C5 Our own dimension

" Gustav, you see to it that we are served two cups of coffee and some buttered toast in the gazebo on the patio." he ordered.

" But... my lord! " protested the clerk who poured the milk into the cups from a porcelain jug and found the idea totally inappropriate, having such a well-stocked table in front of him.

" Let this be the last time you question me. " Rafa grumbled, banging on the table, which shook all the glassware. Gustav nodded obediently.

Alice, holding on to his arm, strode across the dining room and stopped in front of two huge, finely snowed glass doors. He turned to her with a smitten smile and said close your eyes. She burst out laughing:

"No Why?"

" Because yes, please please for me... please "Rafael begged.

- Okay - he agreed and covered his face with his hands.

He took her by the waist and slowly guided her steps.

" You can open them now "he said.

Alice lowered her hands and discovered a beautiful garden in front of her. Undoubtedly that was the most beautiful place in that house, and she didn't need to see the rest of the rooms to confirm it. It seemed to her to be in front of the idyllic Eden described in the old books or by the great poets.

Roses grew on either side of a gravel path that zigzagged towards a white gazebo.

Patches of small colorful flowers grew at the foot of the rose bushes, which gradually faded from the deepest red to the softest pink to the purest white. The gravel crunched under Alice's feet as she walked and looked around in ecstasy. The scent emanating from the flowers filled the air, and for a second she forgot where she was. Happiness invaded her, she stopped under the roof and turned to Rafa who was walking towards her.

She hugged him, kissing him ardently:

" Thank you." she said as she parted her lips from his.

"I love you " he answered. " Soon we'll be out of here. I promise. "

He knew very well the pressure that the ostentatious house, with its refined servants and its luxuries put on Alice, who in herself always tended to compare herself with the high society girls she thought would be "more suitable" for him. He loved her with all his soul, and knew that there was no woman better than her, with her pure and kindly character, but she was not so clear about it. Her insecurity overcame her, putting in her mind all kinds of thoughts far from reality.

Rafa felt great pressure too, just to be back in that place, where he thought he would never set foot again.

He turned around looking at the garden and sighed:

" You know, this was my mother's favorite place. "

"You never told me much about her," Alice replied, stroking her back.

" She was a quiet, gentle woman. She loved flowers. She would spend whole afternoons sitting here, her nose buried in a book. She loved to read, and devoured the pages of everything she could find, sometimes she seemed more at home among the letters of a book, than in the reality she lived in" she smiled wistfully. " I used to run around everywhere and when I found a wild flower I would bring it here and she would put it in her hair and hug me, showering me with kisses."

" I'm sure she was a great mother and loved you very much. "

" She was. The best." she looked down sadly.

"You never told me, how did she die? " Alice asked.

Rafa's face changed.

" I don't like to talk about that subject" he said, separating from her.

Gustav made his way towards them, followed by two maids with silver trays. Rafa took one of the white roses carefully, and returned to his love's side, placing it in her golden hair. She smiled tenderly and kissed his hands, devotedly.

Soon breakfast was served at a simple table for two, with no fancy cups or napkins. As soon as the servants disappeared Alice and Rafa began to frolic like two teenagers, their feet under the table.

Alice felt that her heart could explode with love, seeing him so happy, surrounded by flowers in that idyllic place. Many times she did not understand his feelings towards that house, nor did she know perfectly all the history of his childhood, but that did not matter to her. He wished she would open up to him, and tell him all those memories that afflicted him, to know his story. The reasons why he sometimes stared into the void in complete silence, or why horrible nightmares woke him up. He wanted to see pictures of his childhood and to know what became of his father, but Rafa didn't speak, like an ice tempane, he locked himself in his cold protection, reluctant to any kind of question about his past.

Alice wanted to know, to know him to the core, but sometimes she thought all those little details were unnecessary, just filler. She knew who he was, she didn't need anything else. His essence, the purest form of his soul, was naked before her eyes at that precise moment when like a child he smiled at her with all sincerity, it could not be more perfect, nor her love for him greater.

At that precise moment, the place faded into oblivion. Neither of them cared where they were, nor what for. Rafa forgot his hurry and his fears, the bad and good memories, the butler, and the papers. For him there was only Alice, with her hair blown by the wind, and the white rose. For her there was nothing but that moment and as she laughed, seeing how his enamored eyes looked at her, she thanked life for having allowed her to find him and to live a fairy tale with him.