Counting Midnight

Excerpt:
Once again, Vasile Velicescu made his way into his office at his usual time of four-thirty in the afternoon. His mood was as black as it was every other day – as it had been for the last two years. For this reason, he was surprised that his generally sensible secretary dared to approach him.
“I thought you knew better than to bother me when I am having a bad mood, Beverly!” he barked. “Do you, too, need replacing?” he growled. His administrative assistant had been the last to go.
“Sir,” she said hesitantly. “Sir,” she said just a little more strongly. “There’s a young lady that Human Relations and the Client Team want you to hire. Sir, they like her very much.” She took a deep breath. “Mr. Velicescu, please just talk to her. They say our company needs her, sir. They think she could be your new assistant.”
Vasile looked at his secretary and then glanced to the seating area she had indicated. He literally stumbled backward. He felt like the breath had been knocked from him. There she was.
Two years of agony and loneliness had passed for him and finally he was beginning to accept the disappearance of Nina Caruthers, his longtime lover, from his life.
But there she was. It was Nina - it had to be. He had no doubt. How could that be possible? He’d been positive she was dead. Stunned, he took her resume and the folder assembled by his staff and turned toward his office, overcome with memories.
Vasile remembered interrupting her brutal rape at the hands of two violent young men. Nina had been only sixteen years old, then. He’d killed her attackers after first feeding on them. That was eleven years ago.
Gently, he’d wrapped her in a cloak and stayed with her until the police had arrived. Some impulse had caused him to discreetly check on her at the hospital later that night. After that he’d come at night when no visitors were allowed, entering her room and holding her in his arms. He’d felt drawn to her and his presence had seemed to soothe her.
Vasile jerked his mind back to the present long enough to address his secretary again.
“Beverly, send her in after five minutes and get us some coffee,” he growled.
He turned from Beverly’s desk in the outer office and walked into his own office. Lowering himself into his executive chair, he began scanning through her resume. Yes, it was her – it was his Nina.
He’d never realized that Nina had achieved a Bachelor’s degree in Economics, another Bachelor’s in Cyrillic Languages with a minor in Romance Languages and a Master’s degree in business law. As an administrative assistant, she was more than he could have ever hoped for and completely through no fault of his, she had turned up on his doorstep.
Looking back Vasile reflected that he had never said one word to Nina. Often, during the first year after the rape, he’d held her and sat with her at night. But, when she left for college, he’d thought to let her go. Until then, he’d fed from her but never had he coupled with her.
Absently, he’d decided to keep her for his lover. He went looking for her near her college and found her walking along the beach one night, alone. That was the first time he’d kissed her. His body had hardened instantly with an urgent hunger. Fighting the urge to make love to her there in the sand, he’d gently put her away from him.
Shortly after that, he’d sent her dorm mate away and tenderly soothed Nina into making love. She’d been so afraid. He’d loved her carefully and tenderly for hours.
Vasile knew that, as a vampire, he had all of eternity to meet people, learn about them, love them – if that were possible, and lose them. He’d never embedded himself into Nina’s mind.
She had a strong mind and a natural block. He had decided that she was to be his lover. He would protect her from danger but he would not be part of her day-to-day life nor would she be part of his.
For those reasons, Vasile had never scanned Nina’s mind. He never took the time to learn more about her. When she left him, he couldn’t find her and had no idea where to look.
He kept an ear on Beverly’s conversation with Nina. As he listened to the two women speaking, Beverly cautioned the girl that she’d be going in while the boss was in a bad mood.
Vasile heard Nina ask Beverly, “Do you know what Vasile means in English?” Beverly said she didn’t know. “It means Basil.” He heard Beverly chuckle delightedly. “I’m pretty sure Basil won’t bite me. I’m not afraid of him.” His secretary worried over the girl a few more minutes.
“He doesn’t act much like a Basil, though,” Beverly cautioned her. “Doesn’t look like one, either.”
Vasile heard Nina tell his secretary, “Don’t worry, please. The worst has already happened to me. I’m going to be okay.”
For the first time in centuries, Vasile felt like crying. The feeling was at war with the towering anger he’d felt when he first saw her sitting there. Even so, rage still bubbled inside of him. He wasn’t done with Nina Caruthers.
His Nina had a soft, sweet, husky voice and a mischievous sense of humor. But, she’d left him. He had thought her dead. Now, here she was in his offices, applying for employment.
She wouldn’t get away from him again. He didn’t know if he would punish her or how, but she would not get away.
He didn’t look up when she entered the room. He was still gripped with rage at her for leaving him. The fact that she let him think she was dead infuriated him further. Vasile sat reading her paperwork, forcing himself to show no emotion. With difficulty, he kept his anger in check.
She gracefully lowered herself into a chair near his desk and sat quietly. He watched her covertly but didn’t say anything. His mind reached out to hers, finding definite changes. He could feel her natural shield but it was not nearly as strong as it had been.
Beverly brought the coffee in a minute later. Nina thanked her for it and indicted that she could leave. Vasile would have been annoyed by such impertinence usually, but this time, he said nothing.
Finally, he could ignore her no longer. He could feel her scrutiny. Looking up, he found her eyes traveling over his face. He smiled in amusement when she met his eyes. His little Nina was “checking him out”. He probed her mind wondering what she thought of him.