Chapter Twenty-Four

Lucille

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. So that was where Snow had been all this time. I closed the email and opened the next one, reading another of the messages between Snow and someone named Robin. It was embarrassing to admit that it had taken me this long to think of reading her email to try to track where she was and what she had been doing since going on her leave of absence. Her office was still sitting untouched since she left and company policy dictated that all information on the computer be accessible by the president, meaning that I was able to use a password breaker to access any account or site that she had visited. While she had been smart enough not to access any of her social media or financial accounts on her work computer, keeping those inaccessible to me, she had checked her private email, enabling me to read through her inbox.

Even though there was nothing that was going to keep me from reading anything that I wanted to on Snow’s computer, I recognized that this was a touch of an overstretch of my authority and that if I was seen I would likely have to contend with more fuss and hassle than I felt like facing. Particularly from Hunter. He had been tense and edgy since our unfortunate encounter after Snow left and I knew that he was just waiting for something that he could tell Walter about me that would be traceable, like reading through her personal emails when she had been out of the office for weeks. I had decided to avoid all of that by staying late after everyone else had already left the office so that I could explore Snow’s personal life at my leisure. And I had certainly been rewarded for my efforts.

“The Enchanted Woods,” I muttered to myself as I opened another email that contained the same three words I had seen in the last several messages. “What is that?”

Whether it was because she knew that her messages might be monitored or simply because she didn’t want to share any information over email, Snow had been stingy with details about this place, wherever it was, but there was enough to tell me that it was where she had been spending a considerable amount of her time since leaving the office. I had gone through several messages when I noticed that she mentioned she wasn’t staying there at all times, but instead was visiting for several days every couple of weeks, returning to her home in between. I already knew where she lived. Now I wanted to know what this place was that had grabbed her attention so much that she was spending so much of her time there. The messages mentioned that she was having an incredible time and that Robin wouldn’t believe the stories that she had to tell. Each message intrigued me further and I had the feeling in my gut that this was what I had been looking for. This was what was going to help me destroy her.

I closed Snow’s email and opened the browser. I typed “The Enchanted Woods” into the search engine and waited for the results to populate. The first several pages were primary home improvement and literary sites, but when I had nearly given up, I found a site that seemed promising. One of Snow’s messages to Robin had included a picture of a cottage and mentioned that it looked just like the brochure. An image very similar to that one appeared on the site that I found and I clicked on it. The description inside was nearly as vague as her infuriating emails, but from what I read, this place was some sort of exclusive retreat. I jotted down the address on a notepad and closed the site, going back after myself to clear the search history so that if someone else looked at her computer they wouldn’t be able to tell what I had been doing. I closed up the office and rushed home so that I could pack a bag. It was Friday evening which meant that I had two days to go find out what Snow was up to before anyone would need to know that I was gone, and, if her emails were any indication, she only spent Friday through Monday there every two weeks.

It was dark when I started driving and well after midnight by the time that I had reached the hotel where I had made a reservation for the night. It was only a few miles away from the Enchanted Woods, which meant that I would be able to get there early in the morning.

My mind was spinning by the time that I got into my room. What could Snow be doing? What about the Enchanted Woods lured her there for all of this time? Why did she keep going back after returning home each time that she went? I hoped that this was one of the weekends that she was going to be there. Even if I could find the retreat and figure out why she went there, her actually being there would give me more of an indication of why she had chosen it. Maybe I would even find something that could enable me to make her leave of absence permanent.

I barely slept that night. I spent the few hours between tucking myself into the bed and getting up staring at the ceiling and running through all of the things that I wanted to say to her, all of the ways that I wished that I could destroy her. I couldn’t wait for her to be gone. I couldn’t wait for people to finally see me for what I really was without living in her shadow any longer.

Later that morning I drove up to the address of the Enchanted Woods slowly, not wanting to miss anything. When I reached the end of a long driveway, I saw that there was a massive metal gate crossing the drive, preventing me from approaching. I leaned out of my car window, looking for an intercom system that would allow me to connect with someone inside so that they would open the gate. I saw no such system and realized that there was no way of announcing my presence and getting the gate opened for me. I backed my car out of the entrance to the driveway and drove back down the street a short distance before turning off of the road and parking. Grabbing my hooded cloak from the passenger seat, I climbed out of the car and swept it around my shoulders, securing it into place with the brass clasp that had been the primary appeal of this particular garment.

