Anders was actually fun to dance with, and I was relieved he gave me space instead of trying to grind up against me. The DJ played a couple of my favorite songs, and despite my best efforts, I was having a good time.
The room was stifling, though, and Anders was kind enough to get me a drink. I went with him, to make sure I was only getting soda. I lied and told him I was trying to pace myself.
“Smart girl,” he said, clicking his finger and thumb like a gun at me. I was sure he had no problem holding his liquor, but he didn’t order anything for himself.
Before I’d had two sips, Elsie stomped over and dragged Anders away.
Thankfully, Stuart appeared out of the crowd and asked me to dance. I didn’t want to be stuck alone again, and another great song came on, so I agreed.
Three, or maybe four, songs later, I started to get dizzy.
“Are you okay?” Stuart asked.
“I’m just overheated,” I said. “I think I’m going to find the ladies’ room.”
“Do you need me to walk you?”
The thought of being escorted to the bathroom was horrifying. “No, I’m fine. Just point me in the right direction.”
“Go back out the doors you came in, turn right, go down the hall until you see a staircase. Go down a flight of stairs, and you’ll find it on the left.”
“Got it,” I said. “Right, right, down, left.”
I bobbed through the crowd and emerged into the wood-paneled hallway. I walked down to the right, but found three sets of stairs—two going down and one going up. A girl with a shiny silver dress and disheveled hair emerged from the middle staircase.
“It’s down there,” she said.
“Thanks,” I answered.
On the next level down, I finally found a powder room, but it was to the right, not the left. The bathroom was as ornate as the rest of the house, but sadly did not contain the famous golden toilet. I smiled as I thought of Jo and her pee promise. The walls were covered in a dark red velvet paper. The fixtures were jet-black, glistening with little crystals in them. I twisted the sparkly black handles over the sink and splashed cold water on my face, careful to avoid my eye makeup.
As I did, I noticed the sprawling mural painted across the entire ceiling. Only a rich person would hire an artist to paint the ceiling of their bathroom. The scene was mostly dark red, like the walls, and I realized it was a painting of hell. Little angels were falling from the sky like baby birds, landing in the flames below. How very twisted.
The entire room started to throb along with my head. Maybe it was the painted fire, or maybe it was the walls, but I got crazy hot again. Being in the room felt like being inside a big, red mouth.
I fumbled with the door handle, successfully unlocked it, and practically fell into the hall. I walked back toward the staircase, but found it was no longer there. I must have taken a wrong turn. There were so many passages and closed doors, I was afraid of opening the wrong door and finding who-knows-what or, worse yet, people I did know doing who-knows-who. I kept walking, but never found another stairwell or another person. My ears started ringing, and I was afraid I might throw up. Not on the fancy carpet, I prayed.
I turned another corner and found a larger door with a round, golden bar horizontally across it. I pushed on the bar, and was relieved to taste the cool night air. I was on a patio at the ground level. I spotted the giant stone party balcony above to my right, but I had no idea how to get there, and no desire to go back inside. I plopped down on a stone bench near a fragrant flowering tree.
I pulled my phone from my pocket to text Jo. As I was typing the message, a shadow crossed over the screen. I lifted my eyes.
“Hello, Bombshell.” It was Anders. I expected him to be passed out, sloppy drunk, or making out with Elsie or some other girl by then, but he stood in front of me perfectly composed, perfectly sober, and still perfectly handsome.
I smiled and found my eyelids felt heavy, like they were dropping all the way down to the corners of my mouth. I shook my head and tried to perk up.
“Hi,” I said.
“I see you’ve found our garden.”
“Yes,” I replied. “By accident. I’m lost.”
“No, you’re not,” he said, settling down beside me. “You’re with me, and I most definitely know where we are. I grew up here, remember?”
“Oh, that’s right,” I said. “Isn’t it your birthday or something?”
“That’s what they tell me. Did you bring me a gift?”
I was mortified for a moment, because I hadn’t. “I thought the invitation said ‘no gifts.’”
“That’s the polite thing to write, of course, but you could have brought me something anyway.” He smiled. Why did he look so darn gorgeous? Maybe it was the moonlight. Maybe I was drunk and didn’t know it. Could you get drunk without drinking alcohol?
“I am your gift,” I heard myself saying. “Aren’t I what you wished for?” Now I was giggling.
“More than I could ever wish for,” Anders said, lowering his voice and sounding even sexier than usual. He stood up, and held out his hand to me. “And now I have a gift for you.”
I took his hand and let him pull me up. It seemed like I was weighed down with concrete somehow, but he managed to get me upright anyway.
“What is it?” I asked, giggling again.
“A private tour,” he answered, leading me away from the bench. “To hell and back.”
“What do you mean?” I said. My legs felt wobbly, and I wondered if the stones we were walking on were set unevenly on purpose so damsels in distress would have an opportunity to fall into their hero’s arms. Was I finally a damsel in distress? I decided yes to the damsel, no to the distress. And to heck with Gavin. He’d left, and I needed to move on. There were plenty of other accents in the sea.
