried to imagine what life would be like if she walked away from this city and never came back. She tried to image the look on Sands face if he received a note like the one he had left her. Opening her eyes she found Andre warm smile awaiting an answer. "Yes, I think I am."
The cab slowly pulled up to the curb and the cabbie turned to address the sad looking girl in the back seat. "I'm sorry miss, this is as close as I can get with the snow and all." He frowned.
Victoria turned her face towards the cabbie. He was and older man with a weathered face, someone who knew the city like the back of his hand. His mind was easy to read. He was a hard worker, an honest man who'd done this job most of his life and was content with it. She smiled at him and reached into her bag for a few bills.
"How close are we?" she asked.
"Two maybe three blocks," he replied as he tipped his hat and scratched at his balding head.
"Close enough." she slid across the worn leather seat and handed him the bills.
His eyes grew wide in disbelief. "Miss this is way too much!"
"Keep it." Victoria patted his hand.
"Thank you miss," he started fumbling for the door latch.
"That's allright, I'll get it myself, you stay here and keep warm." Victoria stepped out onto the sidewalk. The sky was dark and foreboding. The storm had ceased, but clouds were ready to burst at any moment.
Victoria closed the door of the cab, "Goodbye Eddie. Drive carefully, there are a lot of crazies out today." She smiled and walked away.
"Hey how'd ya' know my name!" he shouted after her.
Spinning around hands stuffed into her pockets to give the illusion of being cold, she called back, "You look like an Eddie!" and off she went. The snow was piled into deep drifts along the curbs. Judging by the size of the piles, it was going to be a cold winter. The two blocks passed quickly and soon Victoria found herself outside one of the ritziest salons in the city. Savage. Brushed steal, glass bocks and of all things bamboo fronted the location. It was costing Andre a fortune to replace the bamboo every morning. Victoria walked up to the steal door and swung it open, quickly stepping inside. Directly in front of the doors a few feet back sat a thin girl with beautiful hair and very trendy clothes, a phone glued to one ear. "No appointments open until next week," her voice sounded unfriendly.
Victoria looked around unsure if the girl was addressing her or the person on the other end of the line. Victoria walked up to the desk and began unbuttoning her coat. As she approached the girls raised a finger in Victoria's direction, in a 'be with you in a moment' gesture and continued to banter with the party on the line.
"Well I'm sorry if it's a hair emergency, but next week is the earliest appointment I have." The girl was clearly listening to the irate voice on the line and penciling in a name in her large black book. Setting down the telephone she turned her attentions to Victoria. "Do you have an appointment?" she questioned.
"Oh sorts," she paused. "I'm here to see Andre."
"Andre?" the girl questioned in a flippant tone.
"Yes, " Victoria smiled pleasantly. "Could you tell him I'm here, Victoria Dupree." Reading the girl's mind Victoria could tell she had no intention of assisting her.
"Take a seat please." the girl motioned to a set of overstuffed arm chairs.
Victoria just looked at the girl, but let her mind wander until she found Andre. Speaking silently she teased him. "Andre, I'm here."
"Victoria, I do have a receptionist, you know." he teased back.
"I know, but she has no intention of letting you know I'm here. Could you come down and rescue you sugar?"
"Well when you put it like that, how can I refuse. I'm on my way" Victoria turned and took a seat in one of the overstuffed armchairs and waited. The receptionist cast a few suspicious glances in her direction, which Victoria return with a nonchalant smile. Behind the girl was a plain pine door and several black and white photographs of very beautiful men and women. Victoria concentrated and could here the conversations of many humans emanating from behind them. Obviously this lead the way to the salon.
Victoria sighed and ran her finger along the pattern of damask covering the chair. Soon the door opened and there stood the handsome and always impeccably dressed Andre Encantador, hairdresser to the rich and famous. Victoria beamed when she saw his dark eyes and gentle smile. He wore a very expensive Armani suit, gray with a faint cream colored pin stripe running through the weave, with a matching v-necked cream colored sweater beneath the sport coat.
