Echo - Nicolae/Sebastian

The home was a pastel blue with white trimming and an engine red door. A golden metal plate adorned the entrance with the words Bartholy Holdings inscribed in black. Valerya stepped out of the car with her backpack, mouth agape. She considered having misheard her employer. Nicolae swung the driver door open and stood next to Valerya, gazing at the home. "Move in here?" Valerya repeated.

"If you wish," he replied.

"Mr. Bartholy, I don't think I can afford it." Valerya replied without thinking her words through, and quickly realized her error. She had addressed him in a formal manner. Perhaps it was her subconscious reminding her how inferior she felt when compared to the refined Nicolae Bartholy.

"I'm not asking you to purchase it, simply reside here, answer some calls, maintain the files..." Nicolae observed Valerya as he spoke, noting the ways she slowly shook her head. "You could pay the water and gas bills," he added, hoping that would entice her to stay and make the home feel more her own without thinking she was taking advantage, for Nicolae did not have to read her mind to know what she was thinking. "You would truly be doing me a favor. I could use a caretaker for the home and a full-time assistant with work."

"I just..." Valerya was speechless. She observed as the pink and white lilies by the front door gently swayed in the warm breeze – beautiful and peaceful. "I must pay electricity as well."

"Of course," Nicolae responded almost desperately. A motel was no place for Valerya, and he would do anything to see her out of it.

Valerya's lips stretched into a smile. "Will you show me inside?"

"Of course," he repeated as he pulled a key out of the pocket in his trousers. They walked to the front steps with Nicolae in the lead. He unlocked the red front door and pushed it open for Valerya. She uttered words of gratitude as she entered her new home.

The walls were white with much lack of decorum, save two paintings of ships lost in a perilous and turbulent sea. They made Valerya uneasy at first sight. It was an unwelcome reminder of her initial visit to Syre, the place her mother had died and where an innocent Rayna had been lost to The Echo King. The ceiling was high with a wooden beam running through the center; it added character to the home as much as it reminded her of the great hall of the wrecked ship from which Ima and she narrowly escaped before its demise. Despite the unpleasant memories it stirred, she admired the home and its soft blue couch cushion seats and lamp shades that matched the exterior. That reminded her of the ocean, the one thing every echo yearned for. She, too, had an affinity for the water. It called to her. 'You belong here'she could hear the blue whispering in her ear. "It's lovely," she uttered.

"And now it is home," Nicolae responded.

Valerya felt the skin of her arms rise and pimple. Home. She had never dared think of any place as a true home, but she had yearned for one all her life – both her lives. Nicolae walked her through the spacious house that had been fully furnished, including the large master suite on the second floor that came with a king bed and a blue duvet of swirling floral patterns.

The morning ended quickly as the pair reorganized the furniture in the new spacious study and moved the boxes next to their designated filing cabinets. "Take the rest of the day to move," Nicolae offered. "I can help you with your luggage if you wish." He treaded lightly, but expected a refusal from the young, mistrusting woman.

"I packed light before I came to Mystery Spell. It will not be necessary for you to trouble yourself," she responded.

Nicolae wondered if she had left her former home in a hurry, and if so, he yearned to know the truth behind it. 'When the time is right,' he pondered. He did not know Valerya well enough, and she did not trust him yet to disclose the truth, that he knew as much. "As you wish."