Owen and Beth walked into a library, with bookshelves reaching up the height of two floors, judging from a second story entrance Owen spotted while admiring the room.  Large leather upholstered chairs sat in the centre of the room, one for each occupant.  Mr. Allebarr was waiting in his chair facing the door.  The other two chairs were placed to sit beside each other to his right, facing him but allowing a clear view of the door.  A small wooden table stood in the centre.
     “Please, make yourselves comfortable.”, his deep voice offered, as he waved his arm towards the empty seats.
     Owen let Beth choose the far chair, and he took the seat closer to Mr. Allebarr.
     “I trust you enjoyed the performance?”, he asked, smiling gently.
     “Yes, it was wonderful.  How did you know…”, Owen started, but his voice trailed off.
     “That you enjoy Hamlet?”, Mr. Allebarr slight chuckle, “Have you even known any person who doesn’t enjoy Hamlet?”.
     “I’ve never made it a point to ask.”, Owen replied, “May I ask you a question, Mr. Allebarr?”.
     “Please, call me Jerome.  You may ask whatever you wish in time, but for now, let us simply relax.  May I offer you a cup of tea?”.
     “Thanks, I’d like some.”, Beth spoke up for the first time since leaving the theatre.
     “Please.”, Owen said, simply.
     Jerome rose to his feat and walked to a pot that sat on a small table at a corner of the room.
     “This is the one room my staff never enters,” he explained as he poured three cups, “except once a week to dust.  I usually receive visitors here when I have them.  Do you take anything in your tea?”.
     “Just cream,”, Beth answered, “unless you have honey and lemon.”.
     “Fireweed honey and fresh lemons.  I often have my tea the same way.”.
     “I’ll just have mine black.”, Owen said.
     Jerome brought over a tray, placing it on the table, the three cups on it along with the tea pot, a small porcelain jar, and a plate with some sliced lemons.  He settled into his chair and reached for the closest of the three cups.
     “Please, help yourselves.  There’s no need to stand on ceremony here.”.
     Both Owen and Beth took their cups, Beth preparing hers with the honey and lemon provided.  Owen ran his eyes over the room, trying to guess at the number of books in the collection.
     “Do you read much?”, Jerome asked.
     Owen shook his head, “I don’t have as much time as I’d like, between work and my training.”.
     “Is that a first edition of The Hobbit?”, Beth asked, her eyes focusing on the shelf behind Jerome.
     “Absolutely.  I believe it’s autographed, too.”.
     Owen sat back in his chair as Beth and Jerome discussed literature.  The evening, although pleasant enough, was troubling him for more reasons than he could put his finger on.  Dozens of questions swirled about in his mind, but as he tried to focus on any one, it would spawn more and the cycle would begin anew.  Finally settling on one question, he blurted it out to Jerome.
     “Why The Sanctuary Club?”.
     Jerome took his attention off of Beth and focused on Owen, “Pardon?”.
     “Why did you name this place The Sanctuary Club?”.
     Jerome let out a laugh, “It is a sanctuary from the world outside, a safe haven.  Of course, the answer is a great deal more complex than that.”.
     “What I don’t understand is how you even know me.  You said something about me doing you a service, but I’ve never even met you in my life.”.
     “Have you ever heard the expression,”, Jerome asked, “’any friend of yours is a friend of mine’.  The service you have done was not for me, but for a very dear friend of mine.”.
     “But I haven’t done anything that merited this sort of expense.”, Owen protested, “It’s not that I’m not grateful, but who…”.
     “Avrianus.”, Beth said out loud, at which Jerome smiled at her and raised his cup in a salute.
     “She did not wish it to be known that she arranged the entire evening.”.
     “So how did you know about our favourite drinks to have in the limo, and about Hamlet?”.
     “Avrianus asked your friend Jim.  He seemed quite eager to assist her.”.
     Owen nodded knowingly, “That’s no surprise.  I think if she asked Jim to jump off the roof of her apartment, he do it without a second thought.”.
     “I thought so.”, Beth said to herself.
     “So you actually know Avrianus?”, Owen pressed on.
     “I’ve known her nearly her entire life.  But please, it is not my place to speak of her when she is not even present.  I was worried when she decided to move here, but it was fortunate she has found such good friends.  She speaks fondly of you as well, Elizabeth.  Although I will admit you are even more beautiful than she described.”.
     Beth blushed, “Please, call me Beth, and thank you.”.  She took a drink of tea to hide her embarrassment.
     “But as I said, it’s hardly polite to talk about the lady when she isn’t even here.”, Jerome reiterated, “I also suppose the two of you would rather spend time together than with this bore.  I can see it is half past eight, and I do believe I have a swing band booked for the evening.”.
     Beth perked up at the suggestion, and Jerome called out for Norman.
     “Yes, Mr. Allebarr?”, he asked as he entered the room.
     “Has the band finished setting up yet?”.
     “Yes, Mr. Allebarr, but the performance isn’t scheduled to begin until a quarter to nine.”.
     “Excellent.  Have my guests seated at my table.”.
     “Of course, Mr. Allebarr.”.

     “They’re good!”, Beth said to Owen after the two have finished their third dance of the hour.  They sat back at their table for a short rest, Owen rubbing his legs and breathing hard.
     “You’d think that combat training would prepare you for dancing, but no…”, he said under his breath, then suddenly turned to Beth, “Jerome never explained how he knew what your favorite drink is.”.
     “He didn’t, did he?”, Beth paused to think, “Owen, I have to work in the morning, so I’d better be getting home.”.
     “Sure, I’ll see about our ride.”.
     Owen went to the door to find Norman waiting outside.  After asking for the limo, he returned to the table.
     “Our ride will be ready in ten minutes.”.
     “Great!  That gives us time for one more dance!”, she said as she grabbed Owen’s arm and pulled him onto the dance floor.

     The limo pulled up in front of Hillview, and Owen and Beth were let out.  Owen walked ahead to open the door, rewarded with a smile.
     As they reached Beth’s door she turned to him and said, “You know, tonight’s going to be hard to top.”.
     “That’s the truth.”, Owen admitted with a laugh.
     “You still owe me a movie, though.”, she said and without warning kissed him full on the lips before slidding into her apartment with a quick “goodnight”.
     Owen stood still for a moment letting everything sink in, the fingers of his left hand touching his lips.  A wide smile spread across his face, and he spun on his heel towards his own apartment.  He nearly floated up the stairs, half dancing through his door.
     Kenrick was in the A/V room, watching the evening news.
     “There’s a message waiting for you.”, he said, not looking up from the television.
     “Thanks.”, Owen replied as he dialed up his voice mail.
     Owen tapped his foot as he went through the options until he reached the message.
     “Hi, Owen,”, it was Julie, “could you phone me at work as soon as possible.  Thanks.”.
     He paused a few seconds before deleting the message.  He punched in the number for work, and Julie answered on the first ring.
     “Video Express, Julie speaking.”.
     “Hey, it’s me.  What’s up?”.
     “There was somebody here looking for you a couple hours ago.  At least I think he was looking for you, he just said he was looking for ‘Buchanan’, and that he had an important message.”.
     “Okay, did he say what it was?”.
     “No, he wouldn’t tell me anything.  What’s going on?”.
     “I don’t know.  Did he say how to contact him?”.
     “You’re not going to meet him, are you?”.
     “I don’t know.  If the message really is important, I should.”.
     “He said he’d be waiting on the ‘Road of Dreams’.  Whatever that means.”
     Owen paused, completely silent.
     “Owen, are you there?”.
     “Yeah, I’m still here.”.
     “Does that mean something to you?”.
     “There’s a park near my parent’s place where I used to go for walks.  My favorite path was one that almost no one else used because of all the tree roots that made it hard to jog on.  I’d do most of my daydreaming there, and I always called it my Road of Dreams.  I’ve never told anyone that.  Julie, I have to go.”.
     “Yeah, I understand.”.
     Owen hung up the phone, making sure his keys were still in his pocket.  Feeling them through the fabric, he rushed out the door and ran down the stairs and down the hallway until he reached the main door.  He unlocked the door to his car, hoping that it hadn’t developed any problems since the last time he’d used it.  Starting the car, he drove out of the parking lot and turned in the direction of the park.

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