Billionaire's Regret
Chapter 30:

Annie stepped into the bed and breakfast. Her step was light the only evidence that she was near was the tinkling sound of her ankle bracelets. The soft sounds reached the owner of the establishment the woman step into sight knowing how elusive her guest can sometimes be.

"Oh dear me,” she eyed Annie with a disapproving expression. Her sharp eyes took in minute details of the current appearance of her long term guest. She had learned early on to basically leave the woman alone but sometimes like now, gathered her nerves to scowl at her.

"I presume you were on that rock again,"

"That is correct Anna. That is my meditation spot."

Annie watched the kindly woman with an expression of annoyance wrapped in appreciation for the offered concern. She briefly felt the urge to tell her about her grief but her tongue was tied and the words won't or can't formulate. She shut her mouth, her heart heavy.

"I worry about you, Annie. I know it's not my place but nevertheless I worry. Why always that rock? There are better places to enjoy too but you always sit there." Anna was curious today and only so.

"I don't know. It just makes sense to sit there when I am troubled."

"Did something happen, Annie? What is different today?"

Anna looked into the eyes that turned dark with the sudden raw emotions that seemed to claw at her from within. She instantly knew she won't get an answer. Those eyes always tell their own story whether the owner intended. "Annie, I barely know you but you have been living here for awhile now. If you ever choose to look for a friend you can trust, look at me."

"I know Anna I am going to my room."

"What on earth?"

Anna quickly stood watching her latest guest also arrived drenched to the bone. The tall man just appeared at her door early this morning wearing a cheeky but tired smile. She rarely book short termed guests but there was just something about him that instantly reminded her that he might be a potential match for her gypsy guest.

"What happened?"

"Ah, yes," he wiped the wet hair from his face.

"Did you fall into the ocean?" she queried with a smirk.

"You can say that,"

Aaron looked at his muddy feet; he instantly went back outside and removed his shoes. On wet socks he reentered looking embarrassed.

"What happened?"

He looked at her but his eyes traveled beyond her head towards the painting hanging on the wall behind her back. He felt his chest nearly being pummeled into sensitivity by the strength of his sudden emotions. Almost mesmerized he found his feet walking before stopping in front of the painting.

"Ah!"

Anna walked away smiling knowing in her heart he instinct were right. The rest now depend on the gods of love and romance. She prayed that the gypsy would find peace for her troubled soul. "Where does she belong?" Annie circles the room with a sense of something was going to happen. It wraps around her like a second skin.

"Who am I?” Her voice was strained with self-denied emotions. Standing in front of the full length mirror she looked into her eyes for the very first time that day. She caught sight of the window in the reflection of the mirror. She noticed darkness would soon settle.

"Look at yourself," she voiced her own order. "I am Annie Black Casey," looked at her, really looking. She had created this being that was her out of fear.

"I am a coward," she voiced the admission allowing it to echo through the bedroom. It bounced against each corner of the room. Stepping away from the mirror not wanting to look further into her own eyes she quickly but thoroughly lotion her body than draped her curvaceous body in its usual black.

Finally her familiar trademark ankle bracelets were wrapped around her ankles.

Annie shook her hair in waves allowing cascading strands around and down below her back. As usual she stepped bare feet from her bedroom via the private balcony as the lights from the guest house cast her in silhouettes. Her bells sung softly with each movement. She briefly smiles knowing Leo would have loved her singing feet.

Aaron was so intrigued by the painting that he had taken it from the wall and carried it into his bedroom. He wanted to study her in absolute privacy. The woman he had seen earlier on that rocks, if he wasn't mistaken she was the mirror image of this creature that has him spellbound.

"Who are you? Why am I so deeply intrigued by you? I just wish I could see your face. I want to admit my truth, but I might be mistaken. I know you." His voice echoed through the bedroom as he noticed something within the painting shift and somehow he found his eyes drawn closer.

"The gypsy," he read out loud. Like on cue with his voice he caught movement fleeting past his window. He stumbled over the chair that blocked his movements to reach the window. He pushed the curtains wide; there she stood back to him cast in silhouettes. His vision was alive.

Annie felt his eyes burning into her flesh. Her head turned before she could control her movements. There he stood cast in light like the intuitive very erotic dream she had every night for as long as she can remembered. He wasn't a dream but a reality. "Aaron..."

Aaron found himself spellbound as it felt like a piece of his heart just shut into place healing the void that he didn't fully realize was there. "Kismet," he whispered.

A deep-seated instinct pulled her, wanting her to move forward. Her whole body screamed to let go of the control and just react. She did then as he stepped from the light. Her heart shattered, her illusion vanished and she found her legs moving fast and furious. The night swallowed her as tears were streaming down her cheeks. The bells sing...