Medieval insanity

He was haunted by dreams, or rather the same dream came to him every night without a break. Each time in the morning, Andrew had more and more new details, given that the dream began the same way and ended at the same moment when his soul, mind and body wanted to continue.

'A young man was running down the corridor behind a laughing girl in a long light dress, everything inside him was bubbling with anticipation, overwhelming happiness, love and tenderness. He caught up with her at the door to the room and picked her up in his arms, she trustingly took him by the neck, continuing to laugh contagious. They were barefoot, and ran down the corridor of their own house. Both of them were very happy in this dream...'

Since Katya's last birthday, she began to see this exciting and disturbing dream, that always began and ended the same way.

'The girl was running, or rather fleeing away. She could clearly feel the pursuer behind her, and her heart was pounding frantically. The stone was unpleasantly cold on her feet: she was barefoot, so as not to make too much noise she carried her shoes in her hands. Her path lay through the tangled, dark streets in the night, fortunately, the road was well known to the girl...'

Now, in this unusual state, she saw everything as if from the outside and, at the same time, she herself was this girl.

'She laughed like a madwoman at his words. Unable to stand her laughter, this arrogant man grabbed the girl by the shoulders and began to shake: "No one, do you hear, no one is allowed to taunt Jacques Colbert! My word is legitimate and final, and you, and you..."

But the girl continued to laugh in his arms. Only her hairstyle was disheveled, releasing a few curls, and the dress slipped a little from her shoulders, slightly exposing her breasts.

"A witch," a bold thought suddenly occurred to the man. "Yes, you are a witch!"'

Spring was already reigning in this countryside, and the girl was dressed in a black coat, under which could be seen dark blue jeans. The wind was always present in this area, and now it was blowing her disheveled hair. She touched her hand to the thin green scarf, which she had thoughtfully wrapped around her neck. All dreams and memories are experienced and realized. All the pain and anxiety are over. It remains only to finally say goodbye to the past and enter a new life with a pure heart. That's why she flew to this country, came to this small village, to leave the past in the past, at the very epicenter of those events.

Suddenly, a beloved voice was heard behind her, calling her by name. She turned around in disbelief and saw a tall, dark-haired man hurrying towards her at a brisk pace across a small square in front of an ancient building.

"I've finally found you. I'm not late this time!" with these words, he picked up the fragile girl and spun her on the spot. She smelled of fresh, floral perfume, through which made its way her own fragrance, such a native, so necessary to him.

"How did you know I was here? I haven't told anyone where exactly I'm staying," the girl asked, peering into her lover's face.

"I had dreams... they brought me to you, my Tejeli..."

'A young man was running down the corridor chasing a laughing girl in a long light dress, everything inside him was bubbling with anticipation, overwhelming happiness, love, and tenderness. He caught up with her at the door to the room and picked her up in his arms, she trustingly took him by the neck, continuing to laugh contagiously. "Got you," the man smiled and, running into the bedroom, lowered the girl onto a huge high bed. He bent over her and quickly kissed her lips, stopping her laughter.

The girl ran her fingers through his hair, circled his eyebrows, passed along his cheek, and touched his lips. The man kissed her hand and removed a strand of hair that prevented him from dipping into the depths of her eyes. Clasping his beloved's face with his palms, he began to cover it with short kisses, descending lower and lower. Eyes, lips, neck, cleavage between breasts. His body ached with anticipation of unity and possession of the girl; he touched his lips to a small mole on her chest...'

At that moment, a car door slammed loudly outside the window, someone cursed rudely, and Andrew woke up.

When he woke up, he laid in pitch darkness for a few seconds, trying to separate the dream and reality. It was not easy, he lived in this unusual dream, everything was too natural: colors, sensations and even smells. Andrew experienced such feelings only in childhood when he saw bright colorful dreams in which he was flying. Turning his head to the right, Andrew saw the silhouette of Xenia, his fiancée, who was sleeping soundly, exhausted after his unexpectedly emotional display of attention to her. He involuntarily reached out, touched her hair, and sighed in disappointment. The sensations of touching were not at all the same as in this dream. Moreover, his fiancée now seemed completely alien, distant, and cold. Andrew closed his eyes, trying to restore what he had seen, but the picture was slightly erased, just one of the last frames remained in front of him - a seductive mole on her chest and the smell of lavender and freshly mown grass.

