In part two of this episodic psychological thriller, Nicole Jeffords. convinced that healer, Victor Goodlove, who disappeared ten years earlier is buried under her studio, continues her search for him, contacting old patients all over Austin and dis...
Doina loved the Primaverii Palace where she worked. She loved keeping Elena's clothes in order in the big, well-laid out closets, loved walking through the solarium with its exotic plants, and watching the antics of the peacocks in the garden. She had to be careful not to irk her mistress by involving herself in anything other than her work, but it delighted her to imagine the palace was her own home and to linger in the shadows, observing whenever possible the behavior of family members and their guests. Nicu was the same age as Doina, so he interested her particularly.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Primaverii Palace Solarium
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Elena's closet
As a plain-featured woman in a maid's uniform, Doina was practically invisible and could get away with a lot. Nicu barely knew who she was. But she knew many things about him — the toothpaste he preferred, the kind of underclothing he wore, his habits with women, where he hid his whiskey. She learned a lot through staff gossip, but also from discussions she overheard between Elena and her dictator husband — that they didn't like their son's womanizing and were considering putting the kibosh on the wild parties Nicu threw at the palace.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Nicu Ceausescu
To Doina, who lived in a dingy, cramped apartment with her husband, mother-in-law and baby daughter, all this was heady stuff, like having a front row seat at the movies. So when she spotted actress Maria Mocanu at one of Nicu's parties, she was thrilled. This would have been in 1977, when Maria was twenty-seven, the same age as Doina. And here's the important thing to know: many years before, Doina had briefly been in grade school with Maria, both in a special class for students with high verbal aptitudes. They hadn't been friends and their paths had never crossed again, but hidden in the hallway outside the room where the party was going on, Doina felt a rush of emotion as she saw Nicu plant his lips on Maria's. Oh wow! Her schoolgirl connection with Maria made her feel very invested in this possible new romance, almost as if it were happening to her. And since she knew from observation that rich playboy Nicu was a slob and degenerate, she wanted to shout at Maria to get the hell out of there and watch her step. The dictator's son was known to be rough with women. What if the beautiful actress got her face wrecked in a fight with that sleazeball?