It was still early and the temperature was unseasonably cool. I could feel the storm threatening, but I didn’t care. Now that I was here, I wasn’t going to stop. I jogged up the road back to the closed gate and then followed it into the woods on one side of the driveway. When I felt that I was far enough away from the main gate that I wouldn’t be seen, I forced myself through the bars. It was a tight squeeze, but I made it through to the other side. Pulling my hood up over my head, I started through the woods. I tried to move in as straight a path as I could, hoping to follow the driveway so that I could get to whatever lay at the end of it. Soon I felt the first rain drops beginning to fall. I pulled the cloak closer around me and ducked my head to keep the rain from my face as I kept going.

The farther I walked, the angrier I felt toward Snow. If she had just gone away. If she had just not pushed and manipulated and insisted on being perfect every moment of our lives, it wouldn’t be this way. I would be on top, just the way that I should be. I wouldn’t be creeping through the woods in the rain, ruining my shoes and getting more and more supremely pissed with each step.

I didn’t know how far I had gone, but I was beginning to feel turned around. The trees continued to stretch ahead of me without any change, creating an unbroken wall of woods on all sides. It seemed that I should have gotten somewhere. I should be able to see something that would indicate what this retreat was or why Snow would have come here to spend her leave. I reached for my phone, but realized that I didn’t have anyone to call. Walter was still on some other continent and there was no one else who I would be willing to have come search for me. When I thought about it, it occurred to me that there was no one who I trusted would be willing to come even if I did call.

Feeling even angrier now, I paused and looked around me. Somewhere in the distance, I thought I heard voices. My ears pricked up and I strained through the sound of the rain pounding down on the leaves on the ground to hear them better. There was a high-pitched sound somewhere between a giggle and a gasp, and then a deeper, more masculine sound. This was definitely a man and a woman, and they were somewhere close by. I continued in the direction that I had been going. The voices continued and I let them lure me deeper into the woods. Finally, I saw a flicker of movement among the trees ahead of me. For a moment, I thought that I might have been some of the wild animals that I could only assume were living here.

I stopped behind a large tree and peered gingerly around it, careful not to bring any attention to myself. The rain was coming down harder now and for a moment I wondered if I had just imagined that I had seen the two figures. An instant later, though, I saw them again. The first could only be Snow. Even in the greyness of the day I could see her thick black hair and the paleness of her skin. She was running, but the occasional laugh told me that she wasn’t afraid, even as I saw a large figure chasing her. They ran for a few feet and I ducked behind the tree again so that they wouldn’t see that I was watching. I turned and leaned around the other side of the tree to continue watching them.

The man caught up with her and reached forward to wrap his arms around her waist. She screamed playfully as he scooped her up off of the ground and spun her around to face him. Pulling her up against his chest, he crushed his mouth down on Snow’s. She responded by wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. Gripping her ass with both hands, the man carried Snow a few feet to a thick tree and pushed her back against it. They kissed hungrily for a few moments, the rain pelting them not seeming to deter either. I watched as the man lowered Snow to her feet and grabbed the neckline of the tight shirt she was wearing. He tugged it down and her breasts spilled out into his waiting grasp. He ducked his head and caught one in his mouth, massaging the other with one hand. The other hand moved to her thigh and ran up, shoving her skirt up and then disappearing under it. A moment later his hand came back into view, now gripping a tiny scrap of black panties. He dropped the panties and his hand moved to his belt buckle.

I knew what was coming, and frankly I didn’t need to be there to witness it. My frustration was only creeping higher and here Snow was with a man so hungry for her that he didn’t care that they were out in the woods in the pouring rain. I stepped back from the tree and started back through the woods toward my car. Suddenly a thought crossed my mind. If she was returning to this place every other weekend, maybe this wasn’t the only man who she’d had an encounter like this with. I looked around myself at the woods, thinking about the description of the retreat that I had read on their website. It hadn’t mentioned anything about an apparent flow of men available to the women coming to stay here, but it had said that it was designed for personal reflection and relaxation.

That was one way to put it.

I decided I needed to know more about this place and started across the woods, moving sideways in the direction that Snow and the man had come from. They had come from somewhere, and I wanted to know where. I had crept through the woods for a few moments when I noticed that the trees ahead of me seemed to be thinning out. I moved a little faster, grasping the trees and brush on either side of me to keep from slipping on the leaves and dirt that were quickly turning to sludge and mud beneath my feet. When I reached the edge of the trees I saw that I was a few yards away from what looked like a small house. The cottage had the thatched roof and square, shuttered windows of a time long past. I didn’t see anyone around the cottage so I stepped out from the shelter of the trees and ran to the back of the small building. There was a narrow door in the back and I crept up to it to look through the curved window at the top, but I couldn’t see anything but an open room with a desk inside. I stepped back and shielded my eyes from the falling rain to look up at the windows that were several feet above. They didn’t seem high enough to be an actual second floor, as if the cottage was designed so that the back portion was elevated by just a few steps.

