"Dreams" - Her Story: Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

         She found herself standing in front of her mirror in her own room when the mist cleared, leaving her confused and beautifully dressed in another gown. This time the gown was burgundy silk with black lace. Her ash blonde hair hung over her shoulders and down her back in a curtain of silken curls. She looked at herself and couldn’t believe the difference in her appearance from day to her dreams. She pulled at the lace hem of the low-cut bodice, hoping to cover the exposed breasts. She wasn’t sure she wanted to be parading around with her chest hanging out of her dress.

         A soft knock coming from the front door pulled her out of her room and downstairs to the front door to answer it. She pulled the door open to find a gentleman standing on her porch wearing a pair of blue jeans and a jacket and a hat in his hands.

         “Your carriage, Milady.” The driver smiled at her.

         Stepping outside and closing the door behind her, she followed him down the stairs and allowed him to help her into the waiting carriage. He held her arm as she stepped up and into the carriage. She sat down on the thickly padded leather seat and smoothed out her gown.

         “Tell me, where are we going?” She asked before the driver secured the door.

         “All I can tell you is that the gentleman is waiting.” He closed the door and climbed into his seat and urged the horses into a walk.

         She leaned back against the seat and looked out the window at the starlit summer sky and inhaled the scents of the flowers growing wild in the fields around the road they traveled. She listened to the sounds of the night creatures as the horses walked slowly down the road.

         She felt the driver pull the team to a stop and jump down from his seat. “Milady,” He helped her down from the carriage. Welcome to Circle Ridge.” He said as she moved to stand beside him.

         She stared at the plantation style house before her in awe. Every window had a candle burning brightly making the old house look warm and inviting. Two large pillars framed the stairs of the wrap around porch. She stood staring at the magnificent house wondering what the inside looked like when the large front door opened to reveal a very large man wearing a black bow tie and crisp white shirt. He held the door wide and waited as she walked slowly up the stairs.

         “Welcome, Milady.” He held the door as she walked over the threshold. “Milord is waiting in the ‘Rose Royale’ room.” He motioned to a woman dressed in a gray gown with a white apron attached to the front. “Ingrid, please show her to the ‘Rose Royale’ room.”

         She followed the maid down the long hallway past what looked like the dining room, filled with several other couples dressed in similar clothing, to several doors at the end of the hall.

         “Milady.” Ingrid opened the door and stepped aside.

         She knew instinctively a burgundy silk mask had appeared to cover the upper half of her face. Smiling, she stepped inside the room and looked around. Her eyes strayed to the figure standing with his back to her looking out the window. She didn’t understand how any man could make her feel complete by just being in the same room. She watched as the muscles in his body shifted and strained against the confines of his jeans and shirt as he turned to face her. She felt the air escape her when he strode towards her with desire burning in his eyes.

         He stopped in front of her and looked down into her face as she raised her eyes to meet his. Desire burned brightly between them, threatening to consume them in its intensity. He reached up with his hand and caressed her cheek. She felt the heat of his touch burn through her like a forest fire out of control.

         “Hello.” His voice was husky with desire.

         Finding her voice, she smiled, “Hello, yourself.”

         They stepped apart at the sound of the door opening behind them. She turned to see the maid pushing a cart laden with their dinner. She took the opportunity to look around the room and stopped in front of the fireplace. She stared breathlessly at the portrait of an exquisite woman sitting on a white marble bench surrounded by rose bushes. The beauty wore the same silk burgundy gown she had on and she clutched a locket that hung from her neck on a thin gold chain.

         “She’s my mother.” He said from beside her. “The painter captured the longing I had always questioned and the happiness I had always felt.”

         “She is beautiful.” She studied the picture and wondered.

         “Our dinner is getting cold.” He took her hand in his and led her to the small mahogany table.

         They talked about her new position and her daughters. She told him of her oldest daughter’s love of horses and her new job. She listened while he talked about his life in general. She took the cup of coffee he offered her and went back to the portrait. Something drew her to the beautifully sad woman. She noticed something on the mantel and picked it up.

         “The locket, was there an inscription?” She asked him, clutching her find to her chest.

         “Yes, the front read, ‘Forever We Are One’ And the back read, “Our Love Is Eternal. I Promise You Forever.’ I could never forget those words. I had been fascinated with that locket for as long as I could remember. It disappeared when she died. But she never explained the looks of longing and sadness. I never understood the bittersweet smiles and way she would lose herself in memories. She would always tell me, I would understand when I grew up.” He told her staring at the portrait of his mother.

         “She was incomplete without the love of her life. She had found him somewhere and lost him. She was always happy with you around, but she always felt the loss and hung on to her heart through memories and the promise of forever.” She opened her hand and let the locket fall to the end of the chain. “The same promise you made to me. A love that exists in another time and place.”

         He said nothing when he reached out and took the locket from her and stepped behind her. He placed the locket around her neck and fastened the clasp at the back of her neck. He smiled when he saw it resting just above her breasts when she turned to face him. “His promise of forever to her is now my promise of forever to you.”

         She touched his cheek with her fingers as his lips brushed against hers in a gentle caress. “Forever.” She whispered against his lips as the sound of the shrill ring of the telephone pulled her from him.

         She stretched and reached out to turn off the alarm clock to feel the coolness of a chain hanging around her neck. She sat up and looked down to see the locket still nestled against the tops of her breasts as it had been in her dream. She read the inscription aloud, ‘Forever We Are One’ and turned it over to read the back, ‘Our Love Is Eternal. I Promise You Forever.’

         She didn’t understand or what to even guess how she still could be wearing the locket when she woke. She just knew one day they would never part again.


""Dreams" - Her Story: Chapter 9"  [18+]