"Victoria!" he exclaimed as he outstretched his arms to greet her. Victoria stood and matched his embrace. He dramatically kissed her on both cheeks which she returned with equal enthusiasm.
"Have you been waiting long my dear?" he questioned. Victoria's eyes dropped into a sad expression, indicating that she had in fact been kept waiting. Andre turned his dark eyes to the receptionist.
"Marie! Why did you not inform me immediately that my good friend had arrived?" he frowned at her. The girl quickly began making plausible excuses. Andre waved dismissively. "Never keep this lady waiting again,"
Andre turned and began to help Victoria from her coat. "Always admit her." folding her coat over his arm and then offering her his other arm he took her behind the pine door. The lighting was bright and the music was a trifle loud. Andre leaned down and whispered in her ear. "That's how they like it." he indicated to the customers and stylists. "It's all for image." he shrugged. "Let's retire to my office." Andre ushered her through the main floor which was a buzz with activity.
"Is it always so busy?" Victoria asked.
"When you're the best," he replied, obviously proud of his establishment.
Reaching the rear of the establishment, Andre lead Victoria up a flight of modern stairs with a cable railing, to a second floor cat walk that appeared as if it wrapped around the entire interior.
"Here's my home away from home," he indicated a door a few steps in front of the pair. Victoria smiled, Andre always seemed to be in a good mood. Just being around him lifted her spirits.
Opening the door to the office, Victoria entered a very modern environment. The furniture was clearly all high end, Herman Miller, Charles Eames, a Noghchi table. The lighting was soft and the room was pleasant.
"May I take your coat?" His velvet soft voice asked, as his hands lightly rested on her shoulders?
"Andre," she nodded. "I bet you picked this all out yourself." She shrugged out of the heavy coat. "It's very nice."
"I'm glad you like it. One must fine pleasure in the material world, too."
"Too?" She turned, a brow raised.
"My emotional world is very full. My mental world," he waved a hand, "brims overfull. My love life... Well, that fluctuates. But the material world will always be with us, constantly changing. People growing old around us. Buildings going up and falling down."
Andre motioned for her to sit in front of the glass table where coffee was already waiting. Victoria nodded, "Yes, now that I am more or less unattached I have a project along those lines I intended on working on."
"Unattached?" Andre echoed. He reached for the coffee pot and began to pour her a cup. "I think Sands may have a little something to say about that. Did he contact you?"
"No, just the note." Victoria reached into her handbag and withdrew the small slip of paper. She exchanged it for the cup of coffee.
Andre looked at the note. "He wrote in haste," he noted. "I know his regular style. He still retains some of the flash of ages past, the R's and such." He pursed his lips. "Something important has come up. I find it interesting that he and Abberline have disappeared at about the same time." His dark brown gaze met hers. "Don't you?"
Victoria's eyes shifted quickly as she sipped the hot liquid. "Yes, those two are up to something." She set the cup down. "And I am angry with him for going. " She crossed her arms. "He could have told me where he was off to. I can keep secrets."
Carefully, Andre poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down across from Victoria. He used small silver tongs to add two cubes of sugar to his cup. "Perhaps he was ordered to say nothing." His eyes stayed focused upon his coffee. "Or perhaps he felt it was too dangerous." Coffee-brown eyes now met her surprised glance. "He is like that, not willing to get others involved in his problems."
"Well, I've only known him a short while, but I can tell that he would not let either one of us get away with that as an excuse." Unfolding her arms she reached for her coffee and took a long slow sip, thinking. "If I don't hear from him in two days then I'll be very concerned."
"He can take care of himself, Victoria." Andre smiled. "You wouldn't believe half of what he's done."
That was not the answer she wanted to hear. She wanted him to be as concerned as she truly was. Perhaps she would go to see Lilith. Victoria straightened up and changed the subject: "Andre," she paused, "how would someone make an appointment to see Abberline or Lilith?"
