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Now Mihai smiled too, his yellow teeth exposing an ugly grin.
There is definitely something about this guy. . .
Christian sighed and turned the van off. The headlights died and the loud coughing engine was silenced, making way to the whistling the wind and the hooting of an owl somewhere in the forest. He got out and walked up to Olivia and Mihai. Olivia smiled and opened her mouth to say something, but Mihai cut in.
“Is there a problem?” he growled, crossing his arms. Christian stepped closer, right in front of him.
“I was just thinking it might be better to leave tomorrow morning. What if my old van breaks down again?”
Olivia’s face lit up. “Yes, of course! You should stay here tonight,” she offered. “Better safe than sorry. There’s, like, a million rooms you could stay in. What’s the harm?”
Christian looked up at the old keeper. “My van may be reliable, but she’s pretty old after all.”
“And don’t forget the bears,” Olivia chipped in.
“Yes, with their cubs and all.” He looked from Olivia back to the keeper. “They’re pretty aggressive. Mothers, right?”
At this point, he wasn’t sure if they were trying to convince themselves or Mihai, but it didn’t matter.
“Hmph,” the keeper grunted and walked over to his small house without saying another word.
“What’s eating Grandpa?” Christian muttered with a grin and Olivia shrugged, her cheeks flushed.
“I think we still have wine in our glasses.”
“A terrible mistake that should be remedied right away,” Christian smiled and passed her, entering the castle’s hallways again.
Olivia followed, and together, with Mihai absent, they pushed the humongous wooden entry gates closed.
***
They spent hours together in the library talking about random things: God and the world, the moon and the stars, why cheap pizza was better than pasta—or not. Olivia had the most amazing time, laughing so hard sometimes her stomach hurt.
After a long yawn escaped her mouth, they decided it was time to say goodnight. They left the library and walked to the floor that held her lady’s master bedroom. Christian had chosen the room across from hers.
“Well, this is goodnight then, Ms. Olivia,” he said, walking her to her door. “It was pretty fun, huh?”
She nodded, feeling her cheeks blush. It almost felt like the end of a date. Except this wasn’t a date.Christian was only being nice by staying with her. She felt guilty letting him stay, but when she’d been standing outside in the cold to say goodbye to Christian, listening to the giant next to her breathing louder than the howling winds, she couldn’t help but feel terrified. So, yeah, she was more than happy that Christian was here—even if this wasn’t a date.
“I had a lot of fun,” she said.
“Yeah, me too, although I still insist that pasta is better than pizza.”
“No way,” she grinned. Then there was an awkward silence in which both exchanged shy looks and glanced away. For second it seemed as if he leaned in a bit, but it might have just been her imagining things.
“Well, goodnight,” she said.
He cleared his throat and started walking. “See you tomorrow.”
Olivia watched him for a moment then went into her room and slowly closed the door without fully shutting it. She could hear Christian’s footsteps in the hallway as he walked to his room, followed by the slow whine of his door and the click when he shut it. She shut hers at that point as well, heading straight to the huge bed, which swallowed her up as soon as she dropped on it. A few moments later, she was sound asleep.
***
When Olivia opened her eyes again it was midnight—at least if the tall grandfather clock across from her bed was right. A small bedside lamp was on, casting a warm glow over her. She blinked slowly and sat up. She needed to go to the bathroom. Her eyes scanned the room wall to wall. There was no bathroom attached to it.
There’s a bathroom near the kitchen, she thought, rubbing her eyes. But the thought of walking downstairs alone didn’t sound appealing at all. What if that creepy keeper was ghosting around in the dark? She immediately thought about Christian and the fact that he wasn’t far away.Maybe I could text him. She was reaching for her phone when she realized she didn’t have his number, nor did she have reception.
Pushing aside the blankets, a soft sigh escaping her lips, she pressed her feet down on the warm Persian rug and walked, a bit of a stagger in her steps, till she got to the door. She opened it and peeked out. The hallway was lit by a dim wall light with a single flame that was so still it looked fake. Her gaze froze on one of the metal knights holding a sword. She half expected it to turn and start walking toward her. But it stayed stone still . . .thank God.
