Thanks Tiger Lily 21 for your well wishes on my test-taking skills, it must have helped; I got a B on one of them. Gold star for me! Thanks also to my two newest reviewers Popular Galinda (love the name and the musical), leader of lost destinies, and everyone else who read/reviewed. Enough talk from me, on with the story!
Chapter Four
As I gaped up at Alexander's house Mr. Farrow busied himself with the luggage. Slipping past me he opened the front door, and I followed him inside. I should have been ready by now for the splendor that greeted me as I walked in, but I wasn't. Everything was magnificent, light filtered in through huge windows making the interior shine like new fallen snow. The walls were a soft white color that reached high up above me until they transformed into the ceiling. Then the white disappeared and in its place was a beautiful design full of blues and golds swirling and tumbling over each other, like someone had just poured liquid gold into the Atlantic. Lowering my gaze I turned my head side to side and saw large open doorways through which I caught glimpses of luxuriant sitting rooms full of paintings and sunlight.
Despite the fantastic environment I now found myself in I let out a sigh. It was all beautiful, to be sure, but where was Alex? When I had first arrived to see Jonathan at the airport instead of him, I had put it off as being some sort of old fashioned courtesy, he had been acquainted with me long enough to know that I wasn't the sort of person who would pass up the chance of having my own private chauffer for an hour or two. But the fact that he couldn't even bring himself to meet me when I arrived? That didn't seem like him.
Mr. Farrow interrupted my thoughts. "You're room is on the fourth floor, Miss Miller." He said briskly as he began to ascend the marble staircase. "If you follow me, I'll show you the way." I began to trail after him, but then stopped on the third step.
"Mr. Farrow?" I said abruptly.
"Yes?" He said, still climbing the stairs.
"Where's Alex?" I asked. The short silence that followed allowed my question to reverberate throughout the hall and came back to me in a soft murmur, Where's Alex, Where's Alex, Where's Alex…. As if the house itself was trying to find him.
For a split second I saw Jonathan's shoulders tense, but then he turned to me, looking as calm as ever. He cut off the echo and said in a neutral tone, "Unfortunately, Mr. Thompson became ill with the flu late last night. He's still rather under the weather, but I'm sure he will be well soon enough." The conversation didn't seem to be one of discussion. As soon as he finished speaking he turned his back to me and resumed his steady climb up the stairs. I slowly trailed after him, turning his words over in my head.
I felt uneasy but I didn't understand why, Jonathan's tone of voice reminded me of something that I couldn't quite recall, like a song you can almost hear but don't exactly catch the melody of. Then it came back to me. I had been in a high school play once and I vividly remembered trying to help one of the cast members learn his lines. He had gotten them down pat soon enough, but no matter how many times we went over it, he never sounded like anything more than a man reading words off a page. That was what it had felt like when Jonathan had spoken, forced and unnatural.
You're being silly and paranoid. I told myself as I silently continued to follow Jonathan up the stairs. What possible reason would Mr. Farrow, or Alexander for that matter, have to lie to you? I couldn't come up with a logical reason and I realized how ridiculous I was being. People got colds all the time; I was jumping to conclusions because I was tired. The sooner I could lay down in a real bed and rest, the better.
I looked up and noticed Mr. Farrow giving me a side-long look before hastily glancing away. He probably thinks you're sulking. A small voice in my head said approach fully. Oh dear. In an effort not only to persuade him otherwise, but also to distract myself from my own thoughts I looked up, smiling and said, "This house is wonderful." I hated small talk, but I'd always preferred it to an uncomfortable silence so I was glad when Mr. Farrow nodded his head and said congenially. "I agree. It's very easy to overdo a place such as this." He said nodding his head at our general surroundings. "Put in too much wealth and grandeur, you know. But, I've always thought that it lent itself a sort of simple elegance." I looked around, he was right, the place was nice, but it wasn't too nice, everything was clean, well looked after and fairly expensive but the beauty of it all didn't suffocate you. Too much gold could be nauseating.
"The only problem," Jonathan said, with a grin and a huff. "Is the lack of vertical transportation, mainly, elevators." I opened my mouth so that I could demand he give my bags back to me and for God's sake rest for at least a minute. But before I could say anything Jonathan spoke again, "Here we are." He sounded only a little out of breath, which was saying something after climbing four flights of stairs holding luggage stuffed to the breaking point with clothes, shoes and other accessories. We walked down a long hallway covered in a thick dark blue carpet and lined with cherry wood doors, all shut and standing like silent sentinels against unwelcome visitors. I had the distinct feeling of being in a haunted house, but only for a moment. Even the most elaborate imagination would have had a hard time dreaming of this light open house as being haunted. Door after door we passed and I began to wonder if maybe I should've been counting them so that I would be able to find my room again later, but there was no need. At the end of the hallway another large window could be seen admitting light to even the darkest nooks and crannies, and to the left of this window is where Mr. Farrow now stood, patiently waiting for me to catch up. He gestured slightly at the door we were now standing in front of. "After you Miss Miller." He said. And with that I reached out to grab the knob and open the door.
And the plot thickens… Alexander IS coming I promise, so don't give up hope quite yet. Update will most likely come by Saturday or Sunday. Keep up with the reviews! I really enjoy reading what you all have to say.