Saved by the Celebutante (23 page)

TWENTY-EIGHT

Once Matt has finished working, it’s almost midnight – so we head over to the pyramids where a dance party is gaining momentum.

A DJ is perched on a platform raised twenty feet in the air. The surrounding area is a mass of swirling bodies, not entirely unlike the Love Zone from earlier, only this time everyone is vertical – and at least half the people are fully clothed. I am still taken aback by how much nudity there is here. I’m cool with bare chests (both male and female), but it’s the completely naked men I find off-putting.

As Matt and I begin dancing in the middle of the crowd, a particularly tall naked man lurches around nearby. His body is completely covered in dust except for the rivulets of sweat dripping down his body.

I try to keep my back to him, but he keeps bumping into me. Matt finds it hilarious. “What? You don’t appreciate having a man rub his junk all over you?”

“Uh, no. Not unless the guy has at least bought me dinner first,” I shoot back.

“You know, I think I saw a burger van somewhere near here…”

I swat him. “Watch it, you.”

He laughs. “I’m just kidding.”

The pounding music builds to a crescendo. Everyone is in a frenzy. It reminds me of that episode of
True Blood
where the maenad induces everyone into a mass orgy. Actually, it’s not really any different at all.

Every now and again, I catch Matt looking at me when he thinks I’m not watching. I don’t know what to make of it, but I can’t say I mind.

We dance for what feels like hours. Everything takes on an even more surreal edge. I need to drink some water, but I’m enjoying myself too much to go find any. My skin is dusty and my lips are chapped, but I’m having more fun than I’ve had in months.

I glance at my watch. It’s already 3a.m.

Matt sees me checking the time. “Are you tired?”

“A bit,” I admit.

“Come on then.”

“What?”

“Just follow me.”

We push our way to the outskirts of the rave and walk back to the camper.

“Having fun?” he asks.

“Is that a serious question?”

“I just wanted to check.”

“Yes, I am. What about you?”

“Yeah. I’m actually surprised by how much I’m enjoying myself. I’d forgotten how great this place is.”

“Why did you stop coming?”

“Oh, you know. You grow up, I guess. Settle down. Work gets in the way.” His face clouds over, and I worry he’s going to fall into another mood. I want to ask about his relationship situation. Does he have a recent wife or girlfriend? Or even a current one? I can’t assume anything here. How do I broach the subject without risking a negative reaction?

We reach the camper and go inside. Oli isn’t back yet.

“What do you think your brother’s up to?” I ask.

“He’s probably in the Love Zone. Or getting stoned somewhere.”

“Don’t let me stop you if you want to go and do either of those things,” I say lightly.

“Uh, thank you, but no. It’s been a big day. I’m ready for sleep.”

I point to the seat near the dining table. “So, does this convert into a bed or something?”

“No, why?”

“Oh. Then is it all right if I sleep on the floor? I’m happy to do whatever.”

He looks at me, amused. “There’s a perfectly good double bed here, Chrissie.”

I blush for what feels like the millionth time today. “I just didn’t want to assume anything…”

“Hey, we’re both adults. I’m quite capable of sharing a bed with a female without losing control. I promise not to maul you.”

“No, it’s not that…oh God…I…”

He laughs, although not unkindly. “Just relax. You are welcome to sleep beside me in the bed. Oli can find somewhere else to crash if he comes back, which I highly doubt will happen at this hour. Besides, I’m betting you snore less than him. I’d be upgrading.”

“As far as I’m aware, I do not snore,” I confirm.

“Then come on. Less talking. More sleeping.”

I look down at my arms. “Ugh. I feel so gross.”

“You can check out the bath house in the morning if you like. I don’t think it would be open now.”

“Cool.” Something Matt said earlier about the bath house niggles at me. What was it again?

The thought is immediately erased from my brain when Matt lifts his t-shirt over his head, revealing a smooth, tanned chest. The guy is fit. He kicks off his boots and socks and then steps out of his shorts. Thank God he keeps his boxers on.

I self-consciously take off my shoes and socks and then face away while I swap my clothes for a fresh t-shirt.

Matt jumps into bed and slides over close to the wall, leaving plenty of room for me.

I gingerly climb in under the covers. It doesn’t seem completely foreign, seeing as I spent a bit of time hiding in here earlier, but it’s still nowhere near a comfortable situation.

