Home with The Alpha

Moving On

“We are landing miss.” Looking out the window at the dark city, she turned around so confused by the bustling and languages being thrown around. Raising an eyebrow not sure how long she’d slept, she blinked hard to wake up.

And when she finally did wake up, Camille was so lost as she turned on her phone. “Um...where are we?” The flight attendant looked at her colleague and then back to her concerned immediately, “Romania dear...did you not intend to get on this flight?”

Romania? Camille wasn’t sure she’d intended to go anywhere of the sort. A nervous hive of fear made her worry about her choices. But one look to the worrying flight attendants made her calm down knowing that now that she was here. She couldn’t go back.

So, f**k it.

“I guess I did.” Neither could ask if she would be okay before she grabbed her carry-on and walked away.

ebrow not sure how long she’d slept, she blinked hard to wake up.

Camille was confused getting off the plane and seeing nothing but unfamiliar signs and hearing noises that didn’t make sense. Knowing her first line of business should be finding somewhere to stay, Camille pulled up an app and turned on her location.

Booking at a cute spot she could surprisingly afford, Camille breathed easy knowing she’d have a place to sleep tonight. Sending them an alert, the instant response was surprising given the time in Romania was midnight. But grateful nonetheless, it almost made her jump for joy having one thing off her shoulders for the moment.

Smiling, she started to feel relaxed until she almost trampled a man and his wife. Getting yelled at in a language she didn’t know, Camille almost cried as the woman smacked her husband’s shoulder making him stop. Walking away before they could speak further, Camille was confused and turning around in circles like a figure skater. Unable to understand where the exits were or what signs said, Camille was turning in circles when she heard, “Do you need help deary?”

Looking at an older woman, dressed like goth royalty, Camille confessed, “I found a place to stay but I don’t know how to get a ride there. Or what any of the signs are saying, I keep running into people.” Seeing the young woman so flustered sparked a smile as the woman saw the cottage listed on her phone.

The woman, sweet as pie gracefully helped lead her to the exit. Her sweet smile kind and knowing, “The Pixie home huh? It’s a sweet little hideaway, you’ll be safe there.” Confused, Camille couldn’t ask questions as the older woman moved surprisingly quick. The woman led her outside the airport and found a waiting taxi, leaned over and said something to a man in their native tongue.

She paid him before smiling to Camille cherry, “He’ll take you honey.” Trying to pay her back, Camille’s money was waved off and she was pushed in the back of a blue taxi. “Welcome to Heart Cove.” And as she was driving away, Camille watched the woman in the review.

As she sent a prayer up, grateful for the angel, the woman seemed to vanish in a blink, making her confused. Chalking it up to exhaustion that was now weighing on her, Camille couldn’t sleep as she kept looking out the dark window.

Trying to get a hint of where she was, Camille’s eyes straining showed nothing. It was thirty minutes later she was stumbling blurry eyed up a cobblestone walk path.

Knocking on a wooden door, she was heavy eyed and slurred speech when speaking to the older woman. “Oh dear.” The older woman worried seeing her so tired. Pulling Camille in, Camille thanked her as she soon conked out when she got to a bed.

It was in the morning after sleeping all evening and night, Camille woke up feeling new.

Walking down the stairs of her Air BnB, Camille honestly loved the look of it. The sitting area had an old timey chimney surrounded by old, mismatched furniture that was still in perfect condition. And with the open floor plan, its carpet turned into wooden floors of the kitchen.

Light and open, the small kitchen wasn’t anything fancy. But it was homey and felt of pies, Thanksgiving, and Christmas time. A time of love, family, and cooking together as it seemed to show in every inch of love in the kitchen.

Camille was looking around still when she heard the back door in the kitchen open and jumped when the older woman running it came in. “Hello dear,” Mrs. Tomsen greeted as she looked at her kindly, “Breakfast will be ready in a moment.” Nodding, Camille washed up and after getting a peek outside decided a walk would do her some good.

After breakfast, she didn’t go far, just a walk down the most aesthetically pleasing street into a little square. In the middle sat a fountain in front of a closed bistro lost to time. Walking around the fountain that despite having moss and algae inside of it, was still beautiful.

The three tiers were shaped in a Fleur De Lis as they rained green water down into even greener water. But even murky and kind of gross, Camille could still see the old and new coins shining in the early morning sun.

Reaching into her back pocket, Camille found a quarter luckily and smiled as she hoped it still had it’s magic. “Well in that case, we were thinking of renting another part of the house to you then.”

Following them a few feet behind their home, Camille saw it for the first time. She’d never seen it over the towering home of theirs but nestled behind a stone wall was a little cottage. Very wonderland and magic, the overgrown grass and little flowers made it even more ethereal.

Stone in the front with a few places finished with white wood, Camille was enthralled as she whispered, “Wow, what is this?”

Mrs. Tomsen walked with her as she slowly approached, “It’s a cottage, it’s not much but it’s-.” Camille shook her head, “It’s so beautiful.”

Led into the cottage, the white painted door with a silver Fleur de lis handle was opened for her. Sucked in immediately, Camille was floored by how much she loved everything she saw. With its wood floors and a stone fireplace, the comfortable sitting area was small.

But it was as she was shown the bathroom off to the left of it she fell in love. A huge basin tub by the two taps for hot and cold, with a more modern shower head, Camille walked away before she embarrassed herself. But her last apartment hadn’t allowed for a decent shower let alone a bath.

French doors in the back of her couch opened the vines covering them as if to make way for the new owner.

She saw the stairs leading up, but didn’t go up as she breathed, “Oh my god,” Turning to Mrs. Tomsen she wondered, “Who lived here? A fairy queen?” Laughing for the first time, Mr. Tomsen shocked Camille with a bashful, “Thank you, I didn’t know I’d get such a compliment.”

Surprised at the words, Camille knew he wasn’t a decorator. So as she stared at him like he was a god now, Camille raved, “You built this place? With your hands?” Holding up both and waving four fingers, Mr. Tomsen chirped blushing, “You make it sound like a bigger deal than what it is.”

Shaking her head at his humbleness, Camille was in awe of his genius. “I’ve never seen a place like this, so beautiful and dreamy. It’s like stepping into a book.” His peculiar blue eyes seemed to fill with an emotion as he looked at Camille. He stared around the cottage he’d built and always thought wasn’t good enough. “I’ve built more important and grander things...but it was a labor of love.”

Knowing this labor of love hadn’t been attended for her, but finding it adapting nicely to her, she fell into the bed, astounded that anything could be so soft, Camille looked at the white fabric that covered an entire wall by her bed and around the second window.

It was almost like a makeshift canopy/fort, and when it met on her ceiling at the chandelier, Camille noticed something. It was where a bulb was supposed to be and instead a mini-Elsa chandelier rain down in a broken crystal glass sort of way.

Looking to her right, Camille saw by the other window, the one by her head, there was a light switch. Flipping it up, she watched the chandler sparkle like shattered glass against a flashlight. It was also accompanied by the beautiful white Christmas lights coming on behind the fabric like little stars Camille sat up in amazement.

Embracing the change it was a week later after her move to the cottage Camille met Maxine Shaw. An American woman as well, she was also Tabatha’s niece. Having moved here two months ago after her parents kicked her out for not “conforming to what they wanted for her” she’d come here. And she like Camille, had fallen in love with this little town and hearing Camille had just scored her own place and was feeling like on the up?

Excitedly announced it, “We should go out and have a girl’s night to celebrate.” Looking up at Maxine’s words, Camille stopped sipping her coffee and asked, “Huh?” Grinning, Maxine eagerly explained, “There’s a club in the village over that is always jumping. We should go tonight.”