He shrugged, looking a little surprised. "Just go. Or call. I don' t know about appointments. They are willing to see all clan members. Well, it's only Lilith at the moment." He grinned. "Apparently."
The wheels were beginning to spin in her mind, her eyes widened. "And the library you were telling me about, what kinds of books are there?"
"The sort you can't find most places. There are books about the history of our kind. Medical theories about how we function. How we heal. How we are hurt." He big the inside of his lip. "What are you looking for? Certainly not William Blake."
Are there records?" she asked carefully fishing for answers
"If there are records, I haven't looked for them, so I cannot tell you." He picked up his cup. "What sort of records? What's going on in that pretty head of yours?"
She tilted her head to one side and smiled. "Does anyone keep track of our kind? You know what one would be up to." She leaned forward quickly putting her hand up. "And don't tell me about that awful tabloid. I mean a serious accounting."
"Our history?" Andre's eyes narrowed. "I am not sure what you mean."
"Well, Abberline and Lilith were aware of what Jacob had been up to, all the nasty things he'd been doing. Of course they didn't do anything about it, but they knew. So wouldn't it be safe to assume that somewhere there has to be a record of deeds?"
"Oh." Andre settled back into his chair. "As his creator, Lilith always had a thread of connection with him. Have you ever created?"
"No," she said quietly and dropped her eyes. "So there would be no books." Victoria was crestfallen. "Sands said there were books not out in the open, only for serious study."
"You would need to go search for yourself," Andre told her. "I am not the person who would know. The books I have found there were the kind I have named. You would have to search to find out if there is more. If it is something classified, as it were, then maybe the Guardians can help. I wouldn't think that sensitive information would be just sitting on shelves." He flashed a quick smile. "Drink your coffee. It's getting cold."
She smiled back and then took another sip. She would go to clan house and do some searching. Perhaps she could learn a little more about Sheldon Jeffery Sands, or more about her gift. Perhaps Lilith would know where Sands had gone. Her thoughts drifted again. "Andre, do you know a good lawyer?" she asked changing the subject once more.
"Business or personal? Financial? Trust? Medical?"
"Now that I am no longer required to hide in the shadows, I want my house back."
He nodded slowly, thoughtfully. "Where is it, what country? What proof do you have that it's yours?"
"It's here in the United States, Louisiana Territory. I have papers, deeds and such."
"And how long ago did you lose this house?"
She closed her eyes for a moment remembering the arrangements Claude had made when they left for France. Without opening her eyes she responded, "Before I was turned, 1725 to be exacted." Her eyes slowly opened. "Claude, my brother, had made certain stipulations so that the house would always remain in the family."
Andre took a dramatic breath. "How would you claim it, my dear? You can't very well walk in and say you're a few hundred years old. Do you have some sort of proof you're a family descendant who was born in the 1970's? If not..." He shook his head.
She laughed," That's why I need a lawyer." She took another sip of coffee. "But really now, could I just enthrall someone or something like that?"
"It is not that easy. There would be a title search. That would go back to the first time the land was sold. You can't enthrall the entire country. I'm afraid if you want the house, you will have to buy it."
"Now that's just unfair having to buy back what someone already rightfully owns!" she sighed. "Well perhaps when Sands gets back I'll drag him down south to see what the state of things is." A twinkle appeared in her eye. "Well then again if he doesn't come back maybe I'll see if I can convince any other handsome men I know if they feel like going on holiday." She winked at him across the table.
"It would depend where down south," he told her, smiling. "And, if you haven't learned by now, dear Victoria, life is unfair. It's up to us to manipulate it to our advantage. Maybe you could enthrall the current owner to sell it to you for a dollar." He shrugged. "Now, what do you think of the latest fashions? I happen to love the spring line coming out of Milan."