Matt switches off the overhead light. It’s so dark I can’t even see my fingers when I wave them in front of my face.

I feel Matt roll away from me. “Goodnight,” he says softly.

“Goodnight,” I whisper back.

I lie there, staring at the ceiling. Of course, now I’m not tired at all.

I’m reminded of Dean, a guy I was obsessed with back in my final year of college. We used to be pretty good friends but we never hung out alone, and I never let on how I felt about him. One night, a bunch of us went to his place to watch the Super Bowl and everyone stayed over. I had somehow ended up in his bed in a very similar situation to this one, and hoped that by being so physically close to him, he might suddenly realize he had feelings for me. But nothing happened. Not even an accidental brush of the foot. I spent the whole night with my eyes wide open, only inches away from his back while he slept like a log. I lay there for hours – taut with anxiety – until I finally gave up and snuck out before the sun rose. A few days later, he introduced his new girlfriend to the group and that was that. I never asked if she existed before or after that night, but I suppose it didn’t matter. A guy doesn’t ignore a girl in his bed if he likes her.

Part of me wants Matt to make a move, but the other part thinks that would be crazy. I know nothing about the man other than the fact that he’s a photographer and he’s moody.

My mind drifts to when we found ourselves in the Love Zone earlier. It was so confronting to see all those people having sex. Not to mention hearing Matt’s admission at having spent time in there previously. I have to admit, a tiny part of me wondered how I would have reacted if he had tried to kiss me right then and there.

Which is silly. He hasn’t said or done anything that would lead me to believe he’s even interested in being more than friends except for a little flirting. And that could just be the kind of person he is.

I sigh loudly.

“You okay?” Matt whispers.

“Yeah, sorry. Just finding it hard to switch off my brain.”

“Ha. Yeah, I get that too sometimes. Just do some deep breathing.”

I smile in the dark. “Thank you, oh wise one.”

I practice breathing the way I saw Gia doing it at the meditation center and feel my mind finally slowing down. As I float off to sleep, in that haze between worlds, I think Matt creeps his fingers across the bed and gently intertwines them with mine.

TWENTY-NINE

I wake up with my face squished up against the wall. A purple velvet curtain hangs a few inches above my head.

Hang on. How did I get on the other side of the bed during the night? There must have been some seriously acrobatic tossing and turning going on for that to happen.

I peel my face away from the side of the camper and roll over. A dark blond head is facing the other way.

Except it’s not Matt. I quickly sit up.

“Oli!”

“Morning, princess.” He turns to face me, grinning lazily.

What on earth? “Um, where’s Matt?”

“I don’t know. When I came to bed, he was still here. You were practically lying on top of him, so I figured there was more than enough room for me to squeeze in.”

“Right,” I murmur. “Oh God.” My mouth feels like a dust bowl, and my lips hurt when I talk. My eyes are scratchier than I have ever known. It’s like there’s sandpaper inside my eyelids.

“Jesus,” he says, leaning back and seeing me properly. “You look like hell.”

“Yes, thank you for pointing that out. I obviously didn’t plan for an extended stay in the desert.”

“Clearly. But even if you were just coming for one day, you should at least have brought goggles, a dust mask and some lip balm.”

“I know,” I sigh. “This whole thing was poorly executed. But at least I achieved what I came here for.”

“You want me to drop you at your van soon?”

“Yes, please.”

“All right, let me just wake up properly and I’ll get dressed.” He stretches his arms overhead, revealing his bare chest. It’s impressive, but not as impressive as his brother’s.

“Did you have a good night?” I ask.

His face lights up. “The best. I wish life was like this all the time.”

I contemplate how I would feel if life was like this all the time. Maybe if we weren’t in the middle of the desert it would be more tolerable. But even then, I’m not sure I’d cope very well. I think the lack of structure would get to me eventually.

“Are you sure you don’t want to be a rebel and stay?” he asks.

“No. But thank you.”

“Cool. Throw your stuff in the back of the pick-up and we’ll head out in a minute.”

I gather my cooler, water and suitcase and stack them in the back of the truck, all the while wondering where Matt has disappeared to. Even though we’ve technically only known each other for sixteen hours, it wouldn’t feel right to leave without saying goodbye.

I take my time, lacing up my boots and hoping that he returns soon. But after fifteen minutes, I run out of delaying tactics and Oli is clearly getting impatient.

