The Death of a Bachelor

Chapter Seventeen

It was a warm afternoon, and Kieran had been duly informed that the people to help him and Elena with the engagement dance would be Alistair and his 'ladyfriend', Olivia.

He met Alistair at the terrace of Rivera manor house, and greeted him. The latter had been seated at a table, and the moment he saw Kieran walk up the steps, he'd stood up and welcomed him with a grin. The two held each other's fore arms for a firm shake.

"Seems you will be staying here a while, then," Kieran said, genuinely pleased to see him.

"Of course, future brother-in-law," came the reply, "I have to make sure your dance dazzles everyone. Olivia isn't here yet, and we can't start without her. Maybe you can be with Elena as we wait?"

"Definitely." Kieran was quick to agree, already feeling a sweet sensation at the thought of being alone with her for a while.

Alistair led him inside the house and directed him to the chamber used as a dance room, in which Elena was. He walked through the corridors on the ground floor and reached the door he presumed to be the right one, and it was half-open, the door inclining inwards.

Peeking inside, he saw it was a wide bare room with a counter protruding from the wall adjacent to the door, to his left, and a seetee infront of it. Unlike all other rooms, this one was fully carpeted, so one had to take off one's shoes before stepping onto the carpet.

In the middle of the room stood Elena. He could only view her from the side. Her back faced the ceiling to floor mirrors, her countenance directed to the mural on the opposite wall. As he took of his boots,he heard her speak,

"You all know it."

His head snapped back up. She was wearing a smile, her gaze on the mural, and her gestures indicated she was talking to someone.

Yet there was no one.
A feeling of deja vu swooshed over him as he watched her pace slowly, and recite what seemed like a poem.

"The leaves are turning golden
The wind stirs up a cold and,
Falling from the trees
All throughout the town,
They settle down in seas
Of beautiful brown."

Suddenly, she changed her posture and altered her voice to resemble that of a young child as she asked,

"But Autumn fairy,
What can we do without the sun so high,
And the fall so nigh?"

Kieran at once knew that she was performing one of the plays for the Autumn festival. Alyssa used to read the story to him and his siblings when they were young children, until he took up the role (mostly for Aira.)

He smiled as he watched Elena assume the character of the Autumn fairy and reply,

"You may run, ruffle and roll in the leaves,
And pick pretty pine cones to pelt pests."

Amused, Kieran stepped onto the carpet with his bare feet and inched his way to an oblivious Elena, who was moving back and forth between characters. The first time she had done this had been with her own imagination, and now she was performing a real play; and she'd memorized the lines perfectly. He thought she must have really liked to perform.

In the story, the autumn fairy danced around in the musical interludes, so Elena made to perform a splendid spin, done with one leg raised and bent back at the knee. In the process of this stunt, she came face to face with Kieran and needless to say, she was startled out of her wits.

She let out a squeak and stumbled back, and this was his cue to bend forward and wrap an arm round her waist and secure her before she fell. Her eyes were wide, her lips slightly parted in shock.