“Please, do come in.  It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Buchanan.  May I call you Owen?”, Mr. Allebarr took Owen’s hand and shook it gently.
     Owen looked confused, “Of course.  How do you know me?  I don’t think I’ve ever met you before.”.
     “No, but you’ve been quite helpful to me these past several months.  I wish I could explain more, but there are rules about these things.  A confusing answer, I know, but one that will have to do for now.”.
     Mr. Allebarr stood aside and waved Owen and Beth in.  They stepped onto the marble tiled floor of a large parlour.  The room was barren of any decorations, as if the sheer size of it was meant to impress visitors.
     Mr. Allebarr cleared his throat and addressed the pair, “If you will excuse me, I have some business to attend to, Norman here will show you to your table.”.
     A young man stepped forward from beside the door and gestured to an archway on the right.
     “This way please.”.
     Norman led the pair down a wide hallway, until they reached another set of double doors.  He opened one of them and stood aside to let Owen and Beth pass.  Norman followed, and silently led them to a short flight of stairs onto a balcony with a small table and two chairs facing a stage at the front of the room.
     Norman spoke up again, although in a whisper, “This is Mr. Allebarr’s personal box.  He has asked that we seat you here tonight.  Yvette will be here in a moment with your menus and programs.”.
     “Programs?”, Beth repeated.
     Norman nodded, and said, “For the play.  Please excuse me, I have to return to my duties.”.
     He gave a short bow and walked away, taking long strides to reach the door they had entered through.
     Owen passed his eyes over the room, looking for a familiar face that might tell him who had set this up.  The chauffeur was right in saying that they wouldn’t be underdressed.  Although all the seats were full, probably totalling nearly one hundred and fifty, Owen could have counted the number of suits on his hands.
     Beth was doing the same when someone very quietly cleared their throat behind them.  They turned around, and a short young woman was standing with the menus under her arm.
     “Mr. Buchanan and Miss Robbins, my name is Yvette, and I’ll be your waitress.”, she presented the menus to them, “I must apologise that we have run out of programs, attendance was higher than usual tonight.  Under the table you’ll find a button that will call me when you have decided what you’d like to order.”.
     “There’s no prices on the menu.”, Beth pointed out, and Owen opened his to see she was right.
     “The Sanctuary Club does not charge members, and as personal guests of Mr. Allebarr you are extended the same courtesy.”.
     “What do you for your other guests?”, Owen asked.
     Yvette paused, and tapped her finger on her chin as she thought before responding with, “I don’t believe we’ve ever had them.  If you will excuse me, I have other tables to attend to, but Mr. Allebarr wanted the staff to reassure you that he wishes to spare no expense on making this a pleasurable evening for you, and insists that you take full advantage of our menu and wine list.”.
     Owen glanced over the menu, not recognising the names of half the dishes.  He shook his head and chuckled, causing Beth to look up at him.
     He explained, “I was just wishing that the menu had tandoori chicken on it, so I’d at least see something I’m familiar with.”.
     “I’m having the souvlaki, myself.”.
     “I’ve never tried Greek food.”, Owen said, “but I’ll follow your lead.”.
     “My Grandma is Greek, she makes it every time I visit.”, Beth said with a smile.
     An odd feeling came over Owen, and he ran his eyes over the room, noticing that a large number of the guests were looking up at their table.  A few of them, as he looked in their direction, raised a glass to him.
     “I don’t know if I should be honoured or unnerved about this whole situation.”, he said flatly.
     “Well, Mr. Allebarr doesn’t look much like you, so I think it’s safe to say he isn’t some long lost relative.  Unless he could be an in-law?”.
     “If someone in my family got married, I’d know.  No one would dare try and keep a marriage hidden in my family.  Besides, I think he lives in the area, and only my parents, aunt and uncle live around here.”.
     “Should we call the waitress?”, Beth suggested as the lights started to dim.
     Owen turned slightly red for a second as he pressed the button, “Sorry, it slipped my mind.”.
     “It’s okay.  Time spent in good company is hardly an inconvenience.”, Beth said with a smile, tilting her head slightly to left.
     Before Owen could reply, the lights over the stage lit up, showing a solitary man dressed in archaic clothing.
     “Ladies and Gentlemen!  Members and, of course, honoured guests!”, after the words honoured guests he paused and bowed in the direction of Owen and Beth, “The Sanctuary Club is pleased to present for your viewing enjoyment our performance of William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark!”.
     “I played Ophelia in our college production.”, Beth commented as the lights dimmed again.
     “I played Rosencratz in high school.  My best friend Jim played Guildenstern, but I think that had more to do with the girl playing Gertude than any interest in Shakespeare.”.
     “Jim isn’t secretly a millionaire, is he?”.
     Owen held himself back from laughing out laugh, “Jim’s great ambition in life is to win the lottery and blow it all on electronics, except for enough to live off the interest.  Personally, I don’t think he could do it.”.
     “You don’t think he could spend that much?”.
     “I don’t’ think he could not spend it all.”.
     Yvette arrived and stood by waiting for Owen and Beth to finish talking before speaking up, “Are you ready to order?”.
     Owen glanced over at Beth, who nodded, before saying, “Beth is having the souvlaki, and I’ll be following her lead.  Pork souvlaki for me.  Beth, I didn’t think to ask…”.
     “The same for me.”.
     Yvette wrote the order of a small pad, “And to drink?”.
     “Oh, the wine list.  I didn’t even look at it.”, Owen opened it up and looked over the menu, “And it wouldn’t matter because I don’t recognize a single thing on it.”.
     He handed the menu to Beth, who shook her head after reading it.
     Yvette smiled, “I’ll ask Mr. Allebarr to recommend a vintage, if that will be all right.”.
     “That would be appreciated.”, Owen said, and paused, “Can I ask you a question?”.
     “Certainly.”.
     “Has Mr. Allebarr said why he invited us here?”.
     Yvette shook her head, “Mr. Allebarr only said that you were to be treated as full members, and to seat you in his personal box.  We never ask for explainations, he is the owner.”.
     “Okay.”, Owen said, pursing his lips as he lost himself in thought for a few seconds, “that will be all for now…”.
     Beth chimed in, “We’ll also have baklava for desert in an hour.”.
     “Very good.  Your order will arrive as soon as it’s ready.  Please enjoy the play.”.

