Nicholas bit his finger and began chewing off the skin at the edges but he eased off when he felt a sting. He was desperate to make the sale, and he prayed that the client would not change his schedule again. He looked at his watch, it was almost seven.
A gleaming black car drove in through the wide gates and slowed to a stop in front of the hacienda style mansion. Before the driver could open the door for him, a tall man with thick black hair stepped out onto the pebbled driveway. Automatically, Nicholas ran his hand over his golden wild curls and straightened his jacket. Then he took two steps down and stretched out his hand to greet the client.
“Mr Petra? I am Nicholas Pullman.”
“Ah yes, I am sorry to make you come up here so late.”
“No trouble at all, sir. I know you have a tight schedule. Was the mansion hard to find?”
“Not at all. My driver is very familiar with this area.”
Nicholas walked up the steps ahead of him and held the heavy front door open. They toured the sprawling hacienda, starting with the living room, library, then into the kitchen, out to the pool and finally to the bedrooms above stairs. Every which way they turned, the stark white of the walls contrasted beautifully with the Spanish style wrought iron partitions and rails. Yet during the whole tour, the client was quiet and each time Nicholas turned to face him, he would find Petra watching him with furrowed brows. He began to feel nervous and desperate at the same time.
By the time they reached the second floor terrace which looked out into the bay in the distance, the moon had begun to appear in the horizon.
Petra leaned on the railing and said, “This is a beautiful place,” a pause, “to share with someone.”
Nicholas swallowed. “Yes, it is lovely. Your partner will enjoy living here.”
Petra shrugged. “I don’t have a partner right now. Maybe I should consider a smaller place.”
No, Nicholas screamed in his mind. Then he said, “This city is a favorite place for singles. A man such as yourself will have no problem finding someone at all.”
“Surely?”
“Yes, of course.”
A long silence followed. Finally Petra said, “Very well then. I will have to return to the island first.” Nicholas held his breath. “You can send the paperwork to me.”
“I will courier it over first thing tomorrow morning.”
“You can’t courier it to a private island. It would be faster if you come down yourself. I will be going back tonight. Come to the marina tomorrow morning at 10 am. Hose will take you to me when he sends up supplies and office memos. He comes back to the mainland in the evening.” He paused to study Nicholas’s face. “You can have the papers ready by then right?”
“Yes, of course, sir.”
“Good. I expect to see you tomorrow then.”
Nicholas saw him back to his car then called his manager to tell her that Petra would sign the sales and purchase agreement the following day.
“You are sure?” Deborah asked.
“Yes, ma’am, absolutely.”
“Great job. I will call Mr Daniels and tell him that the hacienda is taken.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“Work as late as you need. You don’t have to come into the office tomorrow morning. But call me as soon as you are back.”
Nicholas punched the air, elated, but his voice was steady as he again thanked her.
But once he was behind his desk in the empty office, he found his glee was far too soon, for the agreement he had to prepare was long and attached with many conditions, particularly since the previous owner had listed the hacienda as a historical building. He finally went home at two in the morning and almost woke up late for the morning drive to the marina.
Once he had parked his car, a blonde sun-tanned teenage boy met him and then led him to the pier, to a motor yacht that was about twenty feet long and was painted all in black and lined with gold.
“Hello, Mr Pullman,” a sun-tanned young face greeted him from the steering cockpit. “Come on up.”
Nicholas waved and stepped onto the open deck. The teenager released the riggings, but did not climb in. The boat eased out of its parking bay as Nicholas climbed the short steps to the cockpit. He looked back down to the pier.
“He is not coming with us?” Nicholas asked.
“No, he has yellow hair.”
The matter-of-fact remark startled Nicholas. “But I have yellow hair too. That will not be a problem right?”
“Oh no, not at all. What I mean is, men employed by Mr Petra can’t have yellow hair. You are not applying for a job are you?” Hose pushed the throttle forward and the boat began to roar.
“No,” Nicholas shouted. “I am only sending over a contract for him to sign.”
“Must be very important if you have to come down yourself.”
Nicholas shrugged. “I guess.” Then Hose indicated that he should sit down, away from the sprays, and he did.
He was glad that the boat was traveling at a brisk speed because the sea was beginning to swell and roll under a darkening sky. Soon shores and boats disappeared and he could see nothing from horizon to horizon. He eyed the chartplotter by Hose’s elbow and watched it track their progress. To his relief, around noontime, an island appeared in the horizon. As they approached, the boat slowed and glided through a narrow opening of cliffs into a calm turquoise lagoon. Ahead of them was a wooden pier connected to a flight of stone steps leading up to the cliffs above. They moored, and Nicholas stared wide-eyed at a family of marine iguanas sunning on a coral jagged rock not five yards away.
