Wanderlove (13 page)

“Thank you,” she replied sweetly. “She is my new puppy. I’ve named her Pooky. It’s silly, but it fits, don’t you think?”

“Sure,” I said, nodding. “She looks like a Pooky, I guess.”

Molly eyed me up and down. Or did I just imagine that?

I fidgeted nervously and pushed my lenses closer to my eyes.

“
Damn,
” Cam suddenly said. “I forgot the band is supposed to arrive now. It’s time to start setting up in the ballroom and I’m supposed to go meet with them. Moll, can you take care of Lola? Show her around and stuff?”

“Of course, I can,” Molly assured him. “Go on. I want tonight’s party to go off without a hitch.”

Cam gave me an apologetic smile before rushing off. I watched as he ran back to the house, wishing I could have gone with him.

“So do you like animals, Lola?”

I turned back to Molly now, a little unsettled at the prospect of being left alone with her. I would have rather been simply left alone.

“Yes,” I replied.

“We practically have a whole zoo full of them here today. My favorites are the little billy goats.” She pointed towards a fenced off area where children were being allowed to pet and feed different farm animals. “They’re cute, aren’t they?”

I nodded. “Yeah, they’re real cute.”

“So what’s your favorite animal?” she asked me. The conversation seemed a little immature, though I answered her, anyway.

“Um, I never really thought about it before. But if I had to choose a favorite-- I guess maybe the panda bear.”

Molly opened her mouth and then covered it with her hand. “That’s wonderful!” she exclaimed, with a newly developed enthusiasm. “We had a panda shipped in for this year’s festival!”

“Really?” I asked, actually surprised. I was almost positive even the Tampa Zoo didn’t have pandas on display.

“Yeah, we really do!” She pointed towards the backside of the house. “It’s just through that gate over there. You should definitely go check him out. He is totally adorable!”

“I will,” I said. Her excitement was beginning to rub off on me. “I’ll go right now. Thanks for telling me.”

“No problem.” She laid her big smile on thick again. I was starting to feel a little ashamed for judging her. Maybe she was only trying to be nice. Besides, if Dakota and Annika were friends with her, than Molly was probably all right.

I walked quickly to where she had directed me, almost in anticipation. I really did adore panda bears. They were sort of cuddly and I liked watching them eat their bamboo.

The gate I walked through shut behind me with a resounding click. Jolted by the noise, I turned, realizing it couldn’t be re-opened. I wondered why they would put one of the animals on display here, where you couldn’t re-enter the backyard.

It didn’t take me long before I realized I had been tricked. I looked around the side of the house, my mouth parting from the shock of it.

There was no panda. There was nothing but a few patches of grass and some scattered palm trees.

“What a little beast,” I muttered to no one in particular while I turned about, searching for another entrance. But there wasn’t another way in. I’d have to go all the way to the front of the house and back through the main entrance again.

I started walking, simply because I had no other choice. I was practically stomping as I walked; the whole time wondering what I had done to gain the only female Constantin’s hatred. I had never even spoken to the girl before today, let alone had the opportunity to piss her off. Even though Gabe was frequently rude to me, he’d still had the decency to show me a little kindness. And I was pretty sure he would never do anything so low as this.

I didn’t get it. All I knew was if I came face to face with Molly Constantin, I might have to smack her stupid smile right off of her face.

Instead of going back to the party, I decided to go home and defuse my temper by taking a nice, long bubble bath. I picked out chamomile aromatherapy oil that said it was meant to ‘de-stress and calm.’ I poured the entire bottle in the bathtub, just for good measure.

Later, just as I was getting out of the tub and had tied my robe on, Dakota came bustling into the room.

“
Where
have you been? I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

I considered telling her the truth, really wanting her opinion about why Molly would want me to leave the party. But I decided against it. I had only just calmed down and I didn’t want to relive my anger.

“I’m sorry,” I finally said. “I wasn’t feeling well.”

The lie didn’t feel right on my lips and it was obvious Dakota doubted me from the look of her skeptical expression.

“It’s fine,” she said. “But you’re coming to the party tonight. And this time you’re staying for more than five minutes.”

