"I really like this place," Nora said, looking around the now nearly empty restaurant once they finished the desserts. She sipped her wine, wondering if it was closing time and they should leave, but Martin looked so relaxed that she banished the idea and sat more comfortably.

"How are you settling down, are you happy here?" he asked, his eyes boring into hers as if he was really curious, but scared of her answer at the same time.

"Yes... I like it here. I hope to find a full time job though, I need some money to pay the bills, to be able to afford to remain here." She smiled. "I'm still waiting to hear from the castle. If they won't want me, I guess I could offer myself as a teacher in one of the language schools, I noticed at least two when I went shopping..."

"You told me that you applied for a job in the castle, I forgot! I'm sure they'll call you next week, they would be silly not to hire someone so competent, who likes the castle and knows it as well as you do."

Nora arched her eyebrows at him, letting him know that she could see through his flattery and wasn't impressed by it. He didn't know her well enough to say that, and the last thing she needed was to get her hopes high.

"Tell me more about Daniel. Seeing that I'll be a lot around him now..." she asked, changing the subject. Nora was curious about how the boy ended up living with his father but she didn't want to start that conversation, not until Martin told her something himself.

"We should talk about your salary, too," he replied, surprising her.

Nora groaned, burying her face in the palms of her hands. She had forgotten about that-- the thought of becoming his employee was strange.

"Martin, not now, please. I hate talking about money, let's not make this evening awkward."

"As you wish." He sighed, waiting for her to meet his eyes again before he continued, "So... despite everything, Daniel is a happy child. Very easygoing and affectionate. All the town knows and likes him, it's incredible that all that care and attention didn't spoil him. But you'll see for yourself."

"Fine... Then tell me something about yourself, Martin," she said, surprising herself. "Of course you don't have to if..."

He didn't let her finish. "I had a huge crush when I was young, a platonic, perfectly unrequited love. The girl didn't even know I existed."

She giggled. "Sorry... You just... sound like me. I loved this boy for years and nothing ever happened between us... we may have held hands on a few occasions, kissed once or twice... But even once I stopped coming here regularly and seeing him, it took me years to stop thinking about him and move on..."

He laughed. "You definitely got farther than me. And it took me a very, very long time to notice that there were other girls, who were willing to return my attention."

"Tell me about the girl. She must have been, well, quite something to make you fall in love like that..."

"She was beautiful, but I don't think she thought so herself. She was very shy, so very different from her friends..." Somehow his fingers found their way to her hair again, pushing a stray blonde strand away from her eyes as he spoke. "You know, you haven't changed much. I remember you so well... you always wore your hair loose, like tonight. But back then you used it as a curtain to hide behind. Your hair, the enormous, Clelia-style round glasses, and books... always books... You used to be in love with the three Musketeers."

She shifted in her chair uneasily; how could he remember her so well?! And she spent years of her life pining for a boy-- this very man's younger brother!-- who never really noticed her, well, no more than he noticed any other girl... Had she been looking in the wrong direction? Where would she be today, how would her life be, if she had ever noticed Martin back then?

She sighed, shaking her head, the sound and movement making him retract his hand. With her luck, even if she had noticed him, it would have only led to another heartache-- hadn't he just told her that he had loved another girl, apparently quite desperately?

"Then, years later, I met Daniel's mother." Martin continued, pulling her out from her reverie, his hand closed around the stem of his glass again.

"Was she anything like the girl you loved before?" Nora asked, burning with curiosity.

"No." He shook his head, his eyes trained on the world outside, beyond the window. "In many ways, she was her complete opposite. Most of the time she was... cheerful and lively to the point of recklessness, doing the strangest things on impulse. And then there were days when she was quiet and thoughtful. She baffled me." He looked at Nora again, smiling sadly. "It all happened too fast. She insisted we moved in together soon after we met, and then left me for someone else a month later. She vanished from my life for more than a year and then, one day, turned up with six-months-old Daniel in her arms, saying he was mine and she couldn't look after him."

"Wow." Nora said as he remained silent, watching her. "I... Well, at least you have Daniel." She was at a loss for words. There was so much more she wanted to know but the story wasn't an easy one to tell for Martin... She needed to change the subject.

