Schuyler Square didn't seem to have changed all that much since his last visit, Vlad decided. Standing in front of the bus station, he looked around the large town square, center of the village and the place where events like Fourth of July celebrations and annual picnics were held. Vlad had always liked Schuyler Square. It reminded him of something out of a Walt Disney movie--clean, bright and everyone with a perfect white smile.
A few of those Disney perfect people walked past him, nodding politely as they looked him up and down. Vlad didn't mind the inspection. He knew he looked all right in his brand new dark grey suit and with his dark blond hair freshly cut. He might look a little out of place among the blue jean clad crowd that was still milling around the bus station but that was all right. Vlad didn't want to look like the rest of the crowd. He liked standing out. Vlad had always known that he was handsome and he'd always been good at using that to his advantage.
"Need any help?" A uniformed police officer paused in front of him.
Vlad shook his head, "No, thank you."
"You look a little lost. Do you need directions?"
Again Vlad shook his head. "I used to live in Schuyler Square."
An eyebrow shot up as the officer heard Vlad's accent, an accent that wasn't nearly as thick as it had been seventeen years earlier but still there. Living in just about every spot of the world had changed the way Vlad spoke from his native Russian to something much more cosmopolitan. "Oh, yeah? When was that?"
"Quite a while ago. I was a student at Schuyler Square College. Now I'm back to teach there."
"Well, welcome back. Do you have a place to stay?"
Another charming aspect of the small town. Everyone was so friendly. Vlad's memory flickered for a moment. Not everyone was friendly. By the time he'd left before, he could remember one young woman who had become downright hostile with him. Then again, when he had left that young woman claimed to be pregnant with his baby and he had been most unwilling to marry her. "Yes, I'm staying at the bed and breakfast across the square until I find something more permanent."
"So you're planning on living here?"
Vlad nodded. "I'll stay for as long as Schuyler Square wants me."
The policeman laughed. "Most people stay until they can't stand it anymore. We aren't exactly New York or Chicago."
Vlad laughed politely too. "Most people don't know how good they have it, do they?"
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