Chapter 7 Conflict

It's been almost a year since that weird moment of confession. At first, things were a bit awkward between the two of them, not knowing how to behave in front of the other. But as time passed, the awkwardness slowly faded away. They started to grow accustomed to each other, they started to realize what made the other tick. Of course there were some fights along the way when they stepped on each other's toes but life went on. A special occasion stood out among all of them.

She was a usual expected guest now in his house. They would sit together and talk about their day, their lives, their lives and ambitions. Or they would simply watch a movie together. They would rarely go out of the house. They preferred the peace and quiet they enjoyed there. During that time, the old man was rarely seen. But neither of them doubted the fact that he was around. Probably listening at their door or looking from around the corner. He was weird, but he was harmless to them.

This day though was a little different than usual. Vlad was walking agitated around the living room under the old man's watchful eyes. He could sense that his uneasiness was bringing joy to the old man, even though his face still didn't reveal anything. He stopped abruptly and stared for a moment at the sudden unpleasant face in front of him.

"What are you staying there smirking about? Don't you have something else to do?"

The old man's eyes grew wider seeing him lose his temper. He only shrugged at his words.

"Nope, I don't think I have anything better to do at the moment! Why? Do you?"

"Then go look for something to do that occupies your time! Don't bother me!"

"I wasn't bothering you! And I also don't have to go look for something to do! I am currently doing something!"

"What are you doing then, other than staring like an idiot at me?"

The old man remained unperturbed and shrugged again. His deadpan expression didn't change one bit.

"I don't know about staring like an idiot point, but I definitely have to admit that I am staring at an idiot!"

Vlad's face turned even darker. He had the impulse to jump on the old man and throttle him to death. He was getting more and more shameless lately. Of course, part of the reason was that he managed to wriggle himself under the wing of Diana's protection. He gritted his teeth trying to get his temper under control.

"Stop that! I really don't want to lose my temper!"

"Then why are you so agitated? You just have to go there, say hello, give some flowers and wish happy birthday! What is so complicated about that?"

"It's not complicated! I just don't feel like it's a good idea for me to just go there. Maybe they don't expect me to go. It would be awkward for me to just show up and say what? 'Hi, you don't know me! I kill people, but don't worry about it because I kill those people who are already dead! No, I'm not crazy, only a bit unhinged. Don't worry about your granddaughter, she's going to be in good hands!' Would you trust someone like that? Wouldn't you shove me out the door as fast as you can, barricade the doors and windows and call the police?"

The old man just looked at him like he was looking at an imbecile.

"What? Just say something!"

"You are an idiot!" and he shrugged.

"I'm an idiot? You keep saying that, so it's nothing new. Can you say something else?"

The old man shrugged again.

"Yes I can!"

Vlad waited in silence waiting for his response. But the old man remained silent, apparently savoring the sensation of keeping him in suspense.

"Well?"

"Something else!"

Then the old man jumped to the side, dodging the kick coming his way from the infuriated Vlad.

"Fuck! You just have to continue to find new ways to piss me off, don't you? You'd better shut up from now on if you don't have anything important to tell. Otherwise, some of these days I'll cut out your tongue and shove it up your ass! As much shit you've spouted so far, it definitely would feel better down there!"

The old man looked at him and slowly liked his lips before hurrying outside the door when he saw Vlad looking frantically around. He barely shut the door behind him when a loud bang was heard from the other side. The door creaked and it's frame trembled sending dust into the air. It was definitely something heavy this time!

He felt movement in front of him and immediately became alert until he saw the girl coming his way. A smile appeared on his face. She was finally here. She will handle it from here.

"What happened? Why are you covered in dust?"

"It's nothing! His majesty is going through a crisis of identity! But it will pass real quickly when he gets to see you."

He turned to the door and knocked.

"Young mistress is here!"

They heard all sorts of things being dragged on the floor before finally the door was opened slightly, just enough space for letting Vlad come out, who quickly closed the door behind him. The old man tried to peak his head to see how it looked inside, but wasn't able to.

"Oh, you're here! What time should we be at your grandmother?"

His earlier agitated mood was nowhere to be seen. It just vanished. The old man shook his head. He needed to get started already. His hormones were starting to go through the roof. He was not sure if they started already, but by the way things went, it wouldn't be long before it happened, if it didn't already. He was standing there, ignored like always when she was present.

"We have an hour until it starts. Why?"

"I was only curious. I forgot!"

"Yeah right!"

The sarcastic tone from the old man couldn't escape her ears as she looked from one to the other with a silent question in her eyes.

"He was freaking out just earlier before you came about how he should behave in front of your family!"