"You know, I promised to myself that if I ever meet my teenage crush again, I'll tell him how much I loved him, and that I finally moved on."

"And I swore to myself that if I ever meet my first love again, I'll ask her to marry me," he announced, voice serious, lips curled up into a smile at the corners.

Nora laughed, she couldn't help herself. He seemed to be a bigger dreamer than she was.

"What's funny?" he asked, fighting to remain serious.

"Well, it sounds... crazy... I mean, crazily romantic. What if she refuses?"

"Hmm... I'll think about that when I get there," he said, looking around in search of a waiter, and their check was brought in no time.

Nora was still looking for her glasses in her handbag to see how much they needed to pay when Martin sent the waiter away with the money.

"That's not fair, it really was my turn..."

"I won't let you pay anything until you get the job in the castle," Martin said, coming to her side, offering her his arm and leading their way towards the entrance where Lino was waiting for them with their coats.

"Then I'm not going out with you until I get it," she whispered as Martin helped her into her coat.

"So I hope you'll get it soon," he muttered back, smiling.

After a quick goodbye and a promise from Martin that he would visit again soon, Lino opened the door for them, ushering them into the heaviest snowfall Nora had seen since her return.

Huge snowflakes were gliding slowly towards the ground like feathers from a ripped pillow, thousands, millions of them.

Nora groaned unhappily as she followed Martin into the snowy night.

"Don't you like snow, Nora?" he asked, pulling her hood up, before he took her hand in his and led her up the road, towards the castle.

"Not when it falls to complicate my life. It won't be easy reaching the town through that meadow spanning between my house and the rest of the world once it's buried under snow. Do you like snow?" She looked up at his face gilded by the golden light reaching them from shop windows and a few mushroom heaters. He was... rather beautiful. She forced her eyes to the tips of her shoes, waiting for the blush which followed the thought to subside.

"I do. It makes the world look... purer, more beautiful, at least for a while," he muttered.

When she looked up at him again he added, "Should you ever need a lift, you must let me know. Adele gave me your number, I'll text you later tonight so you'll have mine too. And should you not feel like staying up there all alone... There are many rooms in the castle." Nora followed his look to the soaring towers already covered by a layer of snow as they walked up the hill under the castle, passed the drawbridge and headed for the stables.

Snow-White with her family was standing outside the gate as if they were waiting for them.

It was Martin's turn to groan. "I swear I have no idea how they get out. I closed them in just before I came to meet you..."

Nora laughed. "It seems we have a mystery to solve. Let them walk with us, please, I'm sure they'll enjoy the snow."

Martin nodded, smiling at her. "Fine. Come on then everyone, up the hill..."

As if he could understand him, the small reindeer trotted up the sloping meadow buried under the snow, followed by his parents at a slower pace, Martin and Nora closing the rear.

"So... thank you for the dinner. And I'll... see you around," Nora said, standing on the second step of her porch, her hand, without her permission, finding its way into his velvety black hair, her fingers brushing off the snow, lingering inappropriately, too long...

She dropped it to her side the moment she realised what she had done. It was as if she was craving to touch him... and for him to touch her.

And he wasn't helpful, he simply smiled at her contentedly.

Nora took another step up and away, clearing her voice before she asked, "Do you want to come in?"

What are you doing?! She reproached herself, she would bang her head against the wooden handrail if she was sure he would not think she was mad. She... wasn't ready for him to come inside now, everything was happening too fast... You are just making everything worse!

His eyes bore into hers for a long while, and she was certain that he was looking for the confused indecision she was trying to hide.

Nora was sure that he found it, as he replied, "I really should go. Adele will want to go home, it's late."

"Right. Of course." Nora said, feeling relieved, watching him take a step back.

"Good night, Nora. Thank you for tonight."

"Good night, Martin." she said, running up the rest of the steps to the porch, from where she watched his retreating figure followed by the three reindeer.

He was such a gentleman. Feeling her indecision he didn't even kiss her. Not even a friendly peck on her cheek...

Why didn't he kiss her?!