Chapter 225 - Romantics And Romance

The vanished man never reappeared again. When he was reported missing, police found no clue about his location or that of his body. The mystery of him was never revealed, but I soon forgot about it in preparations for my big event. I had a visa to get, and there was another owl with organisational information—what to expect, when…

A ride on a train to Helsinki lasted an entire day, most of which I and JJ spent exchanging stories. My repertoire of them was much more limited, so I mostly shared interesting trivia. There was something incredibly romantic in this day—not in romance sense, though that too, but in a feeling of adventure. The changing scenery outside, the monotonous rattling of the train wheels on the rails…

After that, stepping out of the Helsinki train station and looking around was a big letdown.

"This place looks just like Saint Petersburg, except all writing is in Finnish." I didn't know what I expected. Yes, Finland was a neighbouring country, and one for which getting a visa was a simple thing to do… But damn. This felt barely exotic at all.

"You only look from the surface, ma chèrie. To feel a place, to know, a place, one must sink deep into it." JJ looked around, too, but with eyes of a person who returned to a place he had been at after a long leave. "So much had changed here, too… But I'm sure that I still know a few places to show you, if when will have time."

"I would be glad to see them, but I doubt we will have time before the auction. Let's get to our hotel for a start. You will be my translator… can you find the subway stop around here? I won't have these cab drivers rip us off."

The auction's opening was scheduled for the next evening. I was right in my suspicion that I won't have time for strolling through the city before it. I had to do the thing I rarely did, at least to that extent: to primp myself up. The lack of practice made my actions slower, but at least I knew what to do at all. The collections of beauty products I prepared for the occasion, as well as the dress and the shoes to it, took half of my luggage.

It was a nice dress, and rarely worn one. Forest green, sleeveless, it started just high enough to cover my chest, hugged my waist tight and flowed down my hips in waves. The shoes had low heels that maybe weren't the height of fashion, but didn't kill my legs with prolonged use.

And the look in JJ's eyes after I stepped out of the bathroom in that dress was worth the trouble I went through when I put the layers of makeup on my face and put my hair up into an as-if-intentionally messy bun. It was a most flattering look of someone stricken.

JJ looked well himself. He always did, and he had an unfair advantage of not having to care if his skin covered in acne, or if his hair got split ends. He put on a suit, but he looked just as good in a shirt alone, or even without it. Because he always was so handsome, he didn't look much more handsome today than usual, but I found I didn't grow used to that beauty, because it stunned me for a moment here, too.

"You look…" JJ paused, gliding closer to me, and drew a long line with his finger from the put under my ear to the edge of my cleavage. "Enravishing."

I shivered, but my lips stretched into a smile all on their own. "You look gorgeous yourself… To bad we have to go somewhere, is it?" I put up an elbow for him to take.

"Another time, you should put this dress on when we don't have to go anywhere, ma chèrie." JJ took it, and together, we went outside. "Hmm… You are a pragmatic person, but it comes to my mind that even you could benefit from more romance in your life. I feel very obliged to fix it." He smiled slyly at me.

"You already did," I grinned back. "Jean-Jacques, you are the most romantic anything that had happened to me. Ever since you appeared in my life, it was all adventure and romance. Except for the part where people tried to kill us. I wouldn't call that romantic in any meaning of the word."

"You don't find the notion of fighting for your lives and finding love amid a battlefield even a smallest bit romantic?" JJ asked with pretend surprise. "Oh, my. Well, I can understand this attitude. It's the one very commonly exercised by people who had actually seen their share of fighting for their lives. And you, ma chèrie… I wish you didn't have to see it, too." He shook his head. "We shouldn't be talking about something so grim today. It's a unique and most exciting occasion, one that, one can hope, will have no fighting in it."

"I wish I could be optimistic enough to be sure about it, but I can't bring myself to it." I huffed, but then grinned. "Still, this is so amazing, that even the idea of someone laying in wait with nefarious intentions doesn't seem as scary as it should." I gasped. "What if Ghost's affliction is contagious? You have to check on me every day from now on. Tell me… tell me how much we will have to pay in taxes for the month. If I won't get angry about it, then something in me got irreparably broken."

JJ laughed. "You panic now, but it's already a sign that you aren't affected. Otherwise, you wouldn't be worrying about it, or anything, including the auction."

"True." I walked into the door JJ held for me and stepped outside of the hotel.. "Well, let's see if it would've been wiser to worry."