Andrew absolutely did not understand why he had this strange dream, which smacked not of eroticism, as it happened after meeting some new attractive girl, but of some deep, incomprehensible feeling of something viscous inside - longing, bitterness, tenderness, and fire. Given the recent events in his life, this dream was wrong and untimely.

He tried to think over and summarize the events of the last few days. His company was in big trouble. His company... He wished it would be his company. This way he wouldn't be so preoccupied and feel guilty. But "Le Stagioni" was founded by his father and his friend. They worked hard and put a lot of time to transform a small fabric into a well-known high-class business. But after Andrew became the president of "Le Stagioni" all went wrong. Days after days he had been making mistake after mistake. And now their company was in one small step toward bankruptcy.

Though the most unpleasant thing was that he must hide all the problems from the shareholders, and every day it becomes more and more difficult to do. Perhaps his father was right when he wanted to give the company to Victor... His thoughts about his opponent made Andrew's teeth ache and his fists itch. No! Victor will not see the company! Firstly, he understood absolutely nothing about the fashion industry, secondly, he didn't know the production technology, and most importantly, he was only interested in power and the desire to annoy him, Andrew. That's why they should hide the state of the company from shareholders as long as possible.

Thank God he had a wonderful personal assistant, Katya, who hadn't failed in anything yet! At the thought of her, Andrew sighed heavily and turned over on the other side. Katya was his blessing and his curse.

Ekaterina Streltsova was an ordinary gray mouse in round glasses, she didn't belong to the fashion industry as she wore strict old-fashioned office suits, a little bit oversized, strange children's hairstyles in the form of uncomplicated pigtails or an ordinary tail. It was as though she considered herself clumsy, gave way to hang-ups because of it, and behaved herself like an inconspicuous creature. She moved quickly between her tiny office without windows, the chic office of the boss, and the financial department. But everything changed as soon as she was negotiating with financial directors of other companies, partners, and the management of banks. Figures and calculations were her elements, she was a goddess in finance and opponents felt and understood it, as a result of which she always sought discounts and the most favorable terms of cooperation. She worked as three persons - as herself, as a personal assistant of Andrew Cherkasov; as the financial director of "Le Stagioni"; and as the owner of "Avanti". Oh, yes, she had another company, rather Andrew ordered her to open another company to help "Le Stagioni" to cope with debts. And now "Le Stagioni" belonged to "Avanti"; Ekaterina Streltsova was practically the owner of "Le Stagioni"...

Andrew certainly trusted his assistant: she repeatedly proved her devotion and diligence to him. She spent almost all her free time at work, easily stayed late if necessary, and always rushes to the rescue at night. He knew her parents and she seemed to be an open book to him.

But recently, after a successful fashion show, when contracts were signed with serious partners, including foreign companies; when there was hope for a speedy recovery from the debt pit; when his own father smiled and was proud of his son, and Victor grimaced with annoyance; when he believed in the gift of fate in the form of Katya - disappointment, shock and fear befell him. He found out that his irreplaceable assistant has a fiancé. It would seem that he should be happy for his inconspicuous assistant that she had found her personal happiness, but a worm of doubt began to gnaw at Andrew. What if this fiancé of hers just wants to get their Le Stagioni through her? What if he was with her for money and company? He believed Katya but he didn't believe this unexpected fiancé.

