All thoughts of having a conversation went out the window as soon as Anais heard Kurt's voice. Wretched man! she was searching for him throughout the whole evening. But Kurt was like that. You won't find him unless he wanted you to. That's what made him more desirable Anais thought.
She let herself get taken away by this gorgeous man Kurt was. A man who knew how to lead.
"I've been trying to find you for hours. Where were you all this time?" In actuality, she hadn't tried to seek him out. She hadn't got the time to search him out. Mother had assigned her work so she was busy receiving the guests and their many gifts for the baby shower. Just her eyes sought him out time and again. She couldn't help herself.
"Are you sure about that, miss? I have been watching you for some time. You seemed to have quite a good time with that gentleman over there." He pretended to be offended but she could see the twinkling of his eyes, an amusing glint. Kurt seemed to find all these quite amusing while she had to suffer in the presence of that male.
Anais held her tongue and swallowed her words with much difficulty as he continued to sway her to the slow music. She merely glared up at him. He was just a few inches taller than Anais. As she glared at him, he just threw his head back and laughed. The sound of his laughter music to her ear. Better than the actual music they were dancing to.
Anais struggled to hold onto her anger. Surely she was not falling for this wretched man day by day. Surely she could let him go when the time came. A sudden sadness took hold of her. She pulled his head a bit closer and rasped into his ear.
"I will be waiting outside in the garden. At our usual place"
She slipped away from the ball quietly, unnoticed and walked to the maze garden behind the house where she met Kurt many times in the dark for the past six months.
Her mother could do away with the baby shower without her. This occasion was nought but a formality to brag to the high society and show off the new heir of the household and wealth. There were two more daughters in the house and many servants to lead her mother a hand. She would hear what her mother had to say later.
Her first meeting with Kurt was very dramatic, to say the least. It had launched into a series of meeting afterwards that made them feel closer to each other. She was strolling with her lady friend Hattie in the late evening. Hattie had urgent news to share with her best friend. But Anais never got to hear her out as a lanky boy in ragged and dirty clothing had snatched her purse from her genteel hands and tried to run away with it.
Humans, they could never tell one from another. The young boy didn't imagine that two genteel ladies strolling in the late evening could be vampires or he didn't care enough besides the content of the purse. Little did he know that the purse was actually empty or else he would be disappointed. Anais preferred to stash away her money in between her breast like she had seen those shameless ladies standing beside the nightclub do. It was a habit too old to mend. Her mother would shame her but again she would never know.
Hattie tried to go after the thief but Anais stopped her dear friend by taking hold of her hand tight.
"Don't" Anais warned her friend
"But, your belongings..."
"The purse is empty and hideous. Let him take that hideous piece of shit and sell it for some money for all good it will do him"
Anais could just materialise behind the poor sod and snatch her purse right back if she wanted. Only she didn't care about the ugly yellow purse. Good riddance.
What she did not know was that another male had seen the incident from far and the thief ran in his direction. He was not successful in catching the thief as the sod merely ducked and moved out of the way and ran in a different direction. But Kurt was determined to get the expensive purse back and return it to the original owner. He could recognise Miss Anais from a great distance. He could not miss those long legs and wide shoulders for heaven. So, he chased the thief all the way down to the alley where the poor sod stopped to catch his breath.
Kurt did not bother to engage in a fight with the bastard. HeHe materialized behind the poor sod. And when he dematerialized he took Anais's purse with him. He just wanted to return the purse as soon as possible before she went back to her home. He had already chased the bastard too far.
When he materialised again in the shadow of the trees, Anais was not in the area anymore.
Her concentration on past memories was broken by a rustling sound. She looked down to see a rat emerging from under her evening gown and run away at a mad dash. A small shriek cut the air before she covered her mouth. God forbid if it had tried to climb her legs. Spooked, she closed her eyes tight shut before opening them again.
She was starting to wonder what Kurt was doing keeping her waiting the whole night. The man Kurt, as fine as he was, did not value her time. She was just thinking about going back and giving Kurt a piece of her mind when a shadow fall over the entrance of the maze.