“Come on princess, what’s taking so long?”

I scan the surrounding area one last time. No Matt.

“Sorry, let’s go.”

Oli hands me a blanket. “I think the only way I can sneak you out is by hiding you in the back with your stuff.”

“That’s fine.” I climb in and wedge myself in the corner with my luggage, pulling the blanket over my head. Oli straightens the edges to make sure I’m completely covered. “See you in a few minutes.”

The ride out is bumpy. I much preferred hiding in the bed on the way in yesterday. There’s no padding underneath me this time and every jolt rattles my bones. And of course I’m feeling unsettled because I didn’t get to say goodbye to Matt. I know it shouldn’t be a big deal, but it is. I guess I’ll just have to ask Oli to say it for me.

I feel the truck turn out of the gate and drive straight for a bit. Oli then pulls over and opens the car door.

“I probably could have gotten you out in the passenger seat,” he tells me. “There’s no one checking the exits, only the entry.”

I sit up. “Oh well. Better to be safe than sorry.”

He shields his eyes from the sun and looks down the road. “So where did you leave your van again?”

It’s only then that I realize we’re not actually near the van.

“Uh…” I look back in the direction we came and see we’re about the same distance away from the gate as where I thought I left it. It’s not like there are any trees or mountains obscuring the view, so it quickly becomes apparent my transportation has disappeared.

I start to panic. “Shit! Do you think it’s been stolen?”

Oli looks perplexed. “I don’t know. Maybe?”

“What else could have happened?” I squeal. “Oh my God. Paulie and Gia are going to kill me!”

“Hang on, hang on. Let’s think about this rationally. You’re sure you left the van parked here?”

“Yes!”

“Okay. So let’s say someone didn’t steal it. Do you think the festival people might have just moved it out of the way?”

“But how would they do that? I have the keys!”

“They wouldn’t need keys if they towed it.”

Of course. Why didn’t I think of that? I point at Oli manically. “Yes! They might have just towed it inside somewhere because they thought it had broken down and they were doing us a favor! Good thinking! We’ll have to go back to the entry gate and find out.”

“But you still don’t have a ticket. You’ll have to hide again.”

“That’s okay. And sorry to do this to you. Damn, I can’t even remember the license plate.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll describe it to the guy. I can’t imagine there are too many vans that look like yours.”

“That’s definitely true.”

“Back in the truck then.” He points a thumb at the tray.

My heart hammers the entire way back to the ticket gate. When we stop, I listen to Oli improvising a cover story. “Uh, my friend had a little car trouble yesterday, so she left her van on the side of the road, but now it’s gone. Do you know what might have happened to it?”

“Yeah, any vehicles left outside the grounds overnight are towed to either Gerlach or Reno. Your friend should have let us know earlier – we might have been able to help her out.”

“Oh. Right. I guess she thought it was too late in the day to do anything about it then and wanted to wait until this morning to sort it out. So how would she go about contacting the towing company?”

“Here’s their contact details.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem.”

Oli drives back to the campsite and I jump out of the truck before he’s completely stopped. “So?”

He hands over a piece of paper. I quickly discover the only ways to contact the tow company are by phone or a mailbox that gets checked at nine each morning. I check my watch. Nine thirty. Damn.

“Well, I can’t call them unless I use the police phone,” I reason. “But then the guy at the gate said they only respond to matters of life or death anyway, and I’m not sure a towed van would qualify. I also don’t want to end up getting in trouble for not having a ticket, so I guess I’ll have to leave a message in the mailbox. And that means I probably won’t be going home today.”

“Sweet! Now you can relax and enjoy yourself properly.”

I smile weakly. “Yeah, I guess.”

I don’t know how to feel. I don’t want Gia to think I’ve abandoned her, but at the same time, it might be fun to spend another day here. And of course that means I’ll get to see Matt again. But do I want to? He obviously doesn’t seem to care enough about me to have waited around this morning.

“Hey!” Oli says. “I’m going to go wash up at the bath house. You want to come with?”

“Sure. Matt mentioned it last night. But hang on? Wasn’t there something weird about it? I can’t remember exactly what he said, but it made me wonder.”

“Not that I’m aware of.”

I trawl through my brain but come up empty. “All right, let’s go.”

We line up in a long queue. A woman dressed in a sort of kimono hands us a large parasol for shade while we wait.