Seemingly out of nowhere, four men appeared. Three climbed into the boat, while the most senior stood waiting on the pier. As Nicholas got off the boat, he thrust out his hand in greeting and said, “Welcome to the island, Mr Pullman. I am Howard. I hope you will find your stay comfortable.”
Nicholas’s smile waned and he said, “I think there must be a misunderstanding. I am only here to get a contract signed and then I am going back to the mainland.”
“Of course, sir.” Howard turned back down the pier and Nicholas followed him. The long climb he had expected did not happen, for only after twenty steps up, Howard turned down a path that led into a tunnel. Four small motorized carts were already waiting, and Howard got into one. They drove down the straight dim tunnel for about ten minutes then Howard slowed the vehicle and stopped in front of a flight of stairs leading up to an opened double door that Nicholas guessed to be at least twice his height.
Nicholas looked about him in awe as he followed Howard down a richly gilded hallway and into an equally golden drawing room occupied by mahogany seats covered in hand-embroidered red damask.
Petra looked up from the papers he was reading and smiled. “Ah good. You have arrived. Did you enjoy the boat ride?”
Nicholas grinned boyishly and sat down across from him. Then he placed his briefcase on his lap. “Yes, sir. It was a good trip.”
“We shall have another ride again someday.”
Nicholas chuckled. “Yes, we must.”
Petra studied his face for a moment. “Do you believe in love forever after?”
“I beg your pardon?” Nicholas said with his eyebrows raised.
“Love forever after. Do you believe in it?”
“I have heard of it,” Nicholas said as his fingers slide to the latch of his briefcase.
“It is possible, don’t you think?”
“I guess if two people see eye-to-eye, then, yes, it is possible.”
Petra leaned forward. “If you have the power to make someone you love see things your way, would you use it?”
Nicholas began to feel a little confused and he wondered if he was being tested. “Well, I don’t know. I’ve never had that kind of power on anyone.”
Howard re-entered the room with a glass of wine. Petra looked up at him for a moment then turned his attention back to Nicholas. “I grew the grapes myself. You must try the wine first.”
Nicholas reached for it and took a sip. It was a little tart, quite fruity and the taste rolled on his tongue smoothly. But most of all it filled his mouth, nostril and throat with a scent that at once relaxed him. He took another mouthful and sat back. Howard took the briefcase away from him, opened it and, on seeing the car keys inside, left the room.
Deborah tried Nicholas’s mobile number. Again she left a message in the voicemail for the twentieth time, and for good measure, she sent him a vicious text message.
Patrick, her personal assistant, knocked on the opened door. “Blaine closed the sale with Daniels.”
“The hacienda?”
“Yes, the hacienda.” Patrick waited for a lull in her angry tirade before saying, “I managed to get hold of Petra. He said he had looked at the house but had thought that it was too ‘simple’ for his needs. He told Nicholas that he was not interested.”
Deborah closed her eyes and leaned back on her chair. “Did you get the IT technician to check his hard drive?”
“Yes. They could tell that he did quite a bit of printing that night, but they could not find the original file. However, they did find a boarding pass to Miami for last weekend in his drawer while they were looking for a memory drive.”
Deborah pinched her temple. “What has that got to do with anything?”
“He was supposed to meet Petra in New Orleans that Saturday.”
“He told me that Petra changed the venue to Miami.”
Patrick tapped a finger lightly on the door frame. “No, he didn’t. Nicholas rescheduled the meeting to the day when they met at the hacienda. I do know, however, that Blaine was in Miami that weekend.” A pause. “Should I report him to missing persons?
“To hell with him.”
Nicholas woke up on a silk bed scented with jasmine and rose petals. He felt happy and content, but strangely hungry. Petra stepped into the room, sat on the edge of the bed and played with his hair.
“You are so beautiful,” he said. Then he leaned down and kissed him.
His cold lips moved down to his neck and Nicholas cried out as Petra bit him. His head began to spin, a strange headiness struck him and he began to feel tired, too tired to think or to decide about anything. Howard came in carrying a tray of food which Petra hand-fed to him. After Nicholas had eaten, he again fell into a deep slumber.
“You will not change him now, master?” Howard asked.
“No. I will do it after he has forgotten everyone in his past, and after everyone in his past has forgotten him. Then he will be mine, and mine alone, forever.”
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