A smile quickly spread across her face. Andre had caught her off guard with the change of topics. "Milan?" she questioned her eyebrow arching delicately. "You know I have always had a preference for the French designers myself."
"My mother was French," Andre said pleasantly. "Why do you prefer the French?"
"Because I'm a Creole and France is the mother country of all of us from the Bayou. Although my mother was an Englishwoman." Victoria set down her cup and settled back along the couch, swinging her long legs up beside her comfortably. "But really Andre what's so great about the Italians ?"
His hansom face lit up. Leaning forward, he spoke with enthusiasm. "The Italians dare things that are ridiculous, like some of the British experimenters, but simply divine. The colors. The textures. And there happens to be a young designer I have my eye on." He smiled suggestively.
Victoria tossed her head back and laughed. "If you like to experiment, then you should like the Japanese. Those are some daring designs."
He shrugged. "Not much to my taste." He looked at the gray sky outside the floor to ceiling window. "I do like a fine suit. Armani. I've been every type of artist except a fashion designer." He fingered the handle of his cup thoughtfully. "Victoria, I get the impression that you have not had much experience, despite your age." He looked quickly up. "I hope that didn't sound rude or too prying. I just have to wonder."
"What kind of experience are you inquiring about?" she questioned as she smoothed the hem of her skirt. She was making an attempt to not be alarmed.
"In the world. Your talk about the house." He shrugged. "I don't really know where you have been, what your life has been like, or even exactly when and where you were turned. We always seem to talk about me or...Sands."
Andre watched as her eyes narrowed. It was such a slight movement, the kind only a vampire would have been able to detect. "I've been living in a cave, or at least that's what Sands also says to me," a faint smile appeared.
"How charming." His expression was deadpan.
"Oh Andre," she teased, "You don't really think I've been living in a cave do you?"
"No, I mean what Sands said. He has a way with words. Where have you been living, darling?" He lifted his cup. "Certainly not here in Manhattan?"
Victoria looked into his eyes. She thought for a moment about the man before her and his relationship to Sands. If he trusted Andre then perhaps she could also. "This is not something I usually speak about. One does not live a long life by letting everyone in on ones secrets."
He sat patiently, allowing her time to tell her story, a very slight smile on his full lips.
"I have lived in cave," she paused again looking intently into his eyes before continuing. "I've also lived with gypsies, and with crime lords and counts. My last address was Paris, that was two months ago. I left quickly when Jacob's spies tracked me down again. You see Andre," Victoria leaned slightly forward," In 1825 I deiceded to kill my maker and I have been on the run from him ever since." Victoria waited to see how he would react to her statement.
He reached across to touch her hand. "No longer. He's dead now." He sat back. "So how is it that you became involved with such a, "he searched for the right word, "jerk?"
Victoria was stunned by Andre's response. He was so kind, she relaxed. "I've given the subject a lot of thought. Perhaps he used his skills as a vampire to enthrall me. Perhaps I was a young silly girl, perhaps . . .I loved him once," her voice shook a little.
"We were all young and silly once," he said kindly. "Believe it or not, even me." He grinned broadly. Lowering his voice and leaning towards her he added, "Rumor has it, even Sands was young and silly once. But don't tell him I told you so."
Victoria suddenly laughed and then covered her mouth in surprise. "Andre you're lovely." she stated and then giggle a little more.
He tossed his long hair back saying, "So I've been told."
"Andre?" Victoria cupped her hands in her lap. "I miss him."
He looked genuinely surprised. "Sands? After only a few hours?" He shook his head. "This sounds serious. Are you sure you're ready for serious?"
She looked at him without answering, she wasn't sure she knew the answer to that question. When Sands was with her there was no doubt in her mind. She closed her eyes for a moment and tried to imagine what life would be like if she walked away from this city and never came back. She tried to image the look on Sands face if he received a note like the one he had left her. Opening her eyes she found Andre warm smile awaiting an answer. "Yes, I think I am."