            The single and peculiar life is bound
            With all the strength and armour of  the mind
     Owen mouthed the words in time with the actor on stage as two small plates were placed on the table in front of the couple, who barely noticed.  As the scene ended Beth looked down and saw a note had also been delived to them.  She opened and read it, then passed it to Owen.
       Please allow me the honour of your company after the performance.  Norman will bring you to my sitting room when you are ready.
                                                                                                                                            Jerome Allebarr
     “Do you want to go?”, Beth asked.
     “I’m certainly interested in finding out who set all this up.”, Owen admitted.
     Beth nodded, “Me too.”, before helping herself to her baklava.

     The ring of metal upon metal rang through the theater as Hamlet and Laertes traded blows.
     “Their footwork is excellent.”, Owen commented, “They’re even using twelvth century style blades.  Not many directors would think to put that much effort into a small production like this.”.
     “Is that when Hamlet takes place?  I was never quite sure.”, Beth asked.
     “I think so.  At least I remember our English teacher saying it did.”.
     Owen took a sip of his wine, his eyes trained on the stage.  The battle in front of him had nearly reached its end when a sudden movement at the corner of his eye caught his attention.  He focused in on it, but was too late to see who had been spying on him.  He watched the spot for a few minutes, but didn’t see anyone appear.  The play came to an end, and Owen joined in the applause as the actors and actresses reappeared on stage to to give their bows.
     “Is something wrong?”, Beth asked as the applause was dying down.
     Owen narrowed his eyes, and said, “I’m not sure.  I thought I saw someone watching me from behind the curtain over there.”, he gestured with a nod of his head.
     “You’re a little bit paranoid, aren’t you?”.
     Owen chuckled, “I’ve learned to expect anything since moving into Hillview.”.
     Beth nodded her head knowingly as she finished the last bit of wine in her glass.
     “Shall we go and meet out host?”, Owen asked, standing up as Beth agreed.  He walked around the table and pulled out her chair, then offered his arm.  Beth took it and stood, and the two of them walked to the room’s double doors.
     Norman was waiting patiently, and made his presence known as they approached, clearing his throat before he spoke, “Will you be visiting Mr. Allebarr?”.
     “Yes, we will.”, Owen answered.
     “This way please.”.
     Norman led them through what seemed to be a maze of hallways, until he reached a unobtrusive door at the end of an undecorated hallway.  He knocked twice before opening the door and standing aside to allow Owen and Beth to enter.

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