Andrew and his friend Dmitry, who wasn't only his friend but his vice president and one of the shareholders of Le Stagioni were suspicious. At first, he decided to have a talk with Katya, but she denied having a fiancé. She said that Ivan was only her best friend since childhood. But Dmitry had accidentally seen in the Avanti financial report that a certain Ivan Svetlov was listed as the CFO of Avanti. And then there were rumors in Le Stagioni that Katya Streltsova had a rich fiancé. Once again, after taking a closer look at the discreet and gray appearance of Andrew's assistant at a small meeting, Dmitry concluded that such an unsympathetic, and even somewhere ugly girl could not have a rich groom. So, the only conclusion was that Ivan had been getting close to their company Le Stagioni. He expressed his concerns to President on the same day. That's when they decided that Andrew would be more friendly to Katya, start caring for her and give her small gifts. Andrew was angry for a long time, and didn't want to get involved in these obviously unpromising and dead-end relationships, but agreed in the end. And here they were now: several light dates after work, several promises in love, vows under the moon, small gifts - everything was under control.

So why were this dream and this feeling of anxiety and expectation, where did it come from?

Andrew remembered the past day, and he felt somehow uncomfortable and awkward. He and Katya spent the evening in an inconspicuous cafe, and she was strange and bizarre: too outspoken, well, by her standards, of course. Waves of desire and sexuality emanated from her, which did not fit at all with her appearance, and Andrew was ashamed that he was seducing her. And it really was too scary to cross the line. Well, he spent friendly, and a bit more, evenings with her, but physical intimacy was already serious, especially for an innocent girl. And Katya was very reckless today, laughing, kissing him herself. But the most unexpected thing was that she had been turning Andrew on. Even there, in his car, near her house, he felt a burning desire, and it scared him terribly.

He couldn't possibly like her!

But his fiancée Xenia was happy this evening, to whom he conveyed the passion and all the tension that had accumulated over the past few days. But what is this dream for and where from?!

However, in the morning, Andrew no longer remembered any dreams, his conscience almost did not torment him. He was tormented by Katya's increasing insistence and her desire for intimacy, her friend-fiancé Ivan Svetlov looming behind her back ... and the smell of freshly mown grass, completely inappropriate in freezing winter.

Katya did not have any dreams that night, she hardly ever slept - she dreamed, worried, and could not cope with the storm tearing her apart. She realized that feelings, emotions, and desires, suppressed for years, were coming out, and she could not stop this growing, devouring fire. The element took possession of her. No, she herself was an element, all-destroying and thirsty for love. As soon as she closed her eyes, she could smell Andrew mixed with his toilet water, it seemed to her, no, she just practically felt Andrew's lips and his touch, the untested heaviness of his body and the pulsation inside her. To avoid these torments, Katya opened her eyes, turned over on the other side, and went to the kitchen for water. But as soon as she closed her eyes, everything was repeated. Katya forced herself to recall deeply hidden unpleasant memories of short meetings with her first boyfriend Gleb and their only night. At that time, she didn't have such vivid emotions during their walks, dates at the library, or at her house. Now she could admit to herself that she was more driven by curiosity in her relationship with Gleb, especially that night.

With Andrew everything was completely different, she could neither control her emotions nor stop thinking about him. Katya, from the very beginning of their joint work, tried to distance herself from this man, who was a stranger to her in general. Or rather, she didn't even give herself the opportunity to desire him; but suddenly Andrew told her about his feelings. Katya didn't believe it, she resisted, fought with herself, with him... But was it possible to refuse such a man, so persistently and strangely courting her? The president of "Le Stagioni" was stately, handsome, black-haired, and dark-eyed with such a tempting and confident smile. His charisma and charm made all the surrounding women fall in love with him, regardless of age.

Although it's not about appearance, not only. Katya saw her boss in many states: successful, contented, happy, sad, insecure, and doubtful. He always evoked different feelings in her, but mostly tenderness and a desire to care. She loved him with a friendly, respectful, slightly worshipful love - she always knew her position in this world; but only until the moment when he took his first steps. And today the last remnants of reason left the girl's head, and she allowed herself to love Andrew with a woman's passionate love, to dream of a night with him.

In the morning, Katya felt, oddly enough, quite rested. She overslept for a while and, after taking a shower, dressed in a hurry. She had the thought that today on her birthday she should have worn something more attractive and, perhaps, even seductive, but she simply didn't have decent clothes by modern standards. She really was a gray mouse who hid behind a nondescript mask in the hope of being seen and loved by her inner world, not the bright appearance.

Also, Andrew told her that he likes her like this...