The Saint Soleil Romance

Alyce

The young woman had spent all morning to herself; brushing her hair out, putting it up, washing her body, dressing in her favorite white summer dress that was delicately rimmed with blue lace, and she danced down the the stairs that desperately howled for repairs with each step. The kitchen was dark and gloomy, as it always was this time of morning. Opening off the curtains, Alyce expected to see another beautiful sunny summer day, but was greeted with a depressing shower covered by dark grey clouds that filled the entire sky. Her smile faltered but she recovered; after all the gloomy days were just as important as the beautiful ones in her mind. She lit a candle in the middle of the counter for a little extra light and filled the kettle with water to make her father's morning tea; maybe a cup or two for herself before she really started her day. While the water boiled, Alyce took out her multicolored book that held years worth of her poetry sticking to the lined pages. She flipped through used pages, skimming the words as she did before she landed on the first empty page available. She slid the tips of her fingers against the paper of it, a million things running through her mind, then she grabbed the nearby pen that had a limited amount of ink after the constant use and tapped it against her chin. Within moment, her hand was skimming through the lines, words forming one after another as the poem began to form before her, until her hand stopped aching slightly and she smiled. Alyce leaned back in her chair, contend and satisfied, while she stared down at the words that had emptied from her, until the kettle exploded with whistling that made Alyce jump out of her seat and back in to reality. 
The tea pot was old china, white with a blue and red flower design that surrounded it. Alyce took out the matching tea cups and saucers; it was her favorite set, a rarity among their cheap possessions. She picked up a tea cup and examined it with a smile and placed it on to its saucer before filling it with the steeped jasmine tea. Closing her eyes, Alyce inhaled to aroma of it, let it linger in her nose and exhaled heavily as if releasing all the stresses of the world, then placed the one cup with its saucer on a circular serving tray and accompanied it with a place of biscuits and toast that she had lathered with strawberry jam, the one that her father loved. As she picked up the tray to carry it out and up to his working tower, Alyce heard a sharp knock at the front door, causing her to almost drop the tray to smash against the floor, but had composed herself before really dropping it. She placed the tray safely on to the kitchen table and wiped her dress a few times before the knocking returned and walked slowly to the door. She swallowed hard, trying to keep her anxiety to the bare minimum and reached for the door knob, opening it to leave a tiny sliver to look at her visitor. 
"Can i help you?" She asked with a shaky voice while she peered through the little crack. 
In front of the door stood a tall man, he wore a black suit that couldn't have looked more perfect, with a black tie that was tight against his neck, yet also seemed loose enough. Alyce look over the man, he seemed around her father's age except his hair was nicely combed back, his face was properly shaven and this man held himself with the confidence and self-worth she had always hoped for her father. The man smiled and bent down a little to reach her eye level.
"Excuse me miss, I'm looking for Andy Greyson, is he available?" he kept his smile as he waited for Alyce to answer him but words wouldn't come to her; so she nodded slowly but kept the door mostly closed. Her eyes continued to skim over the man, she was as curious as she was frightened; never had seen anyone other than her father her entire life. She closed the door on the man and rushed off for her tray. As she turned to leave once again, the kitchen knife on the counter caught her attention and she quickly took it and placed it on the tray then took a deep breath and carried herself to the door once again.

Carefully, Alyce opened the door without dropped her tray; which seemed far heavier than it had any other day she carried it. 'It's your nerves, Alyce' she told herself silently. The unfamiliar man stood waiting patiently just outside the door, where she had left him so rudely, and smiled once more seeing her open the door before him. She walked out of the door, barely taking notice of the man, and walked past him.
"This way" she said quickly as she kept walking in the direction of her father's tower and the man followed without a word. A million thoughts went through Alyce's head with every step she took; she seemed to be walking in slow motion to herself, becoming more and more clouded by the feelings and thoughts that made a thick cloud around her mind. The tower was an old cone shaped building that might have once been used to store farm supplies, but her father had rebuild the inside to have his office and a sleeping quarter. While Alyce slipped in to the building, her mind wandered to her upbringing; how she had barely seen her father, how he had paid a young woman from the village to care for her until she grew past toddler years, but most of all how he refused to form any sort of connection with her. She sighed to herself, looking behind her to see if the stranger still followed and walked towards the stairs that led towards her father's working area. 
"He's up there" she told the man, although didn't take any steps to climb the stairs herself. The man walked closer to her and reached out a hand to her; she stared at it for a few moments before looking up in to the man's eyes.
"Why don't I take this to him for you" he smiled; it was a friendly smile, an encouraging and comforting smile... a dangerous smile. Alyce nodded and held out the tray to the man then turned on her heels and went out the way she came. 
The man stood with the silver tray and looked over the items; a cup of hot tea, a tea pot, a plate of toast and some biscuits. He shook his head and dared the stairs in front of him. Once reaching the door at the top, he didn't bother knocking and just opened it with his foot. The man inside spun around, his tired eyes wide as they beheld the visitor.
Andy Greyson looked barely better than he had twenty years a go during their first meeting. He wore dark grey clothing that matching the bags under his eyes and worn out shoes. His face was plague with five o'clock shadow and his eyes were wild. The man looked around the room; at the unmade cot in the corner, the endless pages of scribbled words that lay all over the place and the dissolving wall paper that surrounded the room.
"You seem to be most comfortable in ruin" Maxim Rumple said to him then placed his tray on a table near by. He sat on a chair in the corner of the room and crossed his legs; his smile has disappeared and a smirk had replaced it.
"I remember you..." Andy said, his voice was husky from cigarette smoke and almost a whisper. Maxim looked around once more, and sighed to himself shaking his head.
"This is what you've done with all the gold you could wish for" the disappointment was evident in his voice; but then he looked up in to Andy's tired eyes with a stern expression.
"You know why I am here, Andy".
Andy scrunched up his eyes, sorrow taking over his entire facial expression, and let out a long breath. He couldn't answer but nodded his understanding; of course he knew... his first born daughter and only born daughter was turning 18 this very week and after a lifetime of hiding, his debts had finally caught up to him. Maxim stood and brushed off his well-worn suit and lifted his head towering over the man before him. 
"Won't you say goodbye" it had seemed like a question, but with his tone Andy knew his answer wasn't a mystery to this man. He shook his head, turning back around to his papers and scrunched another paper within his fist, not even bothering to ask the man that had once saved his life what his name was; who was taking his daughter from him.