Frances let her eyes
travel around the room. Things the family took for granted were quite obvious
to the girl. The portraits and statues all featured erotic scenes, and there
were pillows beside chairs on the floors as well as some bolts secured in curious
places. The whole family is into the same thing Liam and I enjoy, Frances
realized.
She thought about
Liam’s reply when she asked him about his work. “Cynthia, Liam tells me you are
quite an avid flower collector.” She looked around the room for reactions.
Daryl coughed, Sloan froze, and Kyle almost spat out his beer. Alexander smiled
at her warmly, with almost an excited approval in his eyes. Frances was
encouraged as she realized her outrageous deductions about this family were
looking more and more as though they were accurate. “I think I would like to
see them sometime.”
“Oh, shit,” Liam
whispered.
Cynthia stared into
the girl’s eyes, and Frances gave her a slight nod. “Daryl brought me a special
Orchid I’ve been working on. Of course, I’m only a week into training…”
“I’d love to see
your new flower,” Frances said. She understood there would be no turning back.
Either way, she was sure that Cynthia knew that she was aware of their secret.
“Alexander… do you
think?” Cynthia questioned.
“I think Liam’s
little angel has extraordinary capabilities and intuition,” Alexander chuckled.
“I’ll go fetch your Orchid.”
Liam cleared his
throat. “The Orchid, mother?”
“Only your angel is
prettier, Liam,” Cynthia assured him.
“If I were a flower,
what would you name me?” Frances asked curiously.
“That’s easy,”
Cynthia answered. “Calla… for my slender white calla lilies. Even though
they’re not as exotic as some other species, though I have managed some
interesting hybrids, they have a serene grace, beautiful curving white lines,
and they used to be a favorite of my mother’s.”
“Is that where you
learned gardening?” Frances asked.
“It’s where my love
of gardening was inspired,” Cynthia agreed.
“Mother, are you
sure? I mean, Frances and I have not discussed…” Liam was unsure how to
proceed. He had counted on a few days in the guesthouse to figure out a way to
discuss things with Frances.
Frances answered,
“Liam, do you remember telling me that you thought your mother and I shared a
kindred alliance? Trust your instincts. I promise, this won’t break me either.”
“But, Frances, you
don’t understand.” Liam began to panic. This is a mistake. She’s going to
despise us… she’s going to despise me.
“Understand what,
Liam?” Frances asked gently. “That the ‘flowers’ you and your brothers collect
for your mother… are women?” Frances saw the almost pained expression on her
lover’s face. “I think I began to realize yesterday, when you started getting
nervous and making excuses. Today, I almost had to put my foot on the pedal to
get us here in time for dinner. Any slower, and we would have been going in
reverse.”
Frances turned to
Cynthia. “Naturally, I assumed it was because he was embarrassed to introduce
me to you. That’s a scenario I’m familiar with. I slowly began to realize that
he had begun to think of differences in his family that might make me uncomfortable.
Then, there was the suggestion we stay in the guesthouse, instead of the main
building. There were a few other things he said, but when I looked around your
room… you have no flowers in here. I would expect vases or portraits of
bouquets from such an avid collector. Instead, all the artwork is of beautiful
women… in some rather unusual situations,” Frances added.
She looked at one
picture of a woman tied to a bed with silk scarves and blindfolded. There was a
naked man kneeling beside her, and another standing by the foot railing. “Liam,
I think I like that one the best.” Frances had no idea why she felt so at ease
with these people, and so completely confident and accepted. The nervousness
had left the brothers’ faces, and they were looking at her with almost the same
intense warmth Liam usually had in his eyes, though she could see that Liam was
still ready to grab her hand and bolt. “A slipper for every foot,” Frances
murmured.
“What?” Cynthia
asked.
“Oh… it’s just
something mother used to say to make me feel better. She’d read me Cinderella,
and when the prince placed the glass slipper onto her foot, she told me that is
what my life would be like. That I should be patient, because there would be a
perfect fit for me somewhere in the world.”
“Liam, did you tell
her?” Cynthia asked. She had paled slightly. The secret was held in the family,
because this feeling of unaccepted inadequacy was her only weakness.
Frances turned to
Liam and asked, “Remember when you picked me up in the middle of nowhere?” She
turned to Cynthia and said, “It really was the middle of nowhere. At the last
minute, I decided to go to a concert, and for the first time in my life, I hitchhiked.
I mean, obviously with my limitations, the entire idea was dangerous. My first
ride was from a truck driver who left me off on some back road. Two trucks
passed me in three hours, and then Liam came along, buzzing down the back road
in his sport car. When he stopped, I couldn’t believe it. I was quite a
ridiculous sight, I imagine, with my floppy hat, flannel shirt and sunglasses
covering half my face.”
“I thought you were
beautiful,” Liam admitted. It was all that he seemed to be able to manage.
“We started talking,
and you kept trying to get me to take my sunglasses off. When I finally did, I
expected you to ditch me at the next stop. Instead, you told me how girls
should have been envious… how men should have actually wanted me. At first, I
thought you were making fun of me, but I began to see that you were serious. It
reminded me of my prom… or rather, my ‘should have been’ prom.” Frances stared
at her lap in painful memory. “I ended up finding the brightest star outside my
window, and actually wishing, maybe begging, for my fairy godmother to come
rescue me. Little girls can hang a lot of dreams on fairytales.” She looked up
at Cynthia. “I hadn’t thought of that in years, until Liam picked me up.”
Frances looked into
the swimming green of Cynthia’s filled eyes. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” Frances said.
“I didn’t mean to depress everyone. Believe me, I am well used to the smirks
and stares and isolation by now. It hardly ever gets to me. It hasn’t hit me once
since I met Liam,” she smiled.
Daryl spoke up,
“Maybe we’re a little odd, Frances, but I can assure you that every one of us
sees you as a most exquisite flower.”
“And without
sounding cocky, I think we’re expert judges in that matter.” Sloan issued a
rare smile.
“Alexander calls it
‘Cinderella Syndrome’,” Cynthia replied. “I rather thought it was a condition
unique to me,” she smiled.
Frances frowned.
“Great… like I need something else to add to my litany of problems.”
Cynthia laughed.
“Well, Alexander has devised a rather accomplished form of therapy to help me
deal with it.”
“Did I hear my name
mentioned?” Alexander asked. He led Orchid in, gagged with a shiny black
leather plug, and the beautiful leash Sloan had made clipped to her ‘Y’ shaped
restrictive chains. Alexander had warned her of the consequences of
misbehaving, and she was still swollen and sore from his last punishment with
the cane.
Where the boys’ eyes
would be naturally drawn to Orchid, they were now focused on Frances. Sloan had
even sidled to the entryway, to catch her if she ran. Instead, she had the most
remarkable, unexpected reaction any of them could have anticipated.
Frances rose, and
her mouth dropped slightly open in surprise. She walked over to Orchid, and
looked her up and down. Orchid’s eyes followed the girl in shock, instead of
the pleading Alexander had anticipated. Frances said, “Marissa?”
“Oh shit,” Kyle
whispered to Daryl.
“You know her?” Liam
asked. The whole family stiffened a bit, waiting to see Liam’s angel’s reaction
to her friend’s predicament.
Frances smiled, and
she reached out and actually tugged the chain a bit. “Oh, yes, Liam. I know
her. Remember that girl I told you about from school? The way she used to taunt
me?” Frances looked into the Orchid’s amber eyes. “You remember, don’t you, Marissa?
‘Poor little Fanny with her weird disease. Better not get near her or she’ll
suck all of the color out of you like a vampire.’ I thought you left to be some
kind of super-model.”