I gave her a little salute. “I’ll be there.”

She smiled and then breathed in through her nose. “It smells good in here, by the way. Like chamomile.”

When it was nearing evening, the whole house seemed to be full of curlers, makeup, hairspray, perfume and other girly things. I felt like we were all getting ready for a grand ball in some kind of fairy tale.

Dakota offered to do my hair for me, but I refused. I couldn’t take the risk of her touching me again. I tried to do it myself, but because it was so long and thick, my handiwork ended up looking like a catastrophe. Thankfully, Miriam walked in on me, mid-catastrophe, and clicked her tongue. “Oh no, little girl. Here, give me the brush.”

Miriam chose to pull my hair back and then she pinned it up into a fancy bun. I smiled, impressed.

“Thanks, Grams.”

It was nice, the aura of femininity. I never had much experience with it while traveling with my father. Now that I thought about it, I wondered how Lina always managed to look so gorgeous on stage. My Auntie Zetta would often help by sewing Lina’s costumes, but apart from that, Lina did everything else on her own without any female guidance.

Since I was ready and dressed before anyone else, I decided to put on a pot of coffee. Afterwards, I peeked into Miriam’s room and I saw her sitting at her vanity, curlers in her hair.

“Come in,” she called out.

“I just wanted to know if you cared for some coffee.” I slowly walked into her bedroom. She glanced up at my reflection through her mirror.

“Well, look at you!” she exclaimed, whistling. She turned from her vanity and then looked me over from head to toe.

“You look beautiful, Lo. That dress is simply stunning.”

“Thank you.” I smiled. “Dakota bought it for me.”

Miriam tilted her head. “Well, she always had good taste.” She winked at me. She began to pull the rollers from her hair, one by one, letting the short mahogany curls spring free. “And yeah, I could use a mug of coffee. I’m sure it will be a long night. No sugar and fat free milk.”

I nodded. “Be right back.”

While preparing Miriam’s coffee, (which didn’t even look drinkable due to its lack of real cream and sugar), Annika walked into the kitchen.

“Hey, Anni,” I greeted her.

“Hello,” she said. She wore a daring black dress, the décolletage practically cut to her stomach.

“Wow,” I said. “You look amazing.”

“Thanks,” she replied, drumming her fingers against the counter top.

“Do you want some coffee?”

“No.” She moved towards the wine rack. “Coffee just isn’t going to do the trick tonight.” She removed a bottle of merlot from its slot. “This is what I need.”

She smiled. It was almost a wicked smile, in a way. I wondered if something was wrong with her. The memory of last night flashed through my mind and I remembered she had left the house to speak with Gabe just as I had come inside. I thought maybe their conversation was the cause of her strange mood. It seemed reasonable, considering she hadn’t seen Gabe since their break-up.

I watched as Annika slowly poured the dark red wine into a glass. She held the glass up, gesturing a toast. “To you,” she said, before taking a drink.

I tried to laugh, but it came out awkwardly. “Okay, then. Um, cheers to me.”

She downed the entire glass before refilling it with more wine. I quickly left the kitchen to bring Miriam her coffee, wondering what the deal was with Annika’s bizarre antics.

By the time Dakota and Miriam were almost ready to leave, I found myself alone with Annika in the kitchen again, waiting.

She sat there in a daze, circling the top of her wine glass with her fingers. I silently sat across from her on a stool at the island. Every now and then, I caught Annika staring at me. Her gaze seemed. . .almost menacing. I don’t know, maybe I was imagining it. Then again, I had also thought the same thing about Molly-and
that
suspicion had proven to be right.

But this was Annika. Sweet, docile
Annika
. It just wasn’t like her.

“You know, I had a dream about you,” Annika mentioned.

“Really?”

“Well, it was really more of a nightmare, I suppose.”

I held my breath, waiting for her continue. A lull had grown in the room and Annika seemed to be staring into space, her eyes blank of any emotion. When she didn’t say anything, I impatiently asked, “So, what happened in the dream?”

She turned her attention back towards me. “You were abducted.” She said the words without any feeling or emotion. Her expression remained blasé even as I let out a little gasp.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “Your true love will search for you. He proclaimed he would not rest until he found you.”