Looking around the back of the cottage I noticed a rain barrel positioned to one side. It went along with the rustic, natural surroundings, but it also presented me with a means of hoisting myself up to the window. I gripped the edge of the barrel and tried to pull it. The rain had filled the barrel so much, however, that it was too heavy to pull. I climbed up on it and turned to look at the window so I could gauge how far I was. The barrel brought me to only a few feet from the window and close enough to a tall domed trellis I assumed held a rose bush earlier in the year that I was able to stretch my leg over to it and use it to balance myself as I leaned to the window. My fingers slipped slightly on the windowsill as I tried to grip it, but I was able to keep myself in place enough that I could peer into the window. A darkened bedroom was on the other side, the bed pristinely made and everything neat and clean enough that it looked like a hotel room. There was only one personal item visible, a pair of shoes that I knew to be Snow’s. I looked to the side, wishing that there was a way that I could get to the large bay window several feet away.

I was starting to ease my way down from my position when I heard voices coming in my direction. I jumped down, catching my leg on the trellis as I went. I winced at the pain of the wood scraping my skin through my pants, but made my way as quickly as I could to the other side of the house. Stepping behind the side of the house, I leaned around just enough to peek back to the yard. A woman was coming around the side dragging another barrel. The gesture had the same sickening compassion and tenderness as something that Snow would do, making this woman instantly distasteful to me. As she put the barrel into place a few feet from the other, a man came rushing toward her.

“I told you no,” the woman said without even looking up at him.

“That’s not fair, Fawn.”

“Of course, it is,” the woman said. “Fair and legal. You’ve signed a contract. You know the rules. They were put in place for situations exactly like this.”

“You can’t tell me that you’ve never had this happen with any of the men you’ve brought in.”

“Of course, it has.” The woman he had called Fawn looked at the barrel I had managed to wiggle slightly out of place and cocked her head at it as if she noticed that it had been moved, then looked back at the man. “That’s precisely why I made the rules that I did. This is not the point of the Enchanted Woods. Women come here for relaxation. For fun. To find out about themselves and to improve their lives. This is about them, not the men. I’ll remind you again that you signed a contract. That’s all I have to say about it.”

I was so fascinated by the exchange that I didn’t even care about the rain anymore. Fawn walked away from the man, but he stayed in place, the rain pouring down on him as he stood, now fully soaked, and stared out into the woods behind him. Finally, he turned and walked the same way that Fawn had around the side of the house. I started to follow him, then heard the sound of wet footsteps coming toward me. I ran back to my position on the side of the house and watched as the man reappeared, pulling Snow behind him. I straightened, leaning further to make sure that I didn’t miss anything.

“What are you doing?” Snow asked.

“Shhh,” the man said. “I don’t want Fawn to hear you.”

“It’s raining. I need to get inside.”

“It was raining when you were out here with that guy,” the man said.

Even from my distance I could see Snow take a slight step back from the man and give him a look that bordered on disgust but held a hint of emotion.

“I have to go inside,” she said, her voice low and controlled.

She stepped around the man and jogged around the side of the cottage. The man watched her go, his hands lifting slightly as if reaching for her, then clawed back through his hair as he let out what sounded like a growl of frustration. He turned and as he did, his eyes locked on me. I ducked behind the house and ran into the woods, cutting across the front of the cottage and disappearing behind the trees. I ran until I was confident that he wasn’t following me anymore and slowed, contemplating what I had just seen.

I continued on toward my car for a few moments before I stopped as if I had walked into a wall. A realization had hit me hard and I suddenly felt like the sky was clearing even though the rain was pouring down even harder now. Ducking my head into the rain, I ran back toward the gate, squeezed my way through, and got back to my car. In that moment, I was suddenly grateful for the absurdly in-depth reading into the policies and regulations of the Royal and Company Advertising Agency that Walter had insisted on before he would agree to put me in charge. He had wanted to make sure that I understood the company that he built and the corporate culture that he had intended from the beginning of his dream. What he had actually given me was the insight that I needed to destroy Snow in a way that I would never even be able to imagine.

Enjoy your little fun now, Snow, I thought, it’s about to all be over for you.