“So what do you think of my brother?” Oli asks, getting straight to the point.

“I don’t think much at all. We hung out last night, but that’s it.”

“So you weren’t taking your time getting ready this morning because you were hoping he’d show?”

I blush. “No.”

“Oh, come on. You can’t fool me.”

“I just thought I should say goodbye properly and thank him for his hospitality.”

“You liiike him,” he sing-songs.

“Stop it. I’ve only known him for a day.”

“Earth & Fire magnifies everything. A week-long relationship here is like a year-long one back in the real world.”

“How many times have you attended this festival?” I ask.

“This is my first time,” he says, not seeming to care I’ve called him out. “But I’ve heard stories.”

“You do seem quite comfortable here,” I concede.

“Well, I’ve got four brothers, and they’ve all been here at least twice, so I do kind of feel like I know the place.”

The line moves quickly, and soon we’re only a couple of people away from the front. The same woman who gave us the parasol greets us again.

“Hey guys. I’ll take that parasol back, and whenever you’re ready, you can leave your clothes over there.” She points to a nearby shelf.

I watch in shock as the people in front of us strip down naked and throw their clothes into one of the shelf compartments.

Oli smirks. I fix him with a stare.

“Did you know about this?” I ask accusingly.

He cackles. “I might have.”

Matt’s exact phrasing finally comes back to me.
You can’t have any modesty out here.

I hesitate for a moment. This is waaay out of my comfort zone.

“What are you waiting for?” Oli asks, taking off his shirt and then pulling down both his shorts and boxers in one movement.

I avert my eyes. This feels wrong on so many levels.

Oli seems to be enjoying himself immensely. “Come on, princess. Don’t be shy.”

I contemplate making a run for it, but then rationalize I’m probably never going to see any of these people again after today. I shut off my brain and lift my t-shirt over my head. I try to act cool as I peel off my bra, panties and shorts and put them with my shirt in a compartment next to Oli’s.

Oli is surprisingly mature about it all. Well, mostly.

“See? The world didn’t end,” he says. “And now I get to see you topless too.”

I ignore him.

“In you go,” the parasol woman calls out.

We have to stoop down to climb through the small opening in the dome. Inside, everyone is sitting around in a circle. A woman is lying on her stomach on a mat in the middle, and the other people are taking turns to gently wash her down with cloths dipped in a small urn of water.

I look at Oli again. “You knew about this too, didn’t you?”

“Maybe.”

“I’m going to get you for this.”

He grins. “I look forward to it.”

The woman languidly rolls over onto her back. Another woman soaps her breasts. I find myself experiencing a strange mix of emotions: part turn-on, part horror, part wanting to giggle like a teenage boy.

Oli is taking it all in his stride as usual. He picks up a sponge and leans over to dip it in the urn before rubbing it along the length of the woman’s arms.

He turns to me. “This is not a spectator event, Chrissie. You have to join in or forfeit your bath.”

I don’t know. I’m not sure I want a bath this way. But when I think about how nice it would be to get the dust off my face and body, I decide I might as well. When in Rome…

I pick up a nearby sponge and dip it in the cool urn water. I then focus on the woman’s left leg, making sure I don’t venture too high and invade her personal space. With that said, I feel like we’re well beyond worrying about that kind of thing at this point.

Believe it or not, I soon forget that I’m naked and bathing a woman I don’t know. There is a light-hearted camaraderie amongst the people present and I’m surprised to find I actually enjoy myself.

Eventually, it’s Oli’s turn. He raises an eyebrow at me before lying face down in the middle of the circle. By this time, I’ve already washed eight other people, so bathing him doesn’t seem odd at all.

After a few minutes, he rolls over to have his front washed. I deliberately avoid his crotch area. There are a few women who enthusiastically take up the challenge, but I refuse to go there. I’m actually quite impressed that he doesn’t become aroused. A couple of the other guys did and I didn’t know where to look. Not that anyone else seemed to mind. I’ve come to the conclusion I must be a prude after all. It’s a bit disappointing to discover this about myself, but it’s not like I ever deal with anything even remotely like this back home. I vow to try and be a bit more liberal in future. Maybe walk around my living room naked once in a while. Although, obviously not if I’m living with my sister. She might find that a bit awkward. I’ll have to wait and see if I end up in a place of my own.

Okay. I need to stop thinking now, because it’s my turn.