Startled, I asked, “Anni, is this one of those dreams that comes true? Do you ever just have regular dreams?”

She stared at me intently for a moment, as if she were looking right through me, lost in her own little world. And then she suddenly came to, smiling widely. “It was just a dream, Lola. Not a premonition.”

A chilling tremor ran through me, enveloping me in coldness.

Did she mean what she said?

I forced myself to brush the terrifying feeling away. She couldn’t possibly mean it. I didn’t even have a
true love
.

“Anni, can you start the car up?” Miriam shouted from upstairs. “I don’t care if the Constantins’ house
is
next door. I’m not walking in heels.”

“Sure thing,” Annika replied and stood up from her seat. She moved towards the sink. I assumed she was taking her wine glass there to be left for the wash.

Everything seemed to happen right at once.

Annika suddenly lost her footing and tripped directly in front of me. The contents of her glass flung at my chest, splashing across the front of my silver gown.

“Oh, my dear,” Annika said. “I’m so sorry.”

My jaw was left hanging open in shock.

The stain slowly expanded as it settled into the silky fabric. It was a vibrant contrast against the sliver-a bright crimson red.

Miriam and Dakota both appeared in the doorway of the kitchen at the same time. Both of their expressions seemed to match my own: completely horrified.

“What happened?” Miriam asked.

“I’m afraid I tripped,” Annika said innocently. “It was an accident.” Her voice didn’t seem to hold any real remorse. In fact, she stayed even-toned.

Dakota’s eyes seemed to sparkle with anger as she glared at her sister. “Her dress is
ruined
, Anni.”

As soon as I got a hold of myself, I grabbed a towel to wipe the residue from my chest and face.

“I said it was an accident,
Kota
,” Annika snapped back.

Miriam began to soak a towel in some hot water with soap. She stood before me, lifted my dress and began scrubbing.

“It’s no use,” I pointed out the obvious. “It’s red wine. I don’t think it will come clean.” Miriam stopped scrubbing and looked up at me. Her brown eyes scanned the length of the stain.

“You’re right. There’s no way it will lift.”

I sighed softly. “You all should leave now. You’ll be late for the party. I didn’t really feel like going, anyway.”

“Are you sure you’re okay with that?” Annika asked.

“
Anni
!” Dakota hissed. “We are not just leaving her here.”

“Really, it’s fine,” I said.

Dakota appeared to be torn. She was looking forward to this party and I really didn’t want to ruin her night just because I could no longer go.

On the other hand, Annika just stood there with her arms crossed, staring outside the window, as if she were bored.

“Go on, you two,” Miriam ordered. “I’ll take care of Lola. Both of you go on ahead.”

“I’ll go get the car,” Annika informed everyone. Then she left the house, without a backwards glance.

Dakota stayed behind. “I just feel so horrible,” she said. “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“Of course. Now
go
.” I smiled brightly, hoping it would put her at ease. She eventually left, although reluctantly.

I turned back to Miriam. “You too,” I told her. “I’m not ruining your night, either.”

“You won’t,” she promised me. “As long as you can change quickly enough.”

I angled a brow, like she was speaking madness. “Into what, exactly? A t-shirt and shorts?”

“Come with me.” She left the kitchen abruptly and headed up the stairs. I followed her curiously.

Miriam opened a storage closet in the hallway and began rifling through the clothes inside. It appeared to be mostly winter wear, which I was sure were rarely used. She eventually found what she was looking for, pulling a garment bag loose from where it had been hanging.

She then made her way into the guest bathroom, turning the shower on full heat.

“It will probably need to be steamed,” she explained.

Finally, Miriam unzipped the bag and pulled out one of the loveliest gowns I had ever seen.

It was old Hollywood glamour, classic and beautiful.

“It was your mother’s,” she told me. “They matched her eyes perfectly. Since yours are the same color, I’m sure it will do the same for you.”

I nodded in awe. The blue of the gown was the exact color of a deep blue sapphire.

“It’s lovely, Grams,” I said. “It looks like it could have been bought in a store yesterday.”