“You’re a very special girl, Maren,” Anders said. “I knew it from the moment I set eyes on you.”
I realized we were still holding hands as we walked. His hands were warm and soft. We were walking toward the hedge maze, and then into it. I wanted to explore you, hedge maze, I thought, from the moment I set eyes on you.
I spied a white ghost to my left and jumped. It was the statue of Cupid. I laughed uncontrollably. Now that I was closer, I could see his wings. Rather small, I thought, remembering Gavin’s impressive span. Anders pulled me farther into the maze, and I followed.
The air was heavy with the smell of night blossoms, and every time I stumbled against Anders, I inhaled his cologne. I wanted to bathe in it.
I don’t remember the entire maze walk, but I know it was full of surprises I found quite hilarious. We approached an adorable statue of a naked nymph. As I walked closer, he suddenly became animated and peed on me with a little fountain of water from his private parts. I realize now that motion simulators must have been hidden throughout the maze, but at the time, I couldn’t figure it out. I think I stepped back and forth in front of the peeing statue four times before Anders finally dragged me away.
“You’ve gotten yourself all wet,” he said playfully.
I laughed hysterically in response. “He peed on me!”
Anders took off his sport coat and set it across my shoulders. He took my hand again, and hurried me along the path more quickly.
“We’re almost there,” Anders said.
“Almost where?”
I heard the gurgle of running water. It got louder the deeper we went. A shrill scream pierced the shadowy silence. I practically jumped into Anders’ arms, wrapping myself around him as if I’d been frightened to death.
“What was that?” I whispered.
“Just the peacocks, darling,” he whispered back. Even his breath smelled delicious. How was that possible, when he’d been smoking cigarettes? I started to think about what it would be like to kiss him.
We emerged from the maze and found ourselves in front of a small temple with a round dome on top. The rushing water sound was coming from the building itself, and I saw there were jets of water shooting out from at least ten different spots on the front side alone. Amazingly, water even gushed from the top of the dome, sliding down the entire structure, making it glisten. Statues of half-robed women playing with the water decorated the building: they reclined against the temple sides, holding buckets; squatted at the base with elaborate catch basins on their heads; lazed across the top edge, clutching their water jugs like a lover. It was the most elaborate fountain I’d ever seen.
“Welcome to the cascade house,” Anders said.
I was speechless. I had literally lost the ability to speak. I was sure I didn’t look at all attractive with my mouth hanging open, but I couldn’t seem to close it. The water was mesmerizing. I wanted to lie down next to the women on top and go to sleep.
“Come on,” Anders said, tugging on my hand. I just stared at him. “Inside,” he offered. I still couldn’t answer, but allowed him to lead me past streaming waterfalls into the darkness of the open archway.
Inside, the cascade house was damp, cool, and extremely dark. Water thundered overhead and added to the fog of tiredness that threatened to envelop me. I spotted a long, low concrete bench and wanted desperately to sit on it. Thankfully, Anders understood and led me to it. I sat down, but jumped back to my feet instantly.
“It’s so cold on my bottom,” I heard myself say in between giggles.
“You won’t be cold for long, I promise,” Anders reassured me. He gently removed his jacket from my shoulders and laid it across the bench for me to sit on. He patted it, and I sat back down. Much better.
The benches were extra wide, almost like stone beds. They reminded me of altars. I thought about Romeo and Juliet, and decided she would have stabbed herself on just such a bench.
Thoughts rushed through my head like the water above me. How odd that I was with a lord, inside a fountain in Scotland after dark. Maybe I should be afraid. Why wasn’t I? Why should I be? Anders was big and strong and handsome.
I imagined being a lady and strolling through gardens like this anytime I wanted. I was starting to see why Elsie would want to marry Anders. It wasn’t a bad life.
I felt my eyes closing, and every time they did, it felt so good, like I’d just taken a little nap. I repeatedly opened and closed them, blinking a little longer each time. Anders mumbled something into my neck, but I couldn’t hear what; I could only feel the warmth and vibration. I did hear myself moan.
Anders put his hand into my hair, and it felt divine. I heard a scratching noise, and couldn’t figure out what it was. A small breeze blew on my back. My dress fell off my shoulders, and I couldn’t figure out why. Anders was tugging at the sleeves near my elbows, but I couldn’t straighten them out to help him. I wasn’t sure what he was doing, but I couldn’t stop him either. Everything was so hypnotizing.
I felt another gust of wind, and Anders was ripped out of my embrace. I heard yelling, but it sounded like it was at the end of a tunnel. Another person was with us in the cascade house. Another guy. He was dancing with Anders, or wrestling with him or something. Anders went to sleep on the floor, and the new person came over to me. He pulled my dress sleeves back up to my shoulders. I heard him refastening what I now realized was my zipper. He gathered me up in his arms.
“Let’s get you out of here,” he said. “Anders won’t bother you again.”
I looked into his face and knew I was safe. I settled my head against his chest. “Thank you, Graham,” I whispered before I let my eyelids finally fall closed.