Chapter 17: Nervous

Love, it surrounds every being and extends slowly to embrace all that shall be. - Kahlil Gibran

The inside of Vlad's bedroom is circular and covered in windows. He sets me down on the side of the bed and runs his hand over a small oval table that lights up. The surface is a control panel. The floor to ceiling windows shimmer and the image of the water fades. A picture of a wooded scene fills the windows. It floods the room with light. I shield my eyes.

He dims the lights. "Is this better?"

"Yes."

"You are not taking anything for birth control, are you?"

I shake my head. He opens a small drawer in the oval table and pulls out two flat, square foil packages, condoms, and lays them on top of the table. A blue and silver tie falls to the floor. He picks it up and folds it before tucking it back into a corner of the drawer.