The old man spilled the beans immediately.

"Right, use that tongue while you still can!" muttered a dejected Vlad under his breath. Then he turned his attention back to Diana. "Well, we should just get going. We could encounter heavy traffic and don't want to be late!"

It was definitely an experience he would never forget. As soon as they parked in front of the big house surrounded by high walls resembling a castle, he was a bit uncomfortable. He knew she came from a wealthy family, but this was too much. He felt sub-par looking up at it. He had money too from what he did and what was left from his parents, but not like this.

He felt her hand squeeze his in reassurance waking him up to reality.

"Let's go! They are waiting for us!"

He only nodded and walked toward the door and knocked. It was silent for a few moments before it opened, letting him see a middle aged man, maybe forty-five years old, standing in the entrance. He smiled at him, nodded and opened his arms, welcoming Diana in his embrace. He felt awkward and left out while witnessing the reunion. He had the impulse of turning around and jumping into the car and leaving. What was he thinking when he accepted the invitation? Everything felt wrong to him. He felt awkward. But breathing slowly, he tried to calm down his nerves. He had to remind himself that showing of affection like this was normal in a family.

"Dad, let me introduce you. He is Vlad Basarab, a friend. Vlad, he is my father, Daniel Cantacuzino."

They both nodded to each other and shook hands in an awkward silence while trying to figure out each other. Then her father invited them in. Seeing the luxury inside, his heart sank. How could he offer her a better life than this?

Needless to say, he was silent all the time except when asked something after wishing the older woman sitting at the head of the table happy birthday. At her left sat a short blonde-haired woman dressed in fashionable clothes meant for special occasions.

Diana sat beside her mother and her father retook his seat at the right of the old woman. Beside him sat a young pale man with dark hair wearing a dark suit. Seeing Diana, his eyes came to life, watching her intently. He gritted his teeth while his insides started to burn in slow rising annoyance watching him look at Diana. His face looked familiar, but he didn't know where he might have seen him. And honestly, he didn't care to know. He felt like he was really close to flipping the table over him if he kept staring at her. He suddenly felt different gazes staring at him. He turned his head and saw Diana slowly shaking her head in a negative direction and the old lady had a strange light in her eyes while looking at him.

He bit his inner cheek in an attempt to bring himself back under control. He stood there with his head lowered and feeling out of place while everyone else engaged in small talk. He closed his eyes and tried to close his ears to the empty noise around him. He only woke up when he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was the old lady. She was smiling at him.

"Are you alright? You look out of everything happening around you."

"I'm fine. It's just that I am not used to being in a room with civilized conversations taking place around me."

She nodded and kept smiling at him.

"Would you like to go outside on the porch to get some fresh air? It might help you to get better."

Vlad looked at Diana who was engaged in a conversation with her mother and nodded while slowly standing up. He followed the old lady, but when he looked behind, he saw the young man had already changed places to the one he just left empty. He felt his blood starting to boil as his hair stood on ends. He finally couldn't take it anymore. He turned back and in a few steps was at the young man's back. He patted him on the shoulder, making him turn around just in time for his fist to crush into his face with a satisfying crack of broken bones. He saw his eyes roll in the back of his head as he fell of the chair as blood poured out of his broken nose. He then turned back around and walked to the door in the sudden silence. He didn't say a single word of farewell as he walked out the door. He climbed into the car and was about to drive away when he saw Diana running out the door and toward the car.

He leaned over and locked the door on the other side of the car making her attempt to open and get in impossible. He lowered the window on his side of the car.

"What is it? Why have you come out? You should continue being inside enjoying your conversations. Apparently I was just a prop that sits by your side. Get back there and keep doing what you were doing. We're done!"

As he drove away he saw her in the mirror just standing there thunderstruck by his onslaught of words. As he walked back into the house, he ignored the old man's inquisitive eyes and walked up the stairs and slammed the door of his office after him and slumped into a chair holding his head into his hands while breathing heavy. It took a while to get himself back together only to hear a timid knock at the door. He turned into the chair and shouted at the door.

"I'm not here! Get lost!"

The door opened slowly and Diana walked inside with hesitant steps.

"Why are you here?"

He didn't try to hide the biting tone of his words in the least. What was the point anyway? It wasn't who he was. He tried being civil and a polite person since he decided to give them a shot, but apparently it didn't work.

"Can we talk?" her hesitant voice spoke volumes about her inner feelings.

"What's the point of talking now? Didn't you ignore me the whole time we were there? Keep doing just that. The door is that way!"

He pointed toward the door and waited for her to leave.