Eleanor placed her wine glass on the edge of the tub and turned the water on. She rummaged through the closet, and found some expensive looking bubble bath and other bath products. She found one that she liked the smell of and poured it into the water. She removed her clothes and climbed into the tub. Even the water was the perfect temperature. It was hard to hate this place when absolutely everything was perfect.

Eleanor shut off the water and sat back in the tub. She soaked for a minute before she reached for her glass of wine. She shut her eyes and tilted her head back. She tried to think of a few good lines to put in her article, but nothing immediately came to mind. And what she could mentally come up with was absolute garbage.

She had written thousands of articles. Probably closer to hundreds of thousands of articles. She had written boring articles, articles she had to really focus on to even pretend to be interested in. But none of them were nearly as hard as writing this article was.

She wondered if she was too close to the subject. She had never known the person that she was writing about. Even if she hadn’t had any contact with Lilith in almost fifteen years, she still felt like she knew her even just a tiny bit.

Would it be right to tell Lilith that she couldn’t take her up on her proposition and she couldn’t write the article on her either?

Lilith had put them up for a week, fed them, taken care of them and given them a wonderful place to stay. She had even given them money in advance. And she was also presenting them with two wonderful opportunities. Eleanor was grateful for all of it, and she was sure that Jackson was too. But right at this exact moment, Eleanor couldn’t figure out how she could fulfill either of the options in front of her.

Eleanor opened her eyes and took another sip from her glass of wine.

Jackson knocked on the bathroom door. “Hey, Ellie! Are you sure you don’t want anything from the kitchen?” He asked through the closed bathroom door.

Eleanor shut her eyes again. “No, thanks!”

“Okay, cool.” He said.

She sunk lower in the tub and sighed, trying to relax. She hoped that if she could relax a bit, she might be able to get even a little bit of writing done.

* * *

Eleanor climbed out of the bathtub almost an hour later. She pulled on a pair of clean pajamas and a pair of warm socks and walked into the living room. She found that Jackson was still sitting on the sofa in his underwear. He had taken his pants off and they were laying on the floor in front of the fireplace. There was an empty bottle of beer in front of him on the coffee table, along with a large plate of fully loaded nachos.

“Oh my god, are you actually going to eat all of that?” Eleanor asked in disbelief.

Jackson sighed. “I’ve been picking at it for fifteen minutes and I’ve only eaten half of it.” He patted his stomach. “So many nachos!” He groaned.

Eleanor shook her head. She sat down on the sofa next to him and reached for the plate of nachos. She could see that there was cheese, ground beef, and jalapenos. There were two small cups of dip; one was a hand made salsa and the other was sour cream. Eleanor picked out a chip and popped it in her mouth.

“Wow, these are good.” She mused.

“Rich people make great nachos.” Jackson grinned.

Eleanor laughed.

“Do you think I can ask the chef to make tacos tomorrow night for dinner?” Jackson asked.

Eleanor shrugged. “Possibly.” She reached for another chip. “Do you see what you’ve started? Now I’m not going to be able to stop eating them.”

Jackson chuckled. “You’re going to end up with heart burn.” He warned.

“Shut up.” Eleanor laughed softly, sitting back on the sofa.

“Are you going to try and do some more writing tonight?” Jackson asked.

Eleanor glanced over at her laptop, which was still sitting on the seat of the arm chair. “No, I don’t think so. I think I’m going to give up for tonight. I can’t seem to get much done anyway.” She sighed.

Jackson nodded. “Alright.”

“I’ll try again tomorrow. Maybe I’ll have some ideas by then. Hopefully.”

Jackson reached for the plate of nachos. He selected one with a lot of topping on it, then dipped it in both the salsa and the sour cream. He crammed the whole thing into his mouth.

“I thought you were full.” Eleanor pointed out.

“I am.” He groaned. “So full!”

Eleanor laughed softly, shaking her head. She stood up and placed her empty wine glass in the sink. She placed the cap back on the bottle of wine and stuck it back in the wine fridge.

“Do you want me to put the left-over nachos in the fridge?” Eleanor asked.

“No, I’m going to keep picking at it.” He said, leaning forward and picking another chip from the pile. He popped it in his mouth and crunched loudly on it. “I’m going to ask for nachos every night when we’re here.”

Eleanor rolled her eyes and turned on the kettle to make herself a cup of tea. She walked into the living room and picked up Jackson’s discarded jeans and brought them into the bedroom where she left them in the hamper.

“I was going to pick them up eventually.” Jackson said.

“It’s okay. I don’t mind.” Eleanor smiled. She reached down a clean mug from the cupboard and placed it on the counter. “Jacks, do you want a tea?” She offered.

“No thanks. I’m good.” He answered. He had picked up the entire plate of nachos and was balancing it on his lap. He was busy crunching loudly.

