Iola was surprised to find herself in her bed rather than where she and Vi had fallen asleep outside. That meant that someone had come onto her property and taken her and the kid inside. She frowned and pushed herself out of bed. Violet made a noise of discomfort, so Iola did her best to keep the bed steady as she got up and went to check around the house. Everything was locked, even the back door, which she knew she had not locked since she had been out there with the kid when they passed out. She screwed up her face in annoyed concern. Who had come in, why had they taken her, and her cousin inside and then locked the door behind them when they left? No one had hurt her or the kid; no one had taken anything.

Iola hunted for her phone and found it on the kitchen table where she had left it last night. It still had about 16% battery on it. She called Serdar and asked him if he knew anything. She got Nadia instead and was informed that he had been with her and David all night. "Do you need to call the cops Prima?" the woman asked, sounding entirely concerned about Iola, not her husband possibly getting arrested for being an addict.

"No, Nadia, it's fine. You might wanna come get Vi though, Serdar said y'all would be heading out soon," she said.

"Ah yeah, that is gonna happen today. We'll be by in a few hours, okay? You be safe." The older woman told her in a no-nonsense manner.

Iola laughed and nodded, "Yeah Nadia, I promise to do my best." She hung up the phone after saying goodbye and went to make some breakfast for her and Violet to eat before the others showed up, and they took off for their various tasks for the day. She was looking forward to 6 pm today since she had found a dance studio that had swing dance classes on Thursdays as well as other types of dance the rest of the week. She was looking forward to learning how to dance; it was something she had always wanted to do.

Iola fed Vi and then they watched some TV till her family showed up. After a happy goodbye and a promise to keep in touch, Iola grabbed her keys and headed off to work. Her employer gave her a bright smile, again with the blinding white perfect teeth that made something in her shiver pleasantly and was very polite in telling her that he was glad she was able to spend time with family.

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"Everything alright, Ms. Roman?" Mr. Halifax asked her at around lunchtime.

She looked up from where she was bent over the iron and blinked at him from behind the goggles she was wearing. "Yes?" it was more a question than answer because she wasn't too sure what he had asked her; she had simply heard her name and responded to it.

The man gave he a smile. "Is everything alright? You've been frozen there for several minutes, and I was beginning to worry."

Iola blinked rapidly and then shook her head, "Yeah, no everything's fine." She gave him an awkward smile, "Just thinking about work and going over everything in my head." It was half true; she had been daydreaming about a castle somewhere bathed in moonlight, strong arms around her waist, lips on her neck. She shook away the phantom feeling and brought her focus back to her work.

Mr. Halifax smiled at her again and nodded, "Alright then, I shall leave you to it and remind you to take a break soon to eat and drink some water; it is painfully hot today."

Iola snerked and nodded, "You're not wrong there." She agreed as she straightened up fully and winced at the pain in her back; maybe she should get back into yoga. "It is about lunchtime, so I think I will take a break." The man nodded and walked away. She waited till he was out of sight before she pulled her lunch bag out of the cabinet and took one of the ice packs out along with her sandwich and placed the pack on the back of her neck. Iola unwrapped her sandwich as she found a clean place to sit and then took a bite out of it, enjoying the tomato and avocado with the cheese and ham. The pepper had been a good choice to add with the mayo. She found her water bottle after she finished off the sandwich and took several gulps of water before she leaned back and let the daydream flood back into her head.

The night was cool, and she was thankful for the long sleeved top as she gazed up at the moon from a stone balcony. The moon was round and heavy in the sky, appearing so much closer than she had ever seen it before, and she marveled at the beauty of it. A smile stole across her face as she felt his arms slip around her waist and pull her gently into a warm chest.

"Is all well, my darling?" The man behind her asked, his deep and heavily accented voice alluring and raising the hairs on the back of her neck enticingly.

"Mmm yes, I was just admiring the moon. It is so close and easy to see here, not like anywhere else I have ever been before." She replied.

"Of course, it is my lovely rose; this place has remained untarnished by men and their modern inventions that pollute the sky with light."

She glowered playfully as she turned to look up at the man, only able to see the piercing eyes that made her tingle. "Hey now, humans have created some rather amazing things, and you cannot deny that."

He smirked down at her; she didn't know how she knew that when all she could see was his eyes, but she knew it. "I will not deny they have made many marvels, but you cannot deny, my little witch, that they have also made things for you, and I rather difficult. "

"You can't make me admit anything," She tried to contradict him, but before she could open her mouth, he had brought his head down to kiss her.

The daydream had been interrupted before the kiss had actually happened. Iola wasn't sure if she was thankful for that or annoyed by it. She put away her lunch things and got back to work she had a few more hours to go and she would use that time to determine what to wear for her first swing class tonight while she did her job.

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Iola hopped in a quick cold shower to wash the sweat off her when she got home from work, making sure she had music playing to dispel the quiet of the house now that Vi wasn't here to fill it with excited babble. When she was sure she was clean, she dried off and wrapped her towel around herself so that she could hunt through her closet for something to wear.

It really only took her maybe 15 minutes to pick an outfit but had felt like much longer, especially since she was on a time constraint but in the end, she settled for a flowy blouse in red and some black leggings with a simple pair of flats. Once she was dressed, she got her bag and keys and headed off to what she hoped would be a fun night of dancing, praying that she would not make a fool of herself.

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This chapter is owed to my new friend Joe and his liking of Frank Sinatra and my Swing Dance Teacher Steve, who likes to tell me I keep improving. I have to wonder, when he says that, if he thought I would only get worse? LOL