Disclaimer: I don't own Josef. He thinks he owns freshie Lucky, but I do.
La Posada
Chapter 3
As little as it appealed to her in her current mood, Lucky supposed she should go to the dining room and make some effort to eat. Besides, she did need to see how the other freshies dressed. She’d never been much of a clothes horse, and Josef had occasionally chided her for continuing to dress like an impoverished graduate student, but she could tell that as long as she abided by the freshie custom of dressing to leave wrists and throat readily accessible, he was not actually displeased. In a way, she gathered he rather liked it—he had no need to impress anyone by how well he dressed his freshies. In fact, she imagined it was a sort of reverse ostentation, a display that he chose freshies for other attributes.
She had to consult a map to find the dining hall, and after a moment’s hesitation, folded the piece of paper and shoved it in her pocket, along with the strange new cell phone. She told herself firmly that it was unreasonable to expect Josef to take time from his busy schedule to make soothing noises at an absent freshie, but there was no way she was taking a chance on missing it, if he did. She could feel the gold and ruby chain pressing against her skin beneath her clothes, reminding her of his regard. The feel of it would have to suffice, for now.
On her way out of the room, she picked up a book. No sense in looking completely distraught, she thought.
The dining room was, Lucky found herself unsurprised to discover, more like a nice restaurant than a dining hall, with numerous small tables scattered around a room dominated by a huge open fireplace and massive roof beams. Each table sported fresh flowers and a candle lantern, although the light from several wagon wheel chandeliers was more than sufficient illumination. She wasn’t sure if she was early or late for dinner, as there were maybe twenty other diners already seated, most sitting alone, most looking a little lost and lonely. She clutched her book, glad she’d brought a diversion. Dress, from what she could see, ranged from t-shirts to designer labels. No familiar faces…wait, no, the dark girl Sam had called the “diva” was sitting haughtily at a table, evidently awaiting the arrival of her dinner.
As Lucky paused at the entrance way of the dining room, a maitre d’ appeared, smiling and obsequious, a darkly handsome forty-something. “Ah,” he said, “you must be our newest guest, Ms. Alexander. Forgive me, I forgot, you prefer Ms. Lucky, yes? Allow me to show you to your table. We thought since you are unused to the mountain chill, a place close to the fireside would be welcome this evening.” As he spoke, he was rapidly flipping through a stack of menus, selecting one even as he began to guide her in the direction of the hearth.
Seated, she discovered her menu was personalized, and touted a variety of offerings, but when she attempted to order only a salad, the server tsked and disappeared, to be replaced almost instantly by Marla.
“Now, Lucky, you told me you weren’t going to be difficult. Let’s order you a good meal, and you eat what seems right to you, all right?”
“Really, I’m not that hungry. Salad would be plenty.”
“Well, suppose you give the chef a little bit of a chance to show off, your first night. I always like the gazpacho, and then you can have your small salad—the house dressing is spectacular, and the fresh rainbow trout with steamed veggies.”
Lucky frowned, but acquiesced. “Are you trying to fatten me up?” she asked, partly in jest.
“Well, you know,” Marla answered, seriously, “most of the patrons formed their ideas of beauty long before the current fad for extreme thinness. So, while we aren’t exactly wanting to fatten you up, we do aim for healthy weight.” Marla smiled. “I’m not going to hang over you and make you clean your plate, by the way. But do try to eat, Lucky.”
Lucky nodded. “You’re right, I’m sure. I’ll try.”
Marla’s smile seemed genuine. “I knew you were going to be one of the sweet ones,” she said. “So what’s that you’re reading?”
“Umm, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro,” Lucky admitted, slightly embarrassed.
“Ah,” Marla said. “Vampires.” She paused. “You know, Lucky—“ and at this point she was interrupted by one of the waitstaff,, who touched her lightly on the shoulder, and whispered something in her ear. She smiled apologetically. “Sorry, duty calls…I do have several guests at the moment,” she said, and rising, made her way to another table across the dining room.
Burying her nose in her book, Lucky tried to concentrate on falling into another world, hoping she’d be able to distract herself enough to eat. Not that the food, when it arrived, wasn’t delicious. Still, only a few bites sufficed to satisfy her.
The scraping of a chair caused her to snap her head up. Sam had turned a chair around so he could straddle it and rest his forearms on the back. He gave her a disarming grin. “So your patron must have some serious pull around here—Lucky. Everyone else gets the “Ms. Smith, Mr. Logan” treatment. Makes me feel like a misbehaving schoolboy.”
“Isn’t that what you are?”
Sam laughed and tossed his head, swinging his hair. “Ouch,” he said. “You want to know what I found out about our fellow traveler? The diva?”
“Not especially.” Lucky closed her book. “You’re one of those guys who always knows everything about everyone, aren’t you?”
He smiled and tilted his head to one side. “Well, I do try.”
“And you want to find out all about me, next,” Lucky said.
“With every word, you wound me,” Sam replied, pitifully. “I’m just a nice friendly freshie, alone in a strange place. Like you.”
Lucky inclined her head, acknowledging the truth of his statement, but had to smile. “Okay, okay…what’s the scoop on the diva?”
“She’s pretty well-connected. Hereditary freshie, and her vamp is top of the food chain in Miami. Carmencita Diaz. She’s not here for her health, exactly. Her vamp is having some problems, turf war stuff, it sounds like, and decided to stash her out of the line of fire.”
Lucky frowned. “Hereditary freshie?”
Sam nodded. “Her great-great-etc. grandmother signed a contract for all her descendants. Not very common, but it happens.” He crooked a smile. “So Carmencita thinks she’s a princess. On the other hand, I hear there’s some freshie here who belongs to the richest vamp in L.A., probably the richest vamp in the country. Don’t know who that is, though.”
“Let me know when you find out,” Lucky said, suppressing an urge to break out in a smirk worthy of her vampire.
“Will do,” Sam said. “So, how did your intake interview go?”
Lucky grimaced. “About equal parts cosseting and laying out restrictions. I’m not sure whether to feel over-protected or just imprisoned.”
“No kidding,” Sam replied. “We’re just little birds in a very nicely gilded cage. But I got a long lecture about not hitting on other freshies.” He looked faintly disgusted. “Like I don’t know everyone here is under an exclusive contract. Like I’m not, myself. Makes me wonder what my, uh, my patron told them about me.”
Lucky grimaced. “They do seem to know altogether too much about us, don’t they?”
“Looks that way.”
She considered asking him where he was from, as a natural “getting acquainted” sort of question, but decided it might be rude. Besides, once she started that conversation, there was no way he would fail to ask where she was from, and that would lead inevitably to Josef’s name. Meanwhile, Sam had turned the conversation in other directions, and chattered on. It was actually soothing to listen to his commentary, and he quite evidently didn’t expect much response. It made her think this was normal for him, that he was used to entertaining his vamp the same way. She found herself wondering if she resembled his vampire, or if she’d just been a quasi-familiar face. And she was surprised to discover that most of her dinner had disappeared while he talked on.
After dinner, she refused his offer of a stroll around the grounds, claiming with considerable reason that she was too lightly dressed for the mountain evening chill. So they parted with a generic “Nice meeting you,” and went separately to their rooms.
Lucky took a long soak in the Jacuzzi tub with a book for company, and the new cell phone in easy reach. She told herself firmly not to expect a call, and sure enough, none came.
Later, her skin and hair properly cared for, she donned the amethyst nightie and settled herself in bed, trying to concentrate on her novel even as her thoughts kept drifting to Josef. Eventually she dozed, the book falling closed from her hand, the bedside light left shining on her face.
The shrill ringing of the phone startled her, even as her heart leapt up. She took a deep breath before answering, so she wouldn’t sound sleepy. “Josef.”
“Tell me I woke you, doll.”
“Umm. A bit. I must’ve dozed.”
“You’re meant to be resting.” His tone was stern, and the very sound of it heartened her.
“You know me. Reading is resting. But I was hoping you’d call. I wanted to thank you.”
“Ah. You received something?”
“The flowers, the books, the nightgowns, and….and that rather unique piece of jewelry? Not to mention the accommodations generally? Yes.”
“And?”
“And I put an extra blanket on. The amethyst satin is very nice, though. And—“ she paused, unsure of exactly what to say. Josef waited, and Lucky thought she could almost see his expression, watchful and focused. “—and I don’t know what to say about the chain, Josef. Except that I—I’m wearing it.”
Josef snorted. “Any other girl I know, Luck—including you on a good day—would’ve found something teasing and suggestive to say. Feeling shy?”
Lucky ran a hand down her side, found the chain as a faint line under her nightie. “I’m sorry, Josef. I guess I need to try harder to be amusing. But—it meant so much. Especially coming today.”
Josef was quiet for a long time. So long, in fact, that Lucky began to wonder if he were displeased somehow. But when he spoke, what he said was unexpected. “I know what it is to be lonely, sweetheart.”
Lucky smiled, suddenly relaxed and sleepy, and snuggled down among her pillows and blankets, holding the phone like lifeline. “Josef, I can only think of two things to say. One of them is—thank you.”
“And the other?”
“Is best left unsaid.”
Somewhere in the night, to the west of where she lay, there was no one to see his reaction, no one to know what he thought.
– even if he is a bit of a busybody. Or maybe because of it. 
I love that you gave us only the slightest hint of his personality in the last chapter and then showed us so much more of him here. And yet, we still don’t know all that much about him, do we? It feels like really meeting someone in real life and then getting to know them a little at a time. That’s what I adore about your original characters, Lucky, they are 3-dimensional and so fully developed, but you let them reveal themselves gradually and that’s what makes them feel so real. 