Eleanor made her tea and stood at the counter for a few moments. She looked at the television; where Jackson was now watching an old science fiction movie on TV.

“I think I’m going to go to bed.” She announced. “I might do some reading and drink my tea in there.”

“Alright. I don’t think I’ll be too far behind you. I’ll probably be in shortly.” Jackson said, picking at the plate of nachos.

Eleanor smiled and went into the bedroom. She placed her tea on the nightstand and pulled down the blankets. She climbed into bed and pulled the blankets over her lap. The fire was still roaring in the double sided fireplace, and with the stars shining brightly through the glass doors along the one side of the bedroom, Eleanor felt peaceful again. She yawned tiredly and reached for her mug of tea.

She took a sip, and the liquid burned it’s way down her throat and instantly warmed her. She sighed and sat back against the pillows.

* * *

Eleanor woke in the middle of the night. She glanced at the time on her phone, only to discover that she hadn’t been asleep more than two hours. The fire in the fireplace had burned down to almost nothing. The only thing left was burning embers. Eleanor pushed back the blankets, only to realize that the room was freezing. She pulled on Jackson’s hoodie and walked out into the living room. She added a handful of logs to the fire. She wasn’t sure if the logs would catch, but she hoped they would. And she hoped it would warm the bunkie soon.

She found Jackson’s plate of nachos sitting empty on the coffee table—somehow he had managed to eat the whole plate. Eleanor knew that he could pack the food away, but she was surprised that he actually finished the whole thing.

Eleanor walked to the glass doors that led to the balcony. She debated on going out, but decided that if it was this cold inside the bunkie, it must have been freezing outside. She wrapped her arms around herself to keep warm.

The moon was so full that it lit up the entire side of the mountain and reflected in the lake below.

Eleanor shuddered and glanced toward the fireplace. The embers were still smoldering, and the fresh logs she had added to the fire had yet to catch. The bunkie was still freezing. Eleanor was in no means a boy-scout; she had no idea how to start a fire or keep one from burning out. She had only been camping once in her life—when she and Jackson first started dating. He had dragged her off to the woods somewhere. They had slept on the ground and he insisted on catching dinner in the nearby river. Eleanor hated every minute of it, but pretended to enjoy it for his sake. Thankfully he had never asked her to go again.

Eleanor paced around the living room for a few minutes, then decided to go outside for a bit. She let herself out of the bunkie, quietly slipping out the back door and onto the path. The moonlight filtered through the trees and lit the path perfectly. There was absolutely no need for the beautiful twinkling Christmas lights that lit the path.

Eleanor wrapped her arms around herself to try and stay warm. The cold air stung her face, and she could see her breath. She walked quickly down the path, practically jogging across the manicured lawn and into the manor. She quietly slipped inside and shut the door behind herself as quietly as possible. The house was dark and completely silent. Surprisingly, she hadn’t even run into security.

Eleanor quietly tip-toed through the sitting room and to the main hall. The house was dark, with only one lamp on in the hallway. She slowly walked toward the kitchen. She quietly pushed her way through the swinging double doors to the kitchen. The lights were all on in the kitchen, and it was just as pristinely cleaned as it was the first day they had arrived.

A chef in a white coat looked up at her in surprise. He had been doing a crossword in a newspaper. “Hello, madam. How can I help you?” He asked in a thick French accent.

“Oh, uh…” Eleanor was slightly embarrassed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think that anyone would be up at this time. I thought I could just come in and grab a snack and no one would notice…”

“Ah, yes. I am Fergus, one of the chefs here at the manor. I am the night shift tonight.” The chef said. “I can make you anything you wish, madam.”

Eleanor pursed her lips. “Well, I…. I’m not sure what I want.”

Fergus nodded. “Should I turn on the ovens, madam? They just take a few moments to warm up.”

Eleanor looked around. “I don’t think I want anything that heavy. I was just hoping for a light snack…” Eleanor felt suddenly uncomfortable. “Maybe I won’t worry about it for now.”

“Actually,” the chef opened a large pantry cabinet door. “We keep the light snacks in here.”

Eleanor raised her eyebrows. Inside the cupboard were boxes of crackers, cookies and cereal boxes. “Wow. Prepackaged food, huh?”

The chef grinned. “Yes. Chef Ashford hates this cupboard. He likes to make everything using the freshest ingredients and all from scratch. Madam Grey insists on keeping something that she can eat quickly. She often is awake at night and often comes down for something to eat. May I make a suggestion?”

Eleanor nodded.

The chef reached into the cupboard and produced a box of cereal.

Eleanor laughed softly, taking the box in her hands. “Perfect. Thanks.”

“I’ll get you a bowl and milk.” The chef said with a smile.

Twenty-Two