Stanislas

Not long after, Ibtissem joined me at The Pearl, probably after having talked to Benjamin. She walked directly towards me, with a serious expression on her face, but not that of someone angry. She was only trying not to smile, obviously savoring her victory.

She stood before me and I kept my face neutral in response until she could not wait anymore and broke the silence.

"You are a real pain in the ass," she said.

"Yes, that's what Benjamin told me."

She rolled her eyes. "So you've changed your mind?"

"I did." I crossed my arms for the theatrics.

"And you talked with Elise already?"

"Yes, and she was still interested. Who knows why? I even..." I trailed off.

"You even what?"

"I even talked with Aidan and he's on board," I mumbled.

Ibtissem's eyes widened. "You talked with Aidan?"

I shook my head. "Well, he said one sentence to me. I listened. And then I agreed to join the project. I think we can qualify that as talking."

Ibtissem punched my shoulder.

"What's with the aggression?" I asked.

"Do you realize it's a goddamn miracle Elise insisted for you to join? She didn't have to do that."

I tilted my head. "As a matter of fact, I do. I even told her she must have been joking when she said she wanted me to mentor young vampires. I mean, what a ridiculous idea?"

But I waited, maybe anxiously even if I would never admit it, for Ibtissem's reaction. She smiled widely. "It's not ridiculous at all. I'm so glad you said yes." Then she frowned and searched my eyes. "You said yes, right?"

"I did." I sighed and glanced back at her: "Is this one of those moments when you want a hug?"

"Definitely."

I sighed again and took her briefly in my arms.

"Hmm, am I not allowed to have a hug too?" Elise said with a mock sad face while approaching us.

I closed my eyes in annoyance.

"I did not hug you earlier because I did not know it was in the realm of possibilities," Elise added, with a cheeky smile in her voice.

Ibtissem punched my shoulder again.

"Alright, fine," I said, and I opened my arms slightly.

But when Elise hugged me, I froze. For a second, I was back in my mansion, after our fight, when she had hugged me for the first time.

She pulled away, looked me in the eye, and I could see she understood what was in my mind. She kept a comforting hand on my arm. "I hoped, at that moment, that it would go this way someday. It makes me very happy," she said.

Then she turned towards my friend and I uncharacteristically felt relief to not be the center of attention any longer. 

"Ibtissem," Elise said, "you and Benjamin are welcome to join us if you want. Would you be interested? I have not met Benjamin yet, but I would love to."

"Yes, absolutely. I have to talk about it with him, but I am sure he would be thrilled."

"You are married," Elise asked, "is that correct?"

"Yes, we have been for 48 years."

Elise smiled and took Ibtissem's hand in both of hers. "That is wonderful. I cannot wait to introduce you to everyone."

And I stood in the middle of this simple conversation between... friends. Because, against all odds, I was now part of something. At least, I was going to be. And I didn't know yet the whole